The WorldView-4 satellite, built by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) for DigitalGlobe, Inc. (NYSE: DGI), has been encapsulated in its protective launch vehicle fairing. It is scheduled to launch Sept. 16 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
For encapsulation, WorldView-4 was connected to an adapter and then enclosed in the four-meter fairing or “nose cone.” The satellite will now be transported by truck to Vandenberg Air Force Base’s Space Launch Complex 3 East where it will be lifted by crane and mated with the Atlas rocket.
“Encapsulation is the last time people will ever lay eyes on this satellite before it launches to space,” said Steve Skladanek, president of Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services. “Our Atlas rocket is ready to provide WorldView-4 a smooth ride and precise delivery into orbit.”
The Atlas V 401 rocket is provided by Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services. WorldView-4 is the latest in a series of imaging and data satellites built by Lockheed Martin for customers around the world.
Once launched, the satellite will more than double DigitalGlobe’s coverage of the world’s highest-resolution 30 cm commercial satellite imagery and increase the rate at which it grows its 16-year library of time-lapse, high-resolution imagery. WorldView-4 will orbit Earth every 90 minutes, traveling 17,000 miles per hour and capturing as much as 680,000 square kilometers of the Earth’s surface daily (18 terabytes) – the equivalent of the land area of Texas.
WorldView-4 photos are available here.
For additional information, visit our website: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/commercialspace.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 98,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
