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Satellite Sensors
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Remote Sensing Resources
WorldView-2 Satellite Sensor
DigitalGlobe's WorldView-2 is anticipated to launch in late 2008, pending finalization of customer contracts. WorldView-1 was launched in September 2007 and has been providing the highest resolution images ever captured by a commercial imaging system.
The WorldView-2 sensor will provide a high resolution Panchromatic band and eight (8) Multispectral bands; four (4) standard colors (red, green, blue, and near-infrared 1) and four (4) new bands (coastal, yellow, red edge, and near-infrared 2), full-color images for enhanced spectral analysis, mapping and monitoring applications, land-use planning, disaster relief, exploration, defense and intelligence, and visualization and simulation environments.
The WorldView-2 imaging payload is the second such system engineered and manufactured by ITT Space Systems Division for DigitalGlobe. Once deployed, operating at an altitude of 770 kilometers, the advanced imaging system to date will take pan-sharpened, multispectral images of the earth with better than 0.5-meter resolution from almost 500 miles above the Earth and will supply unprecedented detail and geospatial accuracy, further expanding the applications for satellite imagery in both commercial and government markets. Added spectral diversity will provide the ability to perform precise change detection and mapping.
The WorldView-2 telescope will have a 110-cm aperture and fly at a higher altitude of 770 km. It will provide the same panchromatic half-meter resolution imagery as WorldView-1, in addition to 1.8-meter multispectral resolution imagery.
Worldview-2 will also have the ability for direct tasking, which will allow select customers around the world to load imaging profiles directly up to the spacecraft and execute delivery of the data directly down to their own ground stations.
WorldView-2 Satellite Sensor Characteristics
| Launch Date | Mid 2009 |
| Launch Vehicle | Delta 7920 (9 strap-ons) |
| Launch Site | Vandenberg Air Force Base |
| Orbit Altitude | 770 kilometers |
| Orbit Type | Sun synchronous, 10:30 am (LT) descending Node |
| Orbit Period | 100 minutes; 7.25 year mission life, including all consumables and degradables (e.g., propellant) |
| Spacecraft Size, Mass, & Power | 4.3 meters (14 feet) tall x 2.5 meters (8 feet) across, 7.1 meters (23 feet) across the deployed solar arrays; 2800 kilograms (6200 pounds); 3.2 kW solar array, 100 Ahr battery |
| Sensor Bands | Panchromatic 8 Multispectral (4 standard colors: red, blue, green, near-IR), 4 new colors: red edge, coastal, yellow, near-IR2 |
| Sensor Resolution GSD | Ground Sample Distance Panchromatic: 0.46 meters GSD at Nadir, 0.52 meters GSD at 20° Off-Nadir Multispectral: 1.8 meters GSD at Nadir, 2.4 meters GSD at 20° Off-Nadir (note that imagery must be resampled to 0.5 meters for non-US Government customers) |
| Dynamic Range | 11-bits per pixel |
| Time Delay Integration (TDI) | Panchromatic - 6 selectable levels from 8 to 64 Multispectral - 7 selectable levels from 3 to 24 |
| Swath Width | 16.4 kilometers at nadir |
| Attitude Determination and Control | 3-axis stabilized |
| Actuators | Control Moment Gyros (CMGs) |
| Sensors | Star trackers, solid state IRU |
| GPS Position Accuracy & Knowledge | < 500 meters at image start and stop Knowledge: Supports geolocation accuracy below Retargeting |
| Agility Acceleration | 1.5 deg/s/s Rate: 3.5 deg/s Time to slew 300 kilometers: 9 seconds |
| Onboard Storage | 2199 gigabits solid state with EDAC Communications Image and Ancillary Data: 800 Mbps X-band |
| Housekeeping | 4, 16 or 32 kbps real-time, 524 kbps stored, X-band |
| Command | 2 or 64 kbps S-band |
| Max Viewing Angle | Accessible Ground Swath Nominally +/-40° off-nadir = 1355 km wide swath Higher angles selectively available Per Orbit Collection: 524 gigabits Max Contiguous Area Collected in a Single Pass: 96 x 110 km mono, 48 x 110 km stereo |
| Revisit Frequency | 1.1 days at 1 meter GSD or less 3.7 days at 20° off-nadir or less (0.52 meter GSD) |
| Geolocation Accuracy | (CE 90) Specification of 12.2m CE90, with predicted performance in the range of 4.6 to 10.7 meters (15 to 35 feet) CE90, excluding terrain and off-nadir effects With registration to GCP's in image: <2.0 meters (6.6 ft) |
For more information on Characterization of Satellite Remote Sensing Systems, please click on the hyperlink.
DigitalGlobe currently operates the QuickBird satellite, which can collect black-and-white, or panchromatic, images with 0.61-meter resolution at Nadir. The satellite, launched in October 2001, also collects multispectral images with 2.5 meter resolution. It is expected to operate until 2009. WorldView-1 high-capacity, panchromatic imaging system features half-meter resolution imagery. Operating at an altitude of 496 kilometers, WorldView-1 has an average revisit time of 1.7 days and is capable of collecting up to 750,000 square kilometers (290,000 square miles) per day of half-meter imagery. The satellite also is equipped with state-of-the-art geo-location accuracy of <2m without GCP's while with one (1) or two (2) GCP's the geospatial accuracy is <1m and further exhibits stunning agility with rapid targeting and efficient in-track stereo collection.
Please check back for more current information on the WorldView-2 satellite.
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