DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-3 remote sensing spacecraft set for launch

WorldView-3 remote sensing spacecraft, a joint project of Ball Aerospace, DigitalGlobe, Exelis and Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services, is set for launch next week from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

The spacecraft will be launched aboard Lockheed Martin’s 57m long Atlas V launch vehicle. It will integrate the Exelis’ 1.1m aperture telescope and primary visible/SWIR sensor, in addition to the Ball Aerospace-developed clouds, aerosol, water vapor, ice, and snow (CAVIS) tool.

The CAVIS tool will monitor the atmosphere and offer correction information concerning the atmospheric circumstances of obscure objects on earth.

Similar to earlier DigitalGlobe satellites, Ball was assigned the development, integration and testing of the WorldView-3 satellite.

The WorldView-3 will be deployed for earth observations and advanced geospatial data. It is the first multi-payload, super-spectral, high-resolution commercial satellite, and will operate at an anticipated altitude of 617km and gather imagery with a 31cm resolution.

The US Department of Commerce has recently allowed DigitalGlobe to sell even higher resolution satellite imagery for commercial applications, including civil government mapping, land-use planning, defence and intelligence, visualisation and simulation environments, disaster relief and exploration.

During its planned seven and a half year life, the satellite will offer advanced Earth imagery to the commercial market. This imagery will have enhanced clarity and better spectral depth than anything available in the past.

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Image: DigitalGlobe’s WorldView3 integrated in launch vehicle fairing. Photo: courtesy of Ball Aerospace.