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Ball Aerospace-Built WorldView-2 Satellite Reveals First Images
Boulder CO (SPX) Oct 28, 2009 The first images taken by the WorldView-2 remote-sensing satellite designed and built by Ball Aerospace and Technologies for DigitalGlobe were released on October 20 - just 11 days after the satellite's successful launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. DigitalGlobe released images of Love Field Airport near Dallas and the AT and T Center in San Antonio, Texas. More refinements to early-stage images are anticipated as the satellite's ongoing check-out and calibration continues. "The first images from WorldView-2 are an early confirmation of the outstanding imagery and geospatial information that we expected using the proven Ball commercial platform," said David L. Taylor, president and CEO of Ball Aerospace. "Following final calibration in the coming weeks, we expect to see even more superior imagery." WorldView-2 joins its sister satellites built by Ball Aerospace: WorldView-1 launched in 2007, and QuickBird launched in 2001. The satellite trio is expected to bring unsurpassed agility, capacity, accuracy and spectral diversity to commercial earth imaging. WorldView-2 and WorldView-1 are the only commercial satellites integrated with control moment gyroscopes (CMGs). These high-performance CMGs provide acceleration up to 10X that of other attitude control actuators and their agility improve both maneuvering and targeting capability. The CMGs afford both satellites the flexibility to capture more imagery than previously possible. The Ball Commercial Platform 5000 spacecraft, utilized for both the WorldView-1 and Worldview-2, is designed to handle both next-generation optical and synthetic aperture radar remote sensing payloads. The high-performance BCP 5000 has a design life of more than seven years, and provides a platform with increased power, agility, flexibility, transmission capability and data storage. In addition to manufacture of the satellite bus, Ball Aerospace integrated the WorldView-2 remote sensing instrument provided by ITT and performed all system testing. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Sensing Disasters From SpaceTel Aviv, Israel (SPX) Oct 27, 2009 One small step for mankind is now a leap for averting natural and man-made disasters on earth. New Tel Aviv University technology combines sophisticated sensors in orbit with sensors on the ground and in the air to create a "Hyperspectral Remote Sensor" (HRS). It can give advance warnings about water contamination after a forest fire, alert authorities of a pollution spill long before a ... read more |
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