The GeoEye-1 satellite sensor was successfully launched on September 6, 2008. The satellite, which was launched at Vanderberg Air Force Base, California, provides a resolution of 0.46 meters.
Watch a video of GeoEye-1 satellite launch.
GeoEye-1 Satellite Sensor (0.46m)
(Image Copyright © DigitalGlobe.)
The GeoEye-1 Satellite sensor features the most sophisticated technology ever used in a commercial remote sensing system. This newly developed sensor is optimized for large projects, as it can produce over 350,000 square kilometers of pan-sharpened multispectral satellite imagery every day.
GeoEye-1, launched in September 2008, has been flying at an altitude of about 681 kilometers and is capable of producing imagery with a ground sampling distance of 46 centimeters, meaning it can detect objects of that diameter or greater.
During late summer of 2013 the orbit altitude of the GeoEye-1 Satellite sensor was raised to 770 Km/ 478 Miles. GeoEye-1 new nadir ground sample distance (GSD) is 46cm compared to the previous GSD of 41cm.
GEOEYE-1 SATELLITE SENSOR SPECIFICATIONS
| Launch Date | September 6, 2008 |
| Camera Modes | Simultaneous panchromatic and multispectral (pan-sharpened) Panchromatic only Multispectral only |
| Resolution | 0.46 m / 1.51 ft* panchromatic (nominal at Nadir) 1.84 m / 6.04 ft* multispectral (nominal at Nadir) |
| Spectral Range | Panchromatic: 450 - 800 nm Blue: 450 - 510 nm Green: 510 - 580 nm Red: 655 - 690 nm Near Infra Red: 780 - 920 nm |
| Metric Accuracy/Geolocation | 5 m CE90, 3 m CE90 (measured) |
| Swath Widths & Representative Area Sizes | Nominal swath width - 15.2 km / 9.44 mi at Nadir Single-point scene - 225 sq km (15x15 km) Contiguous large area - 15,000 sq km (300x50 km) Contiguous 1° cell size areas - 10,000 sq km (100x100 km) Contiguous stereo area - 6,270 sq km (224x28 km) (Area assumes pan mode at highest line rate) |
| Imaging Angle | Capable of imaging in any direction |
Revisit Frequency at 770 km Altitude (40° Latitude Target)
| Max Pan GSD (m) | Off Nadir Look Angle (deg) | Average Revisit (days) |
| 0.42 | 10 | 8.3 |
| 0.50 | 28 | 2.8 |
| 0.59 | 35 | 2.1 |
Daily Monoscopic Area Collection CapacityUp to 700,000 sq km/day (270,271 sq mi/day) of pan area (about the size of Texas). Up to 350,000 sq km/day (135,135 sq mi/day) of pan-sharpened multispectral area (about the size of New Mexico)
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
| Launch Vehicle | Delta II |
| Launch Vehicle Manufacturer | Boeing Corporation |
| Launch Location | Vandenberg Air Force Base, California |
| Satellite Weight | 1955 kg / 4310 lbs |
| Satellite Storage and Downlink | 1 Terabit recorder; X-band downlink (at 740 mb/sec or 150 mb/sec) |
| Operational Life | Fully redundant 7+ year design life; fuel for 15 years |
| Satellite Modes of Operation | Store and forward Real-time image and downlink Direct uplink with real-time downlink |
| Orbital Altitude | 770 km / 478 miles |
| Orbital Velocity | About 7.5 km/sec or 17,000 mi/hr |
| Inclination/Equator Crossing Time | 98 degrees / 10:30am |
| Orbit type/period | Sun-synchronous / 98 minutes |
GeoEye-2 (WorldView-4) Satellite Sensor (0.34m)
As of February 2013, following the merger of GeoEye and DigitalGlobe, GeoEye-2 satellite sensor will be held in storage until needed. DigitalGlobe's next satellite the third-generation satellite capable of discerning objects on the Earth's surface as small as 34cm (13.4 inch) in the panchromatic or black-and-white mode. It will collect multispectral or color imagery at 1.36-meter (4.46 feet) resolution. GeoEye-2 will have the highest resolution of any commercial imaging system. This advanced resolution will offer customers unprecedented, precise views for mapping, change detection and image analysis.
On July 31, 2014 DigitalGlobe announced that the GeoEye-2 Satellite sensor will be renamed WorldView-4 and launched during 2016 with a panchromatic resolution of 30cm and multispectral resolution of 1.20-meters.
(Image Copyright © DigitalGlobe)
GeoEye-2 (WorldView-4) will be of the same general class as GeoEye-1 launched on September 6th, 2008 (Article: GeoEye-1 Satellite Sensor Launch) and became commercially available on February 5th, 2009. Besides unsurpassed spatial resolution, GeoEye-2 will offer exceptional geolocation accuracy, which means that customers will be able to map natural and man-made features to better than 5-meter CE90 (specification) and 3- to 4-meter CE90 (expected) of their actual location on the Earth’s surface without ground control points.
GeoEye-2 will make 15 orbits per day flying at an altitude of 681 km (423 miles), with an orbital velocity of 7.5 km/sec (16,800 mile/hour). GeoEye-2 will be able to “revisit” any point on the globe every three days or sooner, depending upon the required look angle. The altitude could be revised before launch to utilize the recently obtained permission to acquire and deliver 0.25m resolution Imagary.
GeoEye-2 customers will have a choice of ordering BASIC (satellite projection), Geo (geometrically corrected), GeoProfessional (terrain corrected or ortho-rectified), or GeoStereo (stereo pair) products, as well as imagery-derived products, including Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), Digital Surface Models (DSMs), large-area mosaics and feature maps.