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About WorldView Series

Worldview Series
Artist's rendition of WorldView satellites. Copyright: Maxar

 

The WorldView Series consists of high resolution commercial Earth imaging satellites. Owned by Maxar, the first three satellites in the series are currently operational, and they have been supplying imagery since 2007.

  • WorldView-1 launched in 2007, it was the world's first 50 cm resolution commercial imaging satellite
  • WorldView-2 launched in 2009, as a follow-on spacecraft to WorldView-1. It was the first high resolution 8-band multispectral commercial satellite.
  • WorldView-3 launched in 2014, it is very similar to WorldView-2 but positioned in a lower orbit
  • WorldView-4 launched in 2016, and provided 31 cm panchromatic imagery and 1.23 m multispectral imagery

In addition, Maxar's GeoEye-1 satellite, launched in 2008, is part of the wider WorldView constellation.

The WorldView Series is part of ESA's Third Party Missions Programme in which ESA has an agreement with European Space Imaging (EUSI) to distribute data products from the missions.

WorldView Series Objectives

The overall objective of the WorldView satellites is to meet the growing commercial demand for high-resolution satellite imagery.

WorldView Series Missions

WorldView-1 and WorldView-2
WorldView-1 was launched on 18 September 2007. It carries the WorldView-60 camera, a panchromatic-only instrument which produces black and white imagery.
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WorldView-1 and WorldView-2
WorldView-2 was launched on 8 October 2009. It carries the WorldView-110 camera, which was designed to improve segmentation and classification of land and aquatic features.
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WorldView-3
WorldView-3 was launched on 13 August 2014. It carries the WorldView-110 camera, which was designed to improve segmentation and classification of land and aquatic features.
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WorldView-4
WorldView-4 was launched on 11 November 2016. It carried the WorldView-110 camera, which was designed to improve segmentation and classification of land and aquatic features.
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