Tag: WorldView-4

Lockheed Martin to launch DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-4 satellite on Friday

Lockheed Martin is set to launch the WorldView-4 high-resolution imaging satellite for DigitalGlobe aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Sept. 16. WorldView-4, also built by Lockheed Martin, will capture photos and data about Earth.

With the WorldView-4 satellite, DigitalGlobe more than doubles its ability to deliver images of Earth at 30-centimeter resolution — sharp enough to identify the make of an automobile. WorldView-4 will orbit the Earth every 90 minutes, capturing 600,000 square miles of imagery everyday.

Artist’s rendering of the DigitalGlobe WorldView-4 satellite in orbit. (Image: Lockheed Martin)

Rocket/Payload: Atlas V 401 flying the WorldView-4 mission for customer DigitalGlobe.

Location: Space Launch Complex 3 East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Date/Time: Friday, Sept. 16, 2016

Launch Time: The launch window opens at 11:30 a.m. PDT and closes at 11:44 a.m. PDT. Separation occurs approximately 20 minutes after liftoff.

Mission Description: This mission will deliver the WorldView-4 satellite into a 617 km, sun-synchronous orbit for DigitalGlobe, the global leader in earth imagery and information about our changing planet.

By leveraging DigitalGlobe’s advanced constellation scheduling system to operate in concert with WorldView-3, WorldView-4 will more than double DigitalGlobe’s coverage of the world’s highest-resolution 30 cm commercial satellite imagery.

Once launched, the satellite will orbit earth every 90 minutes, traveling 17,000 miles per hour and capturing as much as 680,000 square kilometers of the Earth’s surface daily (18 terabytes) – the equivalent of the land area of Texas.

Also aboard the launch will be seven U.S. Government-owned CubeSats that will be deployed after separation of the WorldView-4 satellite.

Launch Provider: Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services is the exclusive provider of Atlas V rockets to all non-U.S. government customers. With dedicated launch sites and unparalleled orbital insertion accuracy, Atlas V is unmatched for performance, reliability and schedule assurance.

Updates: To keep up-to-speed with updates to the launch and learn more about the WorldView-4 mission visit www.lockheedmartin.com/worldview4.

September 15, 2016
WorldView-4 satellite heads to Vandenberg for September launch

Built by Lockheed Martin, the WorldView-4 satellite will expand DigitalGlobe’s constellation of high-accuracy, high-resolution satellites, and double the availability of 30-centimeter resolution imagery for commercial and government customers.

Final preparations are underway at Lockheed Martin to ship DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-4 Earth imaging satellite to Vandenberg Air Force Base for a Sept. 15 launch.

The Lockheed Martin team is completing final satellite testing and checkout before shipment. Testing includes calculating the weight and center of gravity of WorldView-4, completing a health check of major systems, and testing out image collection and downlinking capability.

“The high-resolution and high-accuracy images taken by WorldView-4 will support DigitalGlobe’s worldwide customer base,” said Carl Marchetto, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Commercial Space. “DigitalGlobe’s smart imagery serves hundreds of thousands of end-users charged with the safety and security of nations, and enables the maps and geospatial applications relied on by billions of consumers.”

“Only the DigitalGlobe constellation, with the addition of WorldView-4, offers the highest quality, and most comprehensive global coverage of our changing planet through 2030, so our customers can be confident they will have the information to make critical decisions,” said Walter Scott, founder and chief technology officer, DigitalGlobe. “WorldView-4 will help us continue to transform the way we see the world, and advance our mission of keeping our planet and its people safe and secure.”

Once launched, WorldView-4 will double DigitalGlobe’s coverage of the world’s highest resolution imagery and increase the rate at which it grows its 15-year library of time-lapse high-resolution imagery. WorldView-4 will orbit Earth every 90 minutes, traveling 17,000 miles per hour and capturing more 680,000 square kilometers of the Earth’s surface daily (19.5 terabytes) the equivalent of the land area of Texas.

With an orbit approximately 400 miles from Earth, the satellite will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket provided by Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services.

July 13, 2016
DigitalGlobe receives $335M in commitments for satellite imagery

DigitalGlobe has received a third customer commitment for direct access capacity on the WorldView-4 satellite, bringing the total in commitments for both WorldView-3 and WorldView-4 to $335 million. The WorldView-4 satellite will provide 30-cm imagery, the highest resolution commercially available, to international defense and intelligence customers.

WorldView-4 is scheduled to launch in September and begin commercial operations of gathering digital imagery in early 2017. DigitalGlobe is a global provider of commercial high-resolution Earth observation and advanced geospatial solutions.

Artist’s depiction of the WorldView-4 satellite (previously named GeoEye-2). Photo: Digital Globe

Since the end of the third quarter of 2015, DigitalGlobe has received contracts and letters of intent from international defense and intelligence customers totaling $335 million for capacity on WorldView-3 and WorldView-4, representing $38 million of incremental annual revenue starting in 2017.

DigitalGlobe accelerated the launch of WorldView-4 to meet strong international demand for the world’s highest resolution commercial satellite imagery, and these pre-launch commitments ensure that the satellite will begin generating revenue in early 2017.

Approximately 60 percent of this potential future revenue is under firm contract. While there is no assurance that revenue reflected in the letters of intent will turn into contracts, this has historically been the case.

WorldView-4 revenue is expected to start to be recognized in the first quarter of 2017.

“The fact that we have this level of commitment from multiple international customers — more than half in the form of firm contracted revenue — this far in advance of the WorldView-4 launch is unprecedented,” said Jeffrey R. Tarr, DigitalGlobe president and chief executive officer. “It is a testament to the unique value of our resolution and accuracy and our long history of performance with these customers who rely on us for the safety and security of their nations.”

With the most advanced constellation of satellites in orbit, DigitalGlobe is investing in the best technology to meet the growing needs of its customers. The company has been upgrading the ground stations of its Direct Access Program customers to a common architecture to fulfill the demand for rapid access to the entire DigitalGlobe constellation and offer more imaging opportunities to these customers. Four of these Constellation Direct Access Facilities are now online, with a fifth ground station expected to be upgraded in the second quarter and all facilities upgraded for full constellation access by early 2017.

“We are in discussion with many other nations interested in our high resolution, high accuracy 30 cm satellite imagery, and the launch of WorldView-4 will allow us to satisfy unmet customer demand across much of the world,” said Daniel L. Jablonsky, DigitalGlobe general counsel and general manager for International Defense & Intelligence. “The investments we are making to enhance our customers’ direct access facilities will expedite access to WorldView-4 in 2017 and allow us to provision additional access facilities with greater speed and efficiency.”

January 27, 2016