ITT Corporation's (NYSE: ITT) imaging system aboard DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-2 remote sensing satellite arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, in anticipation of its launch on Oct. 6. The WorldView-2 imaging payload is the second such system engineered and manufactured by ITT Space Systems Division for DigitalGlobe.

The ITT imaging system on WorldView-2 is designed to assure the availability of high-resolution imagery for military, intelligence, foreign policy, homeland security and civil applications. The payload includes the electro-optical assembly (camera and telescope), focal plane detectors and electronics, power supply unit and high-speed digital processors. Rob Mitrevski, vice president for Commercial and Space Science, ITT Space Systems Division, stated, “This payload, designed to operate for years in the harsh environment of space, will deliver the most life-like and commercially available imagery ever marketed in a variety of life-enhancing applications.” It also provides a flexible and scalable platform that supports virtually any sensor configuration and the ability to customize and enlarge instruments. The sensor is the highest resolution commercially available and boasts the fastest large area collection — up to five GB per second. Once deployed, the imaging system will take pan-sharpened, multispectral images of the earth at 1.8 meter resolution from almost 500 miles above the Earth.