DigitalGlobe, known as a provider of high-resolution world imagery solutions, announced that the WorldView-2 remote sensing instrument, provided by ITT Corporation’s Space Systems Division, has been integrated by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. into the WorldView-2 spacecraft, and begun system-level testing. 

This is the third in DigitalGlobe’s constellation of commercial remote sensing satellites, with WorldView-2’s advanced agility and high orbit it will expand DigitalGlobe’s image collection capabilities to nearly two million square kilometers per day, and enable faster collection of the world’s geography with multiple daily revisits to a single location. 

WorldView-2 will collect an unmatched eight bands of multi-spectral imagery at 1.8 meter resolution for the truest depiction of the earth’s natural color, in addition to collecting 46-centimeter resolution panchromatic imagery. It is scheduled to launch in the third quarter of 2009. 

System level testing of the WorldView-2 satellite began in January 2009 and will continue until the satellite is shipped to Vandenberg AFB in California for launch.  The environmental tests will confirm the design integrity of the spacecraft and will include thermal vacuum, electromagnetic compatibility, electromagnetic interference, vibration, shock and acoustic testing.  

“The construction of the WorldView-2 satellite is on track and we are pleased with the progress to date.  DigitalGlobe is fortunate to partner with Ball Aerospace and ITT to bring the most advanced remote sensing satellite to the market,” said Jill Smith, chief executive officer of DigitalGlobe.  “The construction of this satellite and our constellation expansion signifies our ability to provide the largest, most comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date library of imagery possible, and meet the growing demand for premium, high-resolution world imagery from enterprises, consumer navigation providers as well as governments.”

“Ball Aerospace’s capabilities in the remote sensing market continue to advance as WorldView-2 becomes only the second commercial satellite bus after WorldView-1 with Control Moment Gyroscopes that offer greater agility and targeting two to 10 times faster than any other commercial imaging system,” said Cary Ludtke, vice president and general manager for Ball’s civil and operational space unit. 

The Ball Aerospace BCP 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 and is currently meeting or exceeding all performance specifications on the operational WorldView-1 satellite.  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.

“ITT’s imaging system for WorldView-2 benefits from the company’s over 50 years of experience engineering the industry’s most sophisticated, reliable and innovative remote sensing payloads,” said Chris Young, president of ITT Space Systems Division.  “Imagery from this satellite will assist an increasingly diverse commercial and government customer base in making informed decisions.”