Share

New commercial satellite has zoom view of Earth

Washington - An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Wednesday to put a sharp-eyed, Earth-watching satellite into orbit for DigitalGlobe.

The 60m tall booster, built and flown by United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, lifted off at 11:30 (18:30 GMT) and headed south over the Pacific Ocean.

About 20 minutes later, the rocket's upper-stage deposited the 2 800kg WorldView-3 satellite into a 600km polar orbit. At that altitude, WorldView-3 is capable of seeing individual trees in a forest and identifying cars by their windshields.

"Imagine that you were in San Francisco. With the capabilities of this satellite we could see home plate in Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. We can see the players in the field... We could even count empty seats," DigitalGlobe vice president Neil Anderson said in an interview during a live launch webcast.

Longmont, Colorado-based DigitalGlobe has been selling images of Earth and data to government agencies, commercial companies, agricultural groups and research organisations since 2000. WorldView-3 will become the sixth member of the company's orbital network.

New sensors

In addition to being able to image objects as small as about 30cm in diameter, the $500m satellite, built by Ball, has new sensors that can see through smoke and atmospheric haze.

"We can tell you what kind of trees are in the forest... We can tell you what crops are growing, whether they are growing well, whether they're diseased, what the moisture content is in the soil. We can determine manmade objects. We can determine types of roads. We can actually see mineral content on the ground," Anderson said.

DigitalGlobe is not the only company in the remote sensing business. Google in June announced it was buying Skybox Imaging of Mountain View, California, which plans to operate a fleet of 24 small satellites that capture high-resolution images and video.

Another Silicon Valley start-up, privately owned Planet Labs, is launching shoebox-sized imaging satellites from aboard the International Space Station. The company plans to operate a constellation of 131 satellites by mid-2015. The US government also has its Landsat program, which began in 1972.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.92
+0.1%
Rand - Pound
23.88
+0.1%
Rand - Euro
20.38
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.32
+0.2%
Rand - Yen
0.13
+0.1%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent-ruolie
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders