The Earth-watching WorldView-3 satellite, which launched earlier this month, is finally delivering its first spectacular photos with details so fine, you can probably see yourself standing in your backyard.
The satellite launched on August 13 and was carried into space by a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The satellite, owned by DigitalGlobe, is unique in that it has an onboard instrument called CAVIS (Cloud, Aerosol, water Vapor, Ice, Snow) that allows it to take photos of areas covered in fog and smoke, but still delivers images with unprecedented detail, seeing at a resolution of down to just one foot.
"What you're actually doing with CAVIS is viewing the column in the atmosphere that you are imaging down through, then 'true up' the color bands of images," says Jeff Dierks, Worldview-3 program manager at Ball Aerospace. "As some of my DigitalGlobe team colleagues say, we can make the Ferrari look red like it's supposed to."
The satellite can photograph over 260,000 square miles per day. Although later, an entire fleet of satellites will image over one million square miles per day.
DigitalGlobe hopes the satellites' detail can help industries such as forestry, agriculture, oil and gas. However, the satellite can also track the use of natural resources and spot violations of human rights worldwide.
The Satellite Sentinel Project, headed up by actor George Clooney, uses DigitalGlobe's images for monitoring human-rights issues in Sudan. That project monitors satellite photos for potential mass human-rights incidents, allowing organizations to intervene faster and more effectively.
DigitalGlobe also assisted in the search for missing Malaysian Flight MH370.
"It's all about seeing a better world," says Kumar Navulur, DigitalGlobe's director of next-generation products. "We want to enable our customers to see the Earth clearly and in new ways, and make the Earth a better place."
Until recently, companies like DigitalGlobe were unable to offer images with such a high resolution, due to U.S. regulations. However, those regulations are being temporarily suspended for the company in six months time. After that, only time will tell if DigitalGlobe can carry out their mission.
