GeoEye-1
Commercial Earth observation satellite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
GeoEye-1 is a high-resolution Earth observation satellite owned by Vantor (formerly DigitalGlobe), launched on September 6, 2008. The satellite was acquired in the 2013 purchase of GeoEye.
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Launch of Delta II rocket carrying GeoEye-1 | |
| Names | OrbView-5 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Earth observation |
| Operator | Vantor (formerly GeoEye) |
| COSPAR ID | 2008-042A |
| SATCAT no. | 33331 |
| Mission duration | Planned: 7 years[1] Elapsed: 17 years, 6 months, 18 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | SA-200HP[2] |
| Manufacturer | General Dynamics |
| Launch mass | 1,955 kg (4,310 lb)[3] |
| Payload mass | 452 kg (996 lb)[3] |
| Dimensions | 4.35 × 2.7 m (14.3 × 8.9 ft) (arrays stowed)[3] |
| Power | 3,862 watts[3] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 6 September 2008, 18:50:57 UTC[4] |
| Rocket | Delta II 7420-10, D-335[4] |
| Launch site | Vandenberg SLC-2W[4] |
| Contractor | Boeing / United Launch Alliance[5] |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Sun-synchronous |
| Semi-major axis | 7,057 km (4,385 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.000879 |
| Perigee altitude | 673 km (418 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 685 km (426 mi) |
| Inclination | 98.12 degrees |
| Period | 98.34 minutes |
| RAAN | 347.09 degrees |
| Argument of perigee | 221.37 degrees |
| Epoch | 30 September 2018, 16:31:21 UTC[6] |
| Main telescope | |
| Diameter | 1.1 m (3.6 ft)[7] |
| Focal length | 13.3 m (44 ft)[7] |
| Resolution | Panchromatic: 41 cm (16 in) Multispectral: 165 cm (65 in) |
| Transponders | |
| Bandwidth | X band: 150 or 740 Mbps[7] |
DigitalGlobe fleet | |
History
On 1 December 2004, General Dynamics C4 Systems announced it had been awarded a contract worth approximately US$209 million to build the OrbView-5 satellite.[8] Its sensor is designed by the ITT Exelis.
The satellite, now known as GeoEye-1, was originally scheduled for launch in April 2008 but lost its 30-day launch slot to a U.S. government mission which had itself been delayed. It was rescheduled for launch 22 August 2008 from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a Delta II launch vehicle.[9] The launch was postponed to 4 September 2008, due to unavailability of the Big Crow telemetry-relay aircraft.[10][11] It was delayed again to 6 September because Hurricane Hanna interfered with its launch crews.
The launch took place successfully on 6 September 2008 at 18:50:57 UTC. The GeoEye-1 satellite separated successfully from its Delta II launch vehicle at 19:49 UTC, 58 minutes and 56 seconds after launch.[5]
Specifications and operation
GeoEye-1 provides 0.41 m (16 in) panchromatic and 1.65 m (5.4 ft) multispectral imagery at nadir in 15.2 km (9.4 mi) swaths. The spacecraft is in a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 681 km (423 mi) and an inclination of 98 degrees, with a 10:30 a.m. equator crossing time.[3][12][13] GeoEye-1 can image up to 60 degrees off nadir. It is operated out of Dulles, Virginia.[14]
At the time of its launch, GeoEye-1 was the world's highest resolution commercial Earth-imaging satellite.[15] GeoEye-1 was manufactured in Gilbert, Arizona, by General Dynamics and the first image was returned on 7 October of Kutztown University of Pennsylvania in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.[16]
Google, which had its logo on the side of the rocket, has exclusive online mapping use of its data. While GeoEye-1 is capable of imagery with details the size of 41 centimeters per pixel (16 in/px), that resolution was only available to the U.S. government. Google has access to details of 50 cm per pixel (20 in/px). Prior maximum commercial imagery was 60 cm (24 in).[17]
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and Google paid a combined US$502 million for the satellite and upgrades to GeoEye's four ground stations.[18]
2009 anomaly
In December 2009 GeoEye announced it had suspended imagery collections by GeoEye-1 for a few days, citing an irregularity in the downlink antenna. "The irregularity appears to limit the range of movement of GeoEye-1's downlink antenna, which may in turn affect GeoEye-1's ability to image and downlink simultaneously," GeoEye said at a press conference.[19] However, the satellite continued with normal operations shortly thereafter, though with diminished simultaneous imaging-and-downlink capability for non-U.S. clients.[20]
