QuickBird

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QuickBird is a high-resolution commercial earth observation satellite, owned by DigitalGlobe and launched in 2001 as the first satellite in a constellation of three scheduled to be in orbit by 2008. QuickBird collects the highest resolution commercial imagery of Earth, and boasts the largest image size and the greatest on-board storage capacity of any other satellite. The satellite collects panchromatic (black & white) imagery at 60-70 centimeter resolution and multispectral imagery at 2.4- and 2.8-meter resolutions.

At this resolution, detail such as buildings and other infrastructure are easily visible. However, this resolution is insufficient for working with smaller objects such as a license plate on a car. The imagery can be imported into remote sensing image processing software, as well as into GIS packages for analysis. The imagery can also be used as a backdrop for mapping applications, such as Google Earth and Google Maps.

• Launch Date: October 18, 2001
• Launch Window: 1851-1906 GMT (1451-1506 EDT)
• Launch Vehicle: Delta II
• Launch Site: SLC-2W, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Contractors include Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Kodak and Fokker Space.

[edit] Specifications

Sensors

• 60 cm panchromatic at nadir
• 2.4 m multispectral at nadir
  • Channels: blue, green, red, near-IR

Swath width and area size

• Nominal swath width: 16.5 km at nadir
• Accessible ground swath: 544 km centered on the satellite ground track (to 30° off nadir)
• Area of interest
  • Single area: 16.5 km by 16.5 km
  • Strip: 16.5 km by 165 km

Orbit

• Altitude: 450 km - 98 degree sun synchronous inclination
• Revisit frequency: 1 to 3.5 days depending on latitude at 70 cm resolution
• Viewing angle: Agile spacecraft, in-track and cross-track pointing
• Period 93.4 minutes

Onboard storage

• 128 gigabit capacity

Spacecraft

• Fueled for 7 years
• 2100 lb ((950 kg), 3.04 m (10 ft 0 in) in length

[edit] External links

• DigitalGlobe - QuickBird specifications
• Gallery of QuickBird satellite images