Ball Aerospace built WorldView-2 was launched at 18:51 GMT on October 8, 2009. DigitalGlobe partnered with Boeing commercial launch services to deliver WorldView-2 into a sun-synchronous orbit. WorldView-2 is the latest high-resolution, remote-sensing satellite; launched on a Boeing Delta II 7920 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. DigitalGlobe ground station received a downlink signal confirming that the satellite successfully separated from its launch vehicle and has automatically initialized its onboard processors. WorldView-2 is currently undergoing a calibration and check-out period. DigitalGlobe expects imagery products and services from WorldView-2 to be commercially available in approximately 90 days. WorldView-2 features advanced agility and accuracy, industry-leading capacity, and eight-band multispectral imagery. WorldView-2 will collect multispectral imagery at 1.8 meter resolution and panchromatic imagery at .46 meters. The additional band capability supports improved levels of feature identification and extraction and more accurately reflects the world’s natural color.

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