Lockheed Martin Integrates GeoEye-2 Imaging Payload on Spacecraft Bus
By Jeffrey Hill | May 2, 2012
[Satellite TODAY 05-02-12] Lockheed Martin Space Systems has successfully mated the spacecraft bus and the imaging payload for GeoEye’s next-generation, high-resolution imaging satellite, the manufacturer announced May 1.
The GeoEye-2 imaging payload includes a telescope, sensor subsystem and outer barrel assembly that can capture panchromatic ground sample distance imagery of the Earth’s surface at 0.34-meter ground resolution from an altitude of 681 kilometers.
“This key milestone paves the way for the team to begin system level environmental and acceptance testing in preparation for on-orbit operations in 2013,” Lockheed Martin GeoEye-2 Program Director Allen Anderson said in a statement. “We are on track to complete the remaining integration and test work on-schedule and look forward to the ultimate deployment of this cutting-edge satellite.”
Lockheed Martin is developing GeoEye-2 under a fixed-price contract. United Launch Alliance will send GeoEye-2 into orbit onboard an Atlas 5 rocket in 2013. Once operational, GeoEye-2 will work to provide imagery to intelligence analysts, warfighters and military decision-makers.