Digitalglobe Slips Launch of Next-Generation Worldview imagery Satellite

The launch of Digitalglobe’s next-generation Worldview 1 commercial imagery satellite has slipped by an estimated six months to mid 2007 but is not expected to create a gap in coverage, according to company and U.S. government representatives.

Digitalglobe, which already operates the Quickbird imagery satellite, is building Worldview with Ball Aerospace and ITT Industries for the U.S. National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency (NGA) under the Nextview program. Digitalglobe is applying funds from the $500 million Nextview contract that it won in 2003 toward the manufacture of Worldview. ITT manufactures the satellite’s sensor, while Ball Aerospace provides the satellite bus.

The launch of Worldview was scheduled to occur in 2006, however, technical issues that arose during the integration of the satellite’s sensor have pushed back the launch date, these officials told Satellite News‘ sister publication Defense Daily.

The company informed the NGA about the delay in February. "A couple of weeks ago, after briefing our customer, we essentially adjusted our launch schedule for Worldview 1 by about six months," Chuck Herring, Digitalglobe spokesman, said. The company now estimates that the launch will occur "not later than mid 2007."

Herring declined to discuss the details surrounding the issue, but said it has been resolved. Such challenges are part of the high-technology space industry, he noted.

Marshall Hudson, an NGA spokesman, said the agency’s understanding is that the issue dealt with "the integration of the sensor subsystem." While NGA is "still investigating the possibility," the agency estimates that there will be no gap in collection of imagery for the government since the current generation of commercial imagery satellites will be able to serve on-orbit until the next generation is available, he said.

Commercial Imagery In Demand By Government

Commercial imagery satellites have played an important role in augmenting U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence community space-based intelligence assets and airborne surveillance platforms since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.

The availability of commercial imagery through the end of this decade has been regarded as crucial due to delays in fielding the intelligence community’s next-generation Future Imagery Architecture. The latter, which is envisioned as a constellation of satellites with optical sensors and larger radar-carrying spacecraft has been beset by burgeoning costs and schedule slips.

Digitalglobe’s Quickbird satellites, which offers 0.68m-resolution black-and-white images and 2.44 meter-resolution multispectral imagery, is expected to remain in service through 2009, said Herring. He said Digitalglobe will know better at the end of this year as to the exact timetable for launching Worldview. "Obviously we want to get Worldview 1 up as soon as possible," he said.

Worldview will provide 0.5m-resolution black-and-white imagery and will be much more agile than Quickbird, said Herring, noting that it will able to point and shoot pictures more quickly. He said it will be able to collect about four times as many images as the Quickbird on a run and will have greater onboard storage and image download capabilities.

The slip of Worldview’s launch date means that rival Geoeye’s next spacecraft, the multispectral-imaging Geoeye 1, likely will reach orbit first. The satellite, which will provide black-and-white imagery with a resolution of 0.41 meters, is on track for launch in early 2007, according to company spokesman Mark Brender. Geoeye, which formed in January when Orbimage acquired Space Imaging, also operates the Ikonos and Orbview 3 satellites today.

Herring said Digitalglobe also is building sensors for Worldview 2, which is scheduled for launch in 2008. Worldview 2 will collect black-and-white imagery with a resolution of 0.5 meters but will provide sharper color imagery than Worldview 1, collecting multispectral imagery with a resolution of 1.8 meters.

Digitalglobe is in the process of finalizing contracts with a variety of customers for imagery with Worldview 2, which currently is not part of the Nextview program, said Herring. "The focus of Worldview 2 is to get it launched before end of life of the Quickbird," he said. "We hope to have it in full production by the end of this year."