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The path of the Delta II launch vehicle is from south to north. The footprint of the CSIR Satellite Applications Centre covers southern Africa |
DigitalGlobe's sophisticated new earth-imaging satellite is in a sun-synchronous orbit, thanks to the contribution of the CSIR Satellite Applications Centre at Hartebeesthoek in monitoring its successful launch. The CSIR undertook this launch support on behalf of Universal Launch Alliance (ULA).
The centre supported the ULA's Delta II 7920-10 launch vehicle. Launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on 18 September 2007, at 18:35:00 Greenwich Mean Time, Delta II carried Worldview-1 into orbit. The centre monitored the second engine cut-off (SECO-2) before the restart burn of the launch vehicle to allow it to continue its flight.
Worldview-1 is regarded as the most agile satellite ever flown commercially. The high-capacity, panchromatic (sensitive to all visible wavelengths of light) imaging system features high-resolution, half-metre resolution imagery. Operating at an altitude of 496 km, WorldView-1 has an average revisit time of 1,7 days and is capable of collecting up to 750 000 km² per day of half-metre imagery. The satellite has state-of-the-art geolocation accuracy capabilities and exhibits superior agility with rapid targeting and efficient in-track stereo collection.
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