Atlas 5 launch of WorldView-3. Photo: ULA

[Via Satellite 08-14-2014] An Atlas 5 rocket launched DigitalGlobe’s WorldView 3 remote sensing satellite into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services and subcontractor United Launch Alliance conducted the mission.

The multi-payload, high-resolution satellite is capable of collecting 680,000 square kilometers of imagery per day. Equipped with the Ball Aerospace-built Cloud, Aerosol, water Vapor, Ice, Snow (CAVIS) instrument, Worldview 3 can correct data when imaging though haze, soot and dust. WorldView 3 also carries the Exelis-built 1.1 meter aperture telescope and the primary visible/Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) sensor.

The launch marked the 118th Atlas 5 mission and ULA’s 87th launch. DigitalGlobe’s WorldView 4 satellite is scheduled to launch in 2016.