Daily Web Ramblings

A rocket carrying a next-generation Earth-imaging satellite blasted off today in California on a mission that promises to zoom in on objects as small as 45.7cm across.

The WorldView-1 satellite, built for DigitalGlobe, a privately held Colorado-based provider of high-resolution commercial satellite imagery, was lofted into space aboard a Delta 2 rocket.

The satellite separated from the rocket about an hour after liftoff and was circling some 483km above the Earth.

WorldView-1 was designed to collect up to 751,100 square kilometres of imagery a day - an area about the size of Texas.

Information gathered by the 2,268kg probe can be used by governments and companies to assess damage after a natural disaster or plan escape routes before a catastrophe, the company said.

WorldView-1 is the first of two advanced remote sensing satellites DigitalGlobe plans to launch. The company has said its sister satellite, WorldView-2, will be ready for launch late next year.

DigitalGlobe, which supplies much of Google Earth’s imagery, also manages the QuickBird commercial satellite launched in 2001.

While WorldView-1’s resolution is only slightly higher than QuickBird, the new probe can store more images because it has a larger onboard system. it is expected to be in operation for about seven years.

Today’s launch occurred on the 60th anniversary of the US Air Force.

“What better way to celebrate our 60 years of service to this nation than to have the opportunity to launch a payload into space,” Colonel Steve Tanous, 30th Space Wing commander, said in a statement.

AP