On August 15, two Maxar Intelligence imaging satellites were launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida by a SpaceX Falcon 9.
Liftoff of the Maxar-2 mission occurred at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. The company’s constellation of six high-resolution imaging satellites, called WorldView Legion, requires three launches, of which this is the second. The first two were launched on May 2 from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base by a Falcon 9. Last month, the satellites’ initial photos were made public.
The 16th flight of the Falcon 9 first stage rocket, which returned to Cape Canaveral around eight minutes after liftoff, was celebrated by SpaceX with its 79th launch of 2024, Maxar-2.
The successful deployment of both Maxar-2 satellites was confirmed by SpaceX around one hour and fifty minutes after launch.
These are the third and fourth WorldView Legion spacecraft, which are managed by Westminster, Colorado-based Maxar Intelligence, an Earth observation business. Since they are the first Maxar satellites to be launched into a mid-inclination orbit, they can see most of the populated regions between 45 degrees north and 45 degrees south latitude. Its inclination allows for repeated returns across a large latitude range. The orbit of the first two WorldView Legion satellites is close to the polar region.
The earth is mapped and imagery is gathered by the electro-optical imaging satellites known as WorldView Legion, which have a 30 centimeter resolution. Commercial electro-optical imagery is mostly provided by Maxar Intelligence to the US government. The National Reconnaissance Office awarded the business a $3.2 billion contract in 2022 to provide mapping and photography services over a ten-year period.
