QuickBird
Organization | DigitalGlobe |
---|---|
NSSDC ID | 2001-047A |
SATCAT | 26953 |
Mission Type | Earth observation |
Contractor | Ball Aerospace & Technologies[1] |
Satellite of | Earth |
Launch date | October 18, 2001, 18:51 UTC |
Rocket | Delta 7320-10 D288 |
Launch site | Vandenberg SLC-2W |
Design life | 5 years[2] |
Mission duration | 13 years and 2 months |
Launch mass | 1,100 kg (2,400 lb)[2] |
Dry mass | 951 kg (2,097 lb) |
Decay date | January 27, 2015 |
Webpage | Official website |
Orbital elements | |
Semi-major axis | 6,828 kilometers (4,243 mi) |
Perigee | 460 kilometers (290 mi) |
Apogee | 464 kilometers (288 mi) |
Inclination | 97.2 degrees |
Eccentricity | 0.00029 |
Orbital period | 93.8 minutes |
Instruments | |
Visible cameras | 61 cm panchromatic
2.4 meter multispectral |
QuickBird was a high-resolution commercial Earth observation satellite,[3] owned by DigitalGlobe, launched in 2001 and reentered after orbit decay in 2015.[4] QuickBird used Ball Aerospace's Global Imaging System 2000 (BGIS 2000).[1] The satellite collected panchromatic (black and white) imagery at 61 centimeter resolution and multispectral imagery at 2.44- (at 450 km) to 1.63-meter (at 300 km) resolution, as orbit altitude is lowered during the end of mission life.[5]
At this resolution, detail such as buildings and other infrastructure are easily visible. However, this resolution is insufficient for working with smaller objects such as a license plate on a car. The imagery can be imported into remote sensing image processing software, as well as into GIS packages for analysis.
Contractors included Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Kodak and Fokker Space. Original plans called for a constellation of three QuickBird satellites scheduled to be in orbit by 2008. In the end, two QuickBird satellites, QuickBird I and II, made it to launch pad. However, only QuickBird II made it successfully into orbit (QuickBird I suffered launch failure). Thus QuickBird II satellite is usually referred to simply as QuickBird, and by the name QuickBird is usually meant the satellite QuickBird II.
Prior to QuickBird I and II, DigitalGlobe launched the EarlyBird 1 successfully in 1997 but the satellite lost communications after only four days in orbit due to power system failure.[2]
QuickBird I[edit]
The first QuickBird, QuickBird I (or QuickBird 1, QB 1, COSPAR 2000-074A) was launched 20 November 2000, by EarthWatch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia by a Kosmos-3M rocket. QB-1 failed to reach planned orbit due to launch vehicle failure and was declared a failure. The satellite re-entered next day still attached to the upper stage of the rocket.[6][7] The QB-1 satellite was in construction similar to QuickBird 2 satellite (described above and below in this article), which became later known simply as QuickBird.[8]
QuickBird II[edit]
QuickBird II (also QuickBird-2 or Quickbird 2, QB-2, COSPAR 2001-047A) or as it was later known, simply QuickBird, was launched for DigitalGlobe October 18, 2001 from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket.[2] The satellite was initially expected to collect at 1 meter resolution but after a license was granted in 2000 by the U.S. Department of Commerce / NASA, DigitalGlobe was able launch the QuickBird II with 0.61 meter panchromatic and 2.4 meter multispectral (previously planned 4 meter) resolution.[2][8]
Mission Extension[edit]
In April 2011, the Quickbird satellite was raised from an orbit of 450 km (280 mi) to 482 km (300 mi).[9] The process, started in March 2011, extended the satellite's life. Before the operation the useful life of Quickbird was expected to drop off around mid-2012 but after the successful mission, the new orbit prolonged the satellite life into early 2015.
Decaying[edit]
The last picture was acquired on December 17, 2014. On January 27, 2015, QuickBird re-entered Earth's atmosphere.
Specifications[edit]
Sensors
- 60 cm (24 in) (1.37 μrad) panchromatic at nadir
- 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) (5.47 μrad) multispectral at nadir
- MS Channels: blue (450–520 nm), green (520–600 nm), red (630–690 nm), near-IR (760–890 nm)[10]
Swath width and area size
- Nominal swath width: 18 km at nadir
- Accessible ground swath: 544 km centered on the satellite ground track (to 30° off nadir)
- Area of interest
- Single area: 18 km by 18 km
- Strip: 18 km by 360 km
Orbit
- Altitude (original): 450 km – 97.2 degree sun synchronous circular orbit[2]
- Altitude (post-orbit modification): 482 km – 98 degree sun synchronous inclination
- Revisit frequency: 1 to 3.5 days depending on latitude at 60 cm resolution[10]
- Viewing angle: Agile spacecraft, in-track and cross-track pointing[10]
- Period 94.2 minutes
On-board storage
- 128 Gigabit capacity (approximately 57 single area images)
Spacecraft
- Fueled for 7 years, design life 5 years
- 2100 lb (950 kg), 3.04 m (10 ft) in length
Launch[edit]
- Launch Date: October 18, 2001[2]
- Launch Window: 1851–1906 GMT (1451–1506 EDT)
- Launch Vehicle: Delta II
- Launch Site: SLC-2W, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
- USAF Designation: Quickbird 2.[11]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Ball Aerospace: QuickBird
- ^ a b c d e f g "QuickBird-2". EOPortal.org. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
- ^ Digitalglobe: QuickBird Archived May 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "End of an Era – QuickBird's Final Image | Seeing a Better World™". Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
- ^ "DigitalGlobe Data Sheet: Quickbird" (PDF). DigitalGlobe.com. DigitalGlobe. February 12, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
- ^ DigitalGlode History – QuickBird I Archived September 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details".
- ^ a b "Quickbird 1, 2 (QB 1, 2)".
- ^ "DigitalGlobe Completes Quickbird Satellite Orbit Raise". DigitalGlobe News Room. April 18, 2011. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
- ^ a b c "QuickBird 2 was successfully launched on 18 Oct 2001". Center for Remote Imaging, Sensing & Processing. 2001. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
- ^ Mehuron, Tamar A. (August 2008). "2008 USAF Space Almanac – Major Civilian Satellites in Military Use" (PDF). Air Force Magazine. Vol. 91, no. 8. Pub: Air Force Association. pp. 49–50.
External links[edit]
- DigitalGlobe – QuickBird specifications
- Ball Aerospace