New-age Ball spy satellite tests A-OK
Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News
Monday, July 30, 2007
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. said it has completed the final assembly and testing of a next-generation commercial spy satellite for DigitalGlobe and will deliver the spacecraft for a mid-September launch.
The high-resolution spacecraft will be launched from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base.
The WorldView I satellite will be capable of photographing objects about 1 to 2 feet across. It will orbit a little more than 300 miles in space.
WorldView I initially had been scheduled for launch in 2006. But that was pushed back because of a delay involving a camera-related component.
"It was a parts supply issue," said DigitalGlobe spokesman Chuck Herring,
Longmont-based DigitalGlobe currently operates one high-resolution satellite — QuickBird — that can photograph objects down to 3 feet in diameter or less.
Boulder-based Ball Aerospace also is building a second next-generation spy satellite for DigitalGlobe, dubbed WorldView II. In a news release, Ball Aerospace said the satellite would be be ready for launch in late 2008.
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