After two weeks in space, DigitalGlobe sent its first WorldView-3 pics. The first images released show an airport and neighborhoods in Madrid.
The satellite is remarkable for its ability to collect images sharp down to a scale of 11.8 inches, which is enough for it to tell a tomato plant from a shrub and a sedan from an SUV. “You can actually definitely see (car) windshields,” DigitalGlobe director of next generation products Kumar Navulur said before the launch. “We can actually tell you whether it’s a truck or an SUV or a regular car. We can identify pictures of a baseball diamond.”
Because of U.S. Department of Commerce restrictions, DigitalGlobe had to “re-sample” the images it took up to 40-centimeter resolution, although ultimately the images the company produces and sells will be 30-centimeter, the highest-resolution imagery that will be available on any commercial satellite.
Be sure to keep your garden ready as the satellite may pass over your town anytime !
