WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a pair of Maxar Intelligence imaging satellites Aug. 15 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
The mission named Maxar-2 lifted off at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. It is the second of three launches needed to deliver the company’s constellation of six WorldView Legion high-resolution imaging satellites. A Falcon 9 launched the first two May 2 from Vandenberg Space force Base, California. The first images from those satellites were released last month.
Maxar-2 was SpaceX’s 79th launch of 2024 and marked the 16th flight of the Falcon 9 first stage booster which flew back to Cape Canaveral about eight minutes after liftoff.
Maxar-2 carries the third and fourth WorldView Legion satellites operated by Maxar Intelligence, an Earth observation company based in Westminster, Colorado. They are the first Maxar satellites launched into mid-inclination orbit, allowing them to observe areas between 45-degrees north and 45-degrees south latitude, providing coverage of most populated regions. This inclination enables frequent revisits over a wide range of latitudes. The first two WorldView Legion satellites are in a near-polar orbit.
WorldView Legion are electro-optical imaging satellites — with resolution of 30 centimeters — used to collect imagery and map the planet. Maxar Intelligence is the U.S. government’s primary provider of commercial electro-optical imagery. The company in 2022 won a $3.2 billion contract from the National Reconnaissance Office to supply imagery and mapping services over a decade.
Sandra Erwin writes about military space programs, policy, technology and the industry that supports this sector. She has covered the military, the Pentagon, Congress and the defense industry for nearly two decades as editor of NDIA’s National Defense…
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