Next-gen WorldView-2 satellite employs ITT imaging payload

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., 26 Feb. 2008. ITT Corp.'s Space Systems Division based in Rochester, N.Y., has shipped the next-generation commercial imaging payload for DigitalGlobe's WorldView-2 commercial remote sensing satellite. The WorldView-2 imaging payload is the second such system engineered and manufactured by ITT Space Systems Division for DigitalGlobe.

WorldView-1 was launched in September 2007 and has been providing the highest resolution images ever captured by a commercial imaging system, says a company representative. WorldView-2 will provide eight-band multispectral, full-color images for enhanced mapping and monitoring applications.

ITT's contribution includes the design and manufacture of the electro-optical assembly (camera and telescope), the detectors and focal plane assembly, as well as high-speed digital processing electronics. Once deployed, the imaging system will take pan-sharpened, multispectral images of the earth with better than 0.5-meter resolution from almost 500 miles above the Earth.

"The WorldView-2 imaging payload is the most advanced to date and will supply unprecedented detail and geospatial accuracy, further expanding the applications for satellite imagery in both commercial and government markets," says Rob Mitrevski, vice president and director, commercial and space sciences, ITT Space Systems Division.

In addition to the two satellites named above, ITT also supplied the imaging system for GeoEye-1 and has received initial funding to supply another system for GeoEye-2.