AAAS Science and Human Rights Program

Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights

New Satellites

New satellites are constantly being created and deployed, allowing us to access imagery of more of the world, more often. Below is a list of those that are in development and will be available soon and their technical specifications.

Orbview-5

Orbimage

Satellite Country Launch Pan res (m) MS res (m) Swath (km) OrbView5 US 3/16/07 0.41 1.64 15

Revisit Time: Less than 3 days

Imaging Mode Panchromatic Multispectral Imaging Channels 1 channel 4 channels Spectral Range 450-900 nm Blue 450-520 nm Green 520-600 nm Red 625-695 nm NIR 760-900 nm

World View-1

Digital Globe

Satellite Country Launch Pan res (m) MS res (m) Swath (km) World View-1 US 2007 0.45 x 16

Revisit Time: 1.7 days at 1 m GSD or less; 5.9 days at 20º off-nadir or less (51 cm GSD)

World View-2

Digital Globe

Satellite Country Launch Pan res (m) MS res (m) Swath (km) World View-2 US 07/01/08 0.46 1.8 16.4

Bands: R, B, G, NIR, coastal, yellow, Red Edge, NIR2
Revisit Time: 1.1 days at 1 m GSD or less; 3.7 days at 20º off-nadir or less (52 cm GSD)

RadarSat2

RadarSat

Satellite Country Launch Pan res (m) MS res (m) Swath (km) RadarSat2 Canada 12/15/06 3.00 x x

Revisit Time: 24 days, 14 orbits per day
Spatial Resolution: 3 to 100 meters

TerraSAR

ESA EarthWatch

Satellite Country Launch Pan res (m) MS res (m) Swath (km) TerraSAR X Germany 10/31/06 1.00 x x

Revisit Time: 11 days

Satellite Country Launch Pan res (m) MS res (m) Swath (km) TerraSAR L Germany 08/15/08 1.00 x x

Band L

Pleiades

Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales

Satellite Country Launch Pan res (m) MS res (m) Swath (km) Pleiades-HR 1 France 07/01/08 0.70 2.8 20

Satellite Country Launch Pan res (m) MS res (m) Swath (km) Pleiades-HR 2 France 2010 0.70 2.8 20

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(page updated 09/25/2007)