| Overview |
The GeoEye-1 Satellite sensor was developed by GeoEye and features the most sophisticated technology ever used in a commercial remote sensing system.
GeoEye-1 is capable of acquiring image data at 0.41 meter panchromatic (B&W) and 1.65 meter multispectral resolution. It also features a revisit time of less than three days, as well as the ability to locate an object within just three meters of its physical location.
This newly developed sensor is optimized for large projects, as it can collect over 350,000 square kilometers of pan-sharpened multispectral satellite imagery every day. |
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| About GeoEye-1 |
| Resolution |
GeoEye-1 has the highest resolution of any commercial imaging system and can collect images with a ground resolution of 0.41-meters or 16 inches in the panchromatic or black and white mode. It collects multispectral or color imagery at 1.65-meter resolution or about 64 inches, a factor of two better than existing commercial satellites with four-band multispectral imaging capabilities. While the satellite collects imagery at 0.41-meters, Operating license from the U.S. Government requires re-sampling the imagery to 0.5-meter for all customers not explicitly granted a waiver by the U.S. Government.
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| Accuracy |
Besides unsurpassed spatial resolution of 0.41-meters or about 16 inches, GeoEye-1 offers three-meter geolocation accuracy, which means that customers can map natural and man-made features to within three meters (about 9 feet) of their actual location on the surface of the Earth without ground control points. This degree of inherent accuracy has never been achieved in any commercial imaging system and will remain unchallenged even when next-generation commercial systems are launched in the coming years.
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| Camera |
| GeoEye-1’s optical telescope, detectors, focal plane assemblies and high-speed digital processing electronics are capable of processing 700 million pixels per second. GeoEye-1's agile camera allows for side-to-side extensions of the camera's 15.2 kilometer (9.44 miles)-wide swath width or multiple images of the same target during a single pass to create a stereo picture. The camera and electronics represent a 5-times gain in power efficiency, a 10-times improvement in weight efficiency and 3-times advance in cost efficiency. |
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| GeoEye-1 Fact Sheet |
| Camera Modes |
- Simultaneous panchromatic and multispectral (pan-sharpened)
- Panchromatic only
- Multispectral only
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| Resolution |
0.41 m / 1.34 ft* panchromatic (nominal at Nadir)
1.65 m / 5.41 ft* multispectral (nominal at Nadir) |
| Metric Accuracy/Geolocation |
CE stereo: 2 m / 6.6 ft
LE stereo: 3 m / 9.84 ft
CE mono: 2.5 m / 8.20 ft
These are specified as 90% CE (circular error) for the horizontal and 90% LE (linear error) for the vertical with no ground control points (GCP's) |
| Swath Widths & Representative Area Sizes |
- Nominal swath width - 15.2 km / 9.44 mi at Nadir
- Single-point scene - 225 sq km (15x15 km)
- Contiguous large area - 15,000 sq km (300x50 km)
- Contiguous 1° cell size areas - 10,000 sq km
(100x100 km)
- Contiguous stereo area - 6,270 sq km (224x28 km)
(Area assumes pan mode at highest line rate) |
| Imaging Angle |
Capable of imaging in any direction |
| Revisit Frequency at 684 km Altitude (40° Latitude Target) |
| Max Pan GSD (m) |
Off Nadir Look Angle (deg) |
Average Revisit (days) |
| 0.42 |
10 |
8.3 |
| 0.50 |
28 |
2.8 |
| 0.59 |
35 |
2.1 |
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| Daily Monoscopic Area Collection Capacity |
Up to 700,000 sq km/day (270,271 sq mi/day) of pan area (about the size of Texas). Up to 350,000 sq km/day (135,135 sq mi/day) of pan-sharpened multispectral area (about the size of New Mexico) |
| * Data reflects ground sample distance resolution at Nadir for exclusive use by the U.S. government and any foreign government that the U.S. government may designate. Imagery sold to commercial customers will be resampled to 0.5-meter resolution. |
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| TECHNICAL INFORMATION |
| Launch Vehicle |
Delta II |
| Launch Vehicle Manufacturer |
Boeing Corporation |
| Launch Location |
Vandenberg Air Force Base, California |
| Satellite Weight |
1955 kg / 4310 lbs |
| Satellite Storage and Downlink |
1 Terabit recorder; X-band downlink (at 740 mb/sec or 150 mb/sec) |
| Operational Life |
Fully redundant 7+ year design life; fuel for 15 years |
| Satellite Modes of Operation |
- Store and forward
- Real-time image and downlink
- Direct uplink with real-time downlink
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| Orbital Altitude |
681 kilometers / 423 miles |
| Orbital Velocity |
About 7.5 km/sec or 17,000 mi/hr |
| Inclination/Equator Crossing Time |
98 degrees / 10:30am |
| Orbit type/period |
Sun-synchronous / 98 minutes |
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