|
IKONOS Satellite
 Space
Imaging made history on September 24, 1999 when it launched into
space from the Athena II rocket the IKONOS, the world’s first commercial,
high-resolution imaging satellite, from Vandenberg Air Force Base
in California. Spacecraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin, investors
in the IKONOS system include Lockheed Martin Corporation, Raytheon
Company, Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation, Singapore’s Van Der Horst
Ltd., Korea’s Hyundai Space & Aircraft, Europe’s Remote Sensing
Affiliates, Swedish Space Corporation, and Thailand’s Loxley
Public Company Ltd.
IKONOS is derived from the Greek word for “image.” Driven by an
increasing market need for detailed, accurate satellite imagery
for a multitude of important applications, such as mapping, agriculture
monitoring, and urban planning, the IKONOS satellite is the first
of its kind with the capability to simultaneously collect 1-meter
resolution panchromatic (black & white) images and 4-meter resolution
multispectral (color) images. Designed to take digital images of
the Earth from 680 kilometers up and moving at a speed of about
seven kilometers per second, the satellite camera can distinguish
objects on the Earth’s surface as small as one square meter. The
IKONOS satellite revolves around the Earth in a sun-synchronous
orbit once every 98 minutes in 14 revolutions total, passes a given
longitude at about the same local time of 10:30 a.m. daily, and
can produce 1-meter imagery of the same geography every three days.
Image collection can be taken in a swath of 700 kilometers at the
minimum collection area of 100 square kilometers, and a maximum
of 10,000 square kilometers per pass. The satellite is expected
to have an operational life of more than seven years.
|
