WorldView Legion Satellite
Maxar launched the first two WorldView Legion satellites in May 2024, and released the first images in July 2024. On August 15, 2024, Maxar confirmed that its third and fourth WorldView Legion satellites, part of a first block of six, are functioning well after being launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida. Maxar plans to launch the fifth and sixth WorldView Legion satellites in the coming months. These six satellites will enhance Maxar's imagery capabilities by tripling the collection of 30 cm-class imagery, increasing the daily collection capacity to 6 million square kilometers, and enabling up to 15 revisits per day of some locations on Earth.
Features
Here are some of the key features of the WorldView Legion satellite constellation:
Legion satellites capture images at a native resolution of 30 cms, which means that each pixel represents a 30 cm x 30 cm area on the ground. This high resolution allows for detailed analysis of urban areas, infrastructure, and natural features.
The Legion constellation is designed to provide frequent revisits of the same location, enabling monitoring of rapidly changing features like construction sites, natural disasters, or agricultural fields.
Maxar plans to launch a large number of Legion satellites, ensuring global coverage and frequent revisits even in remote areas.
Legion satellites are incredibly maneuverable and can be repositioned to cover specific areas of interest or respond to urgent events.
Legion satellites are equipped with high-speed data transmission capabilities, allowing for quick delivery of imagery to users.
Maxar's advanced image processing techniques enhance the quality and usability of Legion imagery.
Legion imagery can be easily integrated with other geospatial data and analysis tools.
Benefits
WorldView Legion offers several key benefits because of its high resolution and frequent revisit capabilities:
The 30 cm resolution enables precise analysis of urban areas, infrastructure, and natural features.
Frequent revisits allow for the monitoring of rapidly changing features such as construction sites, natural disasters, and agricultural fields.
The clear and current images help make well-informed decisions in different industries.
Legion imagery can help streamline operations and improve efficiency in industries like agriculture, urban planning, and disaster response.
While satellite imagery can be expensive, the high resolution and frequent revisits provided by WorldView Legion can justify the investment for many applications.
The extensive constellation provides worldwide coverage, enabling the monitoring of remote or hard-to-reach areas.
Design and specifications
Launch Information
Date: May, 2024
Orbit
Altitude: 518 km
Type: sun-synchronous and mid-inclination
Mission Life
Expected service life: >10 years
Spacecraft Size, Mass and Power
Size: ~3 m tall x ~2 m x ~2 m (not including width of solar array)
Dry mass: ~630 kg
Sensor Bands
Panchromatic: 450 - 800 nm
8 Multispectral
Coastal Blue: 400 - 450 nm
Blue: 450 - 510 nm
Green: 510 - 580 nm
Yellow: 585 - 625 nm
Red: 630 - 690 nm
Red Edge1: 695 - 715 nm
Red Edge2: 730 - 750 nm
Near-IR: 770 - 895 nm
Sensor Resolution
Panchromatic nadir: 34 cm
Multispectral nadir: 1.36 m
National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS)
5.9
Swath Width
At nadir: 10.0 km
Geolocation Accuracy (CE90)
< 5 m CE90 without ground control points
<1.5 m RMSE
Click here to access the Maxar WorldView Legion data sheet.
