Collecting Images with GeoEye-1

GeoEye-1 is equipped with the most advanced technology, capabilities and support ever used in a commercial remote sensing system, including sensor-agnostic capabilities that allow us to merge raw data from a range of sensors to create superior, precise imagery products. Here are the basics:

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Resolution

The satellite collects images at .41-meter panchromatic (black and white) and 1.65-meter multispectral resolution. (NOAA requires GeoEye to resample images to .50-meter resolution for commercial use.) At .41 meters (about 16 inches), we can see home plate on a baseball field. Learn more about high-resolution satellite imagery from GeoEye-1 here.

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Accuracy

GeoEye-1 offers five-meter geolocation accuracy, which means that customers can map natural and man-made features to within five meters (about sixteen feet) of their actual location on the surface of the Earth. No other commercial imaging system can do this.

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Agility

It stands two stories high and weighs more than two tons, but GeoEye-1 can rotate and swivel in any direction with unrivaled agility. As it trains its ITT camera on multiple targets during a single orbital pass, it collects an incredible amount of imagery.

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Orbit

GeoEye-1 is a polar orbiting, sun-synchronous satellite that moves with an orbital velocity of about 7.5 km per second (16,800 miles per hour). Its altitude is 681 kilometers or 423 miles. Each day, it orbits the Earth 15 times, passing over each area at about 10:30 a.m. local time.

To download an animated PowerPoint slide demonstrating our collection paths, click here. (Save File as .ppsx to view in Full Screen Mode)

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Frequency

Because of its altitude, sun-synchronous orbit, field of view and superior resolution, GeoEye-1 can revisit any point on Earth every three days or sooner (depending on the required look angle). It takes 98 minutes to travel from pole to pole.

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Volume

Every day, the satellite collects up to 700,000 square kilometers (about the size of Texas) in panchromatic mode and up to 350,000 square kilometers (about the size of New Mexico) in multispectral mode. This capability is ideal for large-scale mapping projects.

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Central Command

GeoEye's centralized command and control ground station facility in Herndon, Virginia sends tasking and operating commands to GeoEye-1 and receives encrypted data downlinks. GeoEye operates or leases three other stations in Barrow, Alaska; Tromso, Norway; and Troll, Antarctica. The four ground stations provide the primary data reception needed due to the large volume of imagery that is captured by the satellite. The Thornton, Colorado regional operational facility serves as a back-up ground station for GeoEye-1.

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Visit the GeoEye 101 video gallery to see GeoEye-1 in action.