Satellite image ©2017 DigitalGlobe

Today DigitalGlobe released images of Rocket Lab’s new Electron rocket on the pad at the company’s New Zealand launch site ahead of its launch attempt later today.

This is the rocket’s first test flight, and there is no satellite payload onboard. The image was captured by DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-2 satellite at approximately 10:23 a.m. on May 23, 2017, local New Zealand time. 

WorldView-2, launched October 2009, is the first high-resolution 8-band multispectral commercial satellite. Operating at an altitude of 770 kilometers, WorldView-2 provides 46 cm panchromatic resolution and 1.85 meter multispectral resolution. WorldView-2 has an average revisit time of 1.1 days and is capable of collecting up to 1 million square kilometers of 8-band imagery per day, greatly enhancing the DigitalGlobe multispectral collection capacity for more rapid and reliable collection.

The WorldView-2 system, offers accuracy, agility, capacity and spectral diversity, enabling DigitalGlobe to substantially expand its imagery product offerings to both commercial and government customers.

DigitalGlobe owns and operates a sophisticated constellation of high-resolution commercial Earth imaging satellites. Together, WorldView-1, GeoEye-1, WorldView-2, WorldView-3 and WorldView-4 are capable of collecting over one billion square kilometers of quality imagery per year and offering intraday revisits around the globe.