WorldView-2

WorldView-2 provides 0.46-meter panchromatic resolution at nadir, meaning objects approximately 18 inches across can be distinguished. Its multispectral resolution is 1.84 meters at nadir. The satellite operates at an altitude of 770 kilometers in a sun-synchronous orbit, providing high-quality imagery for commercial and government customers worldwide.

WorldView-2 was the first high-resolution satellite to offer 8-band multispectral imaging, adding Coastal Blue, Yellow, Red Edge, and Near-Infrared 2 bands to the standard Blue, Green, Red, and Near-Infrared 1. The Coastal Blue band enables shallow water depth measurement, Red Edge supports vegetation health analysis, and Yellow helps with plant species identification. These additional bands provide more spectral information than any previous commercial high-resolution satellite.

WorldView-2 is operated by Maxar Technologies (formerly DigitalGlobe), a U.S. commercial satellite imagery company headquartered in Westminster, Colorado. The satellite's imagery is sold to government agencies, defense organizations, and commercial customers through various licensing tiers. Following DigitalGlobe's acquisition by MDA in 2017, the combined company rebranded as Maxar in 2018.

WorldView-1, launched in 2007, offered 0.46-meter panchromatic resolution but lacked multispectral capability, while WorldView-2 added 8-band multispectral imaging at 1.84 meters. WorldView-2 also improved upon WorldView-1's revisit time, allowing an average revisit of 1.1 days compared to 1.7 days for its predecessor. Both satellites operate in similar sun-synchronous orbits but were optimized for different types of imaging tasks.