Maxar Intelligence plans to launch the final two satellites of its ambitious WorldView Legion constellation in early 2025. This launch will mark the completion of a six-spacecraft network designed for comprehensive Earth observation.
“We’re ready to go,” CEO Dan Smoot confirmed in a recent interview. He noted that Maxar is currently negotiating with SpaceX to finalize the launch schedule, acknowledging that the timeline remains flexible due to SpaceX's busy customer roster.
The deployment of WorldView Legion 5 and 6 concludes Maxar's strategic expansion, overcoming various development and production hurdles. Four WorldView Legion satellites were successfully launched earlier this year – two in May and another pair in August.
The third and fourth satellites were uniquely positioned in a mid-inclination orbit, enabling “dawn-to-dusk” image acquisition. This orbital configuration allows monitoring of regions between 45º north and 45º south latitude, encompassing approximately 90% of the global population.
“That’s new for Maxar,” Smoot highlighted. The company unveiled the first images from these mid-inclination satellites on November 19, with both spacecraft anticipated to commence customer missions shortly.
Maxar's existing infrastructure incorporates four legacy satellites and the initial two WorldView Legion spacecraft, all operating in sun-synchronous orbit. The final two satellites will join their predecessors in mid-inclination orbit, considerably augmenting the constellation’s coverage.
“Our constellation will be able to revisit some Earth locations up to 15 times a day,” Smoot emphasized.
Initial customer response to the first two operational WorldView Legion satellites has been exceptionally positive, particularly regarding image clarity, according to Smoot. He mentioned that clients are enthusiastically anticipating the expanded capacity offered by the complete constellation.
Maxar Intelligence is the leading provider of Earth observation imagery to the U.S. government, particularly for defense and national security purposes.
“We’re now focused on how we can use all this data to fuel our content and insights products, with a major focus on U.S. government and international customers,” Smoot concluded.