Maxar WorldView Legion Satellites: The Successful Launch & Its Impact on EO Applications in Europe
- Zuzana Hajkova, Content Marketing Coordinator, EUSI
- 29 November, 2024
WorldView Legion satellites collect at 30 cm-class resolution, offer 8 spectral bands (some of which are different from WorldView-3), and increase Maxar’s imaging capacity to 6.6 million km2 a day. What are the specifications of the imagery? What technical innovations make the satellites smaller yet as powerful as their predecessors? And how does their unprecedented revisit rate transform critical sectors like defence and disaster response? Learn about the technical parameters and real-world applications of Maxar WorldView Legion in this article.
Current status and launch timeline
May 2024: Two satellites were launched on a sun-synchronous orbit. In July, several sets of images were released, and in October 2024, the satellites entered commercial operations.
August 2024: Two more satellites, this time in mid-inclination orbits, were launched. The first images have been released and the satellites are currently in the process of commissioning and calibration (as of 29 November 2024).
Future Deployments: The launch of another pair of satellites is planned for late 2024. The satellites are already built and undergoing final testing before being shipped to the launch site. The seventh and eight satellites are already fully funded and planned for 2027.
Timeline of the WorldView Legion satellites launches
Technical innovations in the WorldView Legion satellites
WorldView Legion satellites are smaller and lighter than their predecessors and yet have significant power, which leads to maximum cost efficiency. This is possible thanks to several innovations:
- A new dispenser – a platform that allows the satellites to launch from the rocket. This allows them to be smaller and have more flexibility.
- Advanced focal plane technology makes it possible to differentiate and expose the multispectral bands more clearly.
- Maxar 500 series bus and a new telescope allow for the design and deployment of smaller satellites with capabilities similar to those of the bigger ones. As a result, they are much more efficient.
WorldView Legion imagery specifications in comparison to the WorldView Legacy satellites
Users across Europe are used to the satellite imagery from the WorldView Legacy satellites: GeoEye-1, WorldView-1, WorldView-2 and WorldView-3. How does WorldView Legion compare to them?
In almost all parameters, the satellites are very similar. The resolution of WorldView Legion is very high (30 cm), the image width is 10 km, and the life expectancy is around 10 years. The geolocational accuracy of the imagery remains unmatched, offering the same high-quality performance customers have come to expect from Maxar’s WorldView-3: CE90 <5 m / 1.5 m RMSE.
Technical specifications of WorldView Legion compared to WorldView-3
One standout feature is the inclusion of eight multispectral bands which are slightly different from the Legacy satellites. While WorldView-3 provided one Red Edge band and two NIR bands, WorldView Legion has two Red Edge bands and one NIR band. This change improves applications such as vegetation analysis or land cover mapping.
Spectral bands of Maxar WorldView satellites
WorldView Legion is the first 30 cm-class sensor in mid-inclined orbit
What really sets the WorldView Legion satellites apart is the combination of sun-synchronous and mid-inclined orbits, which leads to an enormous increase in collection capacity and daily revisit rate.
Daily revisit rate of the Maxar Constellation
Just like the majority of commercially available VHR satellites, the first two WorldView Legion satellites are in sun-synchronous orbits – they cover all latitudes around the same time, which is around 10:30 local time. In contrast, the next four WorldView Legion satellites have mid-inclination orbits of 45 degrees. This means that within -45 and +45 degrees of latitude, they capture images at varying times throughout the day.
This strategy leads to more images of critical areas and, for the first time, the ability to provide full daytime coverage in 30 cm. For industries like defence and emergency response, this capability is a game-changer. It brings the possibility of:
- same-day imaging of developing events
- monitoring activity throughout the day
- planning around regular and irregular weather
The CEO of Maxar Intelligence, Dan Smoot, commented on the increased abilities in Maxar’s press release:
“Having multiple WorldView Legion satellites in MIO dramatically increases our ability to collect high-resolution, 30 cm-class imagery across more times of day and gain more visibility in areas that face frequent weather events like morning fog.”
Doubling capacity, tripling impact
The six deployed WorldView Legion satellites will nearly double Maxar’s overall capacity, triple the capacity over high-demand regions, and more than triple the capacity to collect 30 cm-class imagery. This enables up to 15 revisits per day in some locations, and enables collections at different times during the day.
By the end of 2025, the capacity of Maxar satellites will have increased to 6.6 million km2 a day.
Combined with the abilities given by EUSI’s upgraded ground station, which allows for managing several parallel NRT orders, we will be able to address customer requests that require NRT monitoring. For example:
- Emergency responders can now receive actionable imagery up to 15 minutes after collection, several times a day.
- Environmental monitoring efforts benefit from daily imaging opportunities, allowing for consistent tracking of changes and events.
- Border security and maritime surveillance agencies can monitor critical areas throughout the day, adapting quickly to developing situations.
EUSI tasking WorldView Legion satellites
Together with Maxar, we spent more than 1 year upgrading our ground station and optimising our operational workflows. Now, we’re directly tasking and downlinking the WorldView Legion satellites.
What upgrades have we already implemented?
- In the last year, we improved our NRT capabilities from 30 min to 15 min.
- We managed the parallel processing of several NRT orders at once.
- We improved the production capabilities and connectivity with third-party applications.
“Local downlink of data from the WorldView Legion satellites in the heart of the region will have significant impacts on high frequency, low latency data access for key users and prove crucial to aiding in European goals for safety, security and sustainability.”
The speed of delivery is crucial for many customers, especially in the field of defence and security where institutional customers have the stringent requirements. We developed and improved our infrastructure and workflows to meet their demands.
Real-world impacts across industries: 2 examples of projects with vs without Legion
The enhanced revisit rates and imaging capabilities of WorldView Legion are already proving transformative. Here are two examples:
1. Wildlife conservation project in Scotland
Historically, tracking deer populations was limited to narrow imaging windows dictated by weather and animal behaviour. To capture the animals, we needed not only a cloud-free day, but also the animals in the open around 10:30am or 1pm when the satellites pass. It would be challenging anywhere in the world, let alone in cloudy Scotland.
➡️ With WorldView Legion satellites, we can collect data throughout the day and capture the deer during active morning and early evening periods. Moreover, the every-day and intra-day access allows faster project completion despite difficult weather situations.
Maxar WorldView Legion enables collections at different times of the day and increases the chance of avoiding clouds. Satellite imagery © 2024 Maxar Technologies provided by European Space Imaging
2. Earthquake response in Turkey
In February 2023, a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit South-eastern Anatolia, causing approximately 60,000 deaths in Turkey and Syria. The disaster occurred on 6 February at 13:27 UTC. Three hours later, at 16:43, we received an EMS activation with 21 AOIs, which we collected and rapidly delivered within the following three days (7–9 February).
➡️ Our calculation shows that with WorldView Legion, we would be able to cover all 21 AOIs by 7 February 12:07 – less than 24 hours after the event.
With WorldView Legion satellites and EUSI’s upgraded ground station, the response and delivery become significantly faster.
Benefits for small and medium-sized enterprises
The Maxar WorldView Legion satellites don’t benefit only large government projects – they mean better service for everyone. They bring:
- higher access rates with fewer tasking conflicts in high-demand regions
- higher flexibility to weather conditions
- significant increase in 30 cm and 8 band opportunities
- rapidly growing archive
Download sample WorldView Legion data
Unlock free samples of Maxar WorldView Legion data right now. Simply click the link and complete the download form to get started.
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