SpaceX launches second round of Maxar's next-gen satellites into orbit

Aug. 15 (UPI) -- SpaceX on Thursday successfully launched into orbit two Earth-imaging satellites in its second round to build on its WorldView Legion constellation of satellites for Maxar.

The launch took place at 9 a.m. EDT at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. WorldView's Legion 3 and 4 satellites were carried into space on top of a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 in what was the Falcon's 16th launch.

Liftoff of @Maxar 2! pic.twitter.com/FYnti1LmH7 — SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 15, 2024

The Space Force 45th Weather Squadron originally predicted an 80% chance of favorable weather for the launch window, only to drop to 70% just before liftoff.

SpaceX confirmed one satellite deployment about 50 minutes into its flight and the deployment of the second satellite launched Thursday was confirmed shortly afterward. The Falcon 9's first stage also landed successfully about eight minutes after liftoff.

The $700 million WorldView Legion satellites are next-gen high-performance satellites that allow Maxar to provide imagery and data to intelligence, defense and commercial customers.

The satellite constellation itself will consist of six satellites. In May, SpaceX launched the first two into orbit.

Maxar Intelligence is a division of Maxar Technologies. Maxar became a private company in 2022 in a billion-dollar deal in an acquisition led by private equity firm Advent International.

The Maxar Space Systems-built satellites are the first in the Maxar 500 series, a mid-size platform built in Palo Alto and San Jose, Calif. The satellites will dramatically increase the capacity to revisit rapidly changing areas on Earth up to 15 times per day.

Utilizing cameras built by Ratheon to provide record panchromatic resolutions of up to 0.29 meters and able to photograph the same locations 40 times per day, once all launched, Maxar Intelligence's capacity for collecting 30 cm-class and multispectral imagery will triple.

"When all six WorldView Legion satellites are launched, it will triple Maxar Intelligence's capacity to collect 30-centimeter-class [12 inches] and multispectral imagery," Maxar officials wrote.

The company added the full Maxar constellation of 10 electro-optical satellites "will image the most rapidly changing areas on Earth as frequently as every 20 to 30 minutes, from sunup to sundown."