Launched into space on September 24, 1999 from a pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California (CA), USA, IKONOS is the world’s first high resolution commercially-available satellite with imagery exceeding 1-meter (m) resolution. Originally owned by Space Imaging and now a part of GeoEye’s constellation of high resolution satellites, IKONOS features 82-centimeter (cm) panchromatic and 3.2-m 4-band multispectral resolution (i.e. blue, green, red and near-infrared). IKONOS orbits our planet at 681 kilometers (km), or the approximate distance from Los Angeles to San Francisco, CA. Until 2007, IKONOS was the industry’s most agile satellite with the ability to image large sections of land about every 3 days.

Key Satellite Specifications of IKONOS

• IKONOS Spectral Bands: panchromatic & 4-band multispectral (RGB + NIR)
• IKONOS Resolution: 82-cm panchromatic & 3.2-m multispectral
• IKONOS Average Revisit Time: 3 days (varies with latitude)
• IKONOS Footprint Width: 11.3-km (at nadir)
• IKONOS Launch Date: September 24, 1999