WorldView-3 Imager

Four-subsystem multispectral pushbroom imager on the WorldView-3 satellite, operated by Vantor (formerly Maxar Intelligence / DigitalGlobe). Launched 13 August 2014 aboard Atlas V 401 into a 617 km sun-synchronous orbit at 97.97 degrees inclination. Imager built by ITT Exelis (now L3Harris Technologies) on a Ball Aerospace BCP-5000 spacecraft. Four focal plane array subsystems: panchromatic at 0.31 m GSD (450-800 nm); 8-band VNIR multispectral at 1.24 m GSD (397-1039 nm); 8-band SWIR multispectral at 3.70 m GSD (1195-2365 nm); 12-band CAVIS at 30 m GSD (405-2245 nm) for atmospheric correction. Commercial, tasked-acquisition only, no open archive. The 3.70 m SWIR subsystem is the only operational commercial imager capable of resolving alteration mineral assemblages at outcrop scale, making WV-3 the standard tool for drill-target confirmation after regional hyperspectral surveys. Operational since 2014, exceeded 7.25-year design life, estimated service life 10-12 years.