A high-resolution commercial Earth-imaging satellite was launched into polar orbit Thursday.
A Delta 2 rocket carrying DigitalGlobe Inc.'s WorldView-2 satellite lifted off at 11:51 a.m. PDT and arced south over the Pacific Ocean.
The satellite separated from the rocket and entered an orbit 477 miles high.
The spacecraft is DigitalGlobe's third remote-sensing satellite. It was designed to provide images with higher levels of feature identification and to more accurately show the world's natural colors.
Company spokeswoman KC Higgins said the launch was a success and WorldView-2's first commercial imagery is expected to be available in 90 days.
Longmont, Colo.-based DigitalGlobe provides world images for defense and intelligence, civil governments and commercial clients. It will report its third-quarter financial results on Nov. 9.
WorldView-2 was built by Ball Aerospace of Boulder, Colo. The Delta 2 was provide by the United Launch Alliance and launch services were administered by Boeing.
___
On the Net:
DigitalGlobe: http://www.digitalglobe.com/
