BlackSky Pathfinder-1 is an

Earth imaging satellite An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, me ...

. The satellite is equipped with payloads from

Harris Corporation Harris Corporation was an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology services provider that produced wireless equipment, tactical radios, electronic systems, night vision equipment and both terrestrial and spaceb ...

designed to image an area approximately . It is a demonstration satellite for BlackSky Global, a

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

-based company intending to field a fleet of 60 spacecraft to offer on-demand high-resolution images of any place on the planet. The U.S.-built Earth observing platform weighed about , and will lay the foundation for BlackSky's commercial remote sensing business, which officials announced in June 2015. The main objective of the pathfinder is to return imagery, an achievement that would prove the basic technology behind the planned commercial Earth-observing satellite fleet. The satellite is designed for three-year lifetimes and will have an imaging resolution of about from an

altitude Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...

of . This is first in a series of 30 satellites planned to deploy the BlackSky constellation that will provide near real-time images in about 90 minutes to produce images that are more current and wide-ranging to increase global transparency. The satellite was launched at 03:42 UTC on 26 September 2016 by

Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...

(ISRO) using the

PSLV-C35 PSLV-C35 was the successful mission of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle program which set eight satellites in space. It was launched on 26 September 2016 by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Srihar ...

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...

References

{{Orbital launches in 2016, state=collapsed Earth observation satellites of the United States Spacecraft launched by PSLV rockets Spacecraft launched in 2016 Earth imaging satellites Commercial Earth imaging satellites Technology demonstration satellites