Longmont-based bid farewell to an old friend and trusty servant this week.
The company Friday confirmed that long-orbiting imaging satellite QuickBird II successfully deorbited after more than 13 years of service.
“The satellite made over 70,000 trips around the Earth, contributing substantially to DigitalGlobe’s unmatched imagery catalog, and thus our understanding of our changing planet,” DigitalGlobe said in a statement.
QuickBird II launched into orbit aboard a on Oct. 18, 2001.
Back then, the company was called EarthWatch. The company took the DigitalGlobe moniker in 2002, in an effort to better reflect the company’s goals of digitally imaging the planet.
QuickBird II provided panchromatic Earth imagery at 55-centimeter resolution — the cream of the crop at the time. In comparison, DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-3 satellite, which launched in August, can capture panchromatic images at 31-centimeter resolution — allowing viewer to discern, for example, of the windshield of a car and the direction the car is facing.
QuickBird II provided thousands of images of our planet used in environmental studies, oil and gas production, natural disaster recovery and military efforts.
The satellite initially orbited at an altitude of 450 km. In 2011, the QuickBird II was given a boost to an orbit of 482 km, which extended its life due to decreased fuel use. The higher a satellite orbits, the less fuel it needs to fight off Earth’s atmospheric drag.
QuickBird II began its “decay” on Jan. 27, 2014. A satellite’s “decay” period begins when it exits its planned orbit and begins its descent towards the celestial body it’s orbiting — in this case, Earth.
Although shows QuickBird II currently clinging to orbit below 250 km altitude, a DigitalGlobe spokesman said the satellite is completely down. The company could not confirm where it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere or if it completely burned up upon re-entry.
Laura Keeney: 303-954-1337, lkeeney@denverpost.com or twitter.com/LauraKeeney
