Worldview-1 is an Earth-imaging satellite that was designed to collect up to 290,000 square miles worth of imagery a day. The information gathered will be used by governments and companies to assess the damage after the occurrence of a natural disaster or plan escape routes even before a catastrophe strikes. The satellite is said to be capable of zooming in objects as small as 18 inches across.

It is the first of two advanced remote sensing satellites that Digital Globe plans to launch. Digital Globe manages an earlier launched commercial satellite but the Worldview-1’s resolution is only slightly higher as the new probe can store more images because of its larger onboard system. It supplies much of Google Earth’s imagery.