Two WorldView Legion satellites built by Maxar Space Systems for Maxar Intelligence arrived and are preparing for launch at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. These satellites will ride a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit as soon as April.

The first two WorldView Legion spacecraft are shown here at Maxar Space Systems’ manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, California, ahead of shipment to launch base.

These are the first two of six planned WorldView Legion satellites, which will enhance Maxar Intelligence’s constellation by delivering industry-leading resolution and accuracy. When all six WorldView Legion satellites are launched, it will triple Maxar Intelligence’s capacity to collect 30 cm-class and multispectral imagery. The full Maxar constellation of 10 electro-optical satellites will image the most rapidly changing areas on Earth as frequently as every 20 to 30 minutes, from sunup to sundown.

“WorldView Legion will extend the quality and capability of our industry-leading constellation, redefining Earth observation constellation performance and providing customers with unprecedented access to timely, actionable insights that help drive mission success,” said Dan Smoot, Maxar Intelligence CEO.

These Maxar Space Systems-built satellites are the first MAXAR 500™ SERIES BUSES to complete production at the company’s satellite manufacturing locations in Palo Alto and San Jose, California. The Maxar 500 series bus is a mid-size platform that can be tailored for multiple missions and orbits. As part of the WorldView Legion program, Maxar invested to create a bus with better stability, agility and pointing accuracy; future Maxar 500 customers can benefit from this technology for their missions.

“WorldView Legion and the Maxar 500 series platform is the culmination of decades of experience in building satellites for customer missions,” said Chris Johnson, Maxar Space Systems CEO. “We are excited to reach this important program milestone and look forward to continued partnership on the program.”