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Giant camera in space: DigitalGlobe's WorldView-4 satellite and imagery

Launched at the end of 2016, DigitalGlobe's WorldView-4 satellite provides the highest resolution images allowed.

Geoffrey Morrison
Geoffrey Morrison is a writer/photographer about tech and travel for CNET, The New York Times, and other web and print publications. He's also the Editor-at-Large for The Wirecutter. He has written for Sound&Vision magazine, Home Theater magazine, and was the Editor-in-Chief of Home Entertainment magazine. He is NIST and ISF trained, and has a degree in Television/Radio from Ithaca College. His bestselling novel, Undersea, and its sequel, Undersea Atrophia, are available in paperback and digitally on Amazon. He spends most of the year as a digital nomad, living and working while traveling around the world. You can follow his travels at BaldNomad.com and on his YouTube channel.
Geoffrey Morrison
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1 of 18 Lockheed Martin

4 to go

Here's how the WorldView-4 satellite looked on the ground and during launch, along with a selection of DigitalGlobe's imagery of our incredible planet.

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2 of 18 Jim Dowdall

Delicate payload

The WorldView-4 getting a close inspection.

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3 of 18 Lockheed Martin

Loading

The loaded payload fairing getting moved for its placement on top of an Atlas V rocket.

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4 of 18 Kyle Ryan

Atlas V

The loaded Atlas V ready to launch at Vandenberg AFB.

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5 of 18 Lockheed Martin

Service tower

The Mobile Service Tower, Atlas V and the various buildings and equipment of the launch complex.

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6 of 18 Patrick H. Corkery

Liftoff!

Next stop: space.

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7 of 18 DigitalGlobe

Selfie

A rendering of the the WorldView-4 in orbit.

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8 of 18 DigitalGlobe

The Googles

Up next are some samples of the satellite images from DigitalGlobe's satellites.

To start, here's Google's Googleplex headquarters.

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9 of 18 DigitalGlobe
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10 of 18 DigitalGlobe
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11 of 18 DigitalGlobe

Top of the world

Alert, Canada, the northernmost permanently-inhabited place on Earth.

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12 of 18 DigitalGlobe

Barrow

Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost American city.

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13 of 18 DigitalGlobe

Cubbies

The victory rally 108 years in the making, and one of the largest gatherings in history.

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14 of 18 DigitalGlobe

Southern harbor

Deception Island in Antarctica.

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15 of 18 DigitalGlobe

The last Jedi

Skellig Michael, off the coast of Ireland, used in the last scene of "The Force Awakens."

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16 of 18 DigitalGlobe

Remote

Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland, one of the most remote villages in the world.

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17 of 18 DigitalGlobe

Closest to space

La Rinconada in Peru, the highest permanent settlement on Earth at 16,732 foot (5,100 meters).

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18 of 18 DigitalGlobe

McMurdo

McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

For more eye-popping satellite images, check out DigitalGlobe's Instagram account.

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