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EarthWatch
Granted “Half-Meter Resolution” License
The U.S. National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded a license to
EarthWatch, Thornton,
Colorado, to operate a remote sensing satellite with half-meter
(half-yard) resolution. EarthWatch has not announced any details
regarding its half-meter satellite, but there is a possibility that
the  ground
resolution of QuickBird 2 could be improved from 1-meter to a
half-meter. If QuickBird 2 were converted to half-meter resolution
the satellite would have to be flown at a lower orbit than planned
for 1-meter  operations,
which would shorten the life of the spacecraft. QuickBird 2 is
currently being completed by Ball Aerospace for a planned mid-2001
launch. “There are no plans to change anything at this time, but
we are looking at every alternative right now,” EarthWatch said.
The
half-meter license contains a provision that calls for a 24-hour
delay from collection of an image to distribution to a customer. The
only exception is for images collected for the U.S. government. 
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