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Editor’s note: Maxar’s product managers have been sharing how more high-resolution imagery from the company’s new WorldView Legion satellites will improve their products. Other blog posts in this series can be found here .

Maxar Intelligence’s new WorldView Legion satellites will collect 30 cm-class resolution satellite imagery, supercharging the production of Maxar’s next-generation imagery basemaps. This surge in very high-resolution satellite imagery will allow us to expand the areas available in our Vivid Advanced basemaps, which provide 15 cm HD imagery over major population centers and areas of urban change and development, enabling up-to-date national and consumer maps in addition to serving as the foundation for accurate visualization environments. By tripling the Maxar constellation’s 30 cm-class collection capacity, WorldView Legion also enables improved image clarity and freshness worldwide, driving enhancements in our Vivid basemap products.

Improved clarity

WorldView Legion collects the highest resolution satellite imagery commercially available, enabling users to extract finer details from images to produce more accurate maps, inform planning, and provide an enhanced customer experience. Vivid Standard basemaps, which often serve as the foundational satellite layer in consumer apps, national maps and simulation software, will include up to 60 million sq km of 30 cm-class imagery in 2025, an increase of 50% in the first year of WorldView Legion satellites collecting imagery. Vivid Advanced basemaps will nearly double the available 15 cm HD imagery in 2025, with more than 5 million sq km of coverage worldwide, and double that coverage in the coming years. The improved and more consistent clarity in the Vivid basemaps offers a reliable view of buildings, roads and other infrastructure to enable our customers to provide the best maps with stunning contextual detail for their users.

Improved freshness

Foundational satellite imagery basemaps best serve end user needs when the imagery is fresh and up to date, especially over areas of change and high demand. An updated view of the ground is essential for map maintenance, urban and mission planning, and providing visualization layers that reflect reality. With the infusion of WorldView Legion’s increased capacity for very high-resolution data, here’s how Vivid basemaps will be improving:

• Vivid Standard 30 cm HD basemaps will offer recent coverage over more than 75 million sq km of Earth’s landmass, aligned with the areas that matter most to our customers, including populated areas, areas of urban change, airports and transportation infrastructure.
• Vivid Advanced 15 cm HD basemaps will offer fresh coverage over millions of square kilometers each year, focused initially on areas of urban change and population and expanding to transportation networks and national mapping in the coming years.
  

WorldView Legion satellite imagery is now integrated into Maxar’s Vivid basemaps, enabling customers to provide the best maps to their end users, plan missions and development, see finer details, and delight users with stunning aesthetics.