MAXAR:
On November 30, 2021, Maxar’s WorldView-4 satellite re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated after being decommissioned in September.
WorldView-4 was built by Lockheed Martin and launched in 2016 aboard an Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The satellite collected 176 million sq km of high-resolution Earth imagery over two years of service. Maxar announced in January 2019 that the satellite suffered an on-orbit hardware failure and would no longer be able to collect usable imagery for customers. The satellite ended commercial operations, and Maxar maintained positive command and control until its planned deorbit was initiated.
Bringing WorldView-4 down from space ensures that the satellite will not pose a risk to other spacecraft or further contribute to space debris. Maxar encourages all satellite operators to help preserve the space environment by acting responsibly and following guidelines such as the Space Safety Coalition’s BEST PRACTICES FOR SUSTAINABILITY OF SPACE OPERATIONS and the World Economic Forum’s SPACE DEBRIS INDUSTRY STATEMENT.
WorldView-4 imagery remains available to customers as part of Maxar’s 20-year archive of high-resolution Earth imagery.
2021 年 11 月 30 日，Maxar 的 WorldView-4 卫星在 9 月退役后重新进入地球大气层并解体。
WorldView-4 由洛克希德马丁公司建造，并于 2016 年在加利福尼亚州范登堡空军基地的 Atlas V 火箭上发射。这颗卫星在两年的服务中收集了 1.76 亿平方公里的高分辨率地球图像。Maxar 于 2019 年 1 月宣布，该卫星在轨硬件出现故障，将无法再为客户收集可用图像。这颗卫星结束了商业运营，Maxar 保持着积极的指挥和控制，直到其计划的脱离轨道开始。
将 WorldView-4 从太空带下来可确保卫星不会对其他航天器构成风险或进一步造成空间碎片。Maxar 鼓励所有卫星运营商通过负责任的行动和遵循空间安全联盟的空间运营可持续性最佳实践和世界经济论坛的空间碎片行业声明等指导方针来帮助保护空间环境。
WorldView-4 图像作为 Maxar 20 年高分辨率地球图像档案的一部分仍然可供客户使用。