The world is getting distinctly clear from the heavens. More so, with the addition of latest and the most sophisticated WorldView-1 to the existing hawk eyes in the sky.

WorldView-1, DigitalGlobe’s latest addition to its constellation of satellites, has successfully reached its full operational capability. This implies that the satellite has been successfully tested and stringent accuracy test results have been approved by the competent US government authority.

DigitalGlobe has released photos captured by its WorldView-1. They have twice the resolution of previous images, and allows viewers to see things on the ground as small as 20 inches in diameter. The new gear is four times more power-efficient, six times lighter, and costs a third as much as previous models. The system captures panchromatic and also multi-spectral imagery across a wide swath, the end product being a 11x11 km snapshot.

DigitalGlobe’s library contains more than 300 million square kilometers of satellite and aerial imagery. WorldView-1 is capable of collecting 290,000 square miles of images every day, according to the company, which promises to produce the "most advanced imagery ever seen”. With the soon-to-be-launched WorldView-2, DigitalGlobe vouches to expand its present capacity by ten times and would be able to visit any area on the globe daily. So, come 2008, it is "life-like true colour" with an ITT eight-band, multispectral system from aboard the WorldView-2.