DigitalGlobe has secured a Direct Access Program (DAP) contract from the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) to provide access to commercial satellite imagery in support of defence and intelligence missions.
Under the multi-year contract, Australian Government will have access to DigitalGlobe’s commercial satellite imaging constellation.
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The DoD will be able to directly task and download imagery in real-time to its ground station from all five DigitalGlobe satellites.
DigitalGlobe said that WorldView-4 and WorldView-3, launched in November 2016 and August 2014 respectively, are the world’s two highest-resolution commercial satellites.
DigitalGlobe Defense & Intelligence senior vice-president and general manager Dan Jablonsky said: “We currently provide timely, high-resolution imagery to Australia via our web-based SecureWatch service.
"This agreement provides enhanced, real-time access to DigitalGlobe’s industry-leading satellite constellation to enable decision-making with confidence.
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By GlobalData“We look forward to working closely with Australia as it further integrates high-quality commercial satellite imaging capabilities into its military operations, border protection and humanitarian missions.”
The contract is in line with Australia’s commitment to increase the use of commercial satellite imagery for its critical national defence and intelligence missions.
It is expected to generate $83m in incremental revenue to DigitalGlobe over four years, beginning in January 2018.
MDA will provide the multi-satellite ground system to support tasking, reception and precision processing of imagery from the satellite constellation.
VIASAT will provide ground antenna systems that will enable direct tasking and downlink capabilities.
