Coverage and orbit
Every satellite flies the same sun-synchronous orbit at 525 km and passes over each point at 10:30 local time. More satellites in the plane mean a tighter pattern of ground tracks and a shorter revisit.
- Revisit of a mid-latitude point
- every 12 h
- Orbit
- 97.4°, 525 km
- Orbits per day
- 15.1
- Track spacing on the equator
- 8 ° of longitude
The orbit
A sun-synchronous orbit keeps the angle of the sun on the ground the same on every pass, so images taken weeks apart are directly comparable.
| Type | Sun-synchronous, near-circular |
|---|---|
| Altitude | 525 km (510 to 525 km across the fleet) |
| Inclination | 97.4° |
| Period | 95.3 minutes |
| Orbits per day | 15.1 |
| Local time at descending node | 10:30 |
| Repeat cycle | Ground track repeats every 29 days |
| Latitude reached | Up to 82.6° north and south |
| Design life | 7 years, five-year deorbit after switch-off |
Revisit by latitude and fleet size
Mean time between looks at a point, using a ±30° pointing for optical and multispectral. Swaths overlap more towards the poles, so revisit improves with latitude.
| Satellites | Equator | 45° latitude | 60° latitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72 | 60 | 40 |
| 3 | 24 | 20 | 13 |
| 6 | 12 | 10 | 7 |
| 12 | 6 | 5 | 3.5 |
Questions about coverage
At 10:30 the sun is high enough for good light but cloud has not yet built up through the day, so there is less of it in a typical tropical or temperate scene than at noon.
Thermal also images at 22:30. Other local times need a different orbital plane, which is a constellation project; ask for a mission review.
Close to it for up to six satellites in one plane. Beyond that, cloud and tasking conflicts become the limit, not the orbit.
Yes. National programmes reserve tasking priority, a dedicated ground station and exclusive areas; see pricing.
Plan a fleet for your area
Tell us the region and the revisit you need.