Vantor to expand imaging satellite fleet, adding smallsats to increase revisit rates

WASHINGTON — Vantor, the Earth-observation satellite operator formerly known as Maxar, is planning its first major overhaul of its space architecture in nearly a decade, aiming to combine its hallmark high-resolution imagery with the rapid revisit rates offered by small-satellite constellations.

The company said April 8 it will expand its current fleet of 10 electro-optical imaging satellites with two new high-resolution spacecraft and as many as two dozen smaller satellites designed for more frequent coverage. Together, these assets are intended to provide persistent monitoring without sacrificing image quality, a tradeoff that has long defined the commercial remote-sensing market.

The new architecture includes two “Vantage” satellites capable of 20-centimeter resolution, to be placed in sun-synchronous orbit, and a planned constellation of “Pulse” small satellites delivering 40-centimeter imagery from mid-inclination orbits. The first Pulse satellites are expected to launch in 2027, with the Vantage spacecraft projected for deployment in 2029.

Vantor said the Pulse satellites will be able to image the same location on Earth as frequently as every 15 minutes.

This marks the company’s first adoption of rapid-revisit smallsats and “gives us a unique hybrid solution,” said Vantor’s chief executive Dan Smoot. “We’ve been primarily known for our imagery quality, but this will create the first commercial constellation that combines very high-resolution with high revisit smallsats.”

The move reflects a broader shift in the Earth observation business, where customers look to detect changes, not just capture images.

Vantor’s existing fleet, composed of six WorldView Legion satellites and four legacy spacecraft, is built for image quality, although the newer Legion spacecraft increased revisit rates to up to 15 times per day for high-interest areas. The third and fourth Legion satellites were the first to be placed in mid-inclination orbit, enabling “dawn-to-dusk” image collection capabilities.

The company’s systems rank among the highest resolution available commercially, capable of capturing fine details used in defense, intelligence and mapping applications.

But that capability has historically come at the expense of frequency. Smaller satellites, while offering lower resolution, can be deployed in large numbers to provide near-continuous coverage. Competitors such as Planet Labs and BlackSky have built their businesses around that model, operating constellations of dozens of satellites that image the Earth repeatedly throughout the day.

Vantor’s planned expansion is designed to bridge that divide.

“You could either see the world in high detail or monitor it continuously, but not both,” Smoot said. “This expansion to Vantor’s constellation eliminates that tradeoff.”

The push toward a hybrid constellation is being driven by customer demand, Smoot said, particularly from governments seeking “sovereign” intelligence capabilities, or the ability to independently collect and control satellite data.

Vantor, long a supplier to U.S. defense and intelligence agencies, has expanded its business with international customers in recent years.

“They need precise intelligence of the battlefield, and also the ability to monitor global events and changes,” he said.

That dual requirement of high-resolution detail and frequent updates has become more pronounced in recent years, as governments look to track everything from military activity to infrastructure development and environmental changes in near real time.

First major expansion since Legion

The planned constellation marks Vantor’s first significant expansion since 2017, when the company, then operating as Maxar, announced its WorldView Legion program. Six satellites designed to deliver 30-centimeter imagery were launched between 2024 and early 2025 after several delays tied to technical and launch issues.

Smoot said the new satellites are already in advanced stages of design, with the imaging instrument for the 20-centimeter system already procured. He declined to identify suppliers or partners involved in the program.

Vantor has partnerships with other providers through what it calls a “virtual constellation,” combining its own imagery with data from third-party satellites to increase coverage. That approach remains in place, but Smoot said customer demand is pushing the company to invest more heavily in its own assets.

“Our customers want image quality as well as speed,” he said, “under a single umbrella, versus having to go to the market and go out to multiple players.”