Commercial Datasets

The Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) program evaluates and procures data from commercial vendors that advance NASA’s Earth science research and applications activities.

Currently, data acquired during the evaluations of Planet, Maxar (formerly DigitalGlobe, Inc.), and Spire Global are available. Data from the Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., DLR Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS) also are available through a separate collaboration with the International Space Station (ISS). See the table below to learn how to access vendor-specific data. All data products are available through CSDA at no cost to authorized researchers and are subject to scientific use licenses.

The commercial data currently distributed by NASA are available under different scientific use licenses and various access portals. Please see table below for data access portals and vendor-specific end user license agreement (EULA) information. Check back for updates on new data acquisitions.

Data and End User License Agreements

* Principal Investigators should submit publications as a courtesy copy to the vendor.

All data requests must be approved by CSDA data managers. Contact us to provide your name, email address, and pertinent information (grant number, contract number, etc.) to indicate that you are authorized to use the data. The CSDA team will verify if the user is authorized for data access first. Once verified, the user will be provided with additional information on how to request and access data. 

Get answers to frequently asked questions about accessing and requesting commercial data.

The tables below list available satellites, their orbits, and their sensors' temporal and spectral resolutions.

Planet

Planet has successfully launched nearly 300 satellites to space and currently operates approximately 150 Dove satellites, and 13 SkySat satellites. Planet downlinks more than 300 million km² of imagery daily.

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PlanetScope/Dove Satellite Constellation and Sensor Characteristics

Mission Characteristics	International Space Station Orbit
Orbit Altitude (reference)	400 km (51.6° inclination)
Max/Min Latitude Coverage	+/- 52° (depending on season)
Equator Crossing Time	Variable
Sensor Type	Three-band frame Imager or four-band frame Imager with a split-frame NIR filter
Spectral Bands	Blue: 455-515 nm Green: 500-590 nm Red: 590-670 nm NIR: 780-860 nm
Ground Sample Distance (nadir)	3.0 m (approximate)
Frame Size	20 km x 12 km (approximate)
Maximum Image Strip per Orbit	8,100 km2
Revisit Time	Variable
Image Capture Capacity	Variable
Camera Dynamic Range	12-bit

PlanetScope/Dove in Sun-Synchronus Orbit

Mission Characteristics	Dove Classic (PS2)	Dove-R (PS2.SD)	SuperDove (PSB.SD)
Orbit Altitude (reference)	450–580 km
Inclination	~98°
Max/Min Latitude Coverage	±81.5° (depending on season)
Equator Crossing Time	9:30-11:30 am (local solar time)
Sensor Type	Three-band frame Imager or four-band frame Imager with a split-frame NIR filter	Four-band frame imager with butcher-block filter	Eight-band frame imager with butcher-block filter
Spectral Bands	Blue: 455-515 nm Green: 500-590 nm Red: 590-670 nm NIR: 780-860 nm	Blue: 464-517 nm Green: 547-585 nm Red: 650-682 nm NIR: 846-888 nm	Coastal Blue 431-452 nm Blue: 465-515 nm Green I: 513-549 nm Green II: 547- 583 nm Yellow: 600-620 nm Red: 650-680 nm Red-Edge: 697-713 nm NIR: 845-885 nm
Ground Sample Distance (nadir)	3.7 m (approximate)
Frame Size	24 km x 8 km (approximate)	24 km x 16 km (approximate)	32.5 km x 19.6 km (approximate)
Maximum Image Strip per Orbit	20,000 km2
Revisit Time	Near-daily at nadir
Image Capture Capacity	~350 million km2/day
Camera Dynamic Range	12-bit

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RapidEye Satellite Constellation and Sensor Characteristics

Mission Characteristics	Information
Number of Satellites	1
Orbit Altitude	630 km in Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Equator Crossing Time	11:00 am local time (approximately)
Sensor Type	Multispectral push broom
Spectral Bands	Blue: 440 – 510 nm Green: 520 – 590 nm Red: 630 – 685 nm Red Edge: 690 – 730 nm NIR: 760 – 850 nm
Ground Sampling Distance (nadir)	6.5 m
Swath Width	77 km
Maximum Image Strip per Orbit	Up to 1500 km of image data per orbit
Revisit Time	Daily (off-nadir) / 5.5 days (at nadir)
Image Capture Capacity	> 6 million km2/day
Camera Dynamic Range	12-bit

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SkySat Satellite Constellation and Sensor Characteristics

Attribute	Value
Mass	110 kg
Dimensions	60 x 60 x 95 cm
Total DeltaV	180 m/s
Onboard Storage	360 GB + 360 GB cold spare storage
RF Communication	X-band downlink (payload): variable, up to 580 Mbit/s X-band downlink (telemetry): 64 Kbit/s S-band uplink (command): 32 Kbit/s
Design Life	~6 years
Geolocation Knowledge	30 m CE90 in a 500 km altitude orbit
Ground Sample Distance	[SkySat-1, SkySat-2] Panchromatic: 0.86 m Multispectral: 10 m [SkySat-3 – SkySat-13] Panchromatic: 0.72 m Multispectral: 1.0 m 2.3 targets (6.6 x 10 km) per minute
Revisit (per satellite)	4-5 days *Reference altitude 500 km
Equatorial Crossing (UTC)	10:30 – Current C-Gen satellites 13:00 – SkySat-1 and SkySat-2 13:00 – Block-2 C-Gen satellites
Image Configurations	Multispectral Sensor (Blue, Green, Red, NIR) Panchromatic Sensor
Product Framing	SkySat Satellites have three cameras per satellite, which capture overlapping strips. Each of these strips contain overlapping scenes. One scene is approximately 2560 x 1080 pixels
Sensor Type	CMOS Frame Camera with Panchromatic and Multispectral halves
Spectral Bands	Blue: 450 – 515 nm Green: 515 – 595 nm Red: 605 – 695 nm NIR: 740 – 900 nm Pan: 450 – 900 nm

Spire

Spire designs, builds, and operates a growing constellation of over 120 3U Low Earth Multi-Use Receiver (LEMUR) satellites tasked with collecting Radio Frequency (RF) signals from low Earth orbit. The company offers a suite of commercial RF sensing products, including a catalog of atmosphere, ionosphere, and weather data services derived from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals collection.

The Spire-designed STRATOS payload collects these GNSS signals from which Spire can derive useful Earth Observation data types for climate and space weather research, among other applications. To support their mission, the company owns and operates over 30 ground stations and a robust data pipeline for quickly and securely moving data from orbit to cloud.

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Spire LEMUR Constellation and Sensor Characteristics

Parameter	Value
Design life	3 years
Built by	Spire
Volume	100 x 100 x 340.5 mm (3U) 100 x 226.3 x 340.5 mm (6U)
Total Mass	Up to 6kg (3U) or 12kg (6U)
ADCS	3-axis stabilized, agile and precise
Orbit Average Power Usage	8-12 Watts, 35 Watts Peak
Transmitters	UHF: 400-450 MHz, 9600 baud S-band: 2.20GHz, 1Mbit X-band: 8.2GHz, 40Mbit
Receivers	UHF: 400-450 MHz, 9600 baud S-Band: 2.032GHz, 1Mbit
Orbit Inclination	Image
Payloads	Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver STRATOS GNSS radio occultation (RO) & precise orbit determination (POD) POD antenna: zenith, L1/L2 RHCP High-gain RO antennas: fore/aft, L1/L2 RHCP Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B)
Observables	GNSS Radio Occultation (L0-L2 atmos. prf) Grazing Angle GNSS-R (L0-L2 sea ice type & altimetry) Conventional GNSS-R (L0-L2 soil moisture, ocean winds & MSS) (under evaluation) Raw IF captures (GNSS-R) Precise Orbit Determination (L0-L1) Space Weather (TEC, EDP, Scintillation) (L0-L2) Magnetometer (simple sensor data) (L0)

Spire GNSS Earth Observation Satellites

Image	3U form factor Moderate gain, dual antennas (rising/setting RO) Multi-GNSS signals tracked Rapid on-orbit innovation
Image	3U form factor Dual nadir antennas Multi-GNSS signals tracked 30 simultaneous reflections First launched DEC 2019
Image	3U form factor Triple GNSS-R antennas Multi-GNSS signals tracked 45 simultaneous reflections Advanced calibration First launched JAN 2021

Maxar (formerly Digital Globe)

The Maxar (formerly DigitalGlobe) constellation of high-resolution satellites offers unrivaled accuracy, agility, and collection capacity, imaging more of the world in the finest level of detail. The company’s active constellation includes WorldView-1, WorldView-2, WorldView-3, and GeoEye-1, and archive imagery dating back to 1999 is available from its QuickBird, IKONOS, and WorldView-4 satellites. The Maxar constellation offers a unique catalog of data products that are directly related to and/or can lead to Essential Climate Variables (ECVs).

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DigitalGlobe Worldview-4 Specifications

Attribute	Value
Orbit	Altitude: 617 km Type: Sun Synchronous, 10:30 am descending Node Period: 97 min.
Life	Estimated service life: 10 to 12 years
Spacecraft size and aperture	Size: 5.3 m (17.7 ft) tall x 2.5 m (8 ft) across 7.9 m (26 ft) across deployed solar arrays Aperture: 1.1m
Sensor bands	Panchromatic: 450 - 800 nm 4 Multispectral: Red: 655 - 690 nm Green: 510 - 580 nm Blue: 450 - 510 nm Near-IR: 780 - 920 nm
Sensor resolution (or GSD, ground sample distance; off-nadir is geometric mean)	Panchromatic Nadir: 0.31 m 20° Off-Nadir: 0.34 m 56° Off-Nadir: 1.00 m Multispectral Nadir: 1.24 m 20° Off-Nadir: 1.38 m 56° Off-Nadir: 4.00 m
Dynamic range	11-bits per pixel
Swath width	At nadir: 13.2 km
Attitude determination and control	Type: 3-axis Stabilized Actuators: Control Moment Gyros (CMGs) Sensors: Star trackers, precision IRU, GPS
Pointing accuracy and knowledge	Accuracy: 170 m at 40 off-nadir Knowledge: Supports geolocation accuracy below
Retargeting agility	Time to Slew 200 km: 10.6 sec
Onboard storage	3200 Gb solid state with EDAC
Communications	Image & ancillary data: 800 Mbps X-band Housekeeping: 120 kbps real time, X-band Command: 64 kbps S-band
Max contiguous area collected in a single pass (30° off-nadir angle)	Mono: 66.5 km x 112 km (5 strips) Stereo: 26.6 km x 112 km (2 pairs)
Revisit frequency (at 40°N latitude)	1 m GSD: < 1.0 day Total constellation > 4.5 accesses/day
Geolocation accuracy (CE90)	Predicted < 5 m CE90 without ground control
Capacity	680,000 sq km per day

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DigitalGlobe Worldview-3 Specifications

Attribute	Value
Orbit	Altitude: 617 km Type: Sun synchronous, 10:30 am descending node Period: 97 min.
Life	Spec Mission Life: 7.25 years Estimated service life: 10 to 12 years
Spacecraft size, mass and power	Size: 5.7 m (18.7 ft) tall x 2.5 m (8 ft) across 7.1 m (23 ft) across deployed solar arrays Mass: 2800 kg (6200 lbs) Power: 3.1 kW solar array, 100 Ahr battery
Sensor Bands	Panchromatic: 450–800 nm
	8 Multispectral: Coastal: 397–454 nm Blue: 445–517 nm Blue: 445–517 nm Green: 507–586 nm Yellow: 580–629 nm	Red: 626–696 nm Red Edge: 698–749 nm Near-IR1: 765–899 nm Near-IR2: 857–1039 nm
	8 SWIR Bands: SWIR-1: 1184–1235 nm SWIR-2: 1546–1598 nm SWIR-3: 1636–1686 nm SWIR-4: 1702–1759 nm	SWIR-5: 2137–2191 nm SWIR-6: 2174–2232 nm SWIR-7: 2228–2292 nm SWIR-8: 2285–2373 nm
	12 CAVIS Bands: Desert Clouds: 405–420 nm Water-3: 930–965 nm Aerosol-1: 459–509 nm Green: 525–585 nm Aerosol-2: 635–685 nm Water-1: 845–885 nm Water-2: 897–927 nm	NDVI-SWIR: 1220–1252 nm Cirrus: 1365–1405 nm Snow: 1620–1680 nm Aerosol-1: 2105–2245 nm Aerosol-2: 2105–2245 nm
Sensor resolution (or GSD, Ground Sample Distance; off-nadir is geometric mean)	Panchromatic nadir: 0.31 m 20° off-nadir: 0.34 m Multispectral nadir: 1.24 m 20° off-nadir: 1.38 m	SWIR nadir: 3.70 m 20° off-nadir: 4.10 m CAVIS nadir: 30.00 m
Dynamic range	11-bits per pixel Pan and MS; 14-bits per pixel SWIR
Swath width	At nadir: 13.1 km
Attitude determination and control	Type: 3-axis Stabilized Actuators: Control Moment Gyros (CMGs) Sensors: Star trackers, precision IRU, GPS
Pointing accuracy and knowledge	Accuracy: <500 m at image start/stop Knowledge: Supports geolocation accuracy below
Retargeting agility	Time to Slew 200 km: 12 sec
Onboard storage	2199 Gb solid state with EDAC
Communications	Image & Ancillary Data: 800 and 1200 Mbps X-band Housekeeping: 4, 16, 32, or 64 kbps real time, 524 kbps stored, X-band Command: 2 or 64 kbps S-band
Max contiguous area collected in a single pass (30° off-nadir angle)	Mono: 66.5 km x 112 km (5 strips) Stereo: 26.6 km x 112 km (2 pairs)
Revisit frequency	1 m GSD: <1.0 day
(at 40°N Latitude)	4.5 days at 20° off-nadir or less
Geolocation accuracy (CE90)	Predicted <3.5 m CE90 without ground control
Capacity	680,000 sq km per day

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DigitalGlobe Worldview-2 Specifications

Attribute	Value
Orbit	Altitude: 770 km Type: Sun synchronous, 10:30 am descending node Period: 100 min.
Mission Life	10-12 years, including all consumables and degradables (e.g. propellant)
Spacecraft Size, Mass and Power	5.7 m (18.7 ft) tall x 2.5 m (8 ft) across 7.1 m (23 ft) across the deployed solar arrays 2615 kg (5765 lbs) 3.2 kW solar array, 100 Ahr battery
Sensor Bands	Panchromatic: 450 - 800 nm 8 Multispectral: Coastal: 400 - 450 nm Red: 630 -690 nm Blue: 450 - 510 nm Red Edge: 705 - 745 nm Green: 510 - 580 nm Near-IR1: 770 - 895 nm Yellow: 585 - 625 nm Near-IR2: 860 - 1040 nm
Sensor Resolution	Panchromatic: 0.46 m GSD at nadir, 0.52 m GSD at 20° off-nadir Multispectral: 1.85 m GSD at nadir, 2.07 m GSD at 20° off-nadir
Dynamic Range	11-bits per pixel
Swath Width	16.4 km at nadir
Attitude Determination and Control	3-axis stabilized Actuators: Control Moment Gyros (CMGs) Sensors: Star trackers, solid state IRU, GPS
Pointing Accuracy and Knowledge	Accuracy: < 500 m at image start and stop Knowledge: Supports geolocation accuracy below
Retargeting Agility	Time to Slew 200 km: 10 sec
Onboard Storage	2199 Gb solid state with EDAC
Communications	Image and Ancillary Data: 800 Mbps X-band Housekeeping: 4, 16 or 32 kbps real-time, 524 kbps stored, X-band Command: 2 or 64 kbps S-band
Max Contiguous Area Collected in a Single Pass (30° off-nadir angle)	Mono: 138 x 112 km (8 strips) Stereo: 63 x 112 km (4 pairs)
Revisit Frequency (at 40°N Latitude)	1.1 days at 1 m GSD or less 3.7 days at 20° off-nadir or less (0.52 m GSD)
Geolocation Accuracy (CE90)	Demonstrated < 3.5 m CE90 without ground control
Capacity	1 million km2 per day

Image

DigitalGlobe Worldview-1 Specifications

Attribute	Value
Orbit	Altitude: 496 km Type: Sun synchronous, 10:30 am descending node Period: 95 min.	Altitude: 496 km Type: Sun Synchronous. 1:30 pm descending node Period: 95 min.
Mission Life	10-12 years, including all consumables and degradables (e.g. propellant)
Spacecraft Size, Mass and Power	3.6 m (12 ft) tall x 2.5 m (8 ft) across 7.1 m (23 ft) across the deployed solar arrays 2290 kg (5038 lbs) 3.2 kW solar array, 100 Ahr battery
Sensor Bands	Panchromatic: 400 - 900 nm
Sensor Resolution	50 cm Ground Sample Distance (GSD) at nadir 55 cm GSD at 20° off-nadir
Dynamic Range	11-bits per pixel
Swath Width	17.7 km at nadir
Attitude Determination and Control	3-axis stabilized Actuators: Control Moment Gyros (CMGs) Sensors: Star trackers, solid state IRU, GPS
Pointing Accuracy and Knowledge	Accuracy: <500 m at image start and stop Knowledge: Supports geolocation accuracy below
Retargeting Agility	Time to Slew 200 km: 10 sec
Onboard Storage	2199 Gb solid state with EDAC
Communications	Image and Ancillary Data: 800 Mbps X-band Housekeeping: 4, 16 or 32 kbps real-time, 524 kbps stored, X-band Command: 2 or 64 kbps S-band
Max Contiguous Area Collected in a Single Pass	Mono: 111 x 112 km (6 strips)
(30° off-nadir angle)	Stereo: 51 x 112 km (3 pairs)
Revisit Frequency	1.7 days at 1 m GSD or less
(at 40°N Latitude)	5.4 days at 20° off-nadir or less (0.55 m GSD)
Geolocation Accuracy (CE90)	Demonstrated <4.0 m CE90 without ground control
Capacity	1.3 million km2 per day

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DigitalGlobe Ikonos Specifications

Attribute	Value
Launch information	Date: September 24, 1999 Launch vehicle: Athena 2 Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Mission life	12+ years
Spacecraft size	1.83 m × 1.57 m (hexagonal configuration)
Spatial resolution	Panchromatic: 0.82 m Multispectral: 3.2 m
Positional accuracy	15 meter CE90 (specification) 9 meter CE90 (measured)
Swath width	11.3 km
Off-nadir imaging	Up to 60 degrees
Dynamic range	11 bits per pixel
Revisit time	Approximately 3 days
Orbital altitude	681 km
Nodal crossing	10:30am
Collection capacity	240,000 km2/day (Pan + MSI)

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DigitalGlobe GeoEye-1 Specifications

Attribute	Value
Mission Life	Expected >10 years
Spacecraft Size	4186 lbs, 4.34 m in length
Altitude	681 km
Orbit	Type: Sun-synchronous, 10:30 am descending node Period: 98 min
Sensor Resolution and Spectral Bandwidth	Panchromatic: 41 cm GSD at nadir Black & White: 450 - 800 nm Multispectral: 1.65 m GSD at nadir Blue: 450 - 510 nm Green: 510 - 580 nm Red: 655 - 690 nm Near-IR: 780 - 920 nm
Dynamic Range	11-bits per pixel
Swath Width	Nominal Swath Width: 15.3 km at nadir
Attitude Determination and Control	Type: 3-axis Stabilized Star tracker/IRU/reaction wheels, GPS
Retargeting Agility	Time to slew 200 km: 20 sec
Onboard Storage	1 Tbit capacity
Communications	Payload Data: X-band 740/150 Mbps AES/DES encryption > Housekeeping: X-band 64 kbps AES encryption
Revisit Frequency (at 40°N Latitude)	2.6 days at 30° off-nadir
Metric Accuracy	5 m CE90, 3 m CE90 (measured)
Capacity	350,000 km2/day Multi-spectral

IMAGE

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DigitalGlobe QuickBird Specifications

Attribute	Value
Launch Information	Date: October 18, 2001 Launch Vehicle: Delta II Launch Site: SLC-2W, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Mission Life	Extended through early 2014
Spacecraft size	2400 lbs, 3.04 m (10 ft) in length
Model	Altitude 400 km	Altitude 450 km
Orbit	Type: Sun Synchronous, 10:00 am descending node Period: 92.4 min.	10:25 am descending node Period: 93.6 min
Sensor Resolution and spectral bandwidth	Panchromatic: 55 cm GSD at nadir Black & White: 405 - 1053 nm Multispectral: 2.16 m GSD at nadir Blue: 430 – 545 nm Green: 466 – 620 nm Red: 590 – 710 nm Near-IR: 715 – 918 nm	Panchromatic 61 cm GSD at nadir Multispectral: 2.44 m GSD at nadir
Dynamic range	11 bits per pixel	11 bits per pixel
Swath width	Nominal Swath Width: 14.9 km at nadir	Nominal swath width: 16.8 km at nadir
Attitude determination and control	Type: 3-axis Stabilized Star tracker/IRU/reaction wheels, GPS	Type: 3-axis Stabilized Star tracker/IRU/reaction wheels, GPS
Retargeting agility	Time to slew 200 km: 37 sec	38 sec
Onboard Storage	128 Gb capacity	128 Gb capacity
Communications	Payload Data: 320 Mbps X-band Housekeeping: X-band from 4, 16 and 256 Kbps, 2 Kbps S-band uplink	Payload Data: 320 Mbps X-band Housekeeping: X-band from 4, 16 and 256 Kbps, 2 Kbps S-band uplink
Revisit Frequency (at 40oN Latitude)	Revisit time may vary from 2 to 12 days depending on target location as the orbit decays.	Revisit time may vary from 2 to 12 days depending on target location as the orbit decays.
Metric accuracy	23 m CE90, 17 m LE90 (without ground control)	23 m CE90, 17 m LE90 (without ground control)
Capacity	200,000 sq km per day	200,000 sq km per day

Teledyne Brown Engineering

Image

The DLR Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS) is a pushbroom, hyperspectral sensor currently operating in the Multi-User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES) platform on the International Space Station (ISS). DESIS was developed and built by DLR and is operated commercially by Teledyne Brown Engineering. DESIS was launched on June 29, 2018, and achieved initial operating capability on November 21, 2018.

DESIS Performance Specifications

Parameter	DESIS values (Commissioning Phase)
Orbit (type, local time at equator, inclination, altitude, period, repeat cycle)	not Sun-synchronous, various, 51.6°, 405 ± 5 km, 93 min, no repeat cycle
Coverage	55° N to 52° S
Tilt (across-track, along-track)	-45° to +5°, -40° to +40° by MUSES and DESIS
Sensor pointing	±15° along-track to enable BRDF or Stereo acquisitions
Spectral coverage	402 nm to 1000 nm
Number of spectral channels	235 (no binning) ~2.5nm 118 (binning 2) 79 (binning 3) 60 (binning 4) ~10nm, this product will be available June 2019
Defective spectral channels (see footnote 2 below for description and location)	Bands 1 – 7 (no binning) Bands 1 – 4 (binning 2) Bands 1 – 3 (binning 3) Bands 1 – 2 (binning 4)
Spectral sampling resolution	2.55 nm (w/o binning); ~10.2 nm (binning 4)
Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM)	~3.5 nm (w/o binning); ~10.0 nm (binning 4)
Radiometric resolution	12 bits + 1 bit gain
Radiometric accuracy	+/-10% (based on on-ground calibration and with the support of inflight radiometric calibration)
Radiometric linearity	99%
Swath	30 km
Spatial resolution, pixels	30 m, 1024 pixels (@400 km)
Geometric accuracy	~20 m with GCPs1 ~300 m - 400 m w/o GCPs
MTF @ Nyquist	30%-40% based on on-ground calibration / static MTF without smearing effects / wavelength depending
Signal-to-Noise ratio (albedo 0.3 @ 550 nm)	195 (w/o binning) 386 (4 binning) (based on on-ground calibration)
Dark/Read noise (electrons)	30-60e- (global shutter) 15-30e- (rolling shutter)
Quantum scale equivalent (e-/DN)	0.04 e-/DN
Max frame rate	235Hz (@235 spectral lines, rolling shutter) 117Hz (@235 spectral lines, global shutter)
Solar zenith angle restrictions (for L2A level processing)	> 55° produces reduced quality L2A product > 65° produces low quality L2A product > 70° not processable to L2A

¹ with respect to global reference Landsat ETM+ PAN with GSD 14 m.