A satellite designed to produce high-resolution images of Earth from space has been successfully launched from a military base on California's Central Coast.
The commercial satellite known as Worldview-3 was sent into space atop an Atlas 5 rocket on a clear day Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Worldview-3 belongs to Colorado-based DigitalGlobe and was built by Ball Aerospace. Lockheed Martin and the United Launch Alliance are also partners in the project.