Representatives of Maxar have published unprecedented high-quality images taken by the WorldView Legion satellite. They show the Chinese spacecraft Shijian-26.
In recent years, the market for photographing objects in near-Earth orbit using specialized satellites has experienced rapid growth. This service is actively used to assess the condition of spacecraft and track space debris. It is also of considerable interest to military and intelligence agencies.
Maxar has previously published numerous images of the ISS and the Chinese Tiangong space station, clearly demonstrating the greatly increased technical capabilities of such photography. But now the company has taken the next step. Maxar General Manager Susanne Hake has published unprecedented high-quality images showing the Chinese satellite Shijian-26.
Shijian-26 was launched on May 29, 2025. According to an official statement by the Chinese authorities, this is an experimental vehicle that will be used to observe the Earth and monitor national land resources and the environment. In turn, in her post, Hake called it a representative of China’s latest generation of optical reconnaissance satellites.
The first image of Shijian-26 was taken from a distance of 29.2 km. Its resolution is 1.9 cm/pixel, which is currently a record for this type of photography. The second image was taken from a slightly greater distance of 74.6 km. Its resolution is 4.9 cm/pixel.
According to Hake, this quality is revolutionary and marks the beginning of a new era in satellite tracking. The new technology provides for near real-time tracking of other spacecraft and detection of changes occurring to them or threats they pose to space security.
