QuickBird1 Is A Loss

daveg writes: "Earthwatch of Longmont CO has lost their second commercial high resolution imaging satellite. The first loss was EarlyBird1 in December 1997. EarlyBird1 went silent after 4 days, it was capable of 3m resolution. QuickBird1 was capable of 1m resolution from a Kodak sensor system. The launch from Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodome was first thought to have not achieved orbit but now appears to have reached orbit then disappeared from the visibility zone of Russian radio equipment and since has not responded to the signals sent by Russian ground stations. QuickBird1 rode on a converted ICBM design, first launched in 1967, with a record of 398 successful orbital flights out of 420 launches."