In this paper, a system performance evaluation of very high-resolution satellite telescopes is investigated. The proposed system is based on Korsch optical design and employing a time-delay and integration charge coupled device (TDI-CCD) detector to achieve a ground sampling distance (GSD) of 25 cm. The key performance metrics considered in this investigation are the absolute and differential signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the total modulation transfer function (MTF) of the system. The system MTF has been computed including diffraction, aberration, optical manufacturing, smear and
detector as the main contributors for evaluation the MTF. The SNR has been analyzed at different target albedos, sun and sensor angles. In addition, the spatial resolution in terms of cut-off resolution for minimum and maximum illumination conditions is assessed. The analysis shows that the predicted ground resolutions for minimum and maximum illumination situations are 26.4 and 43 cm, respectively