Mar 12 2010
GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY), a premier provider of superior satellite and aerial-based geospatial information and services, announced today it selected Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation (Bethesda, Md., NYSE: LMT) to build GeoEye-2, the Company's next-generation, high-resolution Earth-imaging satellite system. Lockheed has already begun purchasing long-lead material and labor for the design, engineering and manufacturing of the satellite and the associated command and control system.
Matt O'Connell, GeoEye's chief executive officer and president, said, "We chose Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company to build GeoEye-2 to ensure high confidence in mission success. They have a 50-year heritage of building imaging systems for the U.S. Government and have built several hundred Earth-imaging satellites--more than anyone else."
Bill Schuster, GeoEye's chief operating officer, said, "GeoEye-2 will be the same class of satellite as GeoEye-1 but will benefit from significant improvements in capabilities to better serve our customers' demands for increased quantities of imagery at higher resolution. Some of these improvements include enhanced tasking capabilities and the ability to collect more imagery at a faster rate."
Joanne Maguire, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, said, "GeoEye-2's increased resolution, along with the need for greater spacecraft agility, leverages our unparalleled experience in delivering highly reliable, precision remote sensing space systems for our customers."
Lockheed Martin built GeoEye's IKONOS satellite. Launched in 1999, IKONOS has exceeded 10 years of successful on-orbit operations. It continues to provide high-resolution imagery of the Earth to GeoEye's commercial and government customers around the world.
"The IKONOS satellite, which continues to perform with outstanding results for GeoEye, ushered in the first generation of commercial high-resolution space imaging systems, and we look forward to building a third-generation satellite that will provide even greater remote sensing capabilities for GeoEye's customers," added Maguire.
In October 2007, GeoEye announced it had contracted with ITT Corporation's Geospatial Systems Division (Rochester, N.Y., NYSE: ITT) to begin advance work on the camera for GeoEye-2.
Chris Young, president of ITT Corporation's Geospatial Systems Division, commented, "We designed GeoEye-2's advanced optics and sensor using a combination of flight-proven and state-of-the-art technologies. We feel confident that our imaging system's improved resolution and outstanding image quality will offer GeoEye the best sensor and most comprehensive capabilities for years to come."
"This two-year head start on the development of the camera and camera electronics enables us to launch GeoEye-2 in late 2012," added Schuster. "Our goal is to be ready when our government moves ahead with any contracting activity, so our government and other customers overseas have continued access to high-quality satellite imagery well into this decade."