GeoEye Announces the Start of Commercial Operations for Its GeoEye-1 Earth-Imaging Satellite

Source: http://geoeye.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=316

World's Highest-Resolution, Color Satellite Imagery Now Available for Commercial Sale

DULLES, Va., Feb. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GeoEye, Inc. , a premier provider of satellite and aerial-based geospatial information, announced today the start of commercial operations for its new GeoEye-1 Earth-imaging satellite. The Company is also submitting imagery from the satellite to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) for their certification under the terms of the NextView contract.

"We are now selling imagery from GeoEye-1 to commercial customers around the world and to our government customers in Europe, Asia and the Middle East," said Matthew O'Connell, GeoEye's chief executive officer. "We are submitting imagery to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for certification and look forward to beginning to serve NGA under our new Service Level Agreement with them."

Bill Schuster, chief operating officer for GeoEye, said, "We established extremely exacting requirements for GeoEye-1 and meeting them proved to be very technically challenging -- particularly in the calibration phase. Additional improvements can still be made, but we have now succeeded in attaining our performance objectives. The combination of resolution, clarity, color and accuracy make it the best satellite imagery on the market. We look forward to working with NGA over the next few weeks to complete the certification process."

The NextView program is designed to ensure that the NGA has access to commercial imagery in support of its mission to provide timely, relevant and accurate geospatial intelligence in support of national security. GeoEye won its $500-million NextView contract in September 2004. In October 2004, GeoEye selected General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems as the GeoEye-1 prime contractor. The satellite's sensor was built by ITT Corporation.

GeoEye-1 imagery products and solutions are now commercially available in half-, one-, two- and four-meter ground resolutions. Imagery products are available in color and black & white. Color imagery comprises four bands: blue, green, red and near-infrared. There are several ways commercial customers can purchase GeoEye-1 imagery. Service Experts are available to assist with the purchasing of GeoEye's imagery products and value-added solutions. Please call 1.800.232.9037 (within the United States) or +1.703.480.5670 (from overseas), Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. EST for more information. Customers may also send an email to info@geoeye.com or contact an authorized GeoEye Channel Partner (available via GeoEye's Web site). The GeoEye partners consist of businesses and organizations with a long history of expertise in the geospatial world, remote sensing and extensive domain experience in a variety of disciplines. For more details, please visit http://www.geoeye.com/CorpSite/products/Default.aspx.

Additionally, customers can search for IKONOS data in the GeoEye satellite imagery archive using the company's newly released search-and-discovery tool called GeoFUSE, where "FUSE" stands for "Find, Use, Serve and Extend." GeoFUSE gives users access to a number of search-and-discovery tools, assists customers in locating available imagery which meet specific project needs and enables them to easily navigate and efficiently search. To search GeoEye's archive, which contains more than 300 million square kilometers, please visit http://geofuse.geoeye.com or to learn more about the platform, go to http://geofuse.geoeye.com/help.

About GeoEye

GeoEye is the premier provider of geospatial information for the national security community, strategic partners, resellers and commercial customers to help them better map, measure and monitor the world. The Company is recognized as the industry's trusted imagery expert for delivering reliable service and the exceptional quality of its imagery products and solutions. It operates a constellation of Earth imaging satellites, mapping aircraft and has an international network of ground stations, a robust imagery archive, and advanced imagery processing capabilities for developing innovative geospatial products and solutions. On September 6, the Company launched its GeoEye-1 satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The Company also provides support to academic institutions and non-governmental organizations through the GeoEye Foundation. Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, GeoEye is a public company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol GEOY. It maintains a comprehensive Quality Management System (QMS) and has achieved company-wide ISO accreditation. For more information, visit http://www.geoeye.com/.