First Set of Images from OrbView-3 Satellite Released by ORBIMAGE
Calibration and Validation Near Completion
Orbital Imaging Corporation (ORBIMAGE) announced today the official release of its first set of sample images from its OrbView-3 high-resolution commercial imaging satellite. The samples include imagery from around the world collected at one-meter resolution in OrbView-3’s panchromatic imaging mode (black and white), and at four-meter resolution in the multi-spectral (color) mode. Collected since the successful launch of OrbView-3 on June 26, 2003 the sample images (in jpeg format) are available for download at ORBIMAGE’s web site (www.orbimage.com).
“These samples show the excellent image quality and clarity our worldwide customers will receive,” said Matthew O’Connell, ORBIMAGE’s Chief Executive Officer. “We could have released engineering samples of our imagery months ago with promises of better quality to come, but we decided to finish validation and calibration first.”
Timothy Puckorius, ORBIMAGE’s Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales and Marketing said, “With our contract backlog of over $250M, we needed to take the necessary time to make sure the products would meet specification. We are now confident we can meet or exceed all product specifications and have started delivering imagery products to some of our anchor customers and key partners for review and validation. Similarly, we have initiated our support program to third-party image processing companies with documentation, image support data and math models so they can update their software to support rigorous geopositioning and manipulation of our OrbView-3 imagery.”
The sample images released today include areas over Tokyo, Sacramento, Baghdad, and Washington, D.C. and demonstrate OrbView-3’s global collection capabilities as it orbits the earth approximately 15 times per day, or once every 94 minutes. Additional samples will be released periodically. Alex Fox, ORBIMAGE’s Vice President of Products and Solutions added, “Our customers should feel confident that what they see is what they’ll get from ORBIMAGE. The samples released today reflect our initial product offering which will be marketed under the OrbViewBASIC(TM) brand name. Additional samples representing our OrbViewORTHO(TM) products with nominal geolocation accuracy of up to 12m (CE 90%) will be released next month along with our pricing and product catalog. Our entire range of products will be ready before the end of the first quarter 2004.”
Images from OrbView-3 are used for a wide array of applications from environmental monitoring, to emergency response, to precision mapping and intelligence gathering. A clear, accurate, high-resolution image of the earth can help national security agencies and state and local governments monitor borders, deploy resources, and enhance land use infrastructure planning, natural disaster assessments and recovery efforts. Natural resource customers can use information gathered by OrbView-3 for resource exploration, agriculture and forestry management. Newer areas for high-resolution satellite imagery use include real estate assessment, insurance, travel planning, news event coverage, and video game 3D fly-throughs.
About ORBIMAGE:
ORBIMAGE is a leading global provider of Earth imagery products and services, with a constellation of digital remote sensing satellites and a worldwide integrated image receiving, processing and distribution network. The company currently operates the OrbView-2 ocean and land multispectral imaging satellite that was launched in 1997, and the new OrbView-3 high- resolution satellite launched on June 26, 2003 which will soon offer one-meter panchromatic and four-meter multispectral digital imagery on a global basis. ORBIMAGE distributes its products directly to the U.S. government for national security and related mapping applications. Commercial sales are handled through a worldwide network of value-added resellers, regional distributors, sales agents, and select strategic partners.
To find more information about ORBIMAGE, please see our web site at http://www.orbimage.com
