France in Space #193 – 1 Feb 2002

** 1: ESA DIRECTOR GENERAL RECEIVES NASA HIGH RECOGNITION

On January 24, ESA (European Space Agency) Director General Antonio Rodota
was presented with the NASA distinguished Public Service Medal. The
exclusive distinction has been awarded to Rodota in recognition of his
strong advocacy of transatlantic cooperation with NASA. Rodota was awarded
by NASA European Representative Karen Feldstein, on behalf of former NASA
Administrator Daniel Goldin, at a ceremony held at ESA headquarters in
Paris. The accompanying letter, signed by Goldin while still NASA
Administrator, reads: “Through your dedication, ESA has assumed a major
leadership role in the development and operation of the International Space
Station. You have directed strong ESA bilateral cooperation with NASA and
have greatly furthered international civil space activities through your
support of the broad panoply of European Space Agency”.

[ESA Press Release, 01/24/2002]

** 2: SPOT IMAGE – DIGITALGLOBE SIGN EXCLUSIVE CHANNEL PARTNERSHIP CONTRACT

Spot Image Corporation and DigitalGlobe signed a 6-year channel partnership
contract under which Digital Global has exclusive rights to spell SPOT
satellite products and services to customers in the U.S. Defense market and
the U.S. agriculture market. Previously Spot Image Corp. in the U.S.
maintained exclusive single-point distribution rights, and worked with
several non-exclusive distributors and value-added resellers. This new
business model relies on dedicated channel partners assigned exclusive
channel rights in exchange for a long-term financial commitment to Spot
Image. The partnership will be managed by Spot Image Corp. which will
retain distribution exclusivity in all other markets in North, Central and
South America. Spot Image Corp. is the U.S. subsidiary of Spot Image, the
worldwide number 1 on satellite imagery market.

[Spot Image Press Release, 01/25/2002]

** 3: RENAULT FORMULE 1 TO USE EUTELSAT D-SAT SERVICE

Eutelsat, one of the world’s leading providers of satellite communications
solutions, has been selected by Renault F1 to provide satellite
communications services from this year, for the formula One World
Championship. Renault F1, which is to mark its return to the Grand Prix
race circuit in March this year, has signed a contract with Eutelsat to
utilize its D-SAT satellite transmission service. Renault F1 is to use the
service to transmit data direct from European Grand Prix sites back to its
technical centers in Viry Chatillon (France) and Enstone (UK). Eutelsat’s
innovative service enables corporate users to transmit a broad range voice,
data (such as telemetry), Internet and multimedia information via
satellite. Users of the service benefit from high transmission capacity and
real-time interactivity on demand with bandwidth assigned according to
their specific requirements. This provides users with scaleable and
cost-effective solutions for managing corporate networks.

[Eutelsat Press Release, 01/29/2002]

** 4: SPOT-5 READY TO FLY TO FRENCH GUIANA

Spot-5, built by Astrium, is the last Earth observation satellite of the
Spot family. Developed by Astrium and CNES (French space Agency) at a cost
of 26 millions Euros, the 3-ton spacecraft is currently undergoing the last
tests before being shipped to French Guyana on the Airbus cargo, Beluga.
Spot-5 is scheduled for launch around April 10. Michel Bouffard, Astrium
Director of the Earth Observation and Science Program, explained that the
space imagery users have never been so eagerly waiting for a mission.
Spot-5 is equipped with two new high-optical-resolution instruments. Spot-5
will thus be able to provide a 2.5-meter resolution across wide spectral
band images. Spot-5 images will cover a 60 x 60 km stripe of land. A third
instrument has been set up on Spot-5: a stereoscopic high-resolution
camera, which is able to take nearly instantaneously an in and out-zoom
picture. This will thus enable 3-D pictures to be taken, aspect of high
interest for civil and military organizations.

[CNES ActualitŽs, 01/24/2002, Le Monde, 01/22/2002]

[From CNES Actualites, ESA Press Release, Eutelsat Press Release, Le Monde,
Spot Image Press Release (Spot Image)]