Geoeye: Order For Next Satellite Contingent On Customer Guarantee

摘要

GeoEye Inc. said it will not commit to a contract for full development of its next high-resolution optical satellite until the U.S. government or some other anchor customer guarantees to purchase data from it, GeoEye officials said April 3.rnThe Dulles, Va.-based satellite and aerial Earth observation data provider, whose biggest single customer is the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), spent $21.2 million in 2008 on developing the primary optical camera for a GeoEye-2 under a contract with ITT Space Systems of Rochester, N.Y.rnBut while GeoEye has said it expects to order GeoEye-2 in 2009, with a possible 2012 launch, company Chief Executive Matthew O'Connell said there are too many uncertainties about the U.S. government's commercial-imagery policy to permit such a decision.