Funding Outlook Fuels Speculation about DiqitalGlobe, GeoEve

摘要

The two companies providing commercial satellite imagery to the U.S. government under a 10-year program are facing a combined $50 million in lost revenue this year and more-substantial reductions in 2013 as Congress and the White House look for further budget cuts, industry officials said. The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which is managing the 10-year EnhancedView program, has been unable to determine where the cuts will be made despite having more than a month to decide the issue since the U.S. government's fiscal 2012 budget was signed into law, officials said. The $50 million reduction represents slightly more than 10 percent of the revenue that DigitalGlobe of Longmont, Colo., and GeoEye of Herndon, Va., had expected to receive from NGA in calendar year 2012 under EnhancedView.The two companies are dividing EnhancedView's scheduled $7.3 billion in revenue over 10 years starting when the contract took effect in mid-2010. EnhancedView's long-term perspective permitted both companies to invest in new satellites and ground infrastructure that NGA said would be needed under the program.