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GeoEye
GeoEye Inc. (formerly Orbital Imaging Corporation, or ORBIMAGE) was an American commercial satellite imagery company based in Herndon, Virginia. GeoEye was merged into the DigitalGlobe corporation on January 29, 2013. The company was founded in 1992 as a division of Orbital Sciences Corporation in the wake of the 1992 Land Remote Sensing Policy Act which permitted private companies to enter the satellite imaging business. The division was spun off in 1997. It changed its name to GeoEye in 2006 after acquiring Denver, Colorado-based Space Imaging Corporation for $58 million. Space Imaging was founded and controlled by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. Its principal asset was the IKONOS satellite; the company was founded in the 1990s for the purpose of managing the project that became the IKONOS satellite. Although ORBIMAGE's first chairman was Orbital chairman David W. Thompson, and Orbital at the time owned more than 60 percent of the stock, it no longer has a substantial inter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GeoEye-1
''GeoEye-1'' is a high-resolution Earth observation satellite owned by Maxar Technologies (formerly DigitalGlobe), launched in September 2008. The satellite was acquired in the 2013 purchase of GeoEye. History On 1 December 2004, General Dynamics C4 Systems announced it had been awarded a contract worth approximately to build the ''OrbView-5'' satellite. Its sensor is designed by the ITT Exelis. The satellite, now known as ''GeoEye-1'', was originally scheduled for launch in April 2008 but lost its 30-day launch slot to a U.S. government mission which had itself been delayed. It was rescheduled for launch 22 August 2008 from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a Delta II launch vehicle. The launch was postponed to 4 September 2008, due to unavailability of the Big Crow telemetry-relay aircraft. It was delayed again to 6 September because Hurricane Hanna interfered with its launch crews. The launch took place successfully on 6 September 2008 at 18:50:57 UTC. The ''GeoEye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DigitalGlobe
DigitalGlobe was an American commercial vendor of space imagery and geospatial content, and operator of civilian remote sensing spacecraft. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange on 14 May 2009, selling 14.7 million shares at US$19.00 each to raise US$279 million in capital. On 5 October 2017, Maxar Technologies completed its acquisition of DigitalGlobe. The company's "WorldView" satellites should not be confused with the unrelated WorldView company (a stratospheric balloon operator). Origins WorldView Imaging Corporation was founded in January 1992 in Oakland, California in anticipation of the 1992 Land Remote Sensing Policy Act (enacted in October 1992) which permitted private companies to enter the satellite imaging business. Its founder was Dr Walter Scott, who was joined by co-founder and CEO Doug Gerull in late 1992. In 1993, the company received the first high resolution commercial remote sensing satellite license issued under the 1992 Act. The compa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other government customers. In 2014, Orbital merged with Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to create a new company called Orbital ATK, which in turn was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2018. Orbital was headquartered in Dulles, Virginia and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol ORB. Orbital's primary products were satellites and launch vehicles, including low Earth orbit (LEO), geosynchronous Earth orbit and planetary spacecraft for communications, remote sensing, scientific and defense missions; ground- and air-launched launch vehicles that delivered satellites into orbit; missile defense systems that were used as interceptor and target vehicles; and human-rated space systems for Earth orbit, lunar and other missions. Orbital ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Alan Abrahamson
James Alan Abrahamson (born May 19, 1933) is a retired U.S. Air Force general who served as a designated astronaut, associate director of NASA and former director of President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative from 1984 until 1989. He is a businessman who served as chairman of the board of GeoEye, a company he helped to transform into the world's largest space imaging corporation and that merged with DigitalGlobe Inc in January 2013. Previously, he served as chairman of Oracle Corporation's board of directors from 1992 until 1995. Early life and education Abrahamson was born in Williston, North Dakota, on May 19, 1933. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1955 and a Master of Science degree in the same field from the University of Oklahoma in 1961. He completed Squadron Officer School in 1958, Air Command and Staff College in 1966, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1973. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satellite Imagery
Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell images by licensing them to governments and businesses such as Apple Maps and Google Maps. History The first images from space were taken on Sub-orbital spaceflight, sub-orbital flights. The US-launched V-2 flight on October 24, 1946, took one image every 1.5 seconds. With an Apsis, apogee of 65 miles (105 km), these photos were from five times higher than the previous record, the 13.7 miles (22 km) by the Explorer II balloon mission in 1935. The first satellite (orbital) photographs of Earth were made on August 14, 1959, by the U.S. Explorer 6. The first satellite photographs of the Moon might have been made on October 6, 1959, by the Soviet satellite Luna 3, on a mission to photograph the far side of the Moon. The Blue Marble ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IKONOS
IKONOS was a commercial Earth observation satellite, and was the first to collect publicly available high-resolution imagery at 1- and 4-meter resolution. It collected multispectral (MS) and panchromatic (PAN) imagery. The capability to observe Earth via space-based telescope has been called "one of the most significant developments in the history of the space age", and IKONOS brought imagery rivaling that of military spy satellites to the commercial market. IKONOS imagery began being sold on 1 January 2000, and the spacecraft was retired in 2015. History IKONOS originated under the Lockheed Corporation as the Commercial Remote Sensing System (CRSS) satellite. In April 1994 Lockheed was granted one of the first licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce for commercial satellite high-resolution imagery. On 25 October 1995 partner company Space Imaging received a license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to transmit telemetry from the satellite in the eight-gigah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to support national security. Founded in 1996 as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), it changed names in 2003. It is a member of the United States Intelligence Community. NGA headquarters, also known as NGA Campus East or NCE, is located at Fort Belvoir North Area in Springfield, Virginia. At , it is the third-largest government building in the Washington metropolitan area after the Pentagon and the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Ronald Reagan Building. The agency also operates NGA Campus West, or NCW, in St. Louis, Missouri, and support and liaison offices worldwide. NGA also helps respond to natural and manmade disasters, helps with security planning for major events such as the Olympic Games, disseminates maritime safety ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pegasus (rocket)
Pegasus is an Air launch to orbit, air-launched launch vehicle, multistage rocket developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) and later built and launched by Northrop Grumman. Pegasus is the world's first privately developed orbital launch vehicle. Capable of carrying small payloads of up to into low Earth orbit, Pegasus first flew in 1990 and remained active . The vehicle consists of three Solid rocket, solid propellant Multistage rocket, stages and an optional Monopropellant rocket, monopropellant fourth stage. Pegasus is released from its carrier aircraft at approximately using a first stage wing and a tail to provide lift and altitude control while in the atmosphere. The first stage does not have a Thrust vectoring, thrust vector control (TVC) system. History Pegasus was designed by a team led by Antonio Elias. The Pegasus's three Orion solid motors were developed by Hercules Aerospace (later Alliant Techsystems) specifically for the Pegasus launcher but using adv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Foundation
The Space Foundation is an American nonprofit organization, the mission of which is to advocate for all sectors of the global space industry through space awareness activities, educational programs, and major industry events. It was founded in 1983. Locations Located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the foundation's headquarters includes team offices, as well as conference and other facilities. The Space Foundation has an office in Washington, D.C. and field representatives in Houston, Los Angeles, and the Florida Space Coast. Education The Space Foundation delivers K-12 student programs in laboratory, classroom and after-school settings. Programs include STEM, social studies, history, the arts and literature and are available to individual classes, school districts, public and private school, colleges and universities offering education curriculum and homeschool organizations. Space Symposium The Space Foundation hosts the annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pass (spaceflight)
An orbital pass (or simply pass) is the period in which a spacecraft is above the local horizon, and thus available for line-of-sight communication with a given ground station, receiver, or relay satellite, or for visual sighting. The beginning of a pass is termed ''acquisition of signal'' (AOS); the end of a pass is termed ''loss of signal'' (LOS). The point at which a spacecraft comes closest to a ground observer is the ''time of closest approach'' (TCA). Timing and duration The timing and duration of passes depends on the characteristics of the orbit a satellite occupies, as well as the ground topography and any occulting objects on the ground (such as buildings), or in space (for planetary probes, or for spacecraft using relay satellites). The longest duration ground pass will be experienced by an observer directly on the ground track of the satellite. Path loss is greatest toward the start and end of a ground pass, as is Doppler shifting for Earth-orbiting satellites. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
