Russian Satellite Returns EO Images

Aerial Images, Inc., a pioneer in the application and integration of digital imagery from space, and Sovinformsputnik, a branch of the Russian space agency (RKA), announce the successful recovery of an imaging satellite the two companies launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan in February. The satellite, which has touched down back at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, circled the Earth for 45 days taking highly-detailed images of the Southeast United States and major population centers around the world. This landing represents the first successful recovery of a commercial 2-meter resolution Earth imaging satellite.

The satellite recovery, a cooperative effort between Aerial
Images, Inc. and Sovinformsputnik, represents the conclusion of the
first of a unique four part mission to collect detailed SPIN-2 images
of the world. The images that returned via the satellite will have
2-meter resolution, the most detailed satellite imagery ever made
available for commercial and consumer use. Later this summer,
consumers will be able to browse through the images and purchase them
from the “world’s largest digital atlas,” the TerraServerTM, located
on the Internet at www.terraserver.com, for as little as $7.95 an image. The TerraServer is a joint project of Aerial Images, Inc., Digital Equipment Corporation, Kodak, Microsoft and Sovinformsputnik.

“The successful recovery of this satellite is a major milestone
for everyone involved with the TerraServer project,” said John
Hoffman, president of Aerial Images. “Never before have U.S. and
Russian teams come together to commercialize a formerly military space
program. It is these types of relationships that will put valuable
satellite information into the hands of scientists, business
professionals and consumers worldwide and is a great step towards
making the world a more familiar place.”

With the first satellite safely back on Earth, the film will
be taken from the camera on board, processed and duplicated onto Kodak
aerial film. Kodak’s aerial duplication film provides durable,
high-resolution, archival storage quality film for the process of
transferring photographic images onto the World Wide Web. The
developing and optimized duplication process are a joint project of
Sovinformsputnik and Kodak, assuring that the resulting images will be
the highest quality possible. These final SPIN-2 satellite film images
will then be converted to high quality digital images for the
TerraServer at the Kodak Earth Imaging facility in Rochester, N.Y.

In addition to the film and processing components, a division of
Kodak is providing TerraServer customers with valuable print
fulfillment services. Kodak Earth Imaging, a group within Kodak’s
Commercial & Government Systems Business Unit provides digital
photographic print and CD fulfillment services to those TerraServer
customers who wish to purchase the images. Internet users can view
select SPIN-2 images from this mission and historical data at
www.terraserver.com. Kodak Earth Imaging will quickly print and deliver photographic prints of selected images, up to 20″ x 26″ poster sizes, to the customer’s doorstep. Introductory pricing will make
2-meter imagery available at a fraction of the traditional remote sensing satellite costs.

“Like Sovinformsputnik, Kodak is leveraging its many years of
experience supporting the nation’s defense industry to provide premium
materials, equipment, photographic science consultation and imaging
services to support this exciting commercial imaging system,” said
David Parkes, technology manager of Kodak Earth Imaging. “It’s
exciting to see how this US and Russian team complement each other as
they successfully acquire and deliver this high resolution commercial
remote sensing imagery to the world of Internet users.”

Sovinformsputnik

Sovinformsputnik was founded by a number of enterprises in the
defense branches of industry, responsible for development,
manufacturing and operation of modern remote sensing systems, which
until just recently were used only for defense purposes. The strategic
direction of Sovinformsputnik’s activity is carrying out satellite
surveys, commercial distribution of data acquired by the above
mentioned systems and the creation of the different products,
including digital topographic and thematic maps. As a part of its
charter, Sovinformsputnik works with Russian agencies to organize
satellite launches and in-orbit imaging in order to market and develop
useful commercial applications for space information.

Aerial Images

Aerial Images, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina,
was founded in 1988 to use advanced digital imagery to lead the way to
the new geography. The company has invested nine years in developing
technologies and applications to redefine mapping accuracy and to
change the way we view the world. Central Trading Systems, Inc., trade
relations consultants, assisted in negotiating the project with
Russia. Aerial Images, www.aerial-images.com, is a pioneer in digital imagery applications and integration; CAD (computer aided dispatch) and GIS systems; and digital mapping applications.