Posted: Thu, Dec 17, 2009, 12:44 PM ET. Commercial remote sensing company GeoEye announced Thursday that it has suspende operations of its newest satellite because of an antenna glitch. GeoEye said that it suspended operations of its GeoEye-1 satellite, launched in September 2008, because of a problem steering the spacecraft's antenna, used to transmit imagery to ground stations. The problem, if not resolved, could affect GeoEye's foreign partners, who operate their own ground stations to receive satellite imagery, but would not impair the company's ability to serve the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), GeoEye's biggest customer. This problem could cost the company up to 10 percent of its projected 2010 revenue, company officials said.

THALES ALENIA SPACE TO DELIVER VERY-HIGH-RESOLUTION OPTICAL IMAGING INSTRUMENT TO ASTRIUM

(Cannes, July 9, 2008). The Pleiades project is part of ORFEO*, a joint Franco-Italian initiative by the countries’ national space agencies CNES and ASI, marking a major technological advance in optical earth observation systems. The dual-technology program addresses both military and civil needs for European users, including mapping, volcano monitoring, geophysical and hydrology studies, urban planning, etc. As prime contractor for the Pleiades system-in particular the ground segment-CNES selected Astrium as satellite prime contractor and Thales Alenia Space for the imaging instruments.

The Pleiades optical high-resolution imaging instruments offers enhanced resolution of 70 cm over a wide swath (20 km) in both the visible and near infrared bands. This very high resolution instrument also introduces significant innovations such as the highly-integrated detection sub-assemblies (SEDHI), while also reducing volume three-fold compared to previous generations. The instrument provides very high dimensional stability thanks to a concept combining a carbon/carbon structure (material insensitive to moisture and with a very low coefficient of thermal expansion) and Zerodur mirrors. To optimize in-flight performance, the instrument has an innovative thermal refocusing system, eliminating the need for a complex mechanism.

The absence of this mechanism plus the satellite’s own enhanced performance (satellite pointing/tilting capabilities, downlink transmission rate of 450 Mbit/s) means a significant increase in mission performances.

The first flight-model instrument is now ready for delivery, after successfully passing its environmental tests. The performances of optical and radiometric tests, as measured in a Class 100 clean room in Cannes-the level required for this class of instrument-are excellent. The instrument will be integrated on the first satellite flight model, which will then undergo checks at Astrium’s facility in Toulouse.

The two Pleiades observation satellites have a design life of five years and offer a high degree of in-orbit agility thanks to their maneuvering capability. They are scheduled for launch in 2010 and 2011 respectively.