TT Imaging System Aboard GeoEye-1 Captures First High-Resolution Image

Following the successful September 6th launch of the GeoEye-1 satellite and its ITT-built imaging payload, GeoEye has released an initial image of Kutztown University located between Reading, PA, and Allentown, PA. GeoEye-1 boasts the highest resolution of any commercial Earth-imaging satellite system on the market.

The image was collected at 12:00 pm EDT on September 7, while GeoEye-1 was moving north to south in a 423-mile-high (681km) orbit over the eastern seaboard of the United States at a speed of 4½mps. The initial image can be viewed on ITT's website at ssd.itt.com/GeoEye1.

ITT's earth imaging payload aboard GeoEye-1 has the ability to collect images at 0.41m panchromatic (black and white) and 1.65m multispectral (color) resolution. This first image of Kutztown University was produced by fusing the satellite's panchromatic and multispectral data to produce a high-quality, true-color half-meter ground resolution image. GeoEye-1 will be able to collect up to 700,000km2 of panchromatic imagery per day, ideal for large scale mapping projects. Or, it can collect an area half that size in the multispectral or color mode. Under current U.S. Government licensing restrictions, imagery must be re-sampled to half meter ground resolution for commercial customers.

ITT's Space Systems Division, headquartered in Rochester, NY, was selected in 2004 to build the GeoEye-1 electro-optical payload, which includes the sensor subsystem, optical telescope unit and outer barrel assembly. The satellite was launched from Vandenberg AFB, CA, within four years of contract award.

"The quality of the half-meter color images captured by ITT's imaging payload aboard GeoEye-1 offer a glimpse of its capabilities for civil and government customers worldwide," says Chris Young, president of ITT Space Systems Division. "For more than 50 years, ITT has engineered, manufactured and delivered the world's most advanced and reliable remote sensing systems. We look forward to following GeoEye-1's success with a third generation imaging system for GeoEye-2, scheduled for launch in the 2011 timeframe. This sensor could have a ground resolution as fine as a quarter meter." ssd.itt.com