Page 1 of 2 Next  Ananya Ghosh Sub-Editor, GIS Development ananya.ghosh@gisdevelopment.net Global Navigation Satellite Systems In January 2006, Russia expanded its global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) with the launch of three satellites, two of which were of Glonass-M series. These satellites have a longer service life of seven years and are equipped with updated antenna feeder systems and an additional navigation frequency for civilian users. Later in December, the constellation was replenished by launching three more Glonass-M satellites. A future modification, Glonass-K is to be tested in 2007. In November, the Russian government announced that GLONASS would be made available to civilians in the country by 2007, and by 2009 it would be offered to commercial customers worldwide. The U.S is also not far behind in upgrading its Navstar GPS satellites. It has started replacing its Block II, Block IIA, Block IIR satellites with the Block II R-M satellites.Of the total eight GPS Block II R-M satellites being developed by Lockheed Martin, three were launched in 2006. The Block IIR-M series include new features that enhance operations and navigation signal performance for military and civilian GPS users around the globe.The fourth generation of GPS Block II-F satellites are scheduled to be launched in 2007. Europe has started building its very own satellite navigation system called Galileo.Galileo will be under civilian control unlike the GPS, which is run by the US military. The first of the Galileo satellites, GIOVE-A was placed in orbit in December 2005. It began transmitting its first signals in January 2006.The pilot satellite marks the initial step towards full operability of Europe’s Galileo, being built by the European Space Agency in collaboration with the European Commission. GeoEye GeoEye was formed in January 2006 as a result of the acquisition of Space Imaging by Orbimage, making it the largest commercial remote sensing company in the world. In September 2005, Orbimage Holdings Inc. had announced that it would be acquiring its rival company, Space Imaging LLC, for $ 58.5 million after its owners put it up for sale. But why was Space Imaging sold out when it had built a sizeable customer base by launching the world’s first commercial spy satellite, IKONOS, in September 1999? Space Imagery from IKONOS had a resolution of one-meter which made Space Imaging a leading supplier of derivative products and services from satellite imageries. It also boasted of a clientele of 13 ground stations all over the world which bought access to IKONOS from Space Imaging. The company soon realized that it urgently needed a $ 500 million contract from the US government-the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) NextView contract for developing a next-generation high resolution remote sensing satellite. Without a new satellite, the future of Space Imaging was uncertain as IKONOS was expected to lose its effectiveness from 2007/2008. To make matters worse, Space Imaging lost the first of the two $500 million Next View contract to Digital Globe. The final nail in the coffin was the grant of the second $500 million NextView contract to Orbimage by NGA. Space Imaging lost the crucial contract as its owners, Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co., refused to guarantee loans to finance the deal. Finally, Space Imaging was put up for sale. Orbimage soon acquired Space Imaging and renamed itself as GeoEye. Orbimage’s success in winning the NextView contract has put it back on track to build a next-generation high-resolution satellite, which is now known as GeoEye-1. It is slated for launch in early 2007. The launch of GeoEye-1 would be an important milestone not only for the commercial satellite market but also for the newly established GeoEye. Intergraph Now A Private Firm On August 31, 2006, Intergraph Corporation, a leading provider of mapping and visualization software, was acquired by an investor group headed by Hellman & Friedman LLC and Texas Pacific Group in a leverage buyout worth $1.3 billion. Leverage buyouts are those in which investor groups borrow large sums of money to buy a company and make it a private enterprise. Intergraph, therefore, has ceased to be a public enterprise and is now a private company that is not subject to the vagaries of the stock market. Intergraph, founded in 1969, specializes in software called spatial information management (SIM). SIM enables major organizations to analyse complex data and deliver visual reports. Today, SIM is becoming all-encompassing; from data management, Web-based graphical designing to Google Maps and Microsoft MapPoint, making it an extremely lucrative business prospect. It is projected that most of the IT firms will be using this technology more and more in the future. Hellman & Friedman and Texas Pacific Group have, as a result, acquired Intergraph keeping the future prospects of SIM in view. Intergraph’s buyout is being seen as a good deal by the investors. They foresee enormous potential for the company on account of it having fantastic products in the pipeline. Also, now that Intergraph is a private enterprise, there are immense growth opportunities because long term investments can be made without worrying about the ups and downs in the stock exchange. Product development is touted as one of the key areas of investment by the company. The year 2007 will see a large number of Intergraph products and services entering the market, marking a new beginning for the erstwhile public enterprise.
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