Astrium, foreseeing the Earth observation industry undergoing significant change has, in the process, announced the purchase of further shares in Spot Image from the French Space Agency (CNES). This is a significant deal resulting in Astrium holding 81 percent of Spot Image, and therefore becoming the majority shareholder.  Infoterra and Spot Image will work together as the Earth Observation Division of Astrium Services . This purchase reaffirms Astrium’s commitment to strengthening its presence in the entire Earth observation value chain including; satellites, spaceborn and airborn data, ground segment, application solutions and information management and distribution.

Astrium Services’ growth strategy, consistent with European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS’) objectives to strengthen its services portfolio, will offer real opportunities for Spot Image and Infoterra. Earth observation services, combined with other components of Astrium Services (secure telecommunications and navigation), will help create integrated capabilities to address new markets and deliver additional value across the business.

Spot Image has enjoyed commercial success for more than 20 years, which is the longest track record of all satellite operators in the Earth observation industry. As the exclusive operator of the SPOT optical satellite constellation and strategic partner for other satellites, (the Korean 1 meter KOMPSAT-2, the Taiwanese 2 meter FORMOSAT-2 and others), Spot Image, and its five subsidiaries, offer an ambitious range of satellite data and services in the market. Spot Image is preparing for the planned launch of the Pleiades constellation (2 agile, 50 cm resolution optical satellites) in 2010 and the development of a high resolution sensor to ensure SPOT 5 service continuity beyond 2012.