GeoEye Appoints Master Reseller for Satellite Imagery in China
DULLES, VA, April 26, 2007 - Satnews Daily - GeoEye is partnering with the East-Dawn Group, a privately held company based in Beijing, China, to provide satellite imagery and value-added products in China.
To implement this, the East Dawn Group has formed a new company, Beijing Earth Observation (BEO). BEO, also headquartered in Beijing, will focus on the resale of satellite imagery and value-added products. Under terms of the agreement and subject to U.S. government approval, BEO will be GeoEye's exclusive Master Reseller in China and will have access to GeoEye's archive of more than 278 million square kilometers of map-accurate satellite imagery.
Covering 9.6 million square kilometers, China has a growing need to fully harness the power of geospatial information to map and monitor its vast landmass and all the changes happening to it. The Chinese government has incorporated the expansion of geospatial technology as part of its overall national strategy. BEO will directly target, market and sell GeoEye's high-resolution products and value-added solutions to the Chinese government, its various remote sensing application organizations, local government agencies and the commercial sector.
"We are honored to have East-Dawn as our distinguished partner. We believe the market for high-quality, map-accurate information will grow as China's economy does," said Matt O'Connell, GeoEye's chief executive officer. "Our Ikonos satellite archive has the map-accurate imagery China needs to help it plan its rapid growth, and BEO is the right partner for us to help satisfy our Chinese customers' needs."
Sun Bing, the founder of East-Dawn, said China has leveraged the benefits of satellite information since the 1970's to conduct resource surveys and environmental assessments. BEO will build on this tradition and work closely with China's strong remote sensing community. “We believe our partnering with GeoEye will help provide the Chinese government and business leaders with quality geospatial information in a timely and convenient manner to address applications such as forestry, land surveying, agricultural assessment, geosciences, urban planning, mapping and natural disaster prediction."
GeoEye is a producer of satellite, aerial and geospatial information. The company is a provider of geospatial data, information and value-added products for the national security community, strategic partners, resellers and commercial customers. GeoEye operates Earth imaging satellites, two mapping aircraft, possesses an international network of ground stations, a robust image archive, and advanced geospatial imagery processing capabilities.
