Mission accomplished for ITT Corporation as they celebrated the successful launch of the GeoEye-1 satellite and its ITT-built imaging payload from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Once fully operational, GeoEye-1 will boast the highest resolution of any commercial satellite imaging system on the market.  Its earth imaging payload was engineered and manufactured by ITT's Space Systems Division (SSD), headquartered in Rochester, N.Y.

This is the photo shoot to end all photo shoots, as GeoEye-1 can precisely locate an object to within three meters of its true location on the Earth's surface, which to date is an unprecedented level of geolocation accuracy for a commercial satellite imaging system. The satellite has the ability to collect images at 0.41-meter panchromatic (black and white) and 1.65-meter multispectral (color) resolution. The satellite will also be able to collect up to 700,000 square kilometers of panchromatic imagery per day, ideal for large scale mapping projects.

"ITT is honored to provide the 'eyes' of GeoEye-1 for future civil and government customers," said Chris Young, president of ITT Space Systems Division. "This imaging system benefits from our more than 50 years of remote sensing expertise, including our contribution to the industry's first commercial satellite, GeoEye's IKONOS."

ITT's Space Systems Division was selected in October 2004 to build the imaging system for the GeoEye-1 satellite, which is partially sponsored by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency though its NextView program.  ITT's integrated electro-optical payload includes the sensor subsystem, optical telescope unit and outer barrel assembly.  The system was delivered in January 2007 for integration into the spacecraft.

ITT's Space Systems Division provides innovative remote sensing and navigation solutions to customers in the Department of Defense, intelligence, space science and commercial aerospace to help them visualize and understand critical events happening on Earth, in the air, or in space in time to take effective action. Leveraging comprehensive capabilities, Space Systems' solutions span from image and data collection through processing and dissemination. Key applications include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; high-resolution commercial imaging; space science; climate and environmental monitoring; GPS navigation; image and data processing and dissemination; and space control and missile defense.