23rd December 2008 – Infoterra Ltd, a leader in the provision of geospatial products and services, is working with Rallymaps, specialists in map delivery for major car rallies, to improve the efficiency of management and delivery of hundreds of maps for use by the teams in the Dakar Series. Infoterra has supplied ERDAS Image Compressor

(Arianespace) – EADS Astrium has chosen Arianespace to launch the SSOT Sistema Satelital para Observación de la Tierra Earth observation satellite for the Government of Chile. SSOT is a high-resolution Earth observation satellite. It will be boosted into Sun-synchronous orbit by a Soyuz launcher from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Slated

Boeing Co. (BA: News ) Dec 19th said it received a contract to launch the fourth satellite for the COSMO-SkyMed program for Thales Alenia Space Italia, prime contractor of the Italian Space Agency. The COSMO-SkyMed spacecraft is expected to be launched in 2010 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a Delta II vehicle in the 7420-10 configuration. Boeing Launch Services would procure the launch vehicle and related support from United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture.

[Satellite Today 12-19-08] Telespazio won a from the Turkish Ministry of Defense for the Gokturk satellite system, the company announced Dec. 19. The agreement covers the supply of an Earth observation satellite equipped with a high-resolution optical sensor, an integration and test center for satellites to be built in Turkey, and the entire ground segment

BRUSSELS, Dec 18 (Reuters) – European aircraft manufacturer EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) gained clearance from European Union antitrust regulators on Thursday to buy British satellite maker Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, the European Commission said. EADS produces aircraft, telecoms equipment, defence and security systems and satellites. It is also active in the space

Oceanography data that will help scientists around the world better understand climate change are now available. The data come from the Ocean Surface Topography Mission, also known as OSTM/Jason-2, a spacecraft developed jointly by NASA and the French space agency. Launched June 20, 2008, the mission’s first validated data products in support of improved weather,

The main objective of the 2008 UN Climate Change Conference, which ended on the 13 December in Poznań (Poland), was to reach or at least to move forward to a new international climate change agreement. The current Kyoto deal will expire in 2012, therefore discussions to find a post-Kyoto deal started in December 2007 in

This paper, Infrastructure Interdependencies, is the first in a special White Paper Series entitled, The Geospatial Dimensions of Critical Infrastructure and Emergency Response. It is intended to provide geospatial practitioners with a summary of critical infrastructure interdependencies, reasons why understanding these relationships is vital to effective emergency response, and the important role geospatial technology, data

Intermap Technologies has introduced an online data store, NEXTMap TerrainOnDemand, which provides access to the company’s library of 3D digital elevation models, orthorectified radar images, contours, and optimized TIN models. Customers can now search, purchase, and download NEXTMap datasets directly from the company. The NEXTMap program is remapping the United States and Europe. With the

On 10 December 2008, ESA announced the launch of a new website through which data for GMES Services can be obtained. The purpose of the new GMES Space Component Data Access web portal is to provide access and advertise datasets currently available or planned for GMES Service Projects. Many of the datasets disseminated rely on

Jeff Thurston There are both similarities and differences between North American and European geospatial initiatives and approaches. Europe consists of 27 EU member states as well as several non-member states as compared to Mexico, United States and Canada. Europeans appear more coordinated in their geospatial approaches, the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE), EuroGeographics,

Vietnam plans to launch its first remote sensing satellite by 2012, the local newspaper Vietnam News Agency reported Friday. The country is now carrying out its satellite-launching project, worth about 100 million U.S. dollars. The announcement was made on Thursday by chairman of the national Research Program on Space Science and Technology NguyenKhoa Son at

Despite the recent setback suffered by Nigeria in space technology owing to the failure of the Nigerian Communications Satellite (NigComSat-1), space authorities in the country have said that they are working towards acquiring the capacity to launch satellite locally by 2013. The Director General, National Space Research and Development Agency, Prof. Robert Boroffice, who disclosed

Scientists and decision makers will soon have unrestricted global access at no charge to the USGS Landsat archive, the world�s most extensive collection of continuously acquired land imagery. The full collection is expected to be available online, for the first time with no user fees, by the end of this year under a policy initiated

EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, held its 66th Council meeting in Darmstadt, Germany, from December 9th through 10th. The meeting was chaired by General Dr. Massimo Capaldo, Head of the Meteorological Department (Chief of the Staff Office — Ufficio Generale Spazio Aereo e Meteorologia) in the Italian General Meteorological Office.

ORLEANS, France, Dec 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — An OGC Interoperability Day was held Tuesday, 9 December, 2008, at BRGM in Orleans, France. This event, organized by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) France Forum with the support of the Conseil Regional du Centre, followed the OGC Technical Committee meeting, an international event held last week