The IKONOS satellite is the most sophisticated remote sensing spacecraft ever built for the commercial market -- capable of photographing objects on the ground as small as one meter. No other commercial remote sensing system has this capability.

The 1600-pound IKONOS satellite, based on the LM900-series satellite bus, will be launched aboard an Athena II launch vehicle supplied by Lockheed Martin Astronautics of Denver.

"We're proud to be on the Space Imaging team for this historic mission," said Tom Dougherty, director of low-earth orbit satellite programs for Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems. "IKONOS represents a quantum leap in commercially available technology that will be of great benefit to Space Imaging's customers worldwide."

IKONOS is the latest in a long heritage of Lockheed Martin's remote sensing satellite technology for diverse applications. Among these are Landsat, including Landsat-7 recently launched for NASA; the TIROS weather satellites and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program; Earth Observing System Terra satellite to launch later this year; and Space Based Infrared System High for early detection of missile launches.

The IKONOS satellite represents the best in commercial remote sensing technology. Using advanced processing techniques, the system will be able to produce an effective one meter resolution color product from any scene on Earth.

In addition to photographic imagery, the satellite also will provid multispectral images, which reveal information that cannot be seen with the naked eye, such as chlorophyll content, chemical composition, surface water penetration and the presence of oil leached from the seabed. Customers will be able to combine one-meter resolution panchromatic and four-meter resolution multispectral images to produce images that offer the advantages of both techniques � i.e. both high-resolution and color qualities.

Using overlay techniques, in which pictures are combined with near-infrared images or other geographic information, customers can see interpretive geological images that show areas of vegetation combined with terrain features. Combined with other geographic information and three-dimensional visualization models, customers can achieve a more complete understanding of the earth's changing features to make better business decisions.

Because the satellite transmits the imagery digitally, the imagery can be processed and disseminated very quickly, rendering it useful for time-critical applications, including mapping, agricultural monitoring and natural disaster assessments. Imagery from the IKONOS satellite will be available from Space Imaging 60-90 days after the launch.

In addition to building the IKONOS satellite, Lockheed Martin also provides Space Imaging the launch vehicle and ground stations. Lockheed Martin, under contract to Space Imaging, maintains the satellites and provides support for on-orbit operations.

Lockheed Beefs Up Remote Sensing

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