Spot Image will also become a non-exclusive distributor of OrbView data in selected countries through its extensive worldwide distribution network, in particular its four subsidiaries.

In addition, Orbimage will become a non-exclusive distributor of imagery from the SPOT satellites in the United States. Orbimage and Spot Image also announced their intent to pursue joint product development opportunities.

In connection with the distribution arrangement, Orbimage will upgrade SPOT's Toulouse, France ground station so that imagery from the OrbView satellites can be directly downlinked and processed in Europe.

The minimum value of the overall agreement is $35 million, consisting of $29 million in SPOT purchase guarantees for Orbimage imagery and approximately $6 million for the ground station upgrade. Spot Image also has options to extend the agreement for an additional five years with minimum imagery purchase guarantees of up to $37.5 million, and to purchase ground station maintenance contracts valued at $1.4 million.

Imagery from the Orbimage and SPOT constellation of satellites supports a wide variety of applications across the $2 billion per year remote sensing market, in sectors such as mapping, business GIS, agriculture, oil and gas, utilities, fishing and national security.

Spot Image joins Orbimage's growing group of international regional distributors who will be providing imagery from OrbView-3 and OrbView-4, including NTT Data Corporation in Japan and selected Asian countries; Samsung Aerospace in Korea; GTT NetCorp in Mexico, Columbia, Central America and the Caribbean; and EIRAD Corp. in the Middle East.

According to Mr. Jacques Mouysset, Chairman and CEO of Spot Image, "We recognize the growing demand for high-resolution imagery and chose to partner with Orbimage because of their aggressive international marketing strategy and the high quality of their satellite data.

"The OrbView data will be very complementary with that coming from the SPOT satellites and, together, the companies will be able to meet the needs of customers requiring both broad coverage at lower resolution, and specific areas at higher resolution," added Mouysset.

Mr. Gilbert D. Rye, President of Orbimage, said, "Spot Image is the world leader in the satellite information business today. With over 13 years of experience, Spot Image knows this business better than any other company.

"Their sophisticated constellation of satellites, combined with their knowledge of the market and world-class, international distribution network, make them the perfect partner for Orbimage. Together, we will provide unsurpassed imagery products and services to the rapidly growing commercial, consumer, civil government and national security markets that will enhance our customers' ability to more effectively manage their critical resources," said Rye.

Spot Image is the commercial operator of three European SPOT satellites, the most recent launched in March 1998, offering a unique worldwide imaging capability. The next satellite, SPOT 5, will have improved capabilities (2.5-meter resolution with 60-km field of view, along-track stereoscopic viewing capacity) and will be ready for launch in late 2001.

Orbimage currently operates the OrbView-1 atmospheric imaging satellite launched in 1995, the OrbView-2 ocean and land multispectral imaging satellite launched in 1997, and an integrated image receiving, processing and distribution system with over 20 current and planned regional ground stations around the world. OrbView-3, the first of the high-resolution (one-meter panchromatic and four-meter multispectral) optical imaging satellites, will be launched in mid-2000, followed by the launch of OrbView-4, which will include a hyperspectral imagery capability, in late 2000.

Orbimage is also a non-exclusive distributor of Russian SPIN-2 imagery and the exclusive, worldwide distributorfor the Canadian RadarSat-2 satellite.

OrbView-2 Sends First Test Images

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