GeoEye Inks 3D Airport Imagery Deal with GE Aviation
By Jeffrey Hill | March 7, 2012
[Satellite TODAY 03-07-12] GeoEye has received a multi-year, multimillion-dollar contract from GE Aviation to produce aviation reference data that will serve all of the world’s International Air Transport Association (IATA) airports, GeoEye confirmed March 6.
The agreement allows GE Aviation to utilize GeoEye 3D Airports and Terrain/Obstacle databases produced from GeoEye’s stereo satellite imagery. These GeoEye aeronautical databases will then be imbedded into GE Aviation’s products and services. GE Aviation also said it would imbed the GeoEye products in its next-generation products and services to facilitate performance-based navigation operations that aim to increase commercial flight frequency and fuel efficiency while reducing carbon emissions.
“This advanced aeronautical data, along with our Required Navigation Performance (RNP) products, will accelerate the deployment of RNP flight paths that will help meet the global challenge of increasing efficiency in the world’s air traffic management system,” GE PBN Services General Manager Giovanni Spitale said in a statement. “It will allow the benefits of PBN to be achieved earlier for the global air transportation community, saving time, fuel, reducing emissions and noise while increasing hourly operations frequency.”