GeoEye-1 Satellite Shut Down After Antenna Malfunction
[Satellite TODAY 12-18-09] The GeoEye-1 satellite experienced an irregularity in its antenna, which will impact GeoEye’s 2010 revenues by as much as 10 percent and may affect its business with ground station downlink contracts overseas, the company announced in a Dec. 17 conference call.
In November, the Dulles, Va.-based imagery company had projected 2010 revenues of $310 million to $320 million.
GeoEye detected the glitch Dec. 11 and suspended the satellite’s imagery collections for a few days. “The irregularity appears to limit the range of movement of GeoEye-1’s downlink antenna, which may in turn affect GeoEye-1’s ability to image and downlink simultaneously,” GeoEye said in a statement.
GeoEye-1, launched in September 2008, is GeoEye’s principal asset. The company said that the malfunction will not impact its imagery delivery to the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency — GeoEye’s largest customer.
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