[Satellite Today 04-09-09] RapidEye reached an agreement with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) for MDA to be the sole supplier of direct downlink solutions for RapidEye’s international ground station customers, MDA announced April 8.
    MDA, RapidEye’s prime contractor, will provide ground station customers with systems capable of programming, receiving and processing imagery from RapidEye’s constellation of five satellites.
    “The expansion of RapidEye’s range of services to include direct data downlink services will complement our core products and services business and will allow us to serve even more customers with near real-time imaging requirements,” David Hargreaves, MDA vice president, said in a statement.