GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY), a leading provider of geospatial information and insight, announced it has received a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract from GE Aviation. Under this contract, GeoEye will produce aviation reference data to serve hundreds of the world’s busiest airports. Over the next decade, GeoEye intends to capture all of the world’s International Air Transport Association (IATA) airports. This 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 be imbedded into GE Aviation’s products and services.
GeoEye 3D Airports is a family of value-added geospatial products that captures precise spatial models of domestic and international airports, their surrounding terrain and man-made obstacles. These products are used to enhance the safety of flight and ground operations at airports and enable airlines to reduce fuel consumption, flight times and airport traffic noise. GeoEye 3D Airport Maps offers a three-dimensional geospatial model of an airport’s features that are required to support aircraft and helicopter operations. GeoEye 3D Airport Terrain and Obstacles provide information regarding natural elevation and man-made obstacles near airports.
GE Aviation will imbed these products in their next generation products and services to facilitate Performance Based Navigation operations that will increase commercial flight frequency and fuel efficiency while reducing carbon emissions. This GE offering utilizing GeoEye state-of-the-art data products exceeds the current requirements of the global Air Traffic Management initiatives sponsored by the FAA NEXTGEN program and the EUROCONTROL SESAR program.
Dejan Damjanovic, GeoEye’s Director of Air and Marine Solutions, said, “GeoEye’s unique ability to acquire 3D Airport intelligence using the highest resolution and highest accuracy commercial satellites in the world, coupled with our decade of aeronautical expertise, make our 3D Airports the best choice for GE Aviation’s needs.”
“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,” said Giovanni Spitale, general manager of GE’s PBN Services. “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.”
About GeoEye
GeoEye is a leading source of geospatial information and insight for decision makers and analysts who need a clear understanding of our changing world to protect lives, manage risk and optimize resources. Each day, organizations in defense and intelligence, public safety, critical infrastructure, energy and online media rely on GeoEye’s imagery, tools and expertise to support important missions around the globe. Widely recognized as a pioneer in high-resolution satellite imagery, GeoEye has evolved into a complete provider of geospatial intelligence solutions. GeoEye’s ability to collect, process and analyze massive amounts of geospatial data allows our customers to quickly see precise changes on the ground and anticipate where events may occur in the future. GeoEye is a public company listed on NASDAQ as GEOY and is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia with more than 750 employees worldwide. Learn more at www.geoeye.com.
