GeoEye-1 Launch Date Set...Probably

OK, I think this REALLY is the final postponement of the launch of GeoEye’s latest and greatest satellite, GeoEye-1!

GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY), a provider of space-based and aerial imagery and geospatial information, confirmed on Friday August 15, 2008 that they have received the go-ahead from the government to finally launch GeoEye-1, which will be the most advanced commercial imagery satellite available today.

The launch has been confirmed for September 4th, 2008, which was slightly delayed from August 22nd, 2008, which was delayed from March, 2008, which was delayed…well, you get the picture.

GeoEye-1 Ready to Fly…Probably

Company Crosses Its Fingers as Final Preparations Being Made

GeoEye-1

As you’ll recall last week, before their earnings release, GeoEye stated that the launch of GeoEye-1 would further be delayed as a result of a problem with one of the pieces of equipment that is necessary to track and help deliver the satellite to space.

This delay and problems with equipment was not related in any way to GeoEye, or GeoEye-1, but rather to United Launch Alliance (”ULA”, a joint venture between Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) which is handling the launch.

Once launched, GeoEye-1 will be the world’s highest resolution commercial earth-imaging satellite and propel GeoEye to higher revenues, earnings and exposure as GeoEye-1’s imagery will be used in all sorts of applications, not the least of which is by Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) on Google Earth and Maps, Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) and other online portals.

According to GeoEye, the previously reported retest of a booster range safety antenna was successfully completed on Aug. 14.

GeoEye-1 on Delta II Rocket Booster

The next step in the pre-launch sequence is the mating of the GeoEye-1 spacecraft with the Delta II booster, which will occur early next week.

Bill Schuster, GeoEye’s chief operating officer stated in a statement:

“We are good to go for launch on September 4. We look forward to soon providing the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and our other customers around the globe with the highest resolution and best quality commercial satellite imagery available on the market.”

GeoEye-1 will have the highest resolution of any commercial imaging system, 0.41-meters or 16 inches for panchromatic (black and white) imagery and multispectral (color) imagery at 1.65-meter resolution.

However, due to U.S. Government licensing restrictions, commercial customers will have access to imagery at half-meter ground resolution.

In addition, GeoEye-1 is designed to offer three-meter accuracy, which means that end users can map natural and man-made features to within three meters of their actual locations on the surface of the Earth without ground control points.

Here’s an example of the type of imagery that will be taken with GeoEye-1, but even more robust and detailed:

Bottom Line

I’m Crossing My Fingers Too!

The bottom line is that it took GeoEye 4+ years and $500 million to build, insure and finally, launch GeoEye-1.

This is a huge time and money intensive commitment, and the successful launch of GeoEye-1 is a huge part of GeoEye’s future success or failure.

There is risk involved and GeoEye’s share price has reflected that for quite some time, but ultimately, these types of launches are more often than not very successful.

In fact, GeoEye-1 will be launched from a Delta II rocket, which has a success rate of over 98.5%, out of 137 launches overall, with the last 82 in a row being successful.

I think what the market was discounting was the delay in the launch rather than the risk of the launch, but either way, it allowed us, and still allows you, to pick up shares of GeoEye at a nice discounted price from where they were earlier this year, with a huge upside potential in business fundamentals once the launch and check-out of the satellite are successful, and GeoEye finally realizes the revenue and earnings potential of GeoEye-1.

I have written extensively about how this launch is critical to GeoEye’s success going forward and how once launched, will allow GeoEye to service their customers in ways that their competitor DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI), will not.

As I had mentioned previously, GeoEye’s imagery is already showing up on Google and other online portals, but the entry of their newest satellite will cement their leadership position as these and other sources, including the U.S. government and foreign governments, constantly need better and better imagery updated on a regular basis.

Let’s hope that this is the last delay we’ll ever have to endure for GeoEye-1, and we can instead start to focus on the benefits of the satellite’s imagery, rather than GeoEye’s efforts in trying to actually launch GeoEye-1 into space!

Stay tuned for more updates as they occur.

• If you are interested in learning more about the launch and tracking the launch of GeoEye-1, GeoEye provided a web page dedicated to constant updates and real-time streaming video of the launch.

You can visit that here:

http://launch.geoeye.com

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