EarthWatch weighing options after loss of second satellite

LONGMONT — EarthWatch Inc.’s recent loss of a second space-imaging satellite, QuickBird I, has some concerned about the potential impact not only on EarthWatch but on the space-imaging industry.

The satellite, designed to provide detailed images of the earth’s surface, failed to achieve orbit after is was launched from Plesetsk, Russia on Nov. 20.

EarthWatch officials declined to comment on how this will affect the company. But Ray Williamson, a research professor at the Space Policy Institute at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., said the loss of QuickBird I is significant for EarthWatch Inc. and for the space-imaging industry as a whole.

“I think it’s a great loss, not just for EarthWatch. My heart goes out to them, this is their second loss and puts their business in jeopardy,” he said. “It is also a loss for space imaging, because what that industry needs is several players in space, selling data and competing with each other.”

Herb Satterlee, EarthWatch’s president and chief executive officer, only would say the company is reviewing options. “The loss of QuickBird I is a great disappointment not just to EarthWatch, but to customers worldwide who are eager to receive high-resolution commercial imagery from EarthWatch,” Satterlee said. “EarthWatch is currently reviewing a range of options to determine what is in the best interest of their stakeholders.”

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., the company that built the satellite, has another one in production, said Chuck Herring, EarthWatch spokesman. EarthWatch is planning its next step, he said, and weighing its options. “We are considering everything from top to bottom,” he said.

EarthWatch chose the Russian space facility to launch its satellite because of reliability and cost, Herring said. “Ninety-seven percent of their launches have been successful ? 817 have been launched successfully, and they have had only three failures.” He would not say how much the launch cost.

After the loss of its first satellite, EarlyBird, in 1997, EarthWatch laid off one-third of its 130-member staff in February 1998. Herring would not comment whether any of its 200 employees will be laid off this time.

QuickBird I was insured, and the company will still be able to insure QuickBird II, Herring said.

EarthWatch’s customers waiting for QuickBird I images include federal, state and local governments, and businesses in telecommunications, forestry and agriculture, Herring said.

The only space-imaging satellite in orbit is IKONOS, which belongs to Space Imaging in Thornton, Williamson said. “I, as a consumer, was looking forward ? to compare imagery and see who would be more helpful.”

Alexander Goetz, professor of remote sensing at the University of Colorado, agreed it is important to have more than one satellite in space. “The more satellites up there, the better chance of getting images that are cloud-free,” he said. Also, he said, competition may bring the prices down.

Mark Bender, director of Space Imaging’s Washington operations, said he understands the situation EarthWatch is in, because his company has suffered through the same loss. Space Imaging experienced a setback in April 1999 when the launch of the first IKONOS from the Vandenburg Air Force Base north of Los Angeles did not achieve orbit.

Fortunately, Bender said, Space Imaging had a second IKONOS, which it launched successfully in September 1999, and the company was able to recover from the setback. “We hope EarthWatch will be able to recover also,” he said.

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