Remote-sensing Ikonos awaits launch
The Ikonos 1 remote-sensing satellite scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base (CA) will be the first commercial satellite capable of making images on the ground as small as 1 meter in diameter. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space (Sunnyvale, CA) built the satellite for Space Imaging (Thornton, CO). Primary payload will be a digital-imaging camera developed by Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, NY) with an electro-optical assembly composed of a lightweight telescope, a focal-plane array, and a data compressor. Kodak hardware also will be a component on the EarthWatch Inc. QuickBird remote-sensing satellite sometime this year.