Commercial earth-imaging satellite system announced
A system of u¥to six remote-sensing satellites will be the first of its kind to be commercially financed. Being developed by Geophysical & Environmental Research (GER, Millbrook, NY), the GEROS (GER Earth Resource Observation) project will have a total cost, including launches, of $300 million-$400 million, according to the company. The investment grou¥SpaceVest (Reston, VA) has provided undisclosed start-u¥funding. The satellites will provide images and analyses for applications including agriculture, environmental monitoring, and land management. Satellites and ground systems will be built for GER by various aerospace contractors using GER technology and proprietary analytical algorithms. The first satellite and ground station are to be operational around the start of 1998.