What goes up, sometimes doesn’t stay there.
Or so it goes in the satellite-launching business — as a Calgary-founded company specializing in digital images of the Earth’s surface experienced this past week.
The QuickBird 1, a remote sensing imaging satellite launched from Plesetsk, Russia, failed to achieve its proper orbit after launch, said Brian Bullock, CEO of Intermap Technologies Corp., a company started in Calgary in 1996.
The satellite belonged to Colorado-based EarthWatch Inc., a client of Intermap’s. The two companies announced a $3.8-million contract on Nov. 9 to provide EarthWatch with Intermap’s high-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) mapping data for use in mapping some of the fastest growing urban centres in the U.S.
Work was to have started this April.
“It just didn’t make it into orbit, apparently. It’s not catastrophic news for us by any means, but it’s going to cause a delay in our plans for the U.S,” said Bullock in an interview from the company’s head office in Denver.
EarthWatch was well insured, Bullock added. “The insurance is counted as one of the costs of putting up a satellite. They’ll have the cash to proceed to finish their second satellite. Hopefully, they’ll make a decision to do that.”
EarthWatch President and Chief Executive Officer Herb Satterlee said his company is currently “reviewing a range of options” to determine what is in the best interest of their stakeholders.
The company is a commercial imagery and information content provider which is launching its own series of Earth imaging satellites to provide high-resolution panchromatic and multispectral imagery to commercial businesses and governments. A second QuickBird could be launched in six to nine months, Bullock said.
Intermap has about 20 employees in Calgary, providing engineering and software development support for the company, and another 100 workers based in Ottawa.
“As far as the EarthWatch contract, it probably sets it back six to nine months, but it won’t set us back,” said Bullock. “We’ll continue on with other clients. It’s probably a two- to three-month delay for us.”
