Antrix Corp and Germany's Euromap enter distribution agreement for IRS imagery

16 January 2008

Neustrelitz: Euromap GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of GAF AG, and Antrix Corporation Limited of India have announced a new agreement which will expand Euromap's participation in the Indian Remote Sensing satellite programme with the reception and distribution of high-resolution stereo imagery from the Cartosat-1 (IRS-P5) satellite.

The Indian constellation of Earth Observation satellites is marketed through Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), and Earth Observation Technologies LLC (EOTec) as agents for ANTRIX.

Under the terms of the new three-year agreement with ANTRIX and EOTec, Euromap will have the exclusive distribution rights in Europe to receive and distribute Cartosat-1 data collected over Europe and North Africa. Euromap represents the only agency for receiving and distributing IRS satellite data in Europe.

The new agreement marks the continuation of a successful cooperative partnership between Euromap, ANTRIX and the German Aerospace Centre, DLR, which started in 1996 when Euromap began receiving and distributing imagery from India's IRS-1C and 1D satellites.

Cartosat-1 (IRS-P5) was successfully launched into a sun synchronous orbit on May 5, 2005 by India's PSLV-C6 rocket and has a planned mission life of five to seven years. Cartosat-1 continues the long heritage of IRS remote sensing satellites with enhanced data quality delivered by two panchromatic (black and white) cameras for in-flight stereo viewing with 2.5 meter resolution and ~27 km swath.

A worldwide network of ground receiving stations acquires Cartosat-1 data. Euromap's ground station in Neustrelitz, Germany is owned and operated by DLR-DFD and has been successfully upgraded and added to the worldwide network to receive, process and distribute data from Cartosat-1. DLR systems will also be used to generate precise elevation models from the Cartosat-1 stereo data.