[09-28-07 – Satellite Today]  GeoEye Inc. has secured $270 million of launch and first-year in-orbit insurance for its GeoEye-1 imaging satellite, the company announced Sept. 26.

GeoEye-1, developed under the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s NextView program and manufactured by General Dynamics/Advanced Information Systems, will be able to collect images with a ground resolution of less than half meter. The satellite is scheduled to be launched in the late first quarter or early second quarter of 2008 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

GeoEye also has a received a $40 million insurance payment for the loss of its OrbView-3 satellite, which the company reportd in March.

In a filing with the U.S. States Securities and Exchange Commission, GeoEye said OrbView-3 had been rendered unusable by technical problems with the camera electronics. OrbView-3 was launched in June 2003 and expected to operate for a minimum of five years.

Willis Inspace acted as broker for both transactions.