SpatialNews Press Release

EarthWatch and Northrop Grumman PRB Systems announce Strategic Partnership to Provide Customers with Greater Flexibility

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LONGMONT, Colorado, May 30, 2001, EarthWatch Incorporated and Northrop Grumman PRB Systems announce the execution of a strategic software partnership, which supports the new "Open Systems" approach within the satellite imagery industry.

EarthWatch will license the QuickBird sensor model for incorporation into Northrop Grumman's RainDrop software application product suite. The partnership will allow both existing and new users of RainDrop software to fully leverage the highest commercially available satellite imagery as soon as it is available later this year.

EarthWatch recently confirmed its plan to launch the QuickBird 2 satellite in October 2001. QuickBird 2 will offer 61-centimeter panchromatic and 2.5-meter multispectral imagery.

"Establishing mechanisms by which our products and services can make effective use of new generation satellite imagery represented by QuickBird is a vital part of our strategic business plan," said Larry Schadegg, president of Northrop Grumman PRB Systems. PRB Systems plans to expand RainDrop, a software tool currently used to generate mensurated coordinates within the Air Force, to incorporate QuickBird imagery.

By licensing the sensor model, end users of imagery are assured that QuickBird imagery will be compatible with their existing systems and software applications. "We believe that following an open systems approach is the best way for end-users to realize the full value of QuickBird imagery," explained Joe Thurgood, Vice President of Marketing at EarthWatch. EarthWatch is continuing work with other leading software companies to share the QuickBird sensor model.

EarthWatch is an imagery and information company located in Longmont, Colorado. EarthWatch is establishing a market leadership position by providing the highest resolution satellite imagery product offering, the greatest collection capacity, and the largest image size commercially available. These key differentiators are unassailable for several years as there are no plans to launch a comparable commercial satellite until at least 2004. The company offers geographic information products through its digitalglobe.com on-line imagery store, an Internet-based global archive of geographic information available to commercial businesses and governments worldwide.

Northrop Grumman PRB Systems, part of the Integrated Systems Sector's Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare Systems business area, is an engineering organization with over 24 years of experience in innovative digital systems design and software development. PRB Systems' business is focused on mission planning systems for U.S. tactical military aircraft. Northrop Grumman PRB Systems' main site is in Hollywood, Maryland.

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