DigitalGlobe and GeoEye have announced that the boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved a defi nitive merger agreement under which the companies will combine in a stock and cash transaction valued at approximately $900 million. The combination of DigitalGlobe and GeoEye will create a global leader in earth imagery and geospatial analysis with a more diversifi ed revenue base, a superior fi nancial foundation and signifi cant growth potential.

The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) released its 2012 State of the Satellite Industry Report. Globally, 2011 revenues for the satellite industry totalled USD 177.3 billion, a growth of 5 percent. This is the fi fteenth year that SIA has commissioned the Futron Corporation to conduct this annual survey.

China successfully launched the remotesensing satellite Yaogan XIIII recently from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the northern province of Shanxi. The satellite was carried into space aboard a Long March 4B carrier rocket which blasted off at 3:06 p.m. Beijing time, according to the center.

GeoEye has announced a strategic relationship with Geostellar, an innovative technology company that is transforming the solar energy industry to supply Earth imagery, digital surface models and other mapping data to help Geostellar dramatically expand its service. Geostellar has built a breakthrough analytics platform that automatically determines how quickly a given property owner can recoup an investment in solar energy. It has built solar maps in Washington D.C., Boston, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New Jersey, where government agencies have made aerial imagery freely available.

The administration said it will further expand the scope for the implementation of the data from the satellite, and make use of its potential values as much as possible in a bid to provide first-class services to data users. The satellite was launched mid-August last year.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will launch a French advanced remote sensing satellite in a few months. Sources said Isro’s commercial arm, Antrix Corporation, signed a Rs 100 crore deal to launch the 800kg satellite, SPOT 6, built by Astrium SAS, a subsidiary of France’s EADS. It will be launched by Isro’s polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV). “A commercial launch services agreement between Antrix and EADS was signed recently,” said an Isro release.

ITT Exelis Geospatial Systems has delivered GeoEye’s next-generation commercial imaging system for the GeoEye-2 satellite to Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in Sunnyvale, Calif. When operational in 2013, GeoEye-2 will deliver the highest resolution and most accurate color imagery to GeoEye’s commercial, government and international customers.

Remote sensing solutions provider DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) has signed a contract with Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) to deliver near real-time satellite imagery to monitor forest clearing in the Amazon rainforest and target illegal logging as it happens.