Don't show againGeoEye-1 Launch Successful!
Up, up and away!
GeoEye-1 launched successfully today, September 6, 2008 from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), at about 11:51 A.M. Pacific time.
GeoEye’s ground station in Norway relayed the downlink signal it received from GeoEye-1 confirming that the satellite successfully separated from the second stage of the launch vehicle and began automatically initializing its onboard systems.
The launch of GeoEye-1 marks the 83rd consecutive successful launch of the Delta II rocket.
I must admit that watching the launch was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen because of the vested interest that I had in the launch, and actually wanting it to succeed.
GeoEye-1 on Delta II Rocket Booster
It was a little nerve-racking watching the Delta II rocket jettison different parts after they were used up, and thinking to myself: “was that supposed to happen?”
You can see a full replay of the launch here:
http://launch.geoeye.com/LaunchSite/
There is only video for the first 5 min. or so, and then it crosses over to a real-time simulation that shows what’s going on with the satellite and 2nd stage booster that we can’t see, to give us an idea of what’s going on.
GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY) provides space-based, and aerial imagery and geospatial information through high-resolution and low-resolution imagery, imagery-derived products, and image processing services to customers worldwide.
This capability benefits a broad array of industries including national defense and intelligence, online mapping, state and local governments, environmental monitoring and land use management, oil and gas, utilities, disaster management, insurance and others.
New to the GeoEye story?
- Read my initial buy recommendation here.
- or listen to my EXCLUSIVE interview with GeoEye’s management team here.
GeoEye-1 Launch a Success!
So now what?
GeoEye-1
Well, now we wait.
GeoEye will begin the process of activating and testing the satellite to make sure it’s intact, nothing was damaged, and that it is working as it should.
This process can take anywhere from 45-60 days as GeoEye has to put GeoEye-1 through its paces and make sure that it works for every single applicable stress test and imagery test.
The reason that it takes so long is because not only does GeoEye have to verify that the satellite is working properly on multiple fronts over many test cycles, but more so because the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has to then certify the imagery.
This means making sure that the imagery is usable, consistent, and meets the criteria set forth by the NGA for official government usage.
GeoEye then expects to be able to offer imagery and products to customers in the mid- to late-October timeframe, and that includes Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).
Bottom Line
Step 1 complete, now on to Step 2
For the next month and a half or so, we’ll have to hope that the GeoEye-1 satellite is functioning as it should, has no problems, and checks out fine with the NGA.
To be honest though, the hard part is now over with, and we can breath a slight sigh of relief that GeoEye-1 is now hurtling around the Earth at four-and-a-half miles (seven kilometers) per second, and will be making 15 earth orbits per day.
Remember also that GeoEye-1 will have the highest resolution of any commercial imaging system, 0.41-meters or 16 inches for panchromatic (black and white) imagery and multispectral (color) imagery at 1.65-meter resolution.
The highest resolution is the equivalent of being able to see home plate on a baseball field from space.
Together, GeoEye’s IKONOS and GeoEye-1 satellites can collect almost one million square kilometers of imagery per day and provide GeoEye with a “constellation” of multiple satellites that are of a high resolution variety which further enhances GeoEye’s imagery capacity.
Now we just have to wait for the final verification that GeoEye-1 will be a success, and our investing thesis on GeoEye the stock, will play out just as we thought with huge increases in revenue, profit, and cash flow towards the end of 2008, and for the full year of 2009.
With this launch GeoEye is now the leader in the field over rival DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI), and has already secured an exclusive contract with Google for the use of GeoEye-1’s imagery.
The hard part’s over, now we just have to wait for GeoEye to continue to execute, and make sure nothing goes wrong with GeoEye-1.
- If you are interested in learning more about the launch and seeing a replay of the launch of GeoEye-1, you can do so here:
New to the GeoEye story?
- Read my initial buy recommendation here.
- or listen to my EXCLUSIVE interview with GeoEye’s management team here.
|
*Variables You Should Know About GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY) |
|
|---|---|
| Current Recommendation: |
STRONG BUY |
| The Company: | GeoEye, Inc. provides space-based, and aerial imagery and geospatial information through high-resolution and low-resolution imagery, imagery-derived products, and image processing services to customers worldwide. Its imagery information products enable customers to map, measure, and monitor the earth for intelligence gathering, precision mapping, construction planning, and environmental monitoring applications, among others. |
| Why Buy Now: |
|
| Market Cap: |
$468.5 |
| Revenue (2007): |
$181.37 |
| Cash/Debt: |
$221.5/ $247 |
| Current Price: | $26.00 |
| Risk Rating (?): | 8 (High) |
| Position Size (?): | 1/2 (5-5-08), 1/4 (6-12-08) |
| Buy Around Price (?): | $22.00 (5-5-08), $16.50 (6-12-08) |
*As of 9-5-08. Except share price, all values in millions.
(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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(8) comments to “GeoEye-1 Launch Successful!”
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September 6th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Chris,
I feel like congratulating you as though you’ve had a child! You must be proud! LOL. You’ve been so closely tied to this company and the main source of great info on GEOY on the internet. Let’s hope everything unfolds as it should and the stock does what most others aren’t doing - increasing in price.
September 6th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Divot,
Thanks man, I appreciate it!
It was like having a child for all of us who owned shares of GeoEye entering the launch.
We’re almost there.
Thanks for reading,
Chris
September 10th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Chris-
I realize the market isn’t rational these days but come on…this is getting a little nuts. We just went below pre-launch share prices. Can anyone explain this? Should we be concerned?
Thanks, Mike
September 10th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Mike,
I fully expected as much.
Remember that GeoEye has risen from a low of $16 to where it is today in just 2 months or so.
That’s more than a 50% move, so some pullback was going to happen.
I also expected the “buy on rumor, sell on news” mentality from Wall Street.
I looked at the volume, and it is pretty light, so again, I wouldn’t be too concerned as a pull back from the highs is natural, and probably better for us in the long run so the stock can find a base, and build higher.
As far as I know, nothing material has changed.
Chris
October 1st, 2008 at 8:27 am
Anything new on GEOY? I’m getting a little nervous that we’ve heard nothing from them and the stock continues to drop.
October 1st, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Chadwick,
Nope nothing new on GeoEye.
It looks like the market may be reacting to the lack of news, which may be bad news, or GeoEye is merely just being taken down with the rest of the market.
Either way, there’s nothing untoward or negative that is happening.
Hold tight, and remember that it’s natural for a stock that has risen 50% in a few months to come back a little bit, especially in this market!
Chris
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:21 am
Thanks for the response but we may have some good news this morning!
From the article attached below..
NGA spokesman Marshall Hudson declined to say what percentage of NGA imagery came from the commercial sector, but said it amounted to about 122 million square kilometers each year. The total could “potentially double” when a new satellite launched by GeoEye Inc (GEOY.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) came on line, he said.
Murrett said initial tests of GeoEye 1, a new high-resolution satellite launched by GeoEye Inc last month that was half-funded by NGA, were going well. He said he looked forward to receiving imagery from the satellite soon.
“We continue to make progress in testing all the components of the new satellite and expect to have imagery for our customers later this month,” said GeoEye spokesman Mark Brender.
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINN0153045820081002?rpc=44
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Chadwick,
Yea I read that.
Until we get an actual press release from GeoEye-1 I’ll reserve judgment, but of course, for the next few years, the government is forced to buy imagery from GeoEye and DigitalGlobe because even if they do decide to launch their own satellites, it won’t be for 4 more years.
Chris