Earth imaging satellite disappears minutes after launch

Earth imaging satellite disappears minutes after launch

By JOHN ANTCZAK

LOS ANGELES (April 28, 1999 2:42 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Experts are baffled over a high-tech mystery: A satellite that can take the kind of high-resolution photos once limited only to spy satellites has vanished.

Ikonos 1 disappeared Tuesday almost immediately after it was launched from California's coast. It was a blow to Space Imaging, a Denver company that planned to market the high-resolution images, and Lockheed Martin, maker of the four-stage Athena II rocket that carried the satellite.

Crews at ground stations along Ikonos 1's predicted path listened hopefully for signals emitted by the satellite, while its makers tried to figure out what went wrong.

"The initial investigation has begun," said Evan McCollum, a Lockheed spokesman.

The Athena II rocket carrying the satellite roared off a Vandenberg Air Force Base launch pad at 11:22 a.m., bound for an orbit 400 miles high.

Communication with the spacecraft ended about eight minutes after liftoff, as planned. But the craft failed to re-establish contact as expected later in the flight. Officials didn't know whether it remained in orbit.

If the 1,600-pound satellite fell out of orbit, there was little if any risk it could survive re-entry and hit the ground, McCollum said.

Ikonos 1, named after the Greek word for "image," has a camera capable of resolving objects 1 meter square - about 10 square feet. The satellite would be able to distinguish between a car and truck, according to Space Imaging.

Until now, only military satellites have been able to photograph Earth in such detail. Some experts said they worried that images from Ikonos 1 could be used by terrorists or enemy governments to plan attacks or spot mobilizing troops.

The federal government approved the satellite in 1994. Space Imaging, a privately held company, said it expects its clients to use the images for urban planning, environmental monitoring, mapping, assessing the scope of natural disasters, oil and gas exploration, monitoring farmland and planning communication networks.

Space Imaging has built a spare satellite. John Copple, the company's chief executive officer, said he expects it will be launched before the end of the year. He said the satellite, launch and other mission assets were insured but he would not reveal their value.

The satellite was built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems of Sunnyvale, Calif. Raytheon Co. of Garland, Texas, built the communications, image processing and other elements of the system. The Eastman Kodak Co. built the digital camera system.