DigitalGlobe has issued a public response applauding President Bush's newly released "U.S. Commercial Remote Sensing Space Policy." Announced by the White House this morning, the directive orders federal government agencies to rely more heavily on private satellite companies to provide images from space. The new directive states, "The fundamental goal of this policy is to advance and protect U.S. national security and foreign policy interests by maintaining the nation's leadership in remote sensing space activities, and by sustaining and enhancing the U.S. remote sensing industry." The directive has been under interagency review for one year and replaces the nine-year-old Presidential Decision Directive 23 issued by President Clinton in 1994.

"This new directive is a clear and positive reflection on the government's long-term commitment to the growth and prosperity of the U.S. commercial remote sensing industry," said Herbert Satterlee, CEO and chairman of DigitalGlobe. "By issuing this directive, the Bush Administration pushes the technology envelope by encouraging all agencies to look to private remote sensing companies for their imaging requirements. DigitalGlobe is very excited about the directive and we believe this will further solidify the commercial satellite imaging industry."

DigitalGlobe's QuickBird satellite, launched on October 18, 2001 is the most recent and the most powerful entry into the extensive Earth information marketplace. QuickBird provides the highest resolution satellite imagery available to the commercial market, the broadest swath width, the highest accuracy, the highest collection capacity and an imaging footprint two to 10 times larger than any other commercial high-resolution satellite.

More information about the new White House policy issued today may be found at www.ostp.gov/html/new.html.