GeoEye, a provider of satellite and aerial imagery and geospatial information, announced today that on October 15, it signed a multi-year agreement appointing Telespazio as GeoEye’s new Commercial Regional Affiliate for the region of Europe and North Africa.

Telespazio, a Finmeccanica/Thales company, will produce, market and sell Earth imagery and related products and services from GeoEye’s newest high-resolution satellite, GeoEye-1, to customers in Europe and North Africa.

GeoEye-1 was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on September 6 and is expected to be fully operational this fall. Telespazio’s GeoEye-1 exclusive imagery sales rights begin as soon as GeoEye-1 becomes operational.

Beginning in 2009, Telespazio will also have access to the Ikonos satellite and collect, produce, market and sell Earth imagery and related products to customers in Europe and North Africa. Telespazio’s Ikonos rights will include the exclusive right to sell Ikonos imagery collected after December 31, 2008. The GeoEye-1 and Ikonos satellite imagery collection, processing and sales rights granted to Telespazio are subject to prior U.S. Government approval of the multi-year agreement.

The multi-year agreement with Telespazio marks the first of its kind under GeoEye’s Commercial Regional Affiliate business model, which was developed as a new service offering to augment the global commercialization of GeoEye-1 imagery.

Fore more information, please visit www.geoeye.com and www.telespazio.com