Tokyo � May 12, 1997 - Hitachi Ltd and Mitsubishi Corp both of Tokyo, are spearheading moves to sell and distribute high resolution satellite data in Japan from US satellites supplied by EarthWatch Inc. of Longmont Colorado and Space Imaging Corp. of Thornton, Colarado.

Initially Hitachi will purchase data from EarthWatch's EarlyBird satellite, built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. which will provide panchromatic and resolution multispectural images with 3 meter and 15 meter resolution respectively. Following this Hitachi will offer panchromatic and multispectural images with 0.8 meter and 4 meter higher resolution images from the QuickBird satellite. EarlyBird is slated for launch into a sun-synchronous 470 km orbit in June via a Start-1 booster while Quickbird will be launched into a 600 km orbit in early 1998.

Mitsubishi, which has partnered itself with Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon/E-Systems Inc. and Eastman Kodak. Co. hopes to distribute 1 meter panchromatic and 4-meter multispectural imagery from the consortium's December 1997 EOSAT launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

"We've already entered into some agreements with government agencies including the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestries and Fisheries while local governments are also interested for the tracking of illegally dumped garbage," said Tatsuya Kubo, a Hitachi public relations manager.

Hitachi, which predicts revenues as high as 3 billion yen ($24.9 mil) by the year 2000, has invested heavily in the project, buying a 12.3 percent share of EarthWatch and contracting for an exclusive Japan distribution deal in May 1995. These moves were followed by the establishment of a consortium of 50 companies, including NTT Data Communications, Mitsui Real Estate, Softbank Corp and Mazda Motor Co., to establish commercial marketing channels last October.

Similarly, Mitsubishi has been involved with the National Space Data Infrastructural Promotion Association (NSDIPA) a consortium of over 80 companies which includes Nippon Telegraph and Telecommunications Corp, Tokyo Fire and Marine Insurance Co Ltd., Toyota Motor Corp. and various Japan Railways companies. The association proposes to build a standard global mapping data base with the Open GIS Consortium which includes Microsoft and AT&T.

"We will have to cope with Japan's specific needs, we also need to know what the market wants. We are proposing to the Government that we should create new standards for GIS-related data and a country-wide data base," said Akihiro Yamaura of Mitsubishi's spacecraft information systems unit.

As both companies claim the same potential market, including environmental monitoring, disaster mitigation, land utilization surveys, creation and updating of maps and car navigation, each is struggling to differentiate their services.

"As far as I hear Mitsubishi will just be selling data already processed by Lockheed Martin, but we will be processing the data from Japan. We are in a better position as we are closer to our end-users," said Kubo.

"We're not just going to be selling data but also the technologies to analyze and develop the data distribution. We also have to cope with the specific demands of the data market. In Japan the costs of map production are very high compared with US market prices and mapping has been limited to a small market. We want to help create a larger, better mapping database for the whole country, at a lower cost," said Yamaura.

Another important customer will be Japan's defense establishment, according to independent analysts.

"The Gaimusho [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] plans to buy directly from Mitsubishi. You should have seen the number of bureaucrats at Hitachi last year after they announced these plans. Provisionally [MoF] are favoring Mitsubishi, but the Japan Defense Agency (JDA) will purchase from either of them as the image quality will be almost equal. They don't care how they get it, it's a question of which one is faster...it's basically a way to get the data cheaper than developing it on their own," said one analyst who requested anonymity.

"Well it's a kind of secret, but the JDA plans to use the images too. Also the national security agencies are of course interested in looking at, for example missile silos" said Masataka Itoh, an assistant manager of Hitachi's defense division, who said the data would be especially useful for Japan's Maritime Safety Agency to monitor illegal fishing and immigrants.

Repeated attempts to obtain comments from the Japan Defense Agency and the Maritime Safety Agency were unsuccessful, with a JDA press relations official refusing to answer written questions and adding "we have nothing to say", in follow up telephone calls.