With its near-term future all but assured thanks to a U.S. government contract that will help finance its next imaging spacecraft, Orbimage Inc. is contemplating a push for wider operating latitude in the commercial markets that many believe are key to the satellite remote-sensing industry's long-term success. Specifically, Orbimage wants to be able to sell the highest-quality imagery from its planned Orb-View 5 satellite to non-U.S. government customers, according to Matt O'Connell, the Dulles, Va., company's chief executive officer. Such sales are barred under Or-bimage's current OrbView 5 op-erating license, granted this past August.
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