18th February 2008 – Astrium today announced that it has entered into a joint-venture with the Cartographic Institute of Catalonia (ICC), the Catalan official mapping agency, and Hisdesat, a space services provider, to create Infoterra Servicios de Geoinformación SA (Infoterra SGSA).
Infoterra SGSA will form part of the Infoterra Group, a leading provider of geo-information products and services based on Earth observation data. The new company will expand an already strong European organisation present in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Hungary.
The company will be the exclusive distributor of TerraSAR-X high resolution radar data for the Spanish market. Infoterra SGSA will also develop GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) services, applications for agri-environment and defence & security, and support international mapping projects. Finally, through access to the resources and assets of its three shareholders, Infoterra SGSA will develop datasets from airborne acquisition, as well as radar and optical satellite imagery to deliver a comprehensive range of geospatial products.
“Being able to call on expertise from all Infoterra entities, ICC and Hisdesat, Infoterra SGSA will offer its customers a portfolio ranging from data acquisition & processing to sophisticated geo-information services. We are all very excited about this new venture and convinced this will contribute to a positive development of the Spanish Earth observation market,” said Marc Tondriaux, CEO of Infoterra Group and Chairman of Infoterra SGSA.
“With the growing need for geospatial solutions, this venture supports our strategy of strengthening the Infoterra Group’s position as a key player in the Earth observation business,” continued Marc Tondriaux.
Astrium holds 60% of the company, while ICC and Hisdesat equally hold 20% of the shares. The Board of Directors has appointed Mr Joan Romeu as the General Manager. Mr Joan Romeu, previously International Sales Manager at ICC, brings more than 20 years experience in the field of mapping and geo-information.
The company, which has offices in Madrid and Barcelona, expects early commercial successes in 2008 and will work towards becoming one of the key players in geo-information in Spain within the next 5 years.
