The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], through its commercial launch business, Boeing Launch Services, has been awarded a contract to launch DigitalGlobe's second WorldView Earth-imaging satellite on a Delta II launch vehicle.

DigitalGlobe is the provider of the world's highest-resolution commercial satellite imagery and geospatial information products. Boeing successfully launched the first satellite in the series, WorldView-1, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Sept. 18, 2007.

"Boeing Launch Services looks forward to providing DigitalGlobe with another successful WorldView launch," said Boeing Launch Services Vice President Ken Heinly. "The Delta II has been instrumental in the deployment of DigitalGlobe's satellites, and we look forward to many more launches for them in the future."

A Delta II expendable launch vehicle will carry the WorldView-2 spacecraft into orbit from Vandenberg in mid-2009. Boeing Launch Services purchases the launch vehicle and related support from United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture.

WorldView-2 will offer higher collection capacity, more frequent refresh and revisit rates, more spectral information and greater Earth-imaging agility, providing a substantial response to the increased market demands for geospatial data.

"We are pleased with the continued collaboration with Boeing to provide launch services for WorldView-2 and this important program," said Jill Smith, DigitalGlobe president and CEO.

Boeing Launch Services markets, contracts and executes Delta launch services for commercial customers. It is part of the Space Exploration division of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems and is based in Huntington Beach, Calif.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32.1 billion business with 71,000 employees worldwide.