
30 June 2008, 11:35am
BOULDER, Colo. — June 30, 2008 — Vexcel Corp., a Microsoft company, today announced the release of version 7 of its Apex Commander remote-sensing data management system for satellite ground stations. Apex Commander offers fully automated operation and control of a Vexcel Apex ground system within an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI).
“This is an exciting release of Apex Commander for our worldwide customers,” said Rodger Cree, director of the remote-sensing data management systems division at Vexcel. “We have integrated powerful new capabilities based on advanced Microsoft technologies and other partners while incorporating changes and enhancements suggested by our customers.”
Major new features in version 7 include the following:
· Internet-accessible GUI based on the Microsoft .NET Framework
· Imagery acquisition planning and catalog browsing using Microsoft’s Virtual Earth 3D visualization platform
· Automated scheduling and control of multiple antennas using the Microsoft Silverlight interface
· Expanded image catalog capabilities built on the Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise relational database management system
· Robust satellite pass prediction and swath planning using Analytical Graphics Inc.’s integrated Satellite Tool Kit (STK)
· Enhanced archive capabilities built on the Symantec Backup Exec platform
· Use of clustered services for a high-availability, resilient system
· Integration and control of SeaSpace Corp.’s AXYOM antenna and control unit
· Integration and use of SeaSpace’s TeraScan MODIS processing system for fast and efficient creation of MODIS image products from NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites
Apex Commander version 7, available today, is currently in use at Vexcel ground stations in Latin America, Asia and North America.

Each month we select a hot topic and a leading figure in the industry to write about it.What message are we sending to senior level decision makers about the importance and value of Spatial Data Infrastructure - SDI - if we keep misrepresenting what SDI is or is all about?
In previous editorials in this magazine I have touched on various SDI issues, especially now that the pan-European SDI has achieved a legally mandated status within the European Union's 27 Member States. Yet I fear that the Geographic Information community - or communities, for there are many - continue to… More…
Roger Longhorn