Bird-Watching at GeoEye

Good news and bad news today for investors in Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation GeoEye (Nasdaq: GEOY ) . Which do you want first?

Good news, please
Good choice. So here goes: Remember how last month I mentioned that GeoEye's eponymous satellite had passed two of its environmental tests successfully, and was in the process of completing its third and final test at a General Dynamics (NYSE: GD ) facility? Back then, GeoEye management assured us that testing would be complete by the end of March, having been delayed a couple of weeks because of "a test equipment issue and not a satellite problem."

Well, as it turns out, those delays lasted a bit longer than expected, but testing has finally ended. According to a press release from General Dynamics this morning, "GeoEye-1" has passed its last test and been pronounced fit to fly.

OK, now give us the bad news
Well, remember how last month, I mentioned that there was a remote possibility that this bird could get pushed out of the nest by its originally planned April 16 launch date? Yeah, that ain't gonna happen. According to General D's press release, it's been told to sit on the egg at its space systems facility "until it is shipped to Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. for launch this summer." And last I checked, even multiple tweaks to daylight saving time have not resulted in pushing April into the summer.

That leaves two possibilities. There may be some chance that GeoEye-1 will fly by the June 15-ish launch date that some parties have been tossing around, but I'm not optimistic about that. Seems more likely that Boeing (NYSE: BA ) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT ) aren't going to find room in their busy schedules to put this bird in the air before Aug. 22.

But hey, look on the bright side. At least "Dash-One" passed its test. And as for getting it airborne, well, better late than never.

Best Odds in the Universe!
If you're interested in a 98.79% chance at beating the market... and a 70.84% chance at DOUBLING the market's return – Motley Fool Supernova could be just what you're looking for. And get this: We arrived at these odds from 10,000 random back-tested portfolios composed of Motley Fool Co-founder David Gardner's personal stock picks.

It's why David recently handpicked a small team of world-class portfolio managers. You see, he thinks these odds can get even better! And he'd like to prove it to you...

Simply enter your email address. And the answer to the question everybody is asking will be delivered to your inbox!

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.