"Once our second satellite is launched, data volume will increase fivefold, and the eventual launch of a third satellite will further increase data volume," Trudel said.

The company plans to launch the second satellite later this year and the third in 2008, he noted.

Trudel said that he hasn't calculated a return on investment for the project, but he added that the new infrastructure has already cut the time required to process satellite images from about 12 hours to three.

Trudel said that the file-sharing software from Redmond, Wash.-based ADIC helps lessen the workload of storage administrators, and "we're able to rapidly repurpose and/or expand storage to meet shifting production needs," he added.

The upgrade has also included the installation of numerous servers over the past year, including low- and high-end systems from Sun Microsystems Inc. and five Origin 3000 supercomputers from Mountain View, Calif.-based Silicon Graphics Inc.