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Here we are. It’s Monday morning and time to dust off the cob webs and kick it into high gear – professionally speaking of course. Today, we have a wide range of GEOINT-related news from the business side (latest on sale of TASC) to the disturbing (space warfare with China) to the entertaining (NKorea’s Kim travels like a rock star). Our intention, as always with this post, is to provide you with a wide range of news stories to help you kick off your work week with professional gusto. So, as we say, go fire up that second cup of coffee and read on and Happy Monday!

Northrop to Sell $1.65 Billion TASC Unit to Private Equity
Defense contractor Northrop Grumman (NOC.N) has agreed to sell its TASC consulting unit to two buyout firms, General Atlantic and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co KKR.UL, for $1.65 billion, the companies said on Sunday. The deal is the latest in a spate of buyouts, as the financing markets improve. On Thursday, the biggest leveraged buyout of the year was signed, when private equity firm TPG and the Canada Pension Plan struck a $4 billion deal to buy IMS Health Inc (RX.N). Read the full press release here.

US Spy Satellites Determine that NKorea’s Kim Rides on Tricked-Out Trains
U.S. spy satellites and U-2 reconnaissance planes recently determined that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il — known for shunning air travel — has six luxurious trains equipped with reception halls, conference rooms and high-tech communication facilities. There are also 19 stations across North Korea exclusively for Kim’s trains, which have a total of some 90 carriages, the mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing an analysis by South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities. Sounds almost as grandiose as U2’s recent tour. Read the full article here.

China Declares Space War Inevitable
Our friends at DoD Buzz recently came out with this blog post about how the Obama administration must react to China’s declaration that military operations in space are inevitable. The post features a quote from a top China expert from the Heritage Foundation who had this to say about how the U.S. handles this situation: “How will the US react to Chinese diplomatic efforts in light of the PLA’s blunt statements on space warfare? This is something the Obama administration has to take into account,” said Dean Cheng, China specialist at Washington’s Heritage Foundation. “Are we going to see outrage, any meaningful reactions to the Chinese statements or again that it was someone speaking out of school and we just aren’t sure.”

Iran Set to Launch 200-kg Spy Satellite into Orbit
Iran is ready to launch its second homemade spy satellite, with the Safir 2 rocket already in position on its pad, according to this DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources report. The new satellite weighs 200 kgs, ten times more than Omid 1 (Hope), which was successfully tested only ten months ago, on Feb. 2. Tehran’s missile program is clearly rushing forward at a rapid pace. In fact, some Western and Israeli missile experts suspect it may have overtaken North Korea and that Iran no longer stands in need of technical assistance from Pyongyang or Beijing.

Geospatial: Mapping Iraq’s Ancient Cities
While many Soldiers head home in the late hours of the second shift, Sgt. Ronald Peters sits at his desk scanning over imagery, maps and the Internet, sometimes as late as 5 a.m., looking for answers. Peters, a geospatial analyst from Fort Lewis, Wash., with Multi-National Corps-Iraq C-7, is undertaking the largest mapping projects of his career. His work is helping to resolve a concern shared by both the U.S. military and the Iraqi government as troops have pulled out of cities and continue the drawdown. Read the full article here.

Happy Monday!

Tags: China Space War, DoD, GEOINT, geospatial intelligence, geospatial mapping of Iraq, Iran Spy Satellite, Kim Jong II, Northrop Grumman, Northrop Grumman TASC, Obama Administration, Space Warfare, TASC