Esri Expands World Imagery with Airbus High-Resolution Basemap Coverage for 2,000 Cities Worldwide
20.8.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
At the 2026 Esri User Conference (UC), the global leader in location intelligence announced a significant enhancement to its World Imagery basemap through a new agreement with Airbus. The collaboration will enable Esri to provide ArcGIS users with high-resolution imagery coverage for approximately 2,000 cities around the world through the addition of the new Airbus, Nearmap, and Vantor imagery. The added data is part of an enhanced imagery initiative for the World Imagery Basemap, the most widely used map service in ArcGIS, and was highlighted during this year’s Esri UC Plenary.
Beginning in the second half of 2026, Airbus will deliver 30 cm imagery designed to provide more current and detailed visual context for ArcGIS users worldwide. Airbus imagery is highly accurate, color-consistent, and provides nearly cloud-free coverage with minimized haze and seasonal variation between contiguous images.
As part of the broader World Imagery enhancement program announced at the 2026 UC, Esri also finalized agreements with Nearmap and Vantor. Nearmap’s 20 cm vertical imagery will be integrated and regularly updated across 200 metropolitan areas in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, while Vantor will continue providing the global imagery foundation for World Imagery, including committed refreshes for hundreds of cities and upgrades to 15 cm imagery in select major urban areas.
“Airbus Defense and Space has been delivering accurate and consistent imagery for more than 35 years and we are excited to take this next step collaborating with them,” said Deane Kensok, chief technology officer for ArcGIS content at Esri. “The enhanced imagery Airbus brings to Esri’s collection of basemap data will better help to support the mapping and analysis workflows of organizations across government, commercial, nonprofit, and academic sectors."
To learn more about World Imagery and the latest enhancements to ArcGIS Living Atlas, visit livingatlas.arcgis.com and read What's New in World Imagery – July 2026.
About Esri
Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, helps customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969 in Redlands, California, USA, Esri software is deployed in hundreds of thousands of organizations globally, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofit institutions, and universities. Esri has regional offices, international distributors, and partners providing local support in over 100 countries on six continents. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial technology and analytics, Esri engineers the most innovative solutions that leverage a geographic approach to solving some of the world's most complex problems by placing them in the crucial context of location. Visit us at esri.com.
Copyright © 2026 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri Globe logo, The Science of Where, ArcGIS, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Union, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260820834434/en/
Contacts
media.help@esri.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
www.businesswire.com
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Cyclic Materials Opens America’s First Commercial-Scale Facility Delivering Automated Rare Earth Magnet Recovery9.9.2026 23:09:00 EEST | Press release
Cyclic Materials announced today the opening of its first commercial-scale rare earth magnet recycling facility in Mesa, Arizona, marking a major milestone in building domestic supply of rare earths and critical minerals. With an annual processing capacity of up to 25,000 metric tons of magnet-bearing end-of-life products, the facility produces Cyclic’s rare earth magnet material, Mag-Xtract™, and critical minerals such as copper and aluminum, and steel. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260909142592/en/ Leaders gather to mark the opening of Cyclic Materials’ new facility in Mesa, Arizona. From left to right: Herbert Flores, Arizona Commerce Authority Vice President of Business Development; Scott Somers, City of Mesa Vice Mayor; Jeff Dawley, Cyclic Materials CFO; Mark Freeman, City of Mesa Mayor; Ahmad Ghahreman, Cyclic Materials Founder and CEO; William Kimmitt, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Internationa
Belkin Introduces Titan SmartShield Pro Collection for the New iPhone 18 Pro Lineup9.9.2026 22:00:00 EEST | Press release
Belkin, a leading consumer electronics brand for over 40 years, today introduced its new Titan SmartShield Pro collection, designed to protect and enhance the experience of the new iPhone 18 Pro lineup. The collection includes three distinct screen protectors – clear, Blue-to-Red and Bright Privacy – each combining advanced Nano-Titan Technology with premium anti-reflective properties, exceptional scratch resistance and up to 9 feet of impact protection.* This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260909094720/en/ Belkin Titan SmartShield Pro Blue-to-Red Light screen protector As smartphones become increasingly central to how people work, travel and connect, the Titan SmartShield Pro collection goes beyond traditional screen protection to address the different ways consumers use their devices throughout the day. Whether prioritizing crystal-clear viewing, greater visual privacy or a more comfortable screen experience, us
PPAI Releases Landmark Study Showing Branded Merchandise Supports a $472 Billion Global Economic Footprint9.9.2026 20:24:00 EEST | Press release
Branded merchandise connects brands and people every day, but its impact extends well beyond the products consumers wear, use, receive or purchase. A landmark study commissioned by Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) provides the first comprehensive look at the global economic ecosystem behind branded merchandise. Conducted by independent global advisory firm Oxford Economics, the Branded Merchandise Global Market Report measures the industry end to end, from manufacturing and decoration to distribution, retail, e-commerce, fulfillment, marketing and brand activation. Key findings: $338.3 billion was spent on branded merchandise globally in 2025. The industry supported $472.3 billion in global GDP. Branded merchandise supported 11.9 million jobs worldwide. The sector supported $141.3 billion in global tax revenues – roughly the same as the entire Swiss federal budget. “For years, we’ve known branded merchandise has an extraordinary ability to connect brands with peopl
Vindral Named Recipient of 2026 Technology & Engineering Emmy ® Award9.9.2026 19:38:00 EEST | Press release
Vindral, the Swedish company building future-ready technology for real-time audio and video, has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). Vindral is recognised in the category Web-Based Frame-Accurate Remote Monitoring Systems for Distributed Broadcast Production. The co-recipients in the category are SipRadius, NBCUniversal, Grass Valley, CBS Sports, Disney, Game Creek and Amazon. The awards will be presented on October 14 at the Television Academy's Saban Media Center in North Hollywood, California, where Vindral will be represented by CEO Daniel Alinder and Ian Jefferson. The Technology & Engineering Emmy® Award is one of the U.S. television industry's most prestigious recognitions of technical achievement, previously awarded to companies including Apple, Sony, Netflix and YouTube. This year's recipients are honoured for technology that enabled high-quality, real-time production from distribu
Elliptic Intelligence Used by the USSS to Take Action Against Xinbi, the $30 Billion Criminal Marketplace and Money Laundering Operation9.9.2026 19:36:00 EEST | Press release
Elliptic, the global leader in risk intelligence for on-chain finance, today confirmed that it provided the intelligence used by the United States Secret Service in action taken today against the Xinbi marketplace. The U.S. Secret Service froze wallets belonging to the marketplace and its merchants, containing $52.8 million in cryptoassets linked to Xinbi marketplace. Elliptic provided the data and intelligence that no other provider could. The data was extracted from Elliptic’s Data Fabric Solutions into the USSS' systems, giving investigators the one hundred thousand-foot view, connecting on-chain and off-chain data to paint a full picture of illicit activity rather than a snapshot in one screen of data. Data Fabric provides access to the same blockchain data and intelligence set behind Elliptic’s solutions, and that Elliptic’s own intelligence team used to expose both Huione and Xinbi before anyone else. Since beginning operations in 2022, Xinbi Guarantee and its merchants have proc
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom