The man who will be charged in connection with an accident Saturday that seriously injured Loveland city councilor Chauncey Taylor is a pioneer in the field of satellite imagery and geographic information systems.

Herbert F. Satterlee III is also one of Northern Colorado’s most successful aerospace business executives, whose work helped launch satellite images that are the basis of Google maps and Google Earth.

Satterlee was at the wheel of his Toyota sport utility vehicle midday Saturday when he made a left turn from southbound Monroe Avenue onto 37th Street in north Loveland, striking bicyclist Taylor who was traveling north on Monroe.

Taylor is recovering from his injuries, including a concussion, broken ribs and a fractured left ankle.

He remained hospitalized Wednesday at Northern Colorado Rehabilitation Hospital in Johnstown, where he was transferred after four days at Medical Center of the Rockies.

Following an 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office review of the accident information, Loveland police will file a misdemeanor charge of careless driving resulting in injury against Satterlee.

Satterlee is chief executive of MDA Information Systems Inc., a Maryland-based specialist in developing remote sensing and geographic information technologies.

But his high-flying executive career in Northern Colorado includes a term as president and CEO of Longmont-based DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI) and its EarthWatch predecessor from 2000 to 2005.

During that term, Satterlee led the team that successfully launched QuickBird 2, the world’s highest-resolution satellite image system, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in 2001.

The company two years later won a $500 million federal contract to develop new generations of satellite image systems, and negotiated contracts that led to DigitalGlobe’s role as the image source for Google maps and Google Earth.

Satterlee also presided over some of DigitalGlobe’s disappointments, including the failed launch of the first QuickBird satellite from a Russian spaceport in 2000.

Tom Hacker can be reached at 669-5050, ext. 521, or thacker@reporter-herald.com.