WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits for May 29, 2009

Sirius FM-5 satellite arrives at Baikonur Cosmodrome on May 26th for testing and integration in preparation for 5th Proton launch of 2009.
[Satnews – 05/29/2009]

Avanti Communications Group selected as member of North Sea Freight and Intelligent Transport Solutions consortium to deploy satellite communications services for safety and security for shipping in North Sea region.
[Satnews – 05/29/2009]

Harris wins $736m 10 year contract to provide satellite ground segment for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s geostationary operational environmental satellite.
[Orlando Business Journal – 05/28/2009]

SES Astra joint venture with Abu Dhabi’s Yahsat, Yahlive, to launch first satellite and offer DTH satellite television in fourth quarter 2009.
[Reuters – 05/28/2009]

Starling Advanced Communications to introduce StarRail, a broadband solution for trains including an aerodynamically designed satellite antenna, at a trade show next month.
[TMCnet – 05/28/2009]

Thaicom subsidiary IPStar partners with Comtech EF Data to provide integrated satellite backhaul solutions for mobile and WiMax networks.
[Satellite Today – 05/28/2009]

Manned Lunar landing considered by Chinese scientists, in 2025-2030 time frame.
[Satnews – 05/28/2009]

MEASAT signs an agreement to provide MBNS of ASTRO ALL ASIA NETWORKS with 6 Ku-band transponders on MEASAT 3 for 15 years.
[Satnews – 05/28/2009]

Microsoft and BskyB to announce partnership to integrate functionality of XBox 360 gaming system and BskyB’s satellite TV service.
[Satellite Today – 05/28/2009]

Spacenet and Orbital Enterprises deploy the Connexstar satellite communications services to support enterprise networks for Star Race Cars.
[Satellite Today – 05/28/2009]

RapidEye reports it has collected more than 69 million square kilometers of at least 80% cloud-free images during its first 100 days.
[Satellite Today – 05/28/2009]

Uganda becomes first country in Comesa regional bloc of Africa to launch a satellite communications system, to promote trade and commerce at reduced costs.
[Daily Monitor – 05/27/2009]

SkyTerra excercises option to move SkyTerra 2 satellite launch from Sea Launch to ILS, to be launched in late 2010.
[Satellite Today – 05/27/2009]

ESA’s gravity mission GOCE proves that the sophisticated electric propulsion system is able to keep the satellite completely free of drag as it moves through the outer reaches of Earth’s atmosphere.
[Satnews – 05/27/2009]

Soyuz TMA-15 launched from Baikonur May 27 with more visitors for the International Space Station.
[Satnews – 05/27/2009]

SES Astra signs agreement with Eurosat and the Country Land and Business Association to extend the reach of its Astra2Connect service in the U.K.
[Satellite Today – 05/27/209]

Japanese company NTT Electronics selects Newtec to be its DVB-S2 partner for development of its new integrated receiver decoder, the HVD6100.
[Satellite Today – 05/27/2009]

Canby Telcom of Oregon will switch from SES Americom’s IP-Prime to Echostar
Satellite Services for HD IPTV.
[CED Magazine – 05/27/2009]

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. subsidiary Mabuhay Satellite Corp. withdraws its offer to buy $27.5m worth of ProtoStar preferred shares.
[Satellite Today – 05/27/2009]

European Space Agency awards Avanti €250k grant to design super-fast satellite broadband system called Hercules, to deliver between 2Mb and 50Mb broadband access to 2.5 million UK rural households currently without broadband.
[Tech Watch – 05/26/2009]

1,000 airplanes flying U.S. domestic routes expected to have Wi-Fi service by the
end of 2009; the airlines may move toward providing in-flight entertainment over the
Wi-Fi links.
[New York Times – 05/26/2009]

ViaSat receives certification from National Security Agency for ruggedized AN?PSC-14(C) Broadband Global Area Network integrated manpack terminal.
[Satnews – 05/26/2009]

Thailand’s Information and Communications Technology Ministry discusses with National Telecommunications Commission the possible liberalization of Thailand’s satellite market, given the approaching end of life for Thaicom 1 and 2 satellites.
[Bangkok Post – 05/26/2009]

Russia makes plans to detach and fly away its parts of the International Space Station when the time comes to de-orbit the rest of the ISS, likely around 2020.
[Satnews – 05/26/2009]

Shelby County Tennessee enhances interoperable contingency communications for emergency operations, deploying SkyTerra push-to-talk satellite services.
[BusinessWire – 05/26/2009]

Builder of Russia’s Soyuz rockets finishes the first rockets due to be launched from South America pad in cooperation with the European Space Agency.
[Satnews – 05/26/2009]

Earth Space Agency launches a neutral space marketplace to assist civilian space companies to trade parts, services, and patents required for building space ships, satellites, and space probes.
[Satnews – 05/26/2009]

California residents file class action lawsuit against Hughesnet, alleging the company advertised connectivity speeds between 1 and 3 Mbps, while delivering much slower speeds.
[Satellite Today – 05/26/2009]

South Africa’s SumbandilaSat to be launched as secondary payload on Russian Soyuz in August, because primary payload Russian Meteor M weather satellite will not be ready until then.
[Satnews – 05/25/2009]

Arianespace launches Russian governmental satellite on Soyuz rocket.
[Satellite Today – 05/25/2009]

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