WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits for June 5, 2009
Air France crash may put pressure on airlines to improve satellite surveillance systems to allow air traffic controllers to track a plane’s progress across open ocean.
[Associated Press – 06/05/2009]
General Dynamics wins $119m modification to existing U.S. Army contract, to provide additional terminals, trucks, and other parts for Warfighter Information Network-Tactical program.
[Charlotte Business Journal – 06/05/2009]
Iridium wins $22m contract to provide Navy with communications services and develop new tactical communications system for the Marines.
[Washington Business Journal – 06/05/2009]
Blue Sky Network and Iridium Satellite announce they will supply the Open Passage expedition with voice communications and GPS mapping during upcoming four month Arctic Journey.
[SatNews – 06/05/2009]
KVH assumes operational responsibility for the mini-VSAT Broadband service supporting North American and the Caribbean regions, previously managed under revenue sharing agreement with SES AMERICOM.
[PR Newswire – 06/04/2009]
Orange and France Televisions will offer the French Open men’s final live and in 3D on cinema screens in France and Spain, delivered by satellite by Globecast.
[SatNews – 06/04/2009]
Launch preparations in Kourou for SES AMERICOM-NEW SKIES’ NSS-9 satellite to be featured on National Geographic’s World’s Toughest Fixes program.
[SatNews – 06/04/2009]
DirectTV CEO Chase Carey quits to return to News Corporation.
[TCMnet – 06/04/2009]
SES AMERICOM-NEW SKIES announces three-year agreement with BT in Latin America for nearly three full transponders on NSS-10 to support extension of BT’s IP network deep into remotest regions of Brazil.
[SatNews – 06/04/2009]
Mars Orbiter communications resumed in safe mode after unexpected re-boot Wednesday evening, June 3.
[SatNews – 06/04/2009]
Reason satellites could not help find lost Air France plane – on board GPS systems are primarily used for crew navigation and do not constantly enable tracking by a ground crew.
[CNN – 06/03/2009]
Satellite TV channel based in Egypt to promote moderate Islam and challenge extremist ideas when it launches in August.
[SatNews – 06/03/2009]
Ariane 5 integration of TerreStar-1 payload ready to proceed in preparation for launch of world’s largest commercial telecommunications satellite.
[SatNews – 06/03/2009]
Dish Network ordered to pay TiVo $103m by U.S. District Court Judge David Folsom of the Eastern District of Texas for contempt of 2004 patent infringement judgement by using software workaround which allegedly still infringed on TiVo patent.
[CED Magazine – 06/03/2009]
Dish Network wins temporary stay of contempt order in a federal appeals court in Washington.
[Business Journal- Denver – 06/03/2009]
NASA completes review of Endeavour’s readiness for June 13 launch for STS-127 mission to the International Space Station.
[SatNews – 06/03/2009]
Newtec ships 50,000th Sat3Play terminal for low cost, easy-to-install high-speed satellite internet access for consumers and small businesses in Europe.
[SatNews – 06/03/2009]
Iridium subscribers up 31.2%, total revenue up 2.0%, net income down 41.9% primarily on Iridium NEXT costs.
[PR Newswire – 06/02/2009]
SES AMERICOM-NEW SKIES announces 3-year agreement with Telefonica del Peru for nearly a full transponder on NSS-10 to deliver corporate voice and data solutions as well as broadband and mobile phone services to remote areas of Peru.
[SatNews – 06/02/2009]
MEASAT 3a returns to Baikonur in preparation for late June launch aboard a Land Launch rocket, following six-month process to repair damage caused by a crane at the launch site.
[SatNews – 06/02/2009]
SkyVision and Eutelsat sign multi-year agreement for capacity on newly-launched W2A satellite.
[PR Newswire – 06/02/2009]
KVH signs multi-year agreement with SKY Perfect JSAT to lease satellite capacity on JCSAT-1B and the new Intelsat-15 satellites as it continues to move toward offering global coverage for its mini-VSAT broadband service.
[SatNews – 06/02/2009]
VoCeM, world’s most efficient satellite communications compression software for VOIP or GSM, is launched by satellite communications company TriaGnoSys – it allows Inmarsat or Ku-band payload usage to be increased by factor between 5 and 10.
[SatNews – 06/02/2009]
DirecTV signs two-year extension on contract with Convergys to provide customer-service support for DirecTV customers.
[Broadcast Newsroom – 06/02/2009]
Lockheed Martin wins $1.5 billion contract to build the third Space Based Infrared systems Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite.
[Satellite Today – 06/02/2009]
Globecomm Systems acquires Telaurus Communications, provider of maritime communications, for $6.5m.
[newsday – 06/01/2009]
Stratos Global Corporation announces its selection by MISC Berhad to provide crew communications to its entire fleet of more than 100 vessels.
[PR Newswire 06/01/2009]
SpaceX and Astronautic Technology of Malaysia announce new launch window of July 13 – July 14 for Falcon 1 Flight 5, carrying the RazakSAT satellite to orbit.
[SatNews – 06/01/2009]
SES AMERICOM-NEW SKIES wins multi-year distribution agreement form In Demand for delivery of NBA League Pass and Major League Soccer’s Direct Kick programming packages.
[Satellite Today – 06/01/2009]
Do we need to go to the moon to get to Mars? It might be argued that money spent on a return to the moon might be better spent on a Mars mission.
[IEEE Spectrum – June 2009]
Former astronaut Franklin R. Chang Diaz is working on a rocket engine which in its most ambitious form would be nuclear, and capable of taking people to Mars.
[IEEE Spectrum – June 2009]
Some believe China, which conducted its first three-person space mission last September, could be the first to reach Mars, if it accelerates its rate of progress.
[IEEE Spectrum – June 2009]
Elon Musk, who started Tesla Motors and PayPal, and most recently Space Exploration Technologies Corp., discusses the costs and risks of space exploration and getting to Mars.
[IEEE Spectrum – June 2009]
WBMSAT PS – Satellite Communications Consulting Services
