Really Rocket Science

TerreStar-1 completes in-orbit testing and is operating normally.

[Satellite Today – 08/28/2009]

William H. Robbins, 82, a retired NASA scientist who was part of a NASA team honored with an Emmy in 1985 for improving satellite-communications technology, died Saturday in Cleveland.
[philly.com – 08/27/2009]

Planned for launch today, August 28, the space shuttle Discovery is to carry aloft Leonardo, the Multi-Purpose Pressurized Logistics Modules developed by Thales Alenia Space; the MPLM will carry 15,200 pounds of cargo needed for scientific experiments and to support the International Space Station’s crew.
[SatNews – 08/27/2009]

GPS IIR-21(M), the last of the modernized GPS IR satellites, is declared operational for users just 10 days after launching from Cape Canaveral.
[SatNews – 08/27/2009]

WildBlue demonstrates how it can deliver download speeds that are up to 12 times faster than its current speeds if it gets a new high-capacity satellite that could cost around $500m to build, launch, and insure; the company hopes to get stimulus money to help with the cost.
[SatNews – 08/27/2009]

Shaw Direct will launch AMC in HD in Canada by satellite, the first to bring Quebec the award-winning series in HD.
[Marketwire – 08/27/2009]

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency certifies and accepts the Space Based Infrared Systems, Highly Elliptical Orbit data for use in support of technical intelligence missions.
[SatNews – 08/27/2009]

Landsat 5 is again in good health after reported difficulties resulting in the halt of imagery operations; the one millionth scene download, of the Grand Canyon, is available on the internet at no cost.
[SatNews – 08/27/2009]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency unveil a new ground station in Guam that will track spacecraft from JAXA’s upcoming Quasi-Zenith satellite system, designed to work seamlessly with the U.S. Global Positioning System and provide improved navigation satellite coverage over Japan and surrounding areas.
[SatNews – 08/27/2009]

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is spending $213m to develop a small launch vehicle in 2010 to reduce satellite launch costs by two-thirds.
[Satellite Today – 08/27/2009]

South Korean satellite launch failed when fairing did not open, causing satellite to overshoot the target altitude; satellite likely burned up in the atmosphere during re-entry.
[Bloomberg – 08/26/2009]

Sirius XM Radio unveils a dock that turns an iPhone into a satellite radio receiver, letting users listen to premium satellite radio programming.
[Reuters – 08/26/2009]

The Indian Space Research Organisation plans launch of Oceansat-2, a unique integrated satellite to track marine life and identify potential fishing zones, in September.
[SatNews – 08/26/2007]

Univision expects to realize as much as $175m in 2009, and $350m over next three to five years, from 140 multiyear retransmission-consent agreements with U.S. cable and satellite operators.
[Multichannel News – 08/26/2009]

Globalstar Inc. subsidiary SPOT LLC satellite GPS Messenger will be sold in Best Buy retail locations nationwide.
[Global Newswire – 08/26/2009]

Vizada partner Compass Systems recognized for outstanding customer service to government clients.
[BusinessWire – 08/26/2009]

ProtoStar will auction its two satellites on October 14 following decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Delaware approving the sale.
[Satellite Today – 08/25/2009]

Iridium is contracted buy government of Newfoundland and Labrador to provide satellite service to motorists along Canadian highway.
[Satellite Today – 08/25/2009]

Lockheed Martin satellite built for Sky Perfect JSAT of Japan was successfully launched by Arianespace on Friday, August 21.
[Business Journal – 08/24/2008]

First launch of a Russion Soyuz rocket from the European Space Agency base at Kourou in French Guiana is postponed until April 2010 due to a delay "linked to a mobile launch pad."
[SatNews – 08/26/209]

Kazsat, Kazakhstan’s first satellite, built by the Russian Krunichev Space Center and orbited in June 2006 will be be discarded; control of the satellite was lost in June 2008, restored, then lost permanently in October 2008.
[SatNews – 08/24/2008]

GSA and DISA form satellite communications partnership to create a common marketplace for commercial satellite communications services offering significant savings to defense and civil agencies as well as local and tribal governments.
[hotindienews – 08/24/2009]

SkyTerra Communications is 70.7% owned by Philip Falcon’s Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund as disclosed in an amended 13D filing with the SEC due to activity on August 19.
[seeking alpha – 08/24/2009]

NASA may turn to private contractors for much of the work now handled by government workers in effort to cut $30b to $50b from program to return astronauts to the moon.
[SatNews – 08/24/2009]

DirecTV, after being rated the nation’s highest-rated TV provider six years in a row, loses its top ranking to AT&T’s U-Verse and Verizon’s FIOS TV.
[Multichannel – 08/24/2009]

Three months after launch, TacSat-3 completes calibration phase and begins crucial validation stage.
[SatNews – 08/24/2009]

Saturday morning Australian time, Optus D3 is successfully launched from French Guiana, slated to provide services for Australia and New Zealand.
[SatNews – 08/23/2007]

Cyprus satellite communications provider Planetsky enters new markets with VelocitySAT services including cellular and PSTN/PTT backhaul, VoIP, IP Backbone, Broadcasting, FPN’s, virtual DSL, Disaster Recovery, and space segment availability.
[pr.com – 08/23/2009]

Russia plans 3-decade manned space flight program; hopes program will be basis for international effort with target direct to Mars as well as a permanent base on the moon.
[IEEE Spectrum – 08/20/2009] 

WBMSAT PS – Satellite Communications Consulting Services

 Nice satellite imagery via the University of Maryland’s FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System) and NASA’s MODIS Rapid Response System.  MODIS: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer.

The fires near Athens were brought under control recently. Here’s a video report:

And here’s more on MODIS, the rocket science behind the imagery…

Inflight broadband services is something we’ve liked for years. Why? Satcom love, baby.

Connexion by Boeing was a real winner. In fact, it’s probably still being used by Air Force One and other U.S. agencies — especiallly over the Pacific via GE-23. Ed loved it, as did most users who’ve experienced it.

We like Row 44 now, since they’ve got satcom love working for them. In the U.S., there are two other options, but they use ground-based communications systems to make the connection. Alaska Airlines (see above aircraft with satellite antenna housing) and Southwest are using Row 44’s equipment and service. Good decision.

Dvice.com published this comparison chart last week:

 No VoIP, ey? I’m sure there’s a hack for that.

Australian Anthony Wesley has discovered an impact on Jupiter, and confirmed by NASA’s JPL. The local story, via the Sydney Morning Herald:

 An amateur Australian astronomer has set the space-watching world on fire after discovering that a rare comet or asteroid had crashed into Jupiter, leaving an impact the size of Earth.

Anthony Wesley, 44, a computer programmer from Murrumbateman, a village north of Canberra, made the discovery about 1am yesterday using his backyard 14.5-inch reflecting telescope.

The impact would have occurred no more than two days earlier and will only be visible for another few days.

 Check out Sky and Telescope’s Red Spot Transit Table for reference.

Yeah, reminds me of the scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite…

While I was away earlier this month, Andy Pasztor wrote a piece in the WSJ on former SES AMERICOM CEO Ed Horowitz teaming up with former International Launch Services CEO Mark Albrecht to form U.S. Space:

A clutch of former Pentagon brass is helping to start a company that offers a new service: satellites intended solely for military communications that would be built, launched and owned by private investors.

The new company, called U.S. Space LLC, attempts to meet a need that the U.S. military has struggled to fill. As U.S. forces deploy to out-of-the-way regions, the Pentagon frequently needs more satellite capacity for communications and distribution of video surveillance than it can get its hands on.

The military’s own satellites are expensive, and often take too long to deploy to satisfy fast-changing battlefield needs. Meanwhile, the military hasn’t always been able to lease sufficient bandwith on traditional commercial satellites, particularly in remote areas such as Afghanistan.

The new company intends to build and launch relatively small and inexpensive commercial satellites that would be optimized for military use and leased only to military customers, according to Mark Albrecht, the company’s chairman and co-founder.

Backers said the price of the satellites would be held down by keeping them small, modular and relatively basic, without tailoring them for special needs and piling on bells and whistles.

"This is absolutely responsive" to the Pentagon’s needs for quickly supplementing current capacity wherever it’s needed, said Mr. Albrecht, a former head of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s international rocket business.

The company’s board members count three former Air Force generals, including retired Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel, who until recently served as the military’s top uniformed space-acquisition official; retired Major General James Armor, a former space policy maker; retired Major General Craig Weston, who is also the president and chief executive of U.S. Space. The company’s backers include firms headed by former Attorney General John Ashcroft and former Defense Secretary William Cohen.

Each proposed high-altitude satellite is envisioned to cost less than half of the roughly $350 million price tag for building and launching a large, top-of-the-line commercial satellite. The Pentagon and various national-security customers already lease significant commercial capacity, often at expensive spot rates that by some estimates amount to more than $800 million annually.

In addition to being less costly, the venture aims to be more flexible because the in-orbit locations and transmission frequencies specifically will be intended for military uses.

The U.S. Space models are intended to be ready for service in roughly three years, versus a decade or more in development for most Pentagon satellites.

The project is risky, partly because no firm financing or contracts to supply capacity have been signed. The Pentagon is notorious for balking at long-term satellite leasing arrangements.

But military brass "have really endorsed" the commercial approach and "encouraged us to continue the discussions," said Edward Horowitz, a U.S. Space co-founder and former president of the U.S. unit of global satellite-services giant SES Global.

Industrial firms backing the venture include a group of second-tier aerospace contractors led by Orbital Sciences Corp., which is in line to build the satellites and launch them with a beefed-up version of its Minotaur rockets.

Ed was the inspiration and force behind this blog, and Mark was at helm of ILS when they began publishing their launch blogs. They will surely impact the commercial space business.

Terrestar-1 was launched a couple of weeks ago. In-orbit testing is going well, and the antenna is up. Wish we could say the same about the Solaris Mobile bird.

As we’ve blogged before, the company behind it has an interesting propostion: a diverse path for communicating via smartphone.  No signal? No problem: connect via satellite.

More interesting is they’ll be one of many satcom-based communications companies going after some of the US$7.2 billion set aside for broadband, as reported by the Wall Street Journal:

 The launch is significant because it could make the case to policymakers, who may have government grants or business to offer, that satellite Internet service is a viable alternative to cable or cellular hookups.

The sheer size of TerreStar’s satellite, which has a 60-foot antenna, will ensure that military personnel, emergency responders, and rural customers are always connected, said TerreStar President Jeff Epstein.

TerreStar has developed a smart phone that operates both on its satellite network and a traditional cellular network. The company has secured a roaming agreement with AT&T Inc. (T), and it could pursue similar agreements with other wireless carriers.

"Off the network grid, you can make calls via the satellite," Epstein said. "It’s a redundant path."

TerreStar will be among the first satellite carriers to offer Internet speeds that are comparable to high-speed WiFi or cellular broadband. That could make the company eligible for some of the $7.2 billion in economic stimulus money for high-speed Internet connections in unserved and rural areas.

Right now, government officials and industry analysts say satellite Internet service is too spotty and slow to be a good candidate for the government money.

The advantage of satellite service, however, is that it can cover much wider swaths of the country than other types of connections.

With a robust network, satellite could become the ideal method to deliver high-speed Internet to sparsely populated areas, a top priority of President Barack Obama.

But TerreStar’s Internet service rollout might be too late for an economic stimulus subsidy. By law, the government Internet grant money must be distributed by the end of September 2010, which means grant makers will start allocating the last round of funds sometime next spring.

Before TerreStar can start selling voice and data service, it has to test its network in orbit. Epstein said he wants to complete that testing by the end of the year.

SkyTerra Communications Inc. (SKYT) has similar plans to offer mobile Internet services. It announced earlier this month that it will launch one of two next-generation satellites in the first half of 2010.

Both SkyTerra and TerreStar have agreements with Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) and Infineon Technologies AG (IFNNY) to develop more models of regular-size satellite-cellular devices.

More power to them!

Here’s the launch video, courtesy of Space Systems/Loral…

Does Vanila Ice care about "global warming?" He probably does. As do many others, adding drama to real science.

NASA’s been at it, too, but only now are we talking about a dramatic change in the Arctic ice. The spacecraft, ICESat, uses laser light to measure the Earth’s ice:

ICESat is designed to observe seasonal and interannual variations in surface elevation that are caused by variations in precipitation (snowfall) and surface melting. These data will be used in energy-balance models and to test the results of atmospheric circulation models used to predict climate-induced changes. ICESat should detect changes in mass balance expected for each 1 degree change in polar temperatures (depends on sensitivity estimate). ICESat measurements are essential for making reliable assessments of whether future changes in ice volume will add to the sea level rise, which is already occurring due to the warming and thermal expansion of the oceans and worldwide melting of small glaciers, or whether the ice sheets might grow and absorb a significant part of the predicted sea level rise.

Now comes the drama, from the Great White North, via Canada.com:

Arctic sea ice thinned dramatically between the winters of 2004 and 2008, with thin seasonal ice replacing thick older ice as the dominant type for the first time on record, data from a NASA Earth-orbiting spacecraft has revealed.

Calling it the most comprehensive survey to date, scientists from NASA and the University of Washington say the information provides "further evidence for the rapid, ongoing transformation of the Arctic’s ice cover."

"The thickness and volume of the ice cover is continuing to decline, making the ice more vulnerable to continued shrinkage," NASA research team leader Ron Kwok said. "Our data will help scientists better understand how fast the volume of Arctic ice is decreasing and how soon we might see a nearly ice-free Arctic in the summer."

Using measurements from NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land elevation satellite — ICESat — scientists found that overall Arctic sea ice thinned nearly 18 centimetres a year for a total of 72 centimetres over four years.

The data also shows that the total area covered by the thicker, older "multi-year" ice that has survived one or more summers shrank by 42 per cent.

Kwok said ICESat allows scientists to monitor ice thickness and volume changes over the entire Arctic Ocean for the first time.

 Check out the video…

The Ulysses mission came to a close last week. It was launched aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1990 and planned to last five years. Good show!

From the joint NASA/ESA statement:

When it began in 1977, the Out-of-Ecliptic mission (as Ulysses was then called) represented the first major joint undertaking by ESA and NASA. It was also the first ESA scientific mission to have such a high percentage of non-European lead scientists, with many of the nine investigations under US responsibility. Undoubtedly, Ulysses stands out as an excellent example of international collaboration in space.

The scientific harvest has been extraordinarily rich, with many discoveries, some anticipated, and others completely unexpected. For example, the measurements made by the instruments on board Ulysses have completely changed our view of the Sun’s magnetic influence on the charged particles that populate the space in which our satellites and astronauts have to operate, leading in turn to new models of how the Sun’s magnetic field is carried out into space by the solar wind. The breadth of scientific investigations made possible by Ulysses is truly amazing, extending from the study of processes occurring within the Sun itself to the properties of our local interstellar neighbourhood. Data from Ulysses have even been used to shed light on questions of fundamental cosmological importance.

Check out the ESA archives for details.  And their anniversary video…

Awesome: Arianespace is in final preparations for launching the world’s largest communications satellite ever.  The spacecraft was mated with the launcher yesterday. The launch is scheduled for 1 July 2009. Their stock price could use a little "launch," too.

The ensuing satcom smartphone, running Windows Mobile, will be offered by AT&T, according to Computerworld:

The carrier will resell satellite service and phones from TerreStar Networks, a startup that is set to have its first satellite launched on July 1. TerreStar is developing hybrid satellite/cellular handsets designed to be about the same size as a conventional smartphone.

TerreStar’s satellite will sit 22,000 miles above North America and provide service across the U.S. and Canada, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Using licensed 2GHz radio spectrum, it will provide voice service as well as data at approximately 64K bits per second, said TerreStar Chief Technology Officer Dennis Matheson.

AT&T will resell that service in a hybrid offering, aimed initially at local, state and federal governments, Matheson said. The carrier will also resell the handsets, though not initially in its retail stores. The handsets will switch between satellite and 3G (third-generation) coverage as users roam in and out of cellular coverage areas. TerreStar is still working on a resale deal with a Canadian carrier.

Satellite phones have the advantage of working essentially anywhere across a region of the world, but the market has been limited by large handsets and high prices for devices and service. TerreStar is taking advantage of SDR (software-defined radio) chips coming from Infineon and Qualcomm to integrate satellite capability into the same processors that handle cellular connectivity. This will help the company match the size of other smartphones and eventually bring the cost of its handsets down to that of a BlackBerry, Matheson said. Qualcomm’s work should lead to a satellite and CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) phone, which might allow for a future hybrid service from Verizon or Sprint Nextel.

The spacecraft itself is very cool — with 500 spot beams and a beam forming technology developed by HNS:

Dennis Matheson, TerreStar Networks CTO said, “The design, manufacture and delivery of TerreStar-1 has been a team effort. We have relied on our colleagues at Space Systems/Loral for their experience and support in delivering the integrated satellite and ground system that makes our new services possible. We now look forward to a flawless launch by our partner Arianespace.”

“It has been a pleasure working with TerreStar Networks on this challenging project,” said John Celli, president and chief operating officer at Space Systems/Loral.  “With its 18-meter unfurlable reflector and extraordinarily powerful S-Band feed array, TerreStar-1 was designed to provide next generation capability for mobile devices.”

Ideally suited to provide critical services to government, emergency responders, rural communities and commercial users, the satellite uses 2 GHz spectrum to provide voice, data and video communications to satellite/terrestrial mobile devices the size of a typical smart phone.  Space Systems/Loral, working with Hughes Network Systems, has developed a two-way ground based beam forming technology that enables the satellite to reallocate resources based on demand, thereby maximizing capacity.

TerreStar-1 is based on SS/L’s 1300 space-proven platform, which provides the flexibility to support a broad range of applications and technology advances. The satellite will be capable of generating over five hundred spot beams covering the Continental U.S., Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Arianespace will probably webcast the launch (expect a media advisory in a few days). Terrestar’s annoying us with registration on their "Countdown to Communicate" site. Yeah, I registered and I’m still waiting for my e-mail confirmation. If it doesn’t arrive in seconds, you lost me.

Overall, they seem to be doing things rights. With Dean Olmstead on their Board, would you expect anything less?

Space Systems/Loral awarded Intelsat contract for Intelsat-19 and Intelsat-20, to be among the most powerful FSS satellites ever built.
[SatNews – 06/18/2009]

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite probes paired together atop Atlas V rocket; successfully launched Thursday, June 18.
[SatNews – 06/18/2009]

SES AMERICOM-NEW SKIES completes multi-year agreement with Teleport Access Services to provide three transponders on NSS-11 to distribute at many as 50 Chinese television channels to cable households in Taiwan.
[SatNews – 06/18/2009]

Satellite-based upgrade of air-traffic management under development by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for four years is to ascertain aircraft positions more accurately and provide severe weather information to cockpits.
[Bloomberg – 06/18/2009]

Thuraya appoints Teknikkom Electronic as National Service Provider in Malaysia.
[SatNews – 06/18/2009]

Boeing transfers control of the second Wideband Global Satcom satellite to the Air Force.
[Defense Systems – 06/18/2009]

MTN, a SeaMobile company, and ERZIA, announce project to build teleport in Santander, North Spain to provide services in X-, C-, and Ku-bands.
[SatNews – 06/18/2009]

Spacecom announces that National Geographic will launch its newest channel, National Geographic Wild, in Romania over the AMOS-3 satellite.
[SatNews – 06/18/2009]

Thales Alenia Space and HISPASAT sign contract with Thales Alenia Space Espana for development and supply of REDSAT advanced communication payload for AG1, a GEO mission.
[SatNews – 06/18/2009]

Iridium and Cambridge Consultants win 2009 GTB Innovation Award for excellence in Wireless Network Infrastructure Innovation.
[SatNews – 06/18/2009]

Fulcrum Maritime Systems offers Long-Range Identification and Tracking services using Iridium satellite network.
[SatNews – 06/18/2009]

European Space Agency signs agreement with Thales Alenia Space to develop atmospheric reentry demonstrator Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle.
[SatNews – 06/18/2009]

NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to use Israeli technology to link various components of the satellite and pass data between them.
[Jerusalem Post – 06/17/2009]

NASA postpones launch of STS-127 due to Hydrogen leak; next available date for launch is July 11.
[SatNews – 06/17/2009]

Arianespace  selected by ST-2 Satellite Ventures of Singapore to launch new telecommunications satellite ST-2, and by Asia Broadcast Satellite to launch ABS-2.
[SatNews – 08/17/2009]

Inmarsat launches BGAN X-Stream service in Asia-Pacific region.
[Satellite Today – 06/17/2009]

Open Range selects Israeli WiMax equipment supplier Alvarion as it builds out WiMax delivery to remote areas using Globalstar’s hybrid satellite broadband network .
[Telephony online – 06/17/2009]

G6 provides continental United States wide voice and data satellite communications to Global Medic medical companies for all U.S. military services except Coast Guard.
[DVIDS – 06/17/2009]

NAB asks Congress to preserve localism in satellite rewrite, to ensure advertisers continue to be able to target certain audiences.
[SmartBrief – 06/17/2009]

Digital Britain report outlines plans for UK’s digital transition, with three-year National Plan to improve Digital Participation, promising universal Access to broadband services by 2012.
[Department for Culture, Media, and Sport – 06/16/25009]

Eutelsat welcomes Digital Britain report, stating that the Universal Service Commitment to deliver 2Mbps broadband service to all U.K. residents by 2021 can be delivered today using existing satellite technology.
[SatNews – 06/16/2009]

Hughes Network Systems plans launch of next-generation 100 Gbps throughput Ka band satellite using IPoS standard in 2012 to expand broadband network service across North America.
[Market Watch – 06/16/2009]

DARPA awards contract for phase 2 of Fast Access Spacecraft Testbed satellite power generation and propulsion program to Boeing.
[Satellite Today – 06/16/2009]

Research report on China’s VSAT market states that China’s VSAT market achieved stable development in 2008, with satellite companies facing new opportunities and obtaining rapid growth.
[BusinessWire – 06/16/2009]

Satellite operators pledge not to exploit analog loophole to import distant network affiliate signals into local markets.
[Broadcasting & Cable – 06/16/2009]

NAB looks at satellite  companies’ proposal to share costs of getting local-into-local into all 212 markets.
[Broadcasting & Cable – 06/16/2009]

Expand Networks WAN optimization technology selected by IPSTAR to enhance its satellite based managed service offering.
[Market Watch – 06/16/2009]

Avanti plans large Ka band satellites to fill broadband gaps in the UK at speeds up to 2 Mbps on the Hylas satellite and the capability of greater speeds on the follow-on Hercules satellites.
[BBC News – 06/15/2009]

Gilat announces new multi-star VSAT networking solution, NetEdge.
[Globe Newswire – 06/15/2009]

Number of free-to-air satellite TV channels in the Middle East grows 30% in 18 months.
[Satelllite Today – 06/15/2009]

Eurovision incorporates new Ku-band capacity on Eutelsat W2A into global network, and C-band capacity for Africa coverage.
[PR Newswire – 06/15/2009]

$257 billion spent on space last year, with two-thirds coming from the private sector.
[ieee spectrum – June 2009]

Planetary geologists speculate that the moon’s polar craters may hold billions of tons of hydrogen, fueling the concept of mining the moon.
[ieee spectrum – June 2009]

WBMSAT PS – Satellite Communications Consulting Services