Really Rocket Science

O3b’s new satellite constellation to provide high speed connectivity to South Sudan.
[Yahoo Finance – 07/08/2013]

Indian space agency wants second rocket assembly facility
[Space Travel – 07/08/2013]

Russia will launch space freighter on schedule in spite of recent accident with Proton-M carrier rocket.
[Space News – 07/08/2013]

Medvedev demands list of those responsible for rocket crash; Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin instructed to set up government commission to probe crash; environmental impact to be assessed also.
[Space Daily – 07/08/2013]

Lockheed Martin delivers the third of four highly Elliptical Earth Orbit (HEO) satellites for the U.S. Air Forces Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS).
[SatNews – 07/08/2013]

Northrop Grumman test proves new active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna it developed for the B-2 can establish and maintain communications services with an on-orbit Air Force Advanced EHF (AEHF) communications satellite.
[Yahoo Finance – 07/08/2013]

NSA whistleblower Snowden claims Australian Defence Satellite Communications Facility and other Australian facilities were involved in alleged U.S. ‘snoop-op.’
[SmasHits – 07/08/2013]

ITC Global acquires NewSat Communications.
[Satellite Spotlight – 07/08/2013]

Azercosmos announces 50 radio and TV channels already broadcast via first Azerbaijani satellite. [ABC.AZ – 07/08/2013]

RRSat Inks Deal With Fox International Channels to Enable Broadcasts Expansion to Africa.
[4-traders – 07/08/2013]

PolarSat receives more than $1 million in orders from General Administration of Civil Aviation of China for equipment and technical services to expand existing network to mmore than 400 sites.
[SatNews – 07/08/2013]

Satellite problems cause Russian TV blackouts for around 117 million people.
[Digital TV.net – 07/08/2013]

EUMETSAT increases bandwidth of communications link between Svalbard, Norway and its Darmstadt, Germany headquarters to speed up transfer of data downlinked at Svalbard from Metop and NOAA-19 satellites.
[SatNews – 07/08/2013]

Two Univ. of Michigan engineering professors are turning to the Kickstarter online community to help fund an interplanetary satellite mission.
[R&D Magazine – 07/08/2013]

Indian Space Agency successfully inserts its first navigation satellite, IRNSS-1A, into orbit at 27 degrees.
[Daily News – 07/07/2013]

B-52s to receive communications upgrade that will allow data transfer via satellite links.
[AERO News Network – 07/07/2013]

Satellite communications are the glue that holds long range military operations together.
[Strategy Page – 07/05/2013]

NewSat, the U.S. Ex-Im Bank and COFACE, along with all other parties involved in the financing documentation of the Jabiru-1 satellite, have executed the documents for the US$611 million of funding for the satellite project.
[4 traders – 07/05/2013]

EuropaSat to market SES Broadband Service across Europe.
[Ad Hoc News – 07/05/2013]

Satellite communications market revenue for smart grids to reach $368 million by 2020.
[EIN Presswire – 07/04/2013]

Advantech Wireless successfully deploys hub to Gazprom Space Systems.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 07/04/2013]

Orbital blockade is imposed on Iran.
[Strategy Page – 07/03/2013]

NASA Deep Space Atomic Clock will fly as hosted payload on Surrey Satellite Technology U.S.’ Orbital Testbed Mission.
[Satellite Today – 07/03/2013]

Jason-1 ocean altimetry satellite was decommissioned this week following the loss of its last remaining transmitter.
[Yahoo News – 07/03/2013]

Cobham plans to develop new family of satellite communications systems for data-connected air transport aircraft.
[Satellite Spotlight- 07/03/2013]

Iranian Al-Alam TV channel quotes Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technologies as stating that Iran plans to broadcast its satellite TV channels via domestic satellites.
[Satellite Spotlight – 07/02/2013]

Hughes technology seminar in Mexico attended by more than 100 senior-level satellite industry executives discussed future of satellite broadband in the country.
[Satellite Today – 07/03/2013]

Russian Proton-M rocket carrying three of the Russian satellite navigation system’s satellites crashes almost immediately upon launch.
[NextGov – 07/02/2013]

Russian eye-witness videos capture Proton rocket failure.
[Space News – 07/02/2013]

Eutelsat expands partnership with RSCC to serve broadcasting markets across Russia via three key orbital positions.
[The Columbus Dispatch – 07/02/20103]

OHB signs contract for Germany’s next-gen radar satellites.
[Space News – 07/02/2013]

India plans series of satellite launches by March 2014.
[Yahoo News – 07/02/2013]

SES and Supernet renew contract for GSM backhaul in Pakistan.
[Satellite Spotlight – 07/02/2013]

Major South American satellite operator selects Kratos’ SAT to provide satellite interference detection and analysis.
[Yahoo Finance – 07/02/2013]

YahSat announces launch of satellite-based Internet service in the UAE.
[Emirates 24/7 – 07/01/2013]

Gilat Spacenet introduces enhanced WiFi solutions suite.
[boston.com – 07/01/2013]

Iraqi government holds talks with SupremeSAT on a possible joint satellite partnership related to SupremeSAT-2.
[LankaNewspapers – 07/01/2013]

Lockheed Martin-built MUOS satellite encapsulate in launch vehicle payload fairing. [Satellite Spotlight – 07/01/2013]

Rockwell Collins ARC-210 is first airborne radio to demonstrate MUOS satellite signal reception.
[4-traders – 07/01/2013]

U.S. Navy adds $9 million + modification to firm-fixed price contract for AN/WSC-6 E(V)9 satellite communication systems.
[Signal online – 07/01/2013]

‘Global Satellite Market: Trends and Opportunities 2013-2018′ analyzes the potential opportunities and significant trends in the global satellite manufacturing, satellite services and satellite ground equipment markets.
[Research and Markets – July 2013]

New NSR Report Projects Major DTH Shift to the Southern Hemisphere.
[NSR – July 2013]

Video interviews from CommunicAsia 2013 in Singapore.
[Satellite Markets & Research]

 WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services

Who would dare compete for the attention of hip techies with SXSW in Austin? Quite a few, actually, and none of them are hip.

There’s the Indiana Flower & Patio Show and the NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education annual conference in Philadelphia. There’s also the PITTCON Conference & Expo (laboratory science),  International Summit & Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design & Construction and one in Seattle: the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.  Wait, there’s one more: Satellite 2011.

That’s right: satcom has yet to come across as being “hip.” OK, so investors may want to stick with traditional, risk-minimizing returns from the major player. That good for now. What about the future? Who will be making the decisions whether to use satellite technology in the future?

Ed Horowitz was alluding to the coming change in the marketplace in his pre-conference luncheon speech yesterday…

There is an impending conflict between media distributors and media providers. New media is growing faster than traditional media. It is about carrying your content around with you. New media consumers want to do more than just consume available information. They want to create it. Five out of the 10 fastest growing websites have user-generated content. Very soon, 50 percent of the workforce will be Generation X and Generation Y. 2011 marks a new rubicon for our business. Traditional media connections are changing. The new model is an open model with a direct connection between the consumer and media.

The concept of prime time is gone. Prime time is all the time. You have Google, Apple, Netflix, etc. TVs are becoming Web browsers. The revolution is global. The convergence of the TV and the PC is happening. Lastly, this generation that has grown up with this empowerment. If you don’t serve them what they want, you die (AOL and MySpace). Satellite must be ready to serve customers on the move. It has to be at the network’s core. This will require the industry to team up with new players.

TV Everywhere. Who’s on it? TimeWarner’s CNN, according to a piece by Staci Kramer in paidContent.org…

The launches are still months away but CNN Digital has a pair of announcements from SXSW tonight that mark significant advancements for the network’s online and mobile video offerings. In early summer, CNN plans to flip the switch on its version of Time (NYSE: TWX) Warner’s CEO Jeff Bewkes’ TV Everywhere, making it possible for subscribers of Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) Xfinity, Dish, Cox and Verizon FiOS to watch CNN live across platforms and devices. Other Turner Broadcasting networks, including TNT and TBS are likely to offer authenticated live streaming of linear channels at the same time.

CNN also will launch a new video player taking full advantage of the native HD being used for nearly all its footage now, the first major update for CNN’s online video experience in three years. KC Estenson, SVP and GM of CNN.com, showed me the new player on multiple bank of screens during a practice session before I left Austin; the quality of the video being streamed over WiFi in 19:9 format to the large screen array doing double duty as a computer monitor was stunning. Equally important, the player is designed to work across platforms, including Google (NSDQ: GOOG) TV. Eventually Estenson, who calls the new player a “quantum leap,”  expects it be to be available through any internet-connected TV.

In addition to various technical improvements, the player features a playlist that moves with the user from device to device. Start watching on a computer, switch to an iPhone or iPad, pick it up later on a connected TV and the player will know where the user left off and what is in the queue. One hitch: at launch, it will only work with internet access. Eventually, CNN hopes to make offline viewing possible. Estenson is striving for the quality of Vimeo, the serendipity of YouTube, the experience of Hulu and the portability of Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX).

Meanwhile, back at satcom ranch, the most exciting news is SES signing with SpaceX for a Falcon-9 launch. That’s a good one, compared to other news surrounding Satellite 2011.

The SPPI Gala is going hip? Yeah, no more black-tie attire.  Let me make a bold prediction: nobody will dress like the partygoers at the Angry Birds event at SXSW…

How about on-site promotion? Have you ever seen anything resembling this at the satellite show? A Nokia N8 promotion in Austin. Why? Because they’re competing for relevancy and satcom should do likewise.