Really Rocket Science

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

Here’s the latest infrared image of the Atlantic Ocean region that includes the path of AF447:

France is asking the U.S. DoD for help in finding clues:

France has also asked Washington to scan data from its spy satellites and electronic intelligence facilities for clues.

US Air Force Defense Support Program (DSP) missile warning satellite data, collected early 1 June over the central Atlantic, will be examined to see if a breakup or impact of a crashing aircraft was captured.

Experts say two or three Northrop Grumman DSPs constantly scan that region of the Earth with powerful infrared telescopes. The satellites, based in geosynchronous orbit at nearly 23,000 miles in altitude, are designed to detect the heat from the launch of land or sea based ballistic missiles.

Each satellite carries a 6,000 element mercury-cadmium-telluride detector which is capable of discriminating not only missile launches but other thermal phenomenon such as lightning, meteorites and aircraft that are flying on afterburner or on fire.

Other systems being tapped for data will include two new Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) sensors onboard two National Reconnaissance Office spacecraft in highly elliptical orbits. Unlike DSPs, the new SBIRS satellites are yet to provide continual coverage of all areas of Earth. It remains to be seen if a SBIRS system was pointing in the area of the crash.

SIGINT (signal intelligence) "eavesdropping" spacecraft data will also be examined for unusual static or other transmissions which may have been picked up coming from the stricken aircraft.

Holy Satellite, Batman! It’s the Penguin!

No, not really, citizens. I wish this story was as entertaining as the Batman TV series from the 1960s.  The story here handed the British press a fantastic story. Note the great lead in the piece from The Times:

 It may be the king of the species but the personal hygiene of emperor penguins is far from regal. Vast expanses of penguin droppings that are visible from space are helping scientists pinpoint the whereabouts of penguin colonies in Antarctica.

Using satellite images, British scientists were able to locate penguin communities by the reddish brown patches, known as guano, left by the birds on the sea ice. They say the results of the study will help them to monitor the emperor penguin population in the face of climate change.

Emperors, which have white bellies, black backs and distinctive golden ear patches, are the largest members of the penguin family. They can grow to 122cm (4ft) tall and weigh around 30kg (5st) as adults.

“The ice gets pretty dirty and it’s the guano stains that we can see,” said Peter Fretwell of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), who led the study.

The video clip from the Associated Press was just as tasteful, and informative…

Other editors had a field day with this one.

Polar penguin’s poo pinpointed in space pics (Tech Herald)

Scientists hit pay dirt with penguin droppings (Sydney Morning Herald)

Satellite snoops on penguin poop to track colonies (AFP)

Penguin poo patches seen from space (The Press Association)
 

Rep. Brad Sherman‘s case against ITAR export controls continues, via the current issue of National Defense:

Restrictions on exports of U.S. space technology have spurred a global demand for products made outside the United States.

The market for so-called “ITAR-free” technologies is growing to the detriment of U.S. space suppliers, said industry experts and government officials.

The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) control the export and import of defense-related products and services that are specified on the U.S. Munitions List. Information and materials associated with any items on the list may not be shared with foreign countries without authorization from the State Department.

ITAR for years has been an irritant for suppliers of high-tech products, including satellites.

Companies have complained that the regulations hinder their competitiveness in global markets. After 9/11, however, security trumped all other concerns.

The economic crisis and expectations of downward government spending on space and defense technology, alas, have sparked new fears in the industry, particularly as non-U.S. suppliers threaten the nation’s dominance in the global markets.

“Some foreign firms advertise systems as ITAR-free,” says the Defense Department’s annual industrial capabilities report, which was sent to Congress in March.

Some members of Congress, especially those from states with a high concentration of space-related jobs, are beginning to worry about the future of the industry. “The space industry has made credible arguments that ITAR has hurt business and the space industrial base,” said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., who chairs the Committee on Foreign Affairs’ terrorism, nonproliferation and trade subcommittee. “This claim is echoed, in private at least, by the intelligence community who sometimes finds it more and more difficult to source satellite and related equipment domestically,” Sherman said during a recent subcommittee hearing.

A big source of frustration for U.S. firms is that if a satellite is on a munitions list, every component down to a simple screw becomes a munition.

“This has hurt second- and third-tier suppliers,” said Sherman. “Europeans and other buyers would rather just avoid U.S. regulations.”

An “ITAR-free movement” is taking hold in European markets, said Sherman. “European satellite maker Thales Alenia is now promoting satellites and satellite components that are, quote, ‘ITAR-free.’”

Apprehensions about declining U.S. dominance in the space market are prompting lawmakers to question whether it’s time to revamp the ITAR regime.

In the 1990s, satellites were not treated as munitions under State Department jurisdiction but rather as dual-use items that are governed by less restrictive Commerce Department export rules.

But a breach of security occurred in 1998, when a Chinese space vehicle supplier was provided with classified information after a failed launch of a Hughes Co.-built satellite. The response was to reclassify commercial satellites as munitions. Maybe that was an overreaction, said Sherman.

“We need new ideas about how to balance our economic interests and also the national security interests,” he said.

“It’s fair to ask if Congress’ toughening of satellite licensing 10 years ago has played a role in reducing American leadership in satellite communications,” said Rep. Edward Royce, R-Calif. “The playing field for this $120 billion a year industry clearly is more crowded and more competitive than it’s ever been before, and our export control system has poorly responded.”

The loss of international sales means the space industry is now heavily dependent on the U.S. government for its survival. About 90 to 95 percent of the industry’s sales are related to the U.S. government.

“We’re arsenalizing the industry,” said Pierre Chao, senior associate of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He co-chaired a study on the health of the U.S. space industrial base and the impact of export controls.

The industry currently has overcapacity, and not enough work, Chao said at the hearing. A noticeable weakness is seen in the second and third tier of the industries.

Restrictions on U.S. exports — intended to prevent other powers such as Russia and China from acquiring advanced space systems — have not achieved that objective, said Chao. “Many of the countries that have gained capability in space got it from the Russians or from others.”

The Chinese are banned from acquiring U.S. space technology or from launching any satellites that have U.S. components. But China nonetheless has bolstered its clout as a provider of lower cost launch services.

Western launch vehicles cost around $80 million, while the Chinese launch vehicles are half that amount, noted lawmakers at the hearing.

“We found that the export control regime had the perverse unintended consequence of encouraging others to develop indigenous capabilities,” said Chao.

U.S. export rules also make it difficult for the government to work with allies, said Chao. This conflicts with the national space policy that encourages international cooperation.

It is time for the administration and Congress to review these issues and consider making changes, suggested Chao.

U.S. companies increasingly will see disadvantages against suppliers of ITAR-free satellites, said Patricia Cooper, president of the Satellite Industry Association.

In the past few years, European manufacturers have managed to produce the requisite parts and components to make spacecraft without any U.S. content, she told lawmakers.

European countries do not regulate satellites as munitions so ITAR-free satellites are traded as commercial dual-use products under far less stringent export controls. “We know of at least six such ITAR-free satellites sold by Thales to date, initially to Chinese and Hong Kong customers and more recently to Indonesian, Egyptian and European satellite operators,” Cooper said.

Most satellites cost between $200 million and $500 million. Some ITAR-free birds are being sold at a 5 to 10 percent premium, Cooper said.

A decade ago, U.S. companies controlled 65.1 percent of the world’s satellite manufacturing market. By 2007, that was down to 41.4 percent. Cooper said some of the initial decline was attributed to losing Chinese customers that U.S. companies were prohibited from seeking. ITAR constraints also are a factor, she said.

“We’ll be very interested to see statistics in the next year or so when the contrast is between U.S. ITAR-regulated satellites and European non-ITAR-regulated satellites,” Cooper said. “That contrast hasn’t been as clear or apparent in years previous to the development of an ITAR-free satellite.”

On the other end of the debate are those who fret that any relaxation of current rules will boost China’s influence. “I urge you to keep satellite exports control in the Department of State,” said Larry Wortzel, vice chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission and a former military attaché at the U.S. embassy in China. “Given the way that satellite programs are being used in China, exports of dual-use technologies that would improve China’s remote sensing satellite capabilities still require careful control,” he said at the hearing.

That sentiment was echoed by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. “As a Republican and a believer in free markets, I do not begrudge satellite operators, who are making millions of dollars of profit,” he said. “But the fact is that we should not be compromising the security — long-term security interests of our country for that short-term profit.”

The Pentagon’s assessment of the space industry — published by the office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics industrial policy — said that top tier manufacturers are in good financial health, but there are some “areas of concern.”

Revenues of U.S. satellite manufacturing firms were down 20 percent in 2007 from 2006, after having been up 56 percent in 2006 from 2005.

The space industry employed 144,400 workers in 2008 — 16,184 in satellite manufacturing, 78,162 in launch manufacturing and operations, and another 49,423 in satellite services. Employment had increased from 120,000 to 145,500 from 2003 to 2006.

Three prime contractors account for the majority of major defense space programs: Boeing (Global Positioning System II, Wideband Gapfiller Communications, and Delta Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles), Lockheed Martin (Global Positioning System II/III, Space Based Infrared System, Advanced Extremely High Frequency Communications, and Mobile User Objective Communications) and Northrop Grumman as the prime contractor on the weather satellite system National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System and on the Missile Defense Agency’s Space Tracking and Surveillance System.

Defense space procurement funding is at all-time high as a result of the modernization of space systems for military missions, including early warning and surveillance, communications, weather and navigation, said the Pentagon study. Defense space procurement funding for 2009 is $11.9 billion, a 5.3 percent increase from 2008. A drop of 12 percent is forecast for 2011. This could “create volatility in the sector and could lead to consolidation,” the report said.

Regarding the ITAR issue, Pentagon officials appear to be somewhat worried that the regulations may be unintentionally creating new security problems for the Defense Department.

“The office of the deputy undersecretary for industrial policy is concerned that U.S. suppliers are replicating or making new technology investments overseas to avoid export control and ITAR competition barriers,” the report said. “Anecdotal data surfaced in some industrial sectors — mostly dual-use areas where we no longer lead the world — where U.S. firms are disadvantaged in foreign competitions due to delays in acquiring export control and ITAR licenses.”

A joint government-industry group is studying whether the Defense Department should consider putting forth a legislative proposal to limit or eliminate the competitive disadvantages to U.S. firms in certain sectors.

So after nearly ten years at Americom, my job was eliminated and I found myself looking for something else — in a weak economy. Started up an LLC in New Jersey and I’ve got some decent work to keep myself busy. Sure, I’ve cut back some things to lower expenses. One expense I find necessary is my subscription to Business Week, which I’ve renewed continuously since 1985. I consider it essential reading, week in and week out.

When Americom was a part of General Electric, there was lots of coverage — not of Americom, but G.E. Once there was a piece on satcom and it caused a ruckus in the office. Things changed when SES bought Americom in 2001. My job got busier. Although I miss the place, I’m not bitter, nor do I regret having spent so much of my working life there. Good job; good memories.

As with any successful business, there will be critics — of managers, strategies, tactics, and various departments (depending on where you stood). You get the picture, don’t you? Sure, I was a critic, but being an optimist, nearly always with a solution to help make things better. Change and optimism is a constant in American business. Get used to it.

Back to my reading. In the 25 May 2009 issue of Business Week, there’s an excerpt from a new book my Jim Collins: How the Mighty Fall. I found the similarities between the typical company in decline and my old employer troubling. It’s not something recent; it’s been going on for years. Can’t find my paper copy (#$%^& pain in the neck!), which had an excellent comparison chart of organizational behavior that gave me pause. Soon as I find it, I’ll add it to this post. The book is worth reading — one of the best ever, in my opinion.

About the five stages…

STAGE 1: HUBRIS BORN OF SUCCESS

Great enterprises can become insulated by success; accumulated momentum can carry an enterprise forward for a while, even if its leaders make poor decisions or lose discipline. Stage 1 kicks in when people become arrogant, regarding success virtually as an entitlement, and they lose sight of the true underlying factors that created success in the first place. When the rhetoric of success ("We’re successful because we do these specific things") replaces penetrating understanding and insight ("We’re successful because we understand why we do these specific things and under what conditions they would no longer work"), decline will very likely follow. Luck and chance play a role in many successful outcomes, and those who fail to acknowledge the role luck may have played in their success—and thereby overestimate their own merit and capabilities—have succumbed to hubris.

STAGE 2: UNDISCIPLINED PURSUIT OF MORE

Hubris from Stage 1 ("We’re so great, we can do anything!") leads right to Stage 2, the Undisciplined Pursuit of More—more scale, more growth, more acclaim, more of whatever those in power see as "success." Companies in Stage 2 stray from the disciplined creativity that led them to greatness in the first place, making undisciplined leaps into areas where they cannot be great or growing faster than they can achieve with excellence—or both. When an organization grows beyond its ability to fill its key seats with the right people, it has set itself up for a fall. Although complacency and resistance to change remain dangers to any successful enterprise, overreaching better captures how the mighty fall.

Discontinuous leaps into areas in which you have no burning passion is undisciplined. Taking action inconsistent with your core values is undisciplined. Investing heavily in new arenas where you cannot attain distinctive capability, better than your competitors, is undisciplined. Launching headlong into activities that do not fit with your economic or resource engine is undisciplined. Addiction to scale is undisciplined. To neglect your core business while you leap after exciting new adventures is undisciplined. To use the organization primarily as a vehicle to increase your own personal success—more wealth, more fame, more power—at the expense of its long-term success is undisciplined. To compromise your values or lose sight of your core purpose in pursuit of growth and expansion is undisciplined.

STAGE 3: DENIAL OF RISK AND PERIL

As companies move into Stage 3, internal warning signs begin to mount, yet external results remain strong enough to "explain away" disturbing data or to suggest that the difficulties are "temporary" or "cyclic" or "not that bad," and "nothing is fundamentally wrong." In Stage 3, leaders discount negative data, amplify positive data, and put a positive spin on ambiguous data. Those in power start to blame external factors for setbacks rather than accept responsibility. The vigorous, fact-based dialogue that characterizes high-performance teams dwindles or disappears altogether. When those in power begin to imperil the enterprise by taking outsize risks and acting in a way that denies the consequences of those risks, they are headed straight for Stage 4.

STAGE 4: GRASPING FOR SALVATION

The cumulative peril and/or risks gone bad of Stage 3 assert themselves, throwing the enterprise into a sharp decline visible to all. The critical question is: How does its leadership respond? By lurching for a quick salvation or by getting back to the disciplines that brought about greatness in the first place? Those who grasp for salvation have fallen into Stage 4. Common "saviors" include a charismatic visionary leader, a bold but untested strategy, a radical transformation, a dramatic cultural revolution, a hoped-for blockbuster product, a "game-changing" acquisition, or any number of other silver-bullet solutions. Initial results from taking dramatic action may appear positive, but they do not last.

When we find ourselves in trouble, when we find ourselves on the cusp of falling, our survival instinct and our fear can prompt lurching—reactive behavior absolutely contrary to survival. The very moment when we need to take calm, deliberate action, we run the risk of doing the exact opposite and bringing about the very outcomes we most fear. By grasping about in fearful, frantic reaction, late Stage 4 companies accelerate their own demise. Of course, their leaders can later claim: "But look at everything we did. We changed everything. We tried everything we could think of. We fired every shot we had, and we still fell. You can’t blame us for not trying." They fail to see that leaders atop companies in the late stages of decline need to get back to a calm, clear-headed, and focused approach. If you want to reverse decline, be rigorous about what not to do.

STAGE 5: CAPITULATION TO IRRELEVANCE OR DEATH

The longer a company remains in Stage 4, repeatedly grasping for silver bullets, the more likely it will spiral downward. In Stage 5, accumulated setbacks and expensive false starts erode financial strength and individual spirit to such an extent that leaders abandon all hope of building a great future. In some cases the company’s leader just sells out; in other cases the institution atrophies into utter insignificance; and in the most extreme cases the enterprise simply dies outright.

How the Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In By Jim Collins, © 2009 By Jim Collins

Here’s a video of Jim Collins, on the the topic of how a company can be saved:

A friend of mine, a physics teacher in Northern New Jersey, had all the kids at a summer party do a rocket craft: a water bottle rocket. Most of the kids were younger and didn’t quite get the physics behind it. Little did I know it’s part of his curriculum. And he’s good at it, too. In fact, he was featured on PBS in their piece on the Liberty Science Center’s Summer Physics Teachers Institute:

It was such a cool project, I plan to replicate for my son’s birthday party (we had snakes and lizards one year, so we’ve got to better that one). Having done it before, I know we’ll get the "wow" reaction from the kids — mostly boys — that we’re after. Of course, Instructables.com has a really cool example, with a list of simple materials:

> 2 Soda Bottles (empty)
– Note: There are slight differences in the openings of the bottle depending on the soda brand. Pepsi is just a tad smaller than Coke. –

> 1 sharp knife (kids get your parents help here!) I prefer X-acto brand for cutting foam core.

> 1 Large sheet of Foam Core (I prefer Black, but any color will do).

> 5 Min Epoxy (This stuff is nasty! Do not inhale, and use in a well ventilated area. Do NOT get it on your skin or eyes, or hair, etc… read all safety warnings before using.) Feel free to experiment with other glues.

> 2 (or more) Markers – I used Sharpies, one black and one Silver

> Clear Shipping Tape – It’s thicker than regular scotch tape and about 2" wide.

> 2 (or more) cans of spray paint – Pick your own favorite colors!

Finkbuilt’s Water Rocket Party has lots of great ideas (I think I might use some for my party).  Of course, Make magazine’s Issue 05 has a great piece on water rockets.

We’ll follow up with party pictures in a couple of weeks.

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]

WBMSAT PS – Satellite Communications Consulting Services

Play it again, Romain. Our favorite satcom CEO, Romain Bausch of SES, is making the rounds this month (click for webcast). Talking to bankers and analysts about his company’s strong financial performance currently and beyond.  He’s just trying to move the stock price. Yeah, good luck with that The Really Rocket Science Stock Index seems to be doing OK.

Now I doubt this is sufficient cause for civil unrest in the streets of Luxembourg.  But it is enough for Peter de Selding of Space News to call them on it:

Satellite fleet operator SES is rethinking its strategy with respect to its biggest rival, Intelsat, in light of Intelsat’s recently demonstrated ability to maintain a global presence despite its huge debt load and its owners’ ultimate goal of cashing out of the business, SES officials said May 19.

In presentations to investors in London, SES officials reiterated their view that, over time, SES’s stable investor base and moderate debt load will enable it to outlast Intelsat in regions that, while profitable, would exhaust Intelsat’s capital expenditure limits.

In these cases, they said, SES will be ready to use its financial strength to establish satellite beachheads in markets currently dominated by Intelsat.

SES Chief Executive Romain Bausch went so far as to say the eventual disposition of Intelsat assets as its current private-equity owners seek an exit will be more important than the current global economic crisis in shaping the commercial satellite telecommunications landscape in the coming years.

"It is not the crisis that will determine what will go on in our industry in terms of concentration," Bausch said of a possible reshuffling of satellites assets worldwide.

"The main driver of concentration in our industry will [be] the need of the current owners of the large satellite operators. To be very clear: Intelsat is today capital constrained because of its LBOs [leveraged buyouts, which loaded the company with debt]. There is only one objective of the current owners of Intelsat: to prepare a profitable exit from that business. They are private-equity funds and their mission is not to remain shareholders of a satellite operator for 10 years.

"So there might be consolidation in our sector because of the shareholders of one of the two large satellite operators — namely Intelsat — having to exit. This is much more important for the discussion about landscape and concentration than the current crisis."

Notwithstanding this strategic assessment, Bausch said Luxembourg-based SES is rethinking its short-term assumptions following a couple of deals Intelsat put together. Intelsat’s New Dawn satellite, being built with South African partners, will require little capital outlay by Intelsat. The IS-22 satellite to be deployed over the Indian Ocean, meanwhile, is being financed largely by the Australian Defence Force in exchange for a UHF-band payload that Australian forces will use for mobile communications.

Bausch said that in 2008, SES compiled an internal assessment forecasting that its in-orbit capacity would grow by 4 percent annually. The same forecast concluded that Eutelsat of Paris would increase its in-orbit transponder capacity by 2.5-3 percent annually, while Intelsat would reduce its in-orbit fleet by some 2.5 percent a year.

SES now concludes that with the "very creative financing" Intelsat has demonstrated, "they may not go for such an important decrease in the capacity they will offer. So we will probably have to revisit our model and to be less aggressive regarding Intelsat shrinking its satellite capacity. But still, they will not increase capacity."

SES is in the middle of a substantial fleet-expansion program that will add more than 20 percent to its current in-orbit transponder capacity in the coming years from satellites already under construction.

Robert Bednarek, president of SES Americom New Skies, one of two SES divisions — SES Astra is the other — that divide up the world from a satellite-market perspective, said SES is "not sure we can discern a strategy [at Intelsat] yet. It obviously relates to the long-term plans of the current private-equity holders."

Bednarek said Intelsat is likely to conclude more deals similar to New Dawn, where a money-making satellite nearing retirement is replaced through a partnership that permits Intelsat to avoid digging deeply into its own pockets.

New Dawn and IS-22, Bednarek said, are "essentially someone else financing a replacement. … I would expect that process — an our-slots-your-money approach of financing either replacement satellites or fresh satellites — to continue. We certainly haven’t anticipated them disappearing from the market, by any stretch."

BC Partners Holdings Ltd., Intelsat’s lead investor, has said it is willing to stick with the investment over the long term. Intelsat Chief Executive David McGlade in recent months has said the company’s owners have been willing to permit selected investments in growth opportunities despite Intelsat’s large debt.

SES and Intelsat of Bermuda and Washington are by far the world’s largest commercial satellite fleet operators, with market shares in 2008 of 25.1 percent and 24.7 percent, respectively, according to SES estimates.

SES assumes that the global market for Ku-band satellite capacity will grow by 4.5 percent per year between now and 2016, while the C-band market will grow by 2.4 percent annually.

Trashing your competitor is not going to win you business. Good service and reasonable pricing will.

We’ve been ready for the digital transition, with a DB4 antenna locked on to local broadcasts. Haven’t gotten my new coupons yet (the old ones expired, which was stupid).

The FCC is giving it one last push, evidenced by this appearance on CNBC:

On trash days, there seem to be lots of old TVs at the curb. Then, on cardboard recycling days, plenty of boxes from big LCD and Plasma TVs. Kind of makes sense to me. 

Hey, instead of just throwing them out, think about recycling/repurposing them. Take, for instance, this working fish tank inside an old floor model…

 Here’s a "top ten ways to recycle an old TV," courtesy of TopTenReviews.com:

1. Recycle- Televisions can contain lead, mercury, cadmium and other dangerous materials and if disposed of improperly these materials will leak into the soil. This may seem like an obvious option but many people don’t even know that television recycling exists. Even if you decide to keep the TV and just remove its guts look for a proper way to recycle the insides. Most major retailers and manufactures are working to increase television recycling awareness. Go to Earth 911 or Plug-in to eCycling for recycling locations and more information.

2. Donate- Schools especially could use the extra TV love. Most schools have televisions in class rooms on closed circuits or use them to show movies and National Geographic specials. Old TVs will still work with DVD players and VCRs.

3. Give it to the Kids- How many times can you stand to watch Disney DVDs? Put the old set in the kids’ room and let them watch their favorite DVDs and you can have a few moments of peace and quiet.

4. Make an Aquarium- You know you’ve always wanted to make your television into a fish tank. Now is your chance.

5. Use it as an End Table- Those with really old sets that have large wooden enclosures know exactly what this means.

6. Make Art- If people made toilets into art, who’s to say that an old television set can’t be made into art? Use your imagination people.

7. Build a Coffee Table- Turn your television on its back, stabilize, place a piece of glass over top and voila´ you have a coffee table. Hey, you could even hook up a DVD player and have movies play or picture slide shows.

8. Build a Tesla Coil- Take extreme caution if attempting this task. As a matter of fact, forget we ever suggested building a Tesla Coil. They are dangerous and this should only be attempted by professionals.

9. Build a Video Game Machine- For those that like to combine construction and technology you can build an old arcade type console and hook up an old Nintendo or Sega. Pac-Man rules!

10. Make a Planter- Yeah, that’s right, carefully gut the television and make a fun flower planter.

 Personally, I like HackedGadgets.com’s Top 5, such as this wave vessel: