Really Rocket Science - Space Business

Broadband Stimulus = B.S.?

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:16:29 -0700

Texas-based TierOne Networks is getting the wrong kind of attention. After being awarded $19 million in broadband stimulus funds, news of their SEC violations surfaced and the USDA yanked the money back, via Stimulating Broadband...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture yesterday awarded $19 million in broadband stimulus funds to a Texas wireless firm that has been charged with multiple securities violations in 3 jurisdictions over the past 3 years.

In the most recent case the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the firm, TierOne Converged Networks, Inc., in US District Court in Dallas with violations of federal securities law. State securities regulators in Colorado and Texas issued cease and desist orders against the company in 2009 and 2008.

The SEC filed charges against TierOne alleged “material misrepresentation” in the raising of “almost $9.5 million from approximately 200 investors in 34 states through a continuous unregistered offering of securities.” The initial SEC complaint was filed on April 27 against the firm, a wireless Internet service provider (WISP). In a settled complaint action, filed with the court 3 days later, TierOne agreed to stop the practices alleged by the agency, without admitting to or denying the veracity of the charges.

I wonder how many other questionable funding deals are out there. TierOne calls itself a WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider), but I don't see any satcom as part of the solution.

You're doing it wrong. Look at the recent news on two deals in southwest Virginia, where they're going to a couple of old timer telecoms, via Bloomberg BusinessWeek...

Two projects in southwestern Virginia will receive federal stimulus funding to provide high-speed Internet access in rural areas.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the funding Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide a $7.45 million loan and a $17.4 million grant to the Scott County Telephone Cooperative. The funding will be used to provide broadband service to about 12,000 residents, 80 businesses and 16 community institutions.

A $6.06 million loan and a $14.16 million grant will go to the Lenowisco Planning District Commission to build a fiber-optic network. Vilsack says the network will provide broadband access to more than 42,000 residents, an estimated 1,550 businesses and 100 community institutions.

Scott County Telephone Coop gets their video programming via satellite, so that's cool. Although it looks like they'll be laying down some fiber to get 'er done.

The August Broadband Stimulus award announcements also included satcom...

Hughes Network Systems received $59 million to offer satellite broadband service to rural residential and commercial subscribers nationwide. Approximately 258,685 people stand to benefit, as do 3,200 businesses.
WildBlue Communications was awarded $20 million to offer satellite broadband service in the West and Midwest United States. Approximately 110,150 people stand to benefit, as do roughly 4,896 businesses.
Spacenet received an $8 million award to offer satellite broadband service to rural residential subscribers in Alaska and Hawaii.
Echostar was awarded $14 million award to offer satellite broadband service to rural residential and commercial subscribers. The funds will provide service to 42,478 people and 1,888 businesses.

Hope the satcom players keep it clean -- and book some business.

WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits 09/03/2010

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:26:07 -0700

China to launch communications satellite Sinosat-6 within next few days from Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
[xinhuanet - 09/03./2010]

Less than half of Internet connections meet FCC goal of 4 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream; satellite internet connections grow at faster rate of 6% than DSL, but still number only 1 million subscribers.
[nextgov - 09/03/25010]

Three GLONASS global navigation system satellites successfully orbited by Russia.
[SatNews - 09/02/2010]

MTN announces StreamXcel Plus, a new integrated hardware and software solution for managing shipboard satellite communications.
[SatNews - 09/02/2010]

Star Navigation Systems Group Ltd. introduces new and improved STAR-ISMS(tm) Inflight Safety Monitoring System, an adjunct to the traditional "black box" and huge improvement in aerospace safety technology.
[SatNews - 09/02/2010]

New Signature Interference Characteristics tool is launched by Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group to provide assistance when encountering and resolving unknown signals interfering with satellite signals.
[SatNews - 09/02/2010]

Integral Systems is awarded $1.5m contract modification to its Command and Control System - Consolidated contract by the U.S. Air Force.
[SatNews - 09/02/2010]

OnAir launches full Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir inflight passenger communications services on first of EGYPTAIR's fleet of Airbus 330-300 aircraft.
[SatNews - 09/02/2010]

Vizada teams up with partner Nautical to provide Inmarsat FleetBroadband service to more than 300 Spanish fishing vessels, allowing them to comply with new European Union regulations.
[SatNews - 09/02/2010]

Thrane & Thrane's EXPLORER 325 will handle communications during "green" expedition in which two electric Nissan Qashquals are driven around the world.
[SatNews - 09/02/2010]

SES ASTRA announces new initiative to support introduction of 3D television in Europe.
[SatNews - 09/02/2010]

Euroconsult, in new report, forecasts that number of satellite communications terminals aboard commercial and private ships will more than double over the next decade.
[SatNews - 09/02/2010]

GE Satcom is launching satellite-based communications service for shipping operators, delivering triple-play service with telephone, internet, and TV content.
[Financial Post - 09/01/2010]

Apple to launch $99 set-top box later this month in direct challenge to traditional cable, satellite, and telecom TV service providers.
[Dallas News - 09/01/2010]

New system for predicting solar storms promoted as means to help avoid power and communications blackouts, though European Space Agency holds that there is little danger of communications satellites being damaged by solar storms.
[TG Daily - 09/01/2010]

Eurosport selects capacity on Eutelsat's EUROBIRD (tm) satellite to transmit the TENNIS US Open in 3d for demonstrations at the Berlin IFA consumer electronics show.
[SatNews - 09/01/2010]

NASA's newest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-15, successfully completes five months of on-orbit testing and is accepted into service.
[NOAA - 09/01/2010]

VISLINK to unveil Advent NewsLite, a portable, IP-enabled SatCom terminal designed for use with current and new lightweight antenna systems to combine high bandwidth broadcast contribution fees with flexibility of BGAN type news gathering.
[SatNews - 09/01/2010]

VISLINK announces formation of VISLINK (China) Limited, to enhance its sales and marketing presence in China.
[SatNews - 09/01/2010]

Stratos Global begins deployment of its new StratosMAX II broadband service across the Gulf of Mexico region.
[SatNews - 09/01/2010]

Newtec Elevations modulators, shapers, and encapsulators utilized by CETel African to upgrade trunking services to Africa and the Middle East.
[SatNews - 09/01/2010]

Eddie Bauer First Ascent expedition team successfully ascends Mount Everest and maintains contact with project team and uploads photos during the ascent using a Stratos Global Inmarsat BGAN mobile broadband terminal.
[SatNews - 09/01/2010]

Unmanned aircraft system guided by satellite navigation has been developed within ESA's Business Incubation Centre to provide rapid monitoring of land areas and disaster zones - already have assisted Spanish farmers in Andalusia fight land erosion.
[SatNews - 09/01/2010]

Globecomm Systems quadruples its points-of-presence and teleport facilities, enabling telecommunications service providers to enhance and simplify connect5ivity requirements around the globe.
[Market Watch - 08/31/2010]

Gravity-mapping satellite GOCE glitch expected to be fixed by work-around, as officials hope for approval to extend its mission.
[space.com - 08/31/2010]

Orange uprates its IP services over satellite to African continent with Newtec Elevation modems and FlexACM technology.
[SatNews - 08/31/2010]

NASA reports that debris from the ICESat spacecraft fell to Earth in the Barents Sea on August 30.
[SatNews - 096/01/2010]

Propulsion glitch prevents the first AEHF satellite of the U.S. Air Force from reaching operating orbit; service devises new orbit-raising plan utilizing smaller thrusters that will delay arrival at operating orbit by six months.
[MSN - 08/30/2010]

Next DigitalGlobe remote sensing satellite to be built by Ball Aerospace.
[SatNews - 08/30/2010]

Boeing-built WGS satellites carry 10 Harris-provided phased-array antennas, providing flexibility and data rates crucial to soldiers on the battlefield.
[Florida Today - 08/30/2010]

New fiber cables being layed connecting West Africa to the Internet bring competition, but many remote regions still will not have fiber access.
[Google Hosted News - 08/29/2010]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications systems services

Technorati Tags:

WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits 08/29/2010

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:25:41 -0700

Arianspace prepares to orbit the first six Globalstar second generation satellites on a single rocket from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome in October.
[SatNews - 08/27/2010\

L-3 GCS wins contract worth $170M from the U.S. Special Operations Command for Panther VSAT manpack systems.
[Trading Markets - 08/27/2010]

Optus Satellite celebrates 25th anniversary of its launch of the first Australian owned and operated satellite.
[SatNews - 08/27/2010]

Caterpillar renews satellite communications services agreement with ORBCOMM for its Telematics product.
[TMCnet - 08/27/2010]

Shaw communications to deliver enrched satellite TV experience to its subscribers in September with the launch of the new Advanced HDPVR.
[TMCnet - 08/27/2010]

TS2, a provider of domestic and global satellite access services, signs a contract with the Polish MNinistry of foreign affairs to supply 150 satellite phones.
[TMCnet - 08/27/2010]

MTN Satellite Communications signs PT Aditech Matra as an aughorize reseller of VSAT products and services in Jakarta, Indonesia.
[SatNews - 08/26/2010]

RapidEye images over 95% of the U.S., 97% of Mexico, and 60% of Canada in a three-month period.
[SatNews - 08/26/2010]

Newtec and partner First Gulf win Saudi Arabian government projet to implement a satellite-based nationwide media transformation program.
[Satellite Today - 08/26/2010]

NASA super ship tracking setup aboard the ISS is teamed with Norwegian ship tracking satellite using same receiver in experiment tracking ships from space.
[SatNews - 08/26/3010]

STM reveals SatLink 2000 VSAT indoor unit supporting IP throughput up to 30 Mbps, operating on DVB-S2 with information rates over 160 Mbps, DVB-RCS compliant, with Adaptive Coding and Modulation fully supported.
[SatNews - 08/26/2010]

U.N. peacekeepers in Congo out of touch with villages during period when over 154 women there were raped; mechanisms to be put in place to prevent a repeat may include use of satellite phones and radios.
[Bloomberg - 08/26/2010]

Cobham Satcom sees increased USAT deployment for oil spill cleanup.
[Satellite Today - 08/26/2010]

General Dynamics' Warrior antenna terminals certified to operate on the WGS satellites.
[PR Newswire - 08/26/2010]

Majority of Satellie TODAY readers unhappy with Obama space policy.
[Satellite Today - 08/26/2010]

Iran minister states that Rasad 1 satellite will be launched before the end of the Iranian calendar year, which begins March 1.
[Tehran Times - 08/26/2010]

ITU launches appeal and holds telecommunications systems and other contributions on standby for deployment in Pakistan, planning to offload contributions to the Pakiostan government "when we reach a certain point."
[The Globe and Mail - 08/25/2010]

Intelsat signs Boeing for a second UHF hosted payload on another of four communications satellites ordered from Boeing last year.
[SatNews - 08/24/2010]

U.S. satellite pay TV companies add subscribers while Cable sees its worst churn rate in history.
[Satellite Today - 08/24/2010]

China launches another new satellite, the TH-1 Tian Hui-1, using CZ-2D Chang Zheng-2d (Long March 2D) launch vehicle from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
[SatNews - 08/24/2010]

BEEMAR supply vessel fleet gets offshore communications capability with Hughes satellite broadband maritime solution.
[PR Newswire - 08/24/2010]

Boeing will dip further into its commercial satellite toolkit to expand Block II enhancements for the WGS-7 satellite it is buildihng.
[Aviation Week - 08/24/2010]

DARPA to develop small-satellite network.
[Satellite Today - 08/23/2010]

MTN Satellite Comunications selected to provide communication services to MT Hellespont Progress product tanker under 36-month agreement with owner Hellespont ship Management GnmbH & Co. KG.
[SatNews - 08/23/2010]

Maneuvering the AEHF-1 satellite into its assigned orbit encounters a hitch as a problem developed with firing the thrusters.
[SatNews - 08/23/2010]

Spacenet is awarded a federal grant from the Rural Utility Service under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide broadband service to rural unserved markets in Alaska and Hawaii.
[SatNews - 08/23/2010]

RigNet signs agreement with Stratos Global to become authorized distributor of Inmarsat and Iridium mobile satellite services offered by Stratos.
[SatNews - 08/23/2010]

New $25M Navy satellite center in Wahiawa for the Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command passes final building inspections.
[TMCnet - 08/22/2010]

KVH improves capacity for its Mini-VSAT product in the North America, Gulf of Mexico, and Central America regions by adding a full transponder and introduing a powerful new spread spectrum waveform.
[Satellite Spotlight - 08/23/2010]

Dish appeals FCC backed law forcing carriage of local Public Broadcasting HD lineups.
[Business Journals - 08/20/2010]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications

Technorati Tags: satellite+news satellite+week satcom satellite+today satnews

WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits 08/20/2010

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:05:55 -0700

DARPA refocuses its System F6 program to allow an open community of researchers and developers to have more input in designing the architecture for a network of wirelessly connected small satellites.

[Information Week - 08/20/2010]

Viasat subsidiary WildBlue gets $19.5M stimulus grant to activate new subscribers on its satellite broadband services.

[socaltech - 08/20/2010]

Boeing wins $182m contract to start building a seventh military communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force.

[Reuters - 08/19/2010]

LightSquared notifies Inmarsat to begin implimenting Phase 1 of cooperation agreement to re-band L-Band radio spectrum, providing additional bandwidth to both parties in the contiguous spectrum.

[TeleGeography - 08/19/2010]

KVH boosts mini-VSAT broadband capacity more than 500% in North American waters with an additional full transponder and new spread spectrum waveform.

[Market Watch - 08/19/2010]

Thrane & Thrane furthers its aeronautical dealer network within the UlS. and Canada, appointing four new dealers, as demand for its extensive range of satellite communications services remains strong.

[SatNews - 08/19/2010]

Competetitors in the 2010-11 Velux 5 Oceans round-the-world yacht race will relay video action of the race using FleetBroadband, fitted with Thrane & Thrane Sailor 250 terminals.

[SatNews - 08/19/2010]

SatNews and Surrey Satellite Technology team to deliver learning experience in December regarding current and future technologies involved in small satellite design.

[SatNews - 08/19/2010]

Inmarsat puts cost of new Boeing communications satellites and associated ground systems at $1.2B.

[Bloomberg - 08/18/2010]

ARRA awards announced this week include $100M to four satellite broadband providers to cover remote areas.

[PC World - 08/18/2010]

Gilat Satcom reinforces its satellite activities in Africa.

[Satellite Spotlight - 08/18/2010]

Johns Hopkins Universithy, Boeing, and Iridium Communications announce ne space-based service to help scientists monitor magnetic storms around Earth to assist in forecasting space weather that might affect satellite communications.

[Cnet - 08/18/2010]

India begins testing Centralised Monitoring System which can track all communication traffic - wireless and fixed line, satellite, internet, e-mails, and VoIP, to gather intelligence inputs.

[The Economic Times - 08/18/2010]

Spot LLC and DeLorme announce that the DeLorme Earthmate PN-60w with SPOT sSatellite Communicator wins Best in Show Award presented by GearJunkie.com at recent Outdoor Retailer trade show.

[Market Watch - 08/18/2010]

Intelsat IS-27 satellite to be C-Ku band hybrid augmented with 20 X 25 kHz channel UHF payload for government applications; will be launched in 2012 and will replace the Intelsat 805 satellite.

[TMCnet - 08/17/2010]

SES WORLD SKIES NSS-9 capacity to be used by the Nature conservancy on remote Palmyra Atoll 1000 miles south of Hawaii to establish connection with their National Wildlife Refuge.

[SatNews - 08/17/2010]

Fisher Communications of Seattle first to implement newly launched Streambox Avenir, a mobile device that can be carried as a side pack as alternative to SNG/ENG vehicles for field newsgathering.

[MarketWatch - 08/17/2010]

ViaSat deploys airborne Communications-On-The-Move terminals onboard several dozen U.S. Air Force Project Liberty aircraft to support ISR operations.

[SatNews - 08/17/2010]

Iran postpones satellite deployment as work on the satellite continues.

[Global Security Newswire - 08/16/2010]

Thuraya introduces Thuraya IP, a small 13.85 ounce package that allows users to control upload and download streaming bandwidths, contributing to significant savings.

[SatNews - 08/16/2010]

Google expances satellite ad offering via DirecTV deal.

[BtoB online - 08/16/2010]

New VC7700 series digital video compression and transmission system from NEC features one of industry's lowest compression delays - 10 milliseconds.

[SatNews - 08/16/2010]

Social Media Venture launches national satellite service offering, an Internet satellite service to be provided through an agreement with YourNetPlus.com.

[Satellite Spotlight - 08/16/2010]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications consulting services

Technorati Tags: satnews satellite+today satcom satellite+week satellite+news

EDDE The Garbage Man

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:27:24 -0700

Take out your cans, 'cause here come the garbage man!

That's what Louie, played by Scatman Crothers, would sing when he'd come around the shop on "Chico and The Man," a popular TV show from the 1970s. Over at DARPA, they may call him EDDE these days.

Meet EDDE, the Electrodynamic Debris Eliminator.

EDDE is an operational electrodynamic vehicle proposed by Jerome Pearson of STAR Technology and Research. STAR and TAI have worked on it under AFRL, NASA, NIAC, and DARPA funding, and are about to receive additional funding from DARPA. EDDE spins like a propeller to stabilize itself. The spin also lets EDDE push and pull against the earth's magnetic field as desired, allowing controlled changes in all 6 orbit elements.

EDDE uses a 30mm wide reinforced aluminum-foil tape as a full-length 10 km electron collector and conductor, to improve electron collection at high altitudes. EDDE's solar arrays are distributed along its length. They serve as "electron pumping stations" that limit peak voltages relative to the local plasma. They also allow prompt detection and active quenching of arcs triggered by micrometeoroid impact on negatively-biased parts of EDDE, to prevent TSS-like failures due to sustained arcing. Like TEPCE, EDDE can flow current in either direction, but EDDE will use hollow cathodes as electron emitters, to allow multi-amp currents.

EDDE will be able to capture objects in expendable spinning nets deployed from either end, and drag them either down into short-lived orbits, or to facilities that might recycle much of the ~2100 tons of debris now in low earth orbit. Each EDDE weighs ~100 kg and should be able to handle ~25 tons of LEO debris per year. So a dozen EDDEs may be able to clean up most of the 2100 tons of debris in LEO within ~7 years. Thereafter a few EDDEs can stay in orbit to remove new spent stages and failed satellites on demand, providing a new option for complying with the "25-year rule."

This little device may help clean up space junk? Good idea...

Jerome Pearson, president of Star Inc, presented the idea for what he calls "a space garbage truck" on Friday at the annual Space Elevator conference. Pearson was an early proponent of the idea of building a space elevator, and a paper he wrote about it in 1975 inspired the description of a space elevator in Arthur C Clarke's science fiction book, The Fountains of Paradise, which popularised the idea.

Space garbage happens to be one of the biggest obstacles to building a space elevator. Pearson's proposed EDDE vehicle will come equipped with around 200 nets, like butterfly nets, that it extends to scoop up garbage in low-earth orbit. Over a period of seven years, 12 EDDE vehicles could capture all 2,465 identified objects over 2 kilograms floating in LEO, Pearson says.

NASA astronaut to use robot arm to repair International Space Station | NASA offers $5 million in prizes for robots, satellites and solar spacecraft | European space telescope spots big empty hole | Space elevator conference calls for more materials science research

Once it captures the object, the EDDE can do several things with it. EDDE can fling the garbage such that it lands in the South Pacific, where it has little chance of dangerously landing on anything important. Or, the EDDE can deliver the object closer to Earth where it will orbit out of harm's way and eventually decay.

Better yet, it can be reused in space to build a variety of useful structures, Pearson said. "So you'd be mining aluminium in orbit mainly," he said. Four EDDEs could collect enough metal and other material to build a structure the size of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, which could be used to host crews or store equipment, he said.

Pearson acknowledges a number of challenges to the idea behind EDDE. For instance, with 12 or more EDDEs zipping around, "we may need space traffic control," he said. Just like the US Federal Aviation Administration regulates US airspace, that agency has already begun looking at ways it might monitor space, requiring vehicles like EDDEs to file flight plans, he said.

Another possibly significant issue is that while Pearson is proposing the use of EDDEs to clean up garbage, they could potentially be used for more sinister purposes, and that has already raised alarms in China. For instance, an EDDE could be used for military purposes to remove a satellite from orbit. Because of those concerns, Space Inc is working on shifting the project to NASA rather than DARPA, which is part of the US Department of Defence, Pearson said.

Technorati Tags: edde darpa space+junk space+elevator

Satcom PR: Meh.

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 06:03:31 -0700

The newspaper's pretty thin today. Many people are away, so there are less ads to run. Reports and editors are on vacation, too. Less content overall.

So the timing must be just right for some satcom P.R., right? Sure, let's run that piece! First page of the business section in today's New York Times -- a story on satellite, "Tapping the Web from 22,000 Miles Up."

Great press for the folks at ViaSat and HughesNet, but you could have recycled a story from 5, 10 or even 15 years ago. The only difference is they're actually serving a million customers. Some quotables...

“One advantage satellite has is ubiquity,” Arunas G. Slekys, vice president for Hughes Network Systems, said. “The cost of reaching you with a satellite dish is independent of where you are. Fiber or cable is labor-intensive and dependent on distance.”

As to satellite’s potential in rural regions, “clearly, there’s an unserved market,” Mr. Slekys said. “And it’s not as though they have terrestrial or satellite. They only have satellite as a choice.”

If rural is "unserved," WTF have you been doing? I've experienced "rural" in Upstate New York, and in Prince Edward Island, Canada. No comparison: PEI wins with broadband. People in Vermont have been waiting for years to get a price-competitive services from satcom. Nothing yet. National Broadband Plan? Satcom didn't get much. Let's all cry together...

Even so, the satellite companies contend that they should have received a bigger piece of the $7.2 billion in federal stimulus money for extending broadband service to underserved areas in the United States. Of its $2.5 billion share of the stimulus funds, the Agriculture Department is allocating just $100 million in grants to satellite companies.

Thomas E. Moore, chief of WildBlue, said satellite technology would be able to serve thousands more rural residents than terrestrial services at a fraction of the cost. He cited a $28 million grant to a nonprofit group in North Carolina to extend fiber to 420 schools and libraries. That same grant could have instead directly served 70,000 residents in North Carolina through satellite service, Mr. Moore said.

What, can't lower the price? Gotta keep the 80% margins. I'd rather see the profits generated from television broadcasting used to provide broadband Internet service to under-served markets. If they had historical data on how they're "subsidizing" this type of service, perhaps they'd get some help from the Broadband Plan.

Hey, at least Space Systems/Loral get good press: they're building both Ka-band birds for ViaSat and Hughes.

Overall, the piece is typically well-balanced and well done. For the satcom guys, it's just another example of their press people not being taken seriously by the MSM. In other words, who cares?

Technorati Tags: cisco+router iris satellite+internet viasat viasat-1 wildblue hughesnet

Satellite Communication Services for Asia-Pacific

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 05:20:43 -0700

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Our dynamic-allocation system addresses unique customers’ requirements and enables them to match broadband bandwidth connectivity to the requirements of their utilization profile in each of their sites. Our platforms also support Virtual Network Operator (VNO) mode. Pactel’s expertise results in cost-efficient services with excellent customer experience for our customers. Pactel's detailed range of solutions includes:

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Pactel International provides several hundreds of Mbps of IP capacity into the Pacific Islands via satellite and undersea cable. With Pactel Sat multi-home IP peering, high reliability to the backbone is assured. For satellite IP solutions, our services are available on several satellites including, Intelsat 602, NSS-9, Intelsat 701, IS-8, IS-2, Apstar-6 and GE-23.

VSAT Internet

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Technorati Tags: asia+pacific pactel+international pactel vsat

WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits 08/13/2010

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 05:19:10 -0700

The Lockheed-built Advanced Extremely High Frequency military communications satellite is successfully launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral.

[Trading Markets – 08/14/2010]

U.S. Army is under pressure to bring the same kind of high bandwidth networking (from 46 Mbps to about 10 Gbps) now available within its U.S. Central Command networks to its smallest units on the battlefield.

[National Defense Magazine - September 2010]

Market seen for personal tracking devices using satellites, such as the matchbook-sized transceiver and half-dollar size antenna that can be incorporated in personal devices, developed by Iridium.

[National Defense Magazine - September 2010]

Optimization of satellite networks using WAN compression and acceleration algorithms lets Expand Networks upgrade its clients remote site networking capabilities without requiring additional expensive satellite bandwidth.

[TMCnet - 08/13/2010]

NASA's TERRA satellite portrays extent of Pakistan flooding that has caused the death of more than 1,600 people and has affected over 14 million in some way.

[Satnews - 08/12/2010]

While satellite TV companies DirecTV and Dish Network like to compare themselves to cable companies in a favorable light, customer complaints lead Better Business Bureaus to give low ratings.

[msnbc - 08/12/2010]

Thuraya launches its first satellite aeronautical service, AviationComms, already aboard over 200 helicopters and business jets.

[Bernama - 08/12/2010]

Swedish Space Corp satellites Mango and Tango, launche June 14th as part of the PRISMA project to test formation and rendezvous technology in space, are successfully separated from one another.

[SatNews - 08/11/2010]

Comtech receives $1.8M order for satellite modems from U.S. government.

[Trading Markets - 08/11/2010]

NASA's WISE wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite loses one detector as outer coolant tank empties; other detectors supported by inner tank continue to perform well.

[SatNews - 08/11/2010]

MTN Satellite Communications is selected by Beluga Shipping to install broadband VSAT system on the Beluga Shanghai, one of its new P-class series of super heavy-lift vessels.

[SatNews - 08/11/2010]

SES WORLD SKIES gets long-term renewal from iN DEMAND for capacity on AMC-1 and AMC-10.

[SatNews - 08/11/2010]

United Arab Emirates Telecommunications Regulatory Authority awards satellite licenses to Al Yah Advanced Satellite Comunications Services and Star Satellite Communications Company.

[TeleGeography - 08/11/2010]

NASA's firs microsatellite, FASTSAT, arrives at Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska for final checkout before launch.

[SatNews - 08/11/2010]

Iridium reports strong growth in second quarter 2010.

[Satellite Spotlight - 08/11/2010]

Newtec receives multi-million dollar award from U.S. government prime contractor for FlexACM technology for IP trunking satellite links.

[SatNews - 08/10/2010]

SEAKR to provide communications processor for the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation.

[PR Newswire - 08/10/2010]

Intelsat S.A. signs multi-year agreement with Sony Pictures Television for capacity on Intelsat 17, enhancing Intelsat's media neighborhoods in the Indian Ocean region.

[SatNews - 08/10/2010]

Satellite data communications company Orgcomm agrees to sell assets of Stellar Satellite Communications to M2M based satellite and terrestrial communications manufacturer Quake Global.

[CBR Telecoms Communications - 08/10/2010]

China launches remote sensing satellite, YaoGan Weixing-10, aboard a CZ-4C Chang Zheng-4C (Long March) vehicle, for sixth launch this year in what is expected to be a launch surge for second half of 2010.

[SatNews - 08/10/2010]

Caprock announces new VSAT service for North American energy market.

[Market Watch - 08/10/2010]

Champion Technology Services deploys Encore's BANDIT line of IP+Legacy industrially hardened routers for satellite VPN solutions throughout Southwestern U.S.

[SatNews - 08/10/2010]

Students from Colorado Space Grant Consortium team with Lockheed Martin to develop miniature satellite ALL-STAR (for Agile Low-Cost Laboratory for Space Technology Acceleration and Research).

[SatNews - 08/10/2010]

SatMAX delivers satellite repeater system to Science Applications International Corporation.

[Market Watch - 08/09/2010]

Dish Network stock price drops as investors learn of loss of subscribers for second quarter in a row.

[The Street - 08/09/2010]

Inmarsat to invest $2.1B in Boeing-built next-generation Ka-band satellites.

[Trading Markets - 08/09/2010]

NSR report details dizzying activity in the last 12 months in the mobile satellite services (MSS) sector, with companies going public, hedge funds increasing their positions in the industry, satellites being launched, and new products being developed and put into service.

[NSR - August 2010]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications consulting services

Technorati Tags: satnews satellite+today satcom satellite+week satellite+news

Make Sure It Goes

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 06:21:10 -0700

How do they do it? How does the Pentagon make absolutely sure their space missions go as planned?

Well, they pay for it. Take, for example, the good people at Aerospace Corp. in El Segundo, CA. They're part of every major mission and they make sure it goes.

Nice piece by W.J. Hennigan of the LA Times on the company...

Aerospace also helps the Air Force monitor rocket launches. Engineers pore over data and the fine print to make sure everything is in its right place. A misplaced decimal point can turn billions of dollars' worth of intricate hardware into blazing debris in just a fraction of a second.

The company's 41-acre campus sits across the street from Los Angeles Air Force Base, which oversees military rocket development. The two complexes are linked by a 135-foot bridge over El Segundo Boulevard.

Aerospace recently built a $66 million building with a space launch center in the basement. Resembling NASA's mission control center in Houston, the facility allows Aerospace engineers to keep real-time tabs on rocket launches at Cape Canaveral, Fla., or California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. They monitor incoming data looking for anomalies and can order the launch to be scrubbed if there are any.

Since Aerospace has kept a close watch, the Pentagon has had a string of 65 consecutive successful launches stretching back to 1999.

"That kind of reliability is unprecedented," said Gary Payton, who retired in July as deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for space programs.

It may cost $20 million to $30 million more in launch costs for the type of "mission assurance" that Aerospace provides, but it's well worth it, he said. "I would like to save money on a launch. But if the launch vehicle fails, I splash a $2 billion satellite."

On the commercial side, where customers may not be ready to pay for this kind of help, you may not see such a high mission success rate.

Technorati Tags: usaf pentagon aerospace+corp wanda+austin

WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits 08/06/2010

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 06:05:43 -0700

Thales Alenia Space delivers Globalstar next-gen satellite to Arianspace.

[Satellite Today - 08/09/2010]

Arianespace wins contracts to launch the Intelsat 20 satellite and the Indian GSat-10 satellite.

[Satellite Today - 08/09/2010]

Boeing gets contract worth about $600M to build satellites for Inmarsat.

[L.A. Times - 08/07/2010]

SES WORLD SKIES SES-2 satellite will host U.S. Air Force Infrared Payload sensor.

[Market Watch - 08/05/2010]

O3b chooses Europe Media Port in Greece to be first provider of Gateway Teleport services for O3b's global network.

[SatNews - 08/05/2010]

Egypt launches its third satellite, Nilesat-201, expected to intensify media battle for Middle Easterners.

[UPI - 08/05/2010]

Eumetsat images reveal widespread smoke over Russia from recent wildfires.

[Satnews - 08/05/2010]

Ukraine postpones delivery of Taurus-II launch vehicle's first stage to U.S.for "technical reasons."

[Space Daily - 08/05/2010]

Indian Space Research Organization selects Arianespace to launch its GSAT 10 communications satellite in 2012.

[SatNews - 08/05/2010]

TerreSAR-X images acquired over the Gulf of Mexico 9 July 2010 showing the oil spill from the Deep Horizon catastrophe resemble an artist's work.

[Space Daily - 08/04/2010]

Qwest buyer, CenturyLink, switches from Dish Network to DirecTV for its voice, video, and internet bundles.

[Business Journals - 08/03/2010]

Galaxy 15 continues its threatening journey, expected to pass near Galaxy 18 August 11th through 14th, possibly interfering with service provided to Alaska customers by GCI.

[the Dutch Harbor Fisherman - 08/03/2010]

China launches its fifth satellite, GPS satellite BeiDou-2, on a chang Zheng-3A (Long March) vehicle.

[International Business Times - 08/01/2010]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications consulting services

Technorati Tags: satnews satellite+today satcom satellite+week satellite+news

WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits for 06/25/2010

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 07:11:17 -0700

Courtesy of Bill McDonald...

Arianespace postpones launch of ArabSat-5A and the follow-on Coms satellite as an anomaly occurs in the Ariane 5's launcher subsystem during final countdown.
[Satellite today - 06/28/2010]

U.S. Air Force announces that U.S. Strategic Command has operationally accepted command and control of its third Wideband Global SATCOM satellite, WGS-3.
[SatNews - 06/25/2010]

Satellite firm Intellectual Ventures, having bought many patents of satellite technology from Motorola and Teledesic, sells some to Thales Alenia Space on the heels of the Thales deal with Iridium to build the next generation of its satellites.
[Wall Street Journal - 06/25/2010]

Harris wins five year $140m contract to redesign satellite ground system for NASA.
[Zacks - 06/25/2010]

Thales Alenia wins contract to build W6A satellite for Eutelsat.
[marisys - 06/25/2010]

NASA has selected Orbital Sciences to launch the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission in February 2013 aboard a Taurus XL 3110 rocket from Vandenberg’s U.S. Air Force Base, California.
[Satellite Today - 06/24/2010]

Boaters can now watch the the 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer games in 3D while on the water, thanks to the TracVision(r) HD7 from KVH.
[SatNews - 06/24/2010]

Anticipation of the peak of the solar 11 year cycle coming in 2013 sparks predictions of serious consequences to electronics and communications systems, including satellite communications.
[msnbc - 06/24/2010]

CapRock Communications signs three-year contract with BW to deploy its SeaAccess service onboard its fleet of approximately 100 vessels that include Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas Carriers (LPGCs).
[SatNews - 06/24/2010]

Astrium is awarded a contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop key technologies for new re-ignitable upper stages for new launchers.
[SatNews - 06/24/2010]

FCC takes steps to free spectrum from within S band currently available only for mobile satellite companies to build mobile applications to complement their satellite services, so it can be used by mobile broadband companies.
[BroadbandBreakfast - 06/24/2010]

Vietnam Telecom International picks Gilat's Skyedge II for broadband satellite network.
[Sat PR News - 06/24.2010]

CASBAA concludes 10th annual forum in Singapore, as attendees attest to a vibrant Asian satellite industry.
[Market Watch - 06/24/2010]

First attempt to launch South Korea's first weather satellite is delayed as pressure problems develop in the launch vehicle.
[Korea Times - 06/24/2010]

June 19, During the International Economical Forum in St. Petersburg, Roscosmos and Arianespace signed a contract which cover 10 additional missions of Russian Soyuz-ST rocket from Guiana Space Center (CSG).
[SatNews - 06/23/2010]

Spacenet introduces new emergency communications service by satellite with pay as you use service options.
[Market Watch - 06/23/2010]

OmniAccess S.L., a leading communications provider to super- and mega-yacht owners, has completed the launch of its Balearic Teleport and successfully upgraded its maritime broadband satellite network to iDirect’s Evolution platform.
[SatNews - 06/23/2010]

Israel launches spy satellite Ofek 9.
[Al Jazeera - 06/23/2010]

CapRock Government Solutions announces the award of four multimillion dollar contracts to provide managed network services and more than 400MHz of commercial satellite capacity to four separate U.S. Government agencies.
[SatNews - 06/23/2010]

Annual Ham Field Day on weekend of June 26-27 gives public chance to meet and talk with ham radio enthusiasts showing off the newest digital and satellite capabilities and voice communications, as well as historic Morse code.
[The Press News - 06/23/2010]

GlobeCast Australia has announces that GlobeCam — a specialist provider of live, miniature camera technology in the world today — has conducted successful trials of 3D coverage for V8 Supercars Television.
[Satnews - 06/23/2010]

Telecommunications experts from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) are establishing emergency communications centers equipped with satellite-based phone, internet and radio lines along borders of Kyrgyzstan.
[UN Dispatch - 06/23/2010]

New iPhone application developed by Skobbler, teaming up with Apple and OpenStreetMap, will ensure that satellite navigation will become cost effective and easily used by most iPhone users.
[SatNews - 06/22/2010]

Integral Systems Europe (ISE) has been awarded a satellite ground station contract from British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) for Harlequin 1, Sky's state-of-the-art broadcast facility.
[Satellite Today - 06/22/2010]

Iridium expands reach with South African license.
[Market Watch - 06/22/2010]

EchoStar launches DishHD, a premier satellite pay-TV service, in Taiwan.
[Satellite Today - 06/22/2010]

Polaris Wireless and Globecomm Systems partnership will allow U.S. wireless operators to quickly, easily and cost-effectively meet Federal Communications Commission E911 Phase II requirements.
[TMCnet - 06/22/2010]

SES WORLD SKIES announces its SES-1 satellite has entered commercial service at the orbital location of 101 degrees West.
[SatNews - 06/21/2010]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications systems services

Technorati Tags: satnews satellite+today satellite+week satcom satcom+news

WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits for 06/18/2010

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:58:42 -0700

Courtesy of Bill McDonald...

TSF deploys emergency telecoms team to Kyrgyzstan to provide emergency communications services to humanitarian community in support of relief operations.
[SatNews - 06/18/2010]

FCC announces it will focus on using satellite services to spread mobile wireless access to more Americans.
[Washington Post - 06/18/2010]

BSkyB announces that Sky Sports News will be removed from free to view service FreeView to become a pay TV only channel.
[TechWatch - 06/18/2010]

SatCom Global launches Horizon, incorporating state of the are compression technology and designed to optimize voice and data management, dramatically cutting cost of satellite communications for users in maritime, oil and gas, construction, government, emergency, and first responder markets.
[SatNews - 06/18/2010]

BT and RRsat enter 5 year strategic network alliance to combine RRsat's content management and global distribution services over satellite, fiber, and IP with BT's global media network.
[Satellite Today - 06/18/2010]

Wavestream introduces rugged, outdoor 600W C-band solid state amplifier 757C-o for broadcast satellite communications systems.
[SatNews - 06/18/2010]

Following successful debut flight of Falcon 9 launcher, SpaceX wins hotly contested contract to put next-generation Iridium communications satellites into orbit.
[Aviation Week - 06/17/2010]

Sky Sports gets rights for Euro 2010.
[TechWatch - 06/17/2010]

SES ASTRA satellite Astra B, launched May 21, is now operational.
[TechWatch - 06/17/2010]

Satworx, a provider of satellite phone communications, offers a new lightweight IsatPhone Pro at a reduced price.
[TMCnet Satellite Spotlight - 06/17/2010]

NASA chooses General Dynamics C4 Systems to upgrade TDRSS satellite communications ground system and network.
[Military Aerospace - 06/17/2010]

SkyWave, a global provider of M2M satellite solutions for trucking, rail, and maritime markets,
introduces jamming detection and other new security features including detection of antenna cut.
[Wireless Developer Network - 06/17/2010]

New KVH TracVision HD7 employed by boaters to receive DirecTV HD signals for 2010 boating season.
[MarketWatch - 06/17/2010]

Arabsat announces that launch of 5A by Arianespace will take place on June 23, Arabsat's second launch this month.
[SatNews - 06/16/2010]

Integral Systems subsidiary SAT Corporation receives contract to upgrade CHINA SATCOM's satellite signal monitoring and interference detection system.
[Market Watch - 06/16/2010]

Murdoch's News Corp makes move on UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB.
[Tech Watch - 06/16/2010]

BBC World signs deal with intelsat renewing satellite and teleport services throughout Asia and the Americas.
[TechWatch - 06/16/2010]

iDirect launches ReadyCONNECT, a portable emergency response satellite communications system developed by global satellite equipment leader Cobham Satcom and partner Australian Satellite Communications.
[SatNews - 06/16/2010]

Space Data's test of high altitude balloons with radio communications for border patrol, more cost-effective than satellite technology, receives rave reviews but then - no contract to show for it.
[Fox News - 06/16/2020]

iDirect Government Technologies releases new line of software packages for its SatManage network management system.
[SatNews - 06/16/2010]

Battle lines being drawn between Virgin Media and BSKYB over 3D TV.
[TechWatch - 06/15/2010]

DirecTV teams with NCC Media, the ad-sales company owned by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications, to bring the satellite operator to the spot-advertising market and provide ability to expand an ad's coverage in 25 select markets.
[Multichannel News - 06/15/2010]

Microsoft working on 3D technology using special lens on TV screen that would not require users to wear glasses.
[TechWatch - 06/15/2010]

Hughes Network Systems receives contract from state of Oregon to provide broadband satellite internet services to state agencies, local governments, and school districts.
[Business Week - 06/14/2020]

U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin complete testing of first satellite for next generation of tactical
communications, under the Mobile User Objective System program.
[UPI - 06/15/2010]

Arianespace announces agreement with Lockheed Martin to launch VINASAT-2 satellite for Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group in 2012.
[SatNews - 06/15/2010]

SpeedCast signs multi-year agreement for capacity on North and Central American beams of Telesat's Telstar 11N satellite.
[SatNews - 06/14/2010]

Swedish Space Corporation indicates that the Swedish Prisma satellites have been successfully launched aboard a Dnepr launcher from Yasny,Russia.
[SatNews - 06/15/2010]

Aerojet announces an agreement with NEC corporation to jointly supply HAYABUSA-derived ion propulsion systems for the U.S. and Japanese aerospace markets.
[SatNews - 06-15-2010]

SpaceX to launch Taiwanese earth observation satellite in 2013.
[Satellite Today]

C-Com Satellite Systems receives $1M worth of new orders for its iNetVu mobile antenna systems from China.
[SatNews - 06/15/2010]

Space Systems/Loral contracts to build DirecTV 14.
[Satellite Today - 06/14/2010]

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. announces orders received aggregating $12 million, including Ka-band amplifiers for satellite broadband services, DTH services and strategic airborne communications.
[Market Watch - 06/14/2020]

Thaicom Pcl shares jump after Thailand's government announces plans to buy Temasek Holdings Pte's stake in the satellite monopoly for national security reasons following anti-government protests.
[Business Week - 06/14/2010]

Microspace introduces Velocity Microburst, allowing Velocity satellite data users to acquire occasional "bursts" of additional bandwidth for short term needs.
[PRWeb - 06/14/2010]

ATCi designs and delivers low-cost complete Fly Away Broadcast System designed for broadcasting sporting events to smaller communities in Latin America and Africa.
[SatNews - 06/14/2010]

Vizada is selected by ARINC to help fulfill Department of Defense contract for international broadband services.
[SatNews - 06/14/2010]

PolarSat completes VSATPlus3 network testing for Chinese gas market.
[Satellite Today - 06/14/2010]

Orbit Technologies receives additional orders from large satellite communications companies in Brazil for its OrSat satellite communications systems to be installed on offshore Oil and Gas platforms.
[SatNews - 06/14/2010]

GlobeCast Australia wins major delivery deal with Event Cinemas that offers 3D HD coverage of more than a dozen sporting events over the next month, in a first for Australian cinema audiences.
[SatNews - 06/14/2010]

Ottawa may lift telecom restrictions relating to foreign ownership of companies in the Canadian telecom industry, including satellite communications companies.
[Montreal Gazette - 06/12/2010]

California teenager rescued from crippled sailboat by French fishing vessel describes her three days adrift after the mast was broken during a storm, knocking out her satellite communications.
[Fox News - 06/12/2010]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications systems services

Technorati Tags: satcom+news satnews satellite+today satellite+week wbmsat satcom

WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits for 06/11/2010

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 07:12:46 -0700

Courtesy of Bill McDonald...

Korean navy recovers what is believed to be debris from the Korea Space Launch Vehicle 1 that exploded shortly after liftoff Thursday, the country's second major space setback in less than a year.
[Korea Times - 06/11/2010]

Thales Alenia Space gets contract from Eutelsat for satellite with forty Ku-band transponders to be launched during third quarter of 2012.
[Tech Watch - 06/11/2010]

Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) ships Dish Network’s EchoStar 15 communications satellite to the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan where it will be launched by International Launch Services.
[Satellite Today - 06/10/2010]

NASA has selected Orbital Sciences to launch the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spacecraft in December 2012 aboard a Pegasus XL rocket from Vandenberg U.S. Air Force Base.
[Satellite Today - 06/10/2010]

As sun emerges from one of its quietest periods ever during its 11 year cycle, it may spell trouble for a world increasingly reliant upon communications satellites and power grids.
[Houston Chronicle - 06/10/2010]

German satellite service provider Atrexx launches trio of C-band services for the Africa and Middle East markets.
[Satellite today - 06/10/2010]

Two PRISMA satellites to be launched next week feature Thales Alenia Space's technology that determines the two satellites' relative positions to within 1 centimeter, and relative attitudes to within 1 degree.
[SatNews - 06/10/2010]

Hughes Network Systems unveils broadband Internet satellite services for government and enterprise emergency networking solution.
[Satellite Today - 06/10/2010]

BBC World News signs renewal and expansion contract for satellite and teleport services with Intelsat S.A. to distribute programming to Asia-Pacific and Americas audiences.
[SatNews - 06/10/2010]

Azerbaijan government has contracted with Orbital Sciences to build the country's first satellite, but questions are being asked about the country's ability to pay, as unnamed source states that the finance ministry is delaying funding of the project.
[Eurasianet - 06/10/2010]

Telespazio's orders for Orbit Technologies Ltd.'s high performance stabilized marine satellite communications systems to be installed on oil and gas industry platforms worldwide reach $1.1M.
[SatNews - 06/10/2010]

ND SatCom receives Global Telecoms Business Innovation Award 2010 in the Business Service Innovation category for its XWARP(r) solution, which provides IP applications / Cloud Computing over satellite.
[SatNews - 06/10/2010]

BSkyB gains $460.3M settlement in its lawsuit with system integrator Electronic Data Systems, a subsidiary of Hewlett Packard.
[Satellite Today - 06/10/2010]

Globecast is selected to deliver four major Latin American channels to cable headends throughout the United States via the AMC-1 satellite.
[SatNews - 06/10/2010]

Avanti signs long-term Hylas 1 capacity contract with unnamed triple-play consumer telecom service in the U.K. and Ireland.
[Satellite Today - 06/10/2010]

Barrett Xplore Inc. of Canada will lease Loral Space & Communications Inc. owned payload which will be hosted on the Viasat 1 broadband satellite that Loral is building for Viasat.
[TMCnet - 06/09/2010]

Iridium introduces new features for its Next generation of satellites, making laptop connections easier and providing extended SMS messaging for the Iridium 9555 satellite phones.
[Market Watch - 06/09/2010]

Orbit Alchut Technologies Ltd. and Telespazio SpA to supply satellite communications systems for marine oil and gas platforms using C-band capacity and 4m antennas to provide high reliability even during stormy weather.
[Globes Online - 06/09/2010]

Satellite Industry Association (SIA) releases 2010 State of the Satellite Industry Report, showing 11% growth from 2008 to 2009 in overall world satellite industry revenues.
[SatNews - 06/08/2010]

Andreas Georghiou, CEO of Spacenet, accepts a Circle of Excellence award from Washington SmartCEO in recognition of the company's product innovation.
[SatNews - 06/08/2010]

Eutelsat makes four satellites available for broadcasts from South Africa of the World Cup football tournament.
[Tech Watch - 06/08/2010]

Integral Systems gets contract from a leading satellite service provider integrating an additional geostationary satellite into their existing Epoch Integrated Product Suite satellite management system.
[Market Watch - 06/08/2010]

German ship manager Phoenix Reederei reports drop in monthly satellite expenses of more than EURO1,000 since installing Iridium OpenPort satellite terminals on five of its vessels.
[Market Watch - 06/08/2010]

Inmarsat wins 41st annual royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award, Britain's biggest prize for engineering innovation.
[PR Newswire - 06/08/2010]

European Space Agency reports successful completion of thermal-vacuum checks in India on the HYLAS 1 advanced broadband satellite being constructed for Avanti.
[Top 10 - 06/08/2010]

Industry experts advise relief agencies and governments to learn from the Haiti experience, where earthquake damage would have made emergency response nearly impossible without satellite communications.
[PR Newswire - 06/08/2010]

Skycasters submits proposal to the USDA RUS Broadband Initiatives Program in Washington, D.C. requesting a $5.1M grant to improve public safety and prompt economic recovery for 37M Americans.
[SatNews - 06/08/2010]

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden professes increased confidence that a resupply vehicle will be available after the Space Shuttle fleet is retired, on the heels of the successful launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 on June 4.
[Satellite Today - 06/08/2010]

Satcom Direct adds graphical weather to its existing FlightDeck Freedom satellite service for aircraft.
[SatNews - 06/08/2010]

NASA successfully completes comprehensive pre-shipment review of the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite, of FASTSAT, a microsatellite class spacecraft that will carry 6 experiment payloads to low-Earth orbit.
[SatNews - 06/08/2010]

German Earth observation satellite TanDEM-X, part of project to "map the Earth in 3D" is readied for launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
[SatNews - 06/08/2010]

Australian Satellite Communications (ASC) and Cobham announce launch of ReadyCONNECT, a portable, quick-deploy emergency response satellite communications solution.
[SatNews - 06/08/2010]

Arqiva provides Sky with 36MHz of W7 satellite capacity for duratioin of football World Cup in South Africa.
[SatNews - 06/08/2010]

NOORSAT selected by Al Jazeera network to provide satellite capacity to backup the FIFA world Cup 2010 coverage, including the use of the NOORSAT Bahrain teleport as an alternative transmission facility.
[SatNews - 06/08/2010]

SES ASTRA enters into distribution agreement with Polish data network operator NASK to offer its satellite-based broadband service to business customer in the Polish market.
[SatNews - 06/07/2010]

BSkyB pays Virgin Media £160m for its TV channels in deal where Virgin Media gets to offer its subscribers the premium BSkyB HD channels.
[Tech Watch - 06/07/2010]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications systems services

Technorati Tags: talk+satellite satcom satellite+week satellite+today satnews satcom satellite+news

WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits for 06/04/2010

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 05:19:41 -0700

Courtesy of Bill McDonald...

Indian security agencies tell the Indian Department of Telecom that foreign satellite communication service providers should be asked to set up an earth station in India if they want to offer services there.
[the Hindu Business Line - 06/05/2010]

The Falcon 9 rocket fired up its nine first stage engines and took off on its first test flight from Cape Canaveral at 2:45 p.m. EDT June 4.
[Space Travel - 06/04/2010]

Intelsat CTO Thierry Guillemin describes details of its behind-the-scenes cooperative effort with customers and AMC-11 operator SES to mitigate interference threats posed by Galaxy 15.
[Satellite Today - 06/04/2010]

A Russian Proton M rocket launches a European-made telecommunications satellite, Arabsat-5B (Badr 5), for the ARABSAT satellite communications operator.
[Bernama - 06/04/2010]

HBO Asia signs long-term transponder lease agreement with APT for capacity on Apstar 2R and its replacement satellite, Apstar 7, to be launched in early 2010.
[Satellite Today - 06/04/2010]

Stratos Global Corporation becomes a distributor for SkyWave Mobile Communications products and services for the global SCADA market.
[Machine to Machine - 06/04/1020]

Thales Alenia beats out Lockheed, winning contract worth some $2.1B to build 81 satellites for Iridium's next generation satellite fleet.
[BBC - 06/03/2010]

RapidEye (who owns and operates its own constellation of five EO satellites) has signed on Panaxx Corporation to be its distributor in Japan.
[SatNews - 06/03/2010]

The Indian Space Research organization (ISRO) replaces the director of its liquid propulsion systems center following a series of launch mishaps.
[Satellite Today - 06/03/2010]

Rockot Launches Japanese SERVIS-2 Satellite from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia.
[Space Travel - 06/03/2010]

SkyWave Introduces Flex Messaging to IsatM2M Satellite Service, allowing up to 7 times more data than traditional IsatM2M messages.
[GIS User - 06/03/2010]

Zodiac Maritime installs Iridium OpenPort(R) across entire fleet of 156 ships.
[MarketWatch - 06/03/1010]

Airmen from the 2nd and 19th Space Operations Squadrons take control of the Air Force's newest GPS satellite following its launch into orbit May 28 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
[Space Daily - 06/03/2010]

China to launch fourth orbiter into space as a part of indigenous satellite navigation and positioning network known as Beidou, or Compass system.
[Space Daily - 06/02/2020]

Gilat to provide satellite communications equipment for SchoolNet project expansion in Ethiopia.
[MarketWatch - 06/02/2010]

SPOT Launches Outdoor Safety Initiative at Teva Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado.
[MarketWatch - 06/02/2010]

Inmarsat to launch its first global handheld IsatPhone Pro at CommunicAsia 2010 in Singapore.
[SatNews - 06/02/2010]

Stratos' AmosConnect 8 enhances broadband connectivity at sea
[TMCnet - 06/02/2010]

Due to popular demand, Newtec to repeat FREE webinar: "IP is Forcing its Way into the Contribution, DSNG and Distribution Workflows over Satellite. Are you Ready?"
[SatNews - 06/02/2010]

KVH Industries announces that Fleetwood RV, Inc., has selected KVH's TracVision SlimLine series along with TracVision R6 ST and R6 TX to be the exclusive satellite TV option offered on its 2011 motor homes.
[SatNews - 06/02/2010]

Orbital selected for Azerspace/Africasat-1a satellite by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
[MarketWatch - 06/01/2010]

Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) is selected to provide a satellite, Anik G1, to Telesat of Canada.
[SatNews - 06/01/2010]

Russian Space Systems corporation and the U.S. Trimble Navigation Group sign an agreement to create a joint satellite navigation venture in Russia
[Space Daily - 06/01/2010]

International Launch Services (ILS) has contract for ILS Proton launch of two commercial satellites, YAMAL 401 and YAMAL 402, for Russian satellite operator, Gazprom Space Systems.
[SatNews - 06/01/2010]

SES Astra enters partnership with Italian public broadcaster RAI to bring more content to its 3-D demo channel.
[Satellite Today - 06/01/2010]

Serbian government indicts former Serbia-Montenegro defense minister over deal to rent Israeli spy satellite from ImageSat.
[Satellite Today - 06/01/2010]

Australia's NBN Co is weeks away from issuing a request for tenders to satellite network operators hoping to get a slice of the $43 billion national broadband network project.
[The Australian - 06/01/2010]

The Highly Adaptable Satellite (HYLAS) 1 being developed by Astrium for the satellite broadband operator Avanti Communications, successfully completes month-long test designed to expose the satellite to the rigors of space.
[SatNews - 06/01/2010]

BSkyB releases Sky Mobile TV app for the Applie iPad in the United Kingdom.
[Satellite today - 06/01/2010]

CapRock Communications selects Alpheus Communications’ complete suite of terrestrial connectivity services to provide reliable circuit access and supporting services to its clients.
[Business Wire - 05/31/2010]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications systems services

Technorati Tags: satcom satellite+week satellite+today satnews talk+satellite

WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits for 05/21/2010

Mon, 24 May 2010 06:42:10 -0700

Courtesy of Bill McDonald...

Bryan McGuirk, senior vice president of media services at SES World Skies, will be leaving the company at the end of May to form a new venture in the media and entertainment sector.
[Satellite Today - 05/21/2010]

Arianespace’s delayed opening launch of 2010, with the Astra 3B and COMSATBw 2 satellites, has launched from the European Spaceport in French Guiana via the Ariane 5 ECA.
[NASASpaceFlight - 05/21/2010]

Harris agrees to acquire satellite-communications provider CapRock for about $525M in move to expand international presence and customer base.
[Wall Street Journal - 05/21/2010]

FCC frees up 25 megahertz of spectrum in the Wireless Communications Services band by allowing satellite radio operators to use digital repeaters.
[RCR Wireless - 05/21/2010]

Ohio cable company executive echoes concern of many that rogue satellite Galaxy 15 may cause interference to AMC-11 "Despite these best efforts" of SES WorldSkies and Intelsat.
[Columbus Dispatch - 05/21/2010]

DBSD North America, a telecommunications satellite operator owned by ICO Global Communications, asks judge to preserve its bankruptcy restructuring plan pending approval by the FCC.
[Business Week - 05/21/2010]

At the SES World Skies' site you can view an amazing CGI rendering created by AGI that reveals the AMC-11 orbital maneuvers to hopefully avoid having their cable broadcasts interrupted by Intelsat’s Galaxy 15, aka Zombie satellite.
[SatNews - 05/20/2010]

Intelsat relocates IS-709 for World Cup Broadcasting.
[Satellite Today - 05/20/2010]

International Datacasting receives series of new orders for its 3D Live solution, prompted by the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.
[SatNews - 05/20/2010]

Israel's Yes satellite TV provider launches video-on-demand and broadband services by satellite.
[Satellite Today - 05/20/2010]

MEASAT Satellite Systems signs agreement with GlobeCast Asia to provide transponder capacity for the FIFA World Cup 2010.
[SatNews - 05/20/2010]

Google and DISH Network L.L.C. launched Google TV, an open platform that seamlessly integrates multichannel television with rich web media content.

Indian Navy will receive naval communication and surveillance satellite by year-end.
[SatNews - 05/20/2010]

Boeing completes on-orbit handover of DirecTV 12 satellite to DirecTV.
[Satellite Today - 05/20/2010]

Global MilSatCom 2010, a gathering of satellite communication professionals, will be held at the Millennium Conference Centre, London, United Kingdom this November 8-10.
[SatNews - 05/20/2010]

MTN reports a positive reception in international cruise industry, with seven cruise lines already signed up for the at-sea telecasts.
[SatNews - 05/20/2010]

Iridium's OpenPort terminal provides reliable, high-quality voice and data links throughout voyage of sailboat Ocean Watch on its Around the Americas expedition.
[SatNews - 05/20/2010]

Rapideye confirms partnership of several years with S2Bvisio in development and distribution of expert agricultural services based on RapidEye imagery.
[SatNews - 05/20/2010]

Cambridge Conltans achieve breakthrough in collaboration with Iridium Communications to develop new transceiver 70% smaller than previous model.
[SatNews - 05/20/2010]

Glowlink has releases GEO4, the manufacturer’s next-generation Model 8000 interference detection solution.
[Satellite Today - 05/20/2010]

World's largest airship, as long as a 23-floor skyscraper is tall, is intended to serve as a stratospheric satellite, or "stratellite," according to its developers.
[Space.com - 05/20/2010]

Lockheed Martin realigns structure of commercial space systems division.
[PR Newswire - 05/20/2010]

New commercial space rocket Falcon 9 to make first test launch as early as May 28.
[Space.com - 05/20/2010]

Iridium Communications enters Russian market.
[Benzinga - 05/20/2010]

Globalstar receives regulatory approval for mobile satellite service in Korea.
Market Watch - 05/20/2010]

Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute develop new nanotechnology-based “microlens” using gold, which could lead to a new generation of ultra-powerful satellite cameras.
[R&D Magazine - 05/19/2010]

Arianspace announces signing of contract with Astrium to launch Skynet 5D satellite in first half of 2013.
[SatNews - 05/19/2010]

LiveTV and Iridium Communications Inc. enter into agreement to develop aviation antenna based on the Iridium OpenPort(r) high-speed communications service.
[SatNews - 05/19/2010]

Schlumberger launches SeaConnect(tm) VSAT service, providing high-performance VSAT services using an innovative portable marine 60-cm C-band antenna and related technologies, for the offshore industry.
[SatNews - 05/19/2010]

Marlink announces an extension to its VSAT Ku-band service which will now cover sea routes around Australia for the first time.
[SatNews - 05/19/2010]

Iridium Communications Inc. receives orders for more than 100 Iridium OpenPort broadband satellite terminals for installation on Spanish commercial fishing vessels.
[SatNews - 05/19/2010]

MTN Satellite Communications and its Spanish joint-venture partner, ERZIA, are selected to provide VSAT products and services for Empressa Naviera Elcano.
[SatNews - 05/19/2010]

FCC taps satellite communications company ICO executive to manage review of proposed joint venture between cable companies Comcast and
NBC Universal.
[Reuters - 05/19/2010]

Caprock wins $50m GSA 70 contract to provide complete solution of technical design, field services, and program support to FBI for emergency restoration communications network.
[Satellite Today - 05/19/2010]

Experiments conducted by Sandia National Laboratories at the International Space Station preliminarily indicate that orbiting more complex computer chips to pre-reduce large data streams could facilitate transfer of greater amounts of information from space.
[R&D Magazine - 05/19/2010]

French Polynesian Office of Post and Telecommunications (OPT) has launched a high-speed satellite broadband network based on iDirect’s Evolution platform.
[Satellite Today - 05/19/2010]

SES WORLD SKIES signs an agreement with Astrium for the procurement of a new satellite to be named SES-6.
[SatNews - 05/18/2010]

Intelsat selects Arianespace to launch Intelsat 17 satellite at end of 2010.
[Satellite Today - 05/18/2010]

Hughes Network Systems forms Hughes Network Systems Australia Pty. Ltd. to serve the Ka-band satellite technology and services market in Australia.
[Satellite Today - 05/18/2010]

Globalstar receives regulatory approval for new mobile satellite service in Korea.
[MarketWatch - 05/18/2010]

SES World Skies plans to maneuver AMC-11 to match the eastward drift of zombie satellite Galaxy to avoid interference, bringing in AMC-1 on opposite side of orbital "box."
[Space.com - 05/17/2010]

Russian Satellite Communications Company reports it is no longer possible to maintain the orbital incline of the Express-AM1 satellite.
[SatNews - 05/17/2010]

WBMSAT PS services

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