Really Rocket Science

“The importance of mobile satellite spectrum is demonstrated time and time again and cannot be overstated. This spectrum is used for the provision of satellite telecommunications services that make it possible for first responders, UN relief agencies, and military to provide the critical services of rescuing survivors and coordinating housing, food and medical care quickly in the aftermath of hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes and other disasters.

Iridium supports the Federal Communications Commission’s recognition of this. With its decision today, the Commission has taken an important step to preserve and protect this vital resource for its intended and most important uses.”

That’s the "statement" from Iridium regarding the FCC’s decision to deny competitor Globalstar

It sure sounded like a good idea. Now Open Range is screwed. Excellent report in Fierce Broadband Wireless…

Indeed, the FCC has always been careful about requiring the MSS industry to roll out satellite services in addition to terrestrial services. It wanted to see a successful MSS industry and agreed with MSS players early on that adding a terrestrial component would result in better device form factors and greater penetration in buildings, a drawback to today’s satellite services.

It appears Globalstar was banking on the fact that rural broadband is an initiative near and dear to the heart of Genachowski and the commissioners and hoped that would prompt the FCC to rule in its favor. Open Range had the spectrum and the funding to make rural broadband a reality across some 500 rural communities. "Globalstar maintains that these public interest factors are more compelling now, as denial of the requested extensions would force Open Range to discontinue wireless broadband service to rural customers who are currently receiving it," the FCC said in its ruling.

The FCC’s ruling was the right one, but the consequences will be hitting a company that had one of the best chances to fulfill the FCC’s goal of bringing broadband to underserved areas. There a number of parties hurt by Globalstar’s lack of follow through. For instance, Alvarion and WiChorus, now part of Tellabs, have contracts with Open Range.

I don’t know where Open Range will find new spectrum in 60 days. Even if it does, customers will face disruption because of incompatible devices. Moreover, I think it’s highly unlikely Globalstar will ever come into compliance now. Open Range can’t wait around.

Hey, if they’re using satcom for backhaul to WiMAX towers, let’s see if one of the GEO operators steps in.

Using a giant electromagnetic rail system to launch scramjets to near-space, after which a second-stage type engine fires to reach orbit, is something we can expect to see after further development get it a practical level. If this type of system reduces overall launch costs, it would be a very good thing, as rocket-based launch systems can concentrate on getting bigger payloads into geo.

 An early proposal has emerged that calls for a wedge-shaped aircraft with scramjets to be launched horizontally on an electrified track or gas-powered sled. The aircraft would fly up to Mach 10, using the scramjets and wings to lift it to the upper reaches of the atmosphere where a small payload canister or capsule similar to a rocket’s second stage would fire off the back of the aircraft and into orbit. The aircraft would come back and land on a runway by the launch site.

Engineers also contend the system, with its advanced technologies, will benefit the nation’s high-tech industry by perfecting technologies that would make more efficient commuter rail systems, better batteries for cars and trucks, and numerous other spinoffs.

It might read as the latest in a series of science fiction articles, but NASA’s Stan Starr, branch chief of the Applied Physics Laboratory at Kennedy, points out that nothing in the design calls for brand-new technology to be developed. However, the system counts on a number of existing technologies to be pushed forward.

"All of these are technology components that have already been developed or studied," Starr said. "We’re just proposing to mature these technologies to a useful level, well past the level they’ve already been taken."

We love the scramjet, wihich will likely beat out other ideas, such as the "space gun."But wait a minute. Didn’t Prof. Potts experiment with rail launchers? Indeed, here it is…

Cobbet Hill earthstation expands satellite services in Europe, Middle East, and Africa with purchase of third iDirect Evolution hub.
[PR Newswire – 09/11/2010]

Arianespace signs production contract with European Space Agency to produce first operational Vega rocket launch; will deliver five launchers.
[Satellite Today – 09/10/2010]

CBS’s Stranathan believes the evolution from satellite back to terrestrial may begin within the next five years, with multiple carriers and growth of fiber-optic networks nationwide.
[Satellite Today – 09-10-2010]

Row 44 raises $37m in funding to continue rolling out its in-flight satellite service for Southwest Airlines.
[Satellite Today – 09/10/2010]

SIDOFI Communications Investments, Ltd. plans to acquire a 9.33% stake in Asianet Satellite Communications, Ltd., an India-based cable network services company, from Americorp Ventures Limited.
[Trading Markets – 09/10/2010]

Focus on "the next big thing"  at IBC 2010 continues to be 3-D.
[Satellite Today – 09/10/2010]

Iridium announces that Norbulk Shipping will install Iridium’s OpenPort systems across its fleet of more than 70 ships.
[Satellite Spotlight – 09/10/2010]

Astrium leases Hylas 1 capacity to test military Ka-band services.
[Satellite Today – 09/09/2010]

KVH offers Premier Support 24 X 7 X 365 for owners of vessels with the TracPhone V7 satellite communications system.
[Trading Markets – 09/10/2010]

RRsat partners with BT to deliver first intercontinental interactive 3D video broadcast between London and Tel Aviv.
[Market Watch – 09/10/2010]

Russian Rokot orbits a Gonets-M satellite and two Kosmos satellites according to Russian Defense Ministry spokesman.
[SatNews – 09/09/2010]

Via Embratel adopts Entropic’s Channel Stacking Swtich technology, to better serve customers in multiple-dwelling unit (MDU) environments by supporting multiple tuners over a single cable.
[Market Watch – 09/09/2010]

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Astrium engage in commercial agreement to provide dedicated launch services to European small satellite market.
[SatNews – 09/09/2010]

The satellite sector of the economy has ridden through the collapse of the economy well and business now looks to be booming, though warning flags exist.
[Satellite Today – 09/09/2010

SES WORLD SKIES gets extension from Services Sound and Vision Corporation to continue delivering television and radio programming to British troops around the world.
[SatNews – 09/09/2010]

Military and commercial wideband satellites to provide broader coverage and address bandwidth surge, transforming battlefield communications.
[Defensesystems – 09/09/2010]

SES ASTRA and Digitaria create nationwide energy monitoring system in Italy using Newtec’s Sat3Play technology for connecting remote sites.
[SatNews – 09/09/2010]

Bell Canada is on the verge of a major effort to get inside Canadian family rooms with the introduction of new Internet-based TV services.
[The Vancouver Sun – 09/10/2010]

Wegener receives order for receivers to be used in expansion of international background music network.
[Market Watch – 09/09/2010].

Euroconsult releases report forecasting the number of satellites it expects to be launched by the end of the decade – 1,220 satellites.
[BBC Spaceman blog – 09/09/2010]

Intelsat is expanding Russian DTH satellite provider Orion Express’ programming capacity on the Intelsat 15 satellite.
[Satellite Today – 09/09/2010]

RRsat enters into partnership with Europe’s Digital Media Center (DMC) to offer a complete global playout and content delivery solutions to regional broadcasters.
[Satellite Today – 09/09/2010]

Hughes Communications receives Euroconsult award as Broadband Satellite Operator of the Year.
[Market Watch – 09/08/2010]

SES extends its Multi Launch Agreement with International Launch Services through the end of 2014.
[Satellite Today – 09/08/2010]

SES ASTRA signs new service distribution agreement with Amman, Jordan-based satellite services provider, GSISCO (German Satellite Internet Service Company) to market its ASTRA2Connect service in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Yemen.
[SatNews – 09/08/2010]

Sky Deutschland to launch 3-D satellite service in October.
[Satellite Today – 09/08/2010]

KVH to acquire software engineering company Virtek Communications.
[Market Watch – 09/08/2010]

Comtech Mobile Datacom receives $25m military contract.
[Business Week – 09/08/2010]

Harmonic encoders and statistical multiplexing implemented in headend for new South African pay TV service.
[Market Watch – 09/08/2010]

Gilat is selected by Kenya Commercial Bank to provide SkyEdge II broadband satellite network.
[SatNews – 09/08/2010]

Iridium collaborates with Danish Maritime Safety Administration in project to demonstrate maritime safety information broadcasts.
[Market Watch – 09/08/2010]

Comtech and CPI announce termination of agreement and plan of merger.
[SatNews – 09/08/25010]

Global VSAT Forum launches Maritime Satcom Forum to expand deployment of satellite technology in the maritime industry.
[PR Newswire – 09/08/2010]

Stratos Global successfully deploys Inmarsat FleetBroadband satellite communications service on the entire fleet of 70 container vessels for Evergreen Marine Corp.
[SatNews – 09/08/2010]

Lockheed Martin is selected by GeoEye to launch the company’s next generation high-resolution Earth-imaging satellite, GeoEye-2.
[SatNews – 09/08/2010]

European scientific satellite Ocean Circulation Explorer fixed and again transmitting data.
[UPI – 09/07/2010]

Canadian satellite company Com Dev dismisses its CEO after heavy losses in Q3 2010.
[Satellite Today – 09/07/2010]

Telefonica International Wholesale Services of Peru chooses Gilat for broadband satellite communications network.
[Market Watch – 09/07/2010]

Spanish broadband company Quantis is rolling out full-service broadband solution to remote and rural communities across Spain based on Newtec’s Ka-band Sat3Play technology, hub, and terminals.
[Satellite Today – 09/07/2010]

VIVACOM, the leading telecommunications provider in Bulgaria, signs multi-year multi-transponder contract for capacity on Intelsat 12 satellite.
[SatNews – 09/07/2010]

U.S. Army awards TeleCommunications Systems up to $3.8m for deployable satellite systems equipment.
[Market Watch – 09/07/2010]

Europe Media Port announces that emerging Iranian DTH broadcaster Kahkeshan Digisat has selected EMP to provide DTH uplink teleport and transmission services to its European and Middle East targeted markets.
[SatNews – 09/07/2010]

StreamXcel Plus switching between satellite networks promises "always on" connectivity to shipping vessels.
[TMCnet – 09/07/2010]

In the fourth launch in five weeks, Chinese broadcasting satellite is placed in orbit.
[Space.com – 09/07/2010]

Spain and Norway to build a satellite to be launched in 2014 to be used for both civilian and military purposes.
[physorg.com – 09/07/2010]

Stratos Global joins forces with new Channel Partner, Zedi Inc., to deploy the world’s first large-scale SCADA network based on Inmarsat’s BGAN mobile broadband satellite service.
[SatNews – 09/07/2010]

American company Orbital Sciences begins production of first national telecommunications satellite of Azerbaijan.
[Azerbaijan Business Center – 09/07/2010]

Long-standing Cobham dealer Ship Equip. places the largest single quantity order ever received for the company’s Sea Tel 09 series antennas.
[SatNews – 09/07/2010]

GE Satcom uses Newtec’s TelliCast IP software to power its maritime triple-play service.
[SatNews – 09/07/2010]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications systems services

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.

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 ™ 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

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

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. 

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?