Really Rocket Science

MODIS, MERIS, ASAR, GOES: these orbiting spacecraft and instruments are focused on helping the NOAA figure this mess out. The mess is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 50 miles offshore, estimated to be spitting out crude oil at a rate of 5,000 barrels per day.

A BP PLC executive told NBC’s "Today" show on Apr. 29 that the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico could be five times larger than earlier believed. His comment came the day after a controlled burn on part of the oil spill and a third leak was found.

Doug Suttles, chief operating officer of BP Exploration & Production Inc., confirmed what US Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry first said at a hastily called news conference in a Louisiana command center late Apr. 28 in which she announced a third leak.

Landry estimated 5,000 b/d rather than the 1,000 b/d could be spilling into the gulf. For days, officials have estimated 1,000 b/d was leaking from the Macondo well Transocean Ltd.’s Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible drilled on Mississippi Canyon Block 252 in 4,992 ft of water near Rigel gas field. Deepwater Horizon was working for BP.

An Apr. 20 explosion and fire rocked the semi, leaving 11 crew members missing and presumed dead and injuring 17. A total of 115 people evacuated the rig. On Apr. 22, the semi sank. Cause of the accident remains under investigation.

On Apr. 29, Suttles said the leak could be as high as the USCG’s latest estimate. Previously, he had told reporters that it’s difficult and imprecise to measure spilled oil. 

Call in the robots!  But it won’t be quick. Responders are still figuring out new ways to use Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to try to trigger the blowout preventer (BOP), a series of valves that sits at the well head.

 What NOAA is doing, as of 28 April 2010…

Current NOAA efforts are focused on: gathering more information about the spill, planning for open water and shoreline remediation, and readying for environmental assessment and response. Natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) activities are now underway. 

• Winds are forecast to become strong (20+ kts) and blow from the southeast starting tomorrow and continuing through the weekend, which will continue to push surface oil towards shore
• NOAA oil-spill trajectory analyses indicate that oil continues to move towards shore.
• 100,000’ of oil-containment booms (or floating barriers) have been deployed as a precaution to protect sensitive areas in the Louisiana area.
• The effects of oil on sensitive habitats and shorelines in four states (LA, MS, AL, and FL) are being evaluated should oil from the incident make landfall in appreciable quantities
• NOAA’s Assessment and Restoration Division is evaluating concerns about potential injuries of oil and dispersants to fishes, human use of fisheries, marine mammals, turtles, and sensitive resources
• Baseline aerial surveys to assess marine life were conducted today with personnel from NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), these will continue as needed

 

NOAA Roles: NOAA is a vital part of the massive response effort on the Deepwater Horizon incident.   Many personnel are on scene and many more are engaged remotely, as follows:

Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R)

• Scientific support to the U.S. Coast Guard and Unified Command

Emergency Response Division (ERD)

• Predict where the oil is going and its effects
• Overflight observations and mapping
• Identify resources at risk
• Predict fate (chemical changes) of oil
• Recommend appropriate clean-up methods
• Manage data and information

Assessment and Restoration Division (ARD)

• Plan for assessment of injuries to natural resources
• Coordinate with state and federal trustees
• Implement sampling plans

National Weather Service

• Incident weather forecasts including marine and aviation

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)

• Experimental imagery for spill trajectory forecasts

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

• Issues related to marine mammals, sea turtles, and fishery resources

National Ocean Service

• Public Affairs support to Joint Information Center

Here’s your smokin’ video, courtest of the USCG…

Yes, Philadelphia. The hometown of W.C. Fields, who was alleged to have said "Philadelphia, wonderful town, spent a week there one night," is one of four cities to have the FAA’s NextGen system installed. The others are Houston, Louisville and Juneau. The system does it all: navigation, surveillance, and communication.

Of course, they use satellite technology.  The Philadelphia Inquirer did a nice piece on it yesterday:

"Philadelphia is a pioneer site," said Federal Aviation Administration vice president Victoria Cox, announcing that Philadelphia controllers now have the capability to track planes equipped with the technology, known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast, or ADS-B.

It’s part of a nationwide aviation overhaul – called Next Generation, or NextGen – that the FAA hopes will be largely operational by 2018.

By 2020, all aircraft flying in U.S. airspace must have the ADS-B devices in their cockpits.

Philadelphia is a demonstration site because United Parcel Service is here and has equipped 100 aircraft with satellite-technology. US Airways Group Inc. is in the process of equipping some of its planes, the FAA said.

Philadelphia controllers also use a computer system, called STARS, that takes information, including the ADS-B signals, and translates it to the screens controllers look at.

In addition, Philadelphia was selected to get some of the first satellite-surveillance radios because of its location in congested East Coast air space. The other test sites are Louisville, Ky., where UPS is based; Houston; and Juneau, Alaska.

Seven ground radios – each about the size of two refrigerators – have been installed around Philadelphia, including two on airport property. They will be part of a network of 813 radios by 2013, the FAA said.

Once airplanes get specialized GPS devices in cockpits, pilots will transmit via satellite to ground radios, which will bounce information to control towers. Controllers, in turn, will transmit to the radios, which will broadcast up to the cockpit.

The new technology will allow pilots, for the first time, to see what controllers see: other aircraft in the sky around them, bad weather and terrain, and information such as temporary flight restrictions.

 Need more detail? Check out the FAA’s NextGen Implementation Plan (84-page PDF). There are basically five elements to this system:

1. Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B). ADS-B will use the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite signals to provide air traffic controllers and pilots with much more accurate information that will help to keep aircraft safely separated in the sky and on runways. Aircraft transponders receive GPS signals and use them to determine the aircraft’s precise position in the sky. This and other data is then broadcast to other aircraft and air traffic control. Once fully established, both pilots and air traffic controllers will, for the first time, see the same real-time display of air traffic, substantially improving safety. The FAA will mandate the avionics necessary for implementing ADS-B.
2. System Wide Information Management (SWIM). SWIM will provide a single infrastructure and information management system to deliver high quality, timely data to many users and applications. By reducing the number and types of interfaces and systems, SWIM will reduce data redundancy and better facilitate multi-user information sharing. SWIM will also enable new modes of decision making as information is more easily accessed.
3. Next Generation Data Communications. Current communications between aircrew and air traffic control, and between air traffic controllers, are largely realised through voice communications. Initially, the introduction of data communications will provide an additional means of two-way communication for air traffic control clearances, instructions, advisories, flight crew requests and reports. With the majority of aircraft data link equipped, the exchange of routine controller-pilot messages and clearances via data link will enable controllers to handle more traffic. This will improve air traffic controller productivity, enhancing capacity and safety.
4. Next Generation Network Enabled Weather (NNEW). Seventy percent of NAS delays are attributed to weather every year. The goal of NNEW is to cut weather-related delays at least in half. Tens of thousands of global weather observations and sensor reports from ground-, airborne- and space-based sources will fuse into a single national weather information system, updated in real time. NNEW will provide a common weather picture across the national airspace system, and enable better air transportation decision making.
5. NAS Voice Switch (NVS). There are currently seventeen different voice switching systems in the NAS, some in use for more than twenty years. NVS will replace these systems with a single air/ground and ground/ground voice communications system. 

Yeah, there’s a video…

Boeing-built U.S. Air Force "miniature space shuttle" X-37B is succesfully launched amid a cloud of secrecy about its mission.
[Seattle Post Intelligencer – 04/23/2010]

CenturyTel (CenturyLink after merging with Embarq in 2009), the country’s fifth-largest local phone company, to buy Qwest, the third largest, in stock swap worth $10.6 billion.
[FierceTelecom – 04/23/2010]

BT announces the completion of its first satellite terminal in Antarctica, at one of the world’s coldest, driest, and windiest locations.
[SatNews – 04/23/2010]

Iridium extends relationship with KDDI of Japan, making it an authorized service provider of Iridium’s OpenPort High-bandwidth maritime satellite communication service.
[SatNews – 04/23/2010]

MTN Satellite Communications, in partnership with ERZIA Technologies, opens new European satellite teleport in Santander, Spain.
[SatNews – 04/23/2010]

Stratos Global is providing world-renowned adventurer Ray Zhab’s "Running Tunisia" expedition with Inmarsat BGANmobile broadband satellite service.
[SatNews – 04/23/2010]

Two Cobham businesses honored in 2010 Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in the categories of Internatikon Trade and Innovation.
[SatNews – 04/23/2010]

Satelllite Today to bring live webcast of the SES-1 launch Saturday, April 24.
[Satellite Today – 04/23/2010]

Harris Corporation is providing NEXIO AMP advance media platform to German national public television broadcaster Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen to support HD migration and centralization of ZDF’s playout center in Mainz.
[SatNews – 04/23/2010]

SES ASTRA will launch 3D demo channel on ASTRA May 4.
[SatNews – 04/23/2010]

European Commission announces financing of Alphasat telecommunications satellite to be launched in 2012, a joint effort of the European Space Agency and Inmarsat to extend high-speed voice and data to remote European areas, Africa, and the Middle East.
[UPI – 04/22/2010]

U.S. Army modifications to VSAT terminals to increase security of battlefield communications will include a change from hardware key exchanges to software key exchanges.
[Defense Systems – 04/22/2010]

First images of the sun returned by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory Satellite please research scientists.
[IndyPosted – 04/22/2010]

Schlumberger looks for buyer for its satellite unit GCS, provider of satellite antennas and specialised communications for oil rigs, tankers, and other hard-to-reach sites.
[Reuters – 04/21/2010]

Expand Networks’ advanced WAN optimization technology supports satellite communications services for Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California.
[SatNews – 04/21/2010]

Gateway Communications increases presence in West Africa with signature of two deals in Guinea.
[TMCnet – 04/21/2010]

Global Satellite Engineering has partnership with Ocens data services, with Ocens using GSE’s SatCollect software to reduce in-bound call expenditures.
[SatNews -04/21/2010]

Flexible commercial satellite services acquisition joint effort of GSA and DISA holds great promise, according to director of satellite communications, teleport, and services at DISA.
[Defense Systems – 04/21/2010]

Caprock launches latest value-added service offering, Crew Infotainment, reaching remote employhees across energy, maritime, and government services industries.
[SatNews – 04/21/2010]

KVH doubles their mini-VSAT Broadband network’s bandwidth in the North Pacific Ocean Region.
[SatNews – 04/21/2010]

ARINC Incorporated announces that three major Asia Pacific carriers have selected the company’s GLOBALinkSM data link services for airline communications and flight operations.
[SatNews – 04/21/2010]

Barcelona Moon Team, a multidisciplinary joint venture in Spain, announces entry into Google Lunar X Prize competition challenging engineers across the globe to build and launch to the moon a privately funded spacecraft capable of exploration.
[SatNews – 04/21/2010]

Lockheed Martin gets $10 million task award to provide satellite and tactical communications for U.S. Marine Corps.
[CBS News – 04/20/2010]

Chinese villages in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu stricken by the 7.1 magnitude quake all have contact to the outside world restored, with fixed-line and mobile service being restored, and some 234 satellite phones serving the regioin.
[China Daily – 04/19/2010]

Iridium and Quake Global partner to enhance new generation of intelligent industrial satellite transceivers.
[Market Watch – 04/19/2010]

SES ASTRA signs capacity agreement with South African pay-TV operator On Digital Media for three transponders on ASTRA-4A.
[SatNews – 04/19/2010]

ViaSat wins $6.6 million MIDS-LVT add-on order to its $21.5 million Multifunctional Information Distribution System – Low Volume Terminals.
[Satellite Today – 04/20/2010]

U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command selects Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp for next generation ocean altimetry satellite GFO-2.
[SatNews – 04/19/2010]

Vizada unveils its mobile satellite communications offering for Asia-Pacific military customers at the Defense Services Asia trade show.
[SatNews – 04/19/2010]

Satellite operators Artel, Caprock, and Globecomm file complaints with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and called for a congressional and regulatory inquiry over alleged unfair business practices.
[Satellite Today – 04/19/2010]

Raytheon wins DigitalGlobe contract to provide enhance constellation-collection management system.
[Satellite Today – 04/19/2010]

SeaMobile Europe wins connectivity services contract for AG2R Transat maritime race
[Satellite Today – 04/19/2010]

Heard On The Grapevine – Galaxy 15 update – Last week it was reported that Galaxy 15 was drifting with the payload on with no control over the satellite because of failed command receivers.  Information obtained this week reveals that it was the Upllink/Downlink Unit that failed June 9 due to Solar flare activity, causing an inability to process uplinked commands.  Different failure mode, same result, with adjacent satellites at risk of massive interference if approached by Galaxy 15.

Samsung puts 3D TV health warning on its Australian web site, Worries include epileptic seizure or stroke, convulsions, involuntary movement, motion sickness, nausea, lightheadedness, dizziness, disorientation, and altered vision.
[samsung.com 3D TV warning]

NSR to host free webinar "SATELlite-Based Earth Observation (EO): Ready for Phase 4 of Growth?"
[NSR Webinar Registration]

NSR Industry Briefing – Growing the Government and Military COTM Market – Easier Said Than Done.
{NSR Industry Briefing]

WBMSAT PS services

Gilat is engaged to deliver its SkyEdge II-based satelli8te network technology to support a border security program of an undisclosed Latin American country.
[UPI – 04/02/2010]

European Space Policy Institute to release fourth volume in series of publications evaluating how to achieve sustainable use of space by means of respecting fairness and responsibility.
[SatNews – 04/02/2010]

Fourth annual Military Satellites Summit April 27 – 28 in Tysons Corner, VA, is announced by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement.
[dBusinessNews – 04/02/2010]

Ocean Systems Engineering will provide a wide variety of services and support relating to satellite communications to the Marine Corps under $13.1 million order.
[Washington Technology – 04/02/2010]

ARINC becomes Distribution Partner for SwiftBroadband service from Inmarsat.
[SatNews – 04/01/2010].

Gantry for Russian Soyuz rocket at Arianespace facility in French Guiana takes shape.
[SatNews – 04/01/2010]

Bolivia signs contract with China for a $300 million communications satellite.
[Reuters – 04/01/2010]

Integral Systems gets support services contract in Asia for $3+ million.
[SatNews – 04/01/2010]

DirecTV to have four 3D channels beginning in June – ESPN, N3D, a 3D pay-per-view channel, and one on-demand 3D channel.
[SatNews – 04/01/2010]

China Satellite Communications profit jumps 26.9% in 2009.
[TMCnet – 04/01/2010]

Harris comes to 2010 NAB as market leader in Mobile TV, with more than 40 sales of ATSC Mobile DTV systems confirmed to date.
[SatNews – 04/01/2010]

Sencore to introduce its first DVB-S2 modulator.
[SatNews – 04/01/2010]

Scientists funded by Astrium unveil 30 Kg nanosatellite engineered to clear more than 5,000 tons of debris in low-Earth orbit.
[Satellite Today – 04/01/2010]

Frost & Sullivan report finds inadequate satellite bandwidth impacts world VSAT market by increasing service revenues, while causing a dip in sales of equipment or hardware.
[PR Newswire – 04/01/2010]

SpaceX activates International Space Station (ISS) communications system for the Dragon spacecraft, which is to begin ISS resupply missions starting in 2011.
[Space Travel – 03/31/2010]

Shaw Direct contracts with Telesat to acquire capacity on a new satellite to be available in late 2012.
[CNN Money – 03/31/2010]

Comtech Systems gets $34.5 million contract for telecommunications transmission equipment from a North African government.
[CNN Money – 03/31/2010]

Boeing explores collaboration with Indian Space Research Organization in area of communications satellites.
[Space Daily – 03/31/2010]

Astrium is commissioned by European Space Agency to build Sentinel-2B optical satellite.
[SatNews – 03/31/2010]

DigitalGlobe announces its content library contains more than one billion square kilometers of earth imagery, 33% of which is less than one year old.
[SatNews – 03/31/2010]

India’s GSLV rocket, powered by home-made cryogenic engine for the first time, is slated to launch the GSAT-4 experimental satellite April 15th.
[Space Travel – 03/31/2010]

Russia increases security for train rollout of Soyuz rocket for launch to the International Space Station, in aftermath of suicide bomb attacks.
[Space Daily – 03/31/2010]

Documents filed by FCC indicate that Harbinger Capital Partners intends to use its recent acquisition of satellite communications company Skyterra to build out a 4G network, competing withy cellular carriers.
[Business Week – 03/30/2010]

India is developing winged reusable rocket for launching objects into space.
[Space Travel – 03/30/2010]

Singapore to have first locally-built satellite in space by middle of this year – a 120 kg micro-satellite called the X-Sat
[Space Daily – 03/30/2010]

Avanti wins government contract extension in Northern Ireland.
[Satellite Today – 03/30/2010]

CryoSat-2 satellite to be launched April 8 in program led by UK  to monitor changes in ice cover at the poles.
[Phys-Org – 03/30/2010]

NASA awards contracts to eight aerospace firms for Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition III spacecraft and related services.
[SatNews – 03/30/2010]

Norsat wins network service contract worth $1.7 million from military group based in Europe.
[SatNews – 03/30/2010]

Teal Group Corp. revises upward its Worldwide Mission Model of future space payloads, indicating there are 2,229 space payloads proposed for launch to Earth or Lunar orbits, or deep space trajectories, from 2010 – 2029.
SatNews – 03/30/2010]

SES WORLD SKIES hosts Defense Information Systems Network connection point at Manassas VA media port, enhancing U.S. government access to WORLD SKIES bandwidth and global connectivity.
[SatNews – 03/30/2010]

SatMAX, a leading provider of non-line of sight satellite communications  equipment signs letter of intent to grant exclusive domestic marketing rights to AvStar Aviation Group.
[CNN Money – 03/29/2010]

U.S. Air Force could transfer some Atlas and Delta rocket missions from Florida to California and assign U.S. military payloads to specific boosters closer to launch in effort in improve efficiencies in launch manifests.
[Space Flight Now – 03/29/2010]

Northrup Grumman stops some work on next generation of U.S. weather satellites as officials decide how to proceed under Obama administration’s decision to terminate and divide program among three government agencies.
[Spaceflight Now – 03/29/2010]

Russia Eyes bigger slice of international space market, planning to build a new space center.
[Space Daily – 03/29/2010]

AT&T and Verizon Wireless criticize FCC decision to require SkyTerra to seek FCC approval before leasing capacity to the two largest wireless providers.
[Business Week – 03/29/2010]

Globe Wireless enters agreement to supply and install two FleetBroadband satellite terminals per ship aboard approximately 350 Anlo Eastern Ship Management vessels.
[SatNews – 03/29/2010]

KVH Industries TracPhone and miniVSAT broadband systems to be installed on vessels of DSD Shipping of Norway.
[SatNews – 03/29/2010]

Arianespace Ariane 5 launch postponed several days to allow replacement of part in a launcher subsystem that caused an anomaly.
[SatNews – 03/28/2010]

Cape Canaveral new $500 million rocket launch tower unused, with Ares 1 rocket and entire Constellation program cancelled by the Obama administration.
[Space Travel – 03/28/2010]

Space shuttle Discovery to launch April 5 for 13 day mission in fourth-to-last shuttle launch.
[Discover Magazine – 03/28/2010]

U.S., Air Force responds to Iridium’s call to put hosted payloads, experiments, and sensors on the company’s next-generation satellites.
[Space Flight Now – 03/27/2010]

Air Force flight tests validate two-and-a-half year effort , successfully accessing the high-capacity Ka-band portion of the new WGS satellites from airborne 707 test bed.
[U.S. Air Force web site – 03/26/2010]

WBMSAT PS – Satellite Communications Consulting Services

Nice piece in today’s Star-Ledger, marking the 50th anniversary of the TIROS spacecraft, designed and built by RCA Astro-Electronics in East Windsor, NJ:

WALL — It didn’t get the respect of Sputnik or a hit song like Telstar, but 50 years ago today TIROS redefined the space race.

For the 78 days it functioned, this engineering marvel proved America could not only put a satellite into outer space but — in a giant leap beyond the Soviet satellites — take pictures once it got there.

"It was huge. Massive. It not only did radically change the study of meteorology, but it gave us the upper hand in the Cold War by showing the Russians we could spy on them from outer space," said historian Fred Carl. "How cool is that?"

Way cool. And impossible without New Jersey’s contribution, which may be why the state appears to be the only place celebrating TIROS’s big anniversary, according to NASA officials.
TIROS-satellite2.jpgPhoto by Carolyn Russo/NASMIn 1960, TIROS I became the world’s first successful imaging weather satellite. Nine more TIROS series spacecraft followed, and they revolutionized weather monitoring and prediction. This prototype of TIROS I and II was used for ground testing.
Granted, the festivities are not exactly on par with Columbus Day.

In Princeton, the party will start Saturday with a program featuring some of the scientists who worked at RCA Astro-Electronics in East Windsor, the birthplace of TIROS. In Wall Township, home of the giant dish that received the first images sent back from TIROS, local officials will gather April 11 to sign an application to put the site on the National Historic Register.

In coming weeks there will be scholarly discussions about the future of space exploration and a dinner dance.

Primarily, however, the TIROS anniversary is an opportunity for aging scientists and engineers to reflect back on when they were there for the dawn of space travel.

"It was a time of national need and TIROS is about how one group of people responded to that need," said George Martch, 73, a retired RCA engineer who is organizing the Princeton celebration. "It’s hard now, when satellite photos are everywhere, to imagine what it was like back then before the technology existed.

"We were making it up as we went along."

Only 40 years earlier, meteorologists were still sending up kites to get weather readings, a practice that routinely caused electrocution. But World War II brought huge technological advances. By the 1950s, the basics were there.

Cameras had already gone briefly into space, attached on the backs of ballistic missiles. The military had put test satellites into brief orbit and NASA, the civilian space agency, was in place, although in its infancy.

The problem was putting it all together.

"What we had was mostly experimental. We had to adapt cameras and find a way to store images, since they could only be sent back under certain conditions," said Martch, adding they also developed a power source, antennas and a way to stabilize the orbit. "You have to remember, there really was no aerospace before this."

It was a time of flux, as systems, structural and electrical engineers, scientists, physicists, and experts in thermal dynamics and propulsion were switched back and forth, depending on the progress of each component, RCA retirees recalled.

There was drama along the way. They learned electronics will fry when subjected to the wrong pressure in a vacuum chamber. There were heated theoretical battles and even romance among two RCA scientists who later married.

The result looked like a giant hatbox and weighed less than a defensive lineman. It was aluminum and stainless steel and covered with 9,200 solar cells.

Launched April 1, 1960, out of Cape Canerval Florida, it stayed in orbit by spinning like a top, traveled 18,000 mph and could circle the earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of about 450 miles.

It was formally known as the Television Infra-Red Observation Satellite and shot 22,962 photographs before a fatal power failure ended its mission.

TIROS was the first satellite to publicly take photos of the earth, although there was a secret project launched by the U.S. military a year earlier. However, only TIROS could send photos back to Earth in real time.

The "Eye in the Sky," as TIROS was also called, needed a way to phone home, and that is where Camp Evans in Monmouth County came in.

The former property of telegraph pioneer Marconi had been absorbed by RCA. It was later sold to the military and the Signal Corps built a radar laboratory there during World War II, said Carl, a former science teacher who is leading a campaign to preserve the site.

A giant receiver that was assembled at Camp Evans, where it still exists. Minutes after TIROS sent back its first picture, it was on a jet to Washington and hand-delivered to President Eisenhower. He sent copies to the Russians and the Chinese as a "gesture of goodwill," noting TIROS busily was taking photos of both countries.

Kicking a little Communist butt at the height of the Cold War was only a side benefit of TIROS. Its real accomplishment came nine days into orbit, when it sent back a photograph of a curious cloud formation with a hole in the middle.

Planes were dispatched to the photo location, in one of the "silent spots" in the South Atlantic where it was formerly impossible to take weather readings. The "hole" was a nascent tropical storm.

Hurricane tracking was born.

"Solar cells, tape recorders, transistor tubes, phone cameras. They all are directly related to TIROS," said Carl. "But with storm tracking, TIROS is responsible for saving millions of lives, yet few people have ever heard of it. Don’t you think it’s time that changed?

The back-up can be found at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

The tracking antenna on Marconi Road in Wall, N.J.? Still working…

Our friends at NOAA are marking the anniversary as well…

Fifty years ago today, the world’s first weather satellite lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and opened a new and exciting dimension in weather forecasting. Top leaders from NOAA and NASA hailed the milestone as an example of their agencies’ strong partnership and commitment to flying the best satellites today and beyond.

The first image from the satellite, known as TIROS-1 (Television Infrared Observation Satellite), was a fuzzy picture of thick bands and clusters of clouds over the United States. An image captured a few days later revealed a typhoon about a 1,000 miles east of Australia. TIROS-1, a polar-orbiting satellite, weighed 270 pounds and carried two cameras and two video recorders. Though the satellite only lasted 78 days, its impact is still visible today.

“This satellite forever changed weather forecasting,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “Since TIROS-1, meteorologists have far greater information about severe weather and can issue more accurate forecasts and warnings that save lives and protect property.”

"TIROS-1 started the satellite observations and interagency collaborations that produced vast improvements in weather forecasts," said NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr. "It also laid the foundation for our current global view of Earth that underlies all of climate research and the field of Earth system science."

Throughout the 1960s, each TIROS spacecraft carried increasingly advanced instruments and technology. By 1965, meteorologists combined 450 TIROS images into the first global view of the world’s weather.

In a EUR13 billion deal that’s been brewing for years, Luxembourg-based SES (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) is acquiring Paris-based Eutelsat (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL) to preserve its EBITDA of 80%. The deal was announced after the SES Annual General Meeting, and may be approved as early as next week in Annecy. The deal is more than twice Eutelsat’s market cap.

SES aims to be the employer of choice in the industry. The company identifies, secures, engages, develops and retains the best talent to further expand its technological reach and business objectives. With this acquisition, we have struck our target and will thus be the only employer in the industry — at least in Europe.

As a result of the merger, the satellite fleet will be renamed HOT ASS and shall henceforth be abbreviated as  "HA." The combined companies’ 2,200-headcount is expected to remain the same.

No pesky DoJ or DoD review is requited, and the EU Competition Directorate is expected to approve the acquisition by the end of April…

Ceci est une bonne idée! Competition Policy is basically applying rules to make sure that companies compete with each other and, in order to sell their products, innovate and offer good prices to consumers. How can we not approve such an ingenious deal? Enough of this senseless rivalry. The EU wants better prices for all and full employment in the satellite business.

Meanwhile, the agreement with Yahsat for a DTH service in the Middle East is expected to benefit from hundreds of new "adult" channels and will be renamed YAH BABY!

 Happy April Fool’s Day. Yeah, we’ll come up with something better next year. Google’s name change to Topeka wins. Brilliant.

Satellites use in U.S. FCC’s broadband plan a big unknown.
[Aviation Week – 03/26/2010]

DirecTV may lose stations in fight over retransmission-consent fees.
[Contact Music – 03/26/2010]

Alliant Techsystems and Lockheed partner to develop smaller less expensive launch vehicles for smaller satellites.
[Wall Street Journal – 03/26/2010]

The 50th Ariane 5 was rolled out March 25 for March 26 launch with a mixed civilian and military telecommunications satellite payload.
[SatNews – 03/25/2010]

ViaSat receives approximately $21.5 million order for Multifunctional Information Distribution System – Low Volume Terminals (MIDS-LVT) from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), MIDS Program Office (MPO).
[SatNews – 03/25/2010]

Comtech EF Data wins $2.5 million order for satellite communications equipment for new satellite network of an Asian Pacific enterprise.
[TMCnet – 03/25/2010]

EchoStar Europe secures the ‘Best Hybrid Broadcast-IP Video Delivery Solution or Service’ award at the IPTV World Series Awards in London.
[SatNews – 03/25/2010]

Comtech AeroAstro is awarded $39.7 million contract to develop and deliver spacecraft bus to U.S. Navy for the Joint Milli-Arcsecond Pathfinder Survey mission.
[Market Watch – 03/25/2010]

Eutelsat welcomes launch of UK Space Agency and government recognition of satellite broadband for bridgint the "Digital Divide."
[RealWire – 03/25/2010]

Secure World Foundation has released a budget analysis that examines an array of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) space security programs as outlined in its Fiscal Year 2011 budget request.
[SatNews – 03/25/2010]

Measat-3a will distribute Discovery HD channel in Asia.
[Satellite Today – 03/25/2010]

KVH opens subsidiary based in Singapore to support growing demand for KVH’s miniVSAT satellite broadband and TracVision satellite TV services.
[The Maritime Executive – 03/25/2010]

Satcom Direct receives FAA certification for Inmarsat Satellite Communications Training Course to count toward requirements for Inspection Authorization renewal.
[SatNews – 03/25/2010]

European Union foreign ministers call on Iran to cease censorship and jamming of satellite broadcasts coming from Europe.
[Satellite Today – 03/25/2010]

KVH and Viasat receive authorization to operate the mini-VSAT service in the Indian Ocean region.
[SatNews – 03/25/2010]

Comtech EF Data receives $1 million order to provide C-band satellite communications equipment to a U.S. government agency.
[TMCnet – 03/24/2010]

High-level panel of space leaders and economic experts will meet in Colorado Springs to address impact on the overall information infrastructure and financial climate as the space industry becomes more international and more diversified.
[SatNews – 03/24/2010]

Sea&Space Exploration, a Brussels-based consulting company, and Global VSAT Forum release report at Satellite 2010 stating that global consumber and enterprise demand for satellite communications has strong potential to exceed historical trends.
[Satellite Today – 03/24/2010]

Hughes Network Systems and Vizada reach agreement expanding Hughes Europe’s portfolio of managed network services for European enterprises.
[SatNews – 03/24/2010]

Air Force to add high-speed satellite communications link to Global Hawk UAV.
[Military & Aerospace – 03/24/2010]

Innovative Solutions & Support announce receipt of FAA Supplemental Type Certificate for the Class 3 Electronic Charts and XM Satellite Weather upgrade to cockpit system of Eclipse Aerospace EA500 Very Light Jet.
[SatNews – 03/24/2010]

Twentieth Century Fox and SmartJob sign non-exclusive agreement for satellite distribution of digital cinema content to theatres in Europe.
[SatNews – 03/24/2010]

Spacecom, Israeli operator of AMOS satellite fleet, is selected by  Germany’s Da Vinci Media GmbH to distribut Da Vinci Learning Channel in Eastern and Central Europe.
[SatNews – 03/24/2010]

Canadian broadcaster’s get leverage  under new framework laid out by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to allow blockage of cable and satellite re-broadcast of local channels in absence of compensation.
[Montreal Gazette – 03/23/2010]

Comtech EF Data wins the World Teleport Association’s Teleport Technology of the Year award for its CDM-625 Advance Satellite Modem.
[CNN Money – 03/23/2010]

ORBCOMM launches web-based subscriber portal at CTIA Wireless 2010.
[PR Newswire – 03/23/2010]

Satellite communications set up for Abu Dhabi motor rally.
[Thaindian News – 03/23/2010]

Sierra Wireless and ORBCOMM announce new M2M portal that gives ORBCOMM’s customers ability to seamlessly track and manage equipment worldwide, even over ocean.
[SatNews – 03/23/2010]

EchoStar plans Dish Network market expansions in North America.
[Satellite Today – 03/23/2010

Surrey Satellite Technology welcomes British government program including launch of the UK’s first national space agency.
[SatNews – 03/23/2010]

SkyTerra stockholders approver merger with Harbinger Capital Partners.
[Satellite Today – 03/23/2010]

Thales Alenia Spaces negotiates with European Space Agency for contract to build Meteosat Third Generation satellites.
[Satellite Today – 03/23/2010]

Thrane & Thrane SwiftBroadband receives Inmarsat type approval and parts manufacturer approval from U.S. FAA.
[Satellite Today – 03/23/2010]

RapidEye enters reseller partnership with Harris.
[Satellite Today – 03/23/2010]

SatMAX announces record-breaking number of inquiries about its non-line of sight satellite equipment following second purchase order from U.S. Navy.
[TMCnet – 03/22/2010]

TerreStar to highlight satellite capability in standard mobile devices at CTIA Wireless 2010.
[Market Watch – 03/22/2010]

Higher bandwidth availability and networking requirements in Military Satellite Communications (MilSatCom) create new opportunities for advanced electronic components.
[Business Wire – 03/22/2010]

Eutelsat Communications has revealed it will be upgrading its satellite broadband service Tooway to offer download speeds of ‘up to’ 10Mbps by the end of 2010.
[Network World – 03/22/2010]

Bankruptcy court approves second round of financing for Sea Launch.
[Satellite Today – 03/22/2010]

Intelsat signes agreement with Turkish operator Turksat to provide satellite capacity serving Middle East region.
[Satellite Today – 03/22/2010]

Eutelsat Communications announces the successful completion of the UK-built communications module for its high-speed broadband communications satellite, KA-SAT.
[SatNews – 03/21/2010]

London-based environmental campaigner travelling world in biofuel-driven bus runs into legal trouble in India for using a satellite phone in the country.
[Simple Thoughts – 03/21/2010]

Leaders from 5 largest MSS companies debate form and function of mobile satellite industry at Satellite 2010, and praise the U.S. FCC’s broadband plan.
[Satellite Today Satellite 2010 – March 2010]

OverHorizon has selected Arianespaace to launch into orbit their OHO-1 satellite.
{SatNews – 03/21/2010]

WBMSAT PS – Satellite Communications Consulting Services

“This reflects the Air Force’s strong commitment to providing superior protected satellite communications capabilities for the war fighter.” That’s what Steve Tatum wrote in response to the news of the USAF’s pending request for $6.5 billion to get the Advanced EHF program into space. The first one launched in September:

The Air Force said it will request four years of funds totaling $6.5 billion for a Lockheed Martin Corp. military communications program that plans to launch its first satellite in September after six years of delays.

The funding request for fiscal years 2012-2015 will follow $598 million sought for fiscal 2011, according to an e-mail from Gary Payton, the Air Force’s top civilian for space programs. The six-satellite program is budgeted at a total of $9.9 billion.

The request, part of the Pentagon’s current five-year budget plan, reflects the Air Force moving forward with a program endorsed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates now that delays and technical problems have been worked out.

Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin and its top subcontractor, Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp., have been awarded contracts to build the first three satellites. They may get contracts for a fourth that the Air Force budgeted for next year and two more planned by 2014. The Air Force budget figures show that the service may buy a seventh satellite starting in fiscal 2015.

The Advanced EHF program calls for six satellites, capable of withstanding shocks from a nuclear attack, to allow secure communications between top commanders including the president. It also would provide transmission of tactical communications such as real-time video, battlefield maps and targeting data.

Good day at the office for Lockheed Martin (and subcontractor Northrup Grumman). How "advanced" is this system? Dude.

The B-2 is being upgraded, using fiber connections — inside the aircraft.  A single AEHF spacecraft will provide more capacity than the entire Milstar system currently on-orbit — combined.

Watch this…

This Mini outfitted with a mobile antenna is pretty cool, although it may not be as practical as the "command vehicle" put together by CAMMS.

CAMMS™ (Command Anywhere Media Management System) was developed to enable a totally secure, scalable mobile mesh (ad hoc) network and provide the necessary tools for Command Anywhere.

The CAMMS™ mobile mesh software program is a patent pending Windows-based program, which provides the foundation for an ad hoc, self-forming / self-healing wireless mobile mesh network.   It provides interoperability and allows real time communications with any others users in the mesh.

Mobile mesh (ad hoc) networks offer many advantages over other types of communications networks.  Chief among these is the ability of the mesh to function independently of a land-based infrastructure.

When communication is linked solely to a land-based infrastructure an acute vulnerability exists.  By utilizing a mesh, the network infrastructure becomes decentralized, avoiding a central point of failure and control.  Command can be located anywhere with hand off from first responder to others when required instantly.

The CAMMS™ mobile mesh software does not require servers or fixed access points (FAP’s) and is compatible with existing mesh AP’s.  The software may be purchased separately to maximize existing communications systems or as part of complete interoperable communications solution that includes software and AP.

The FCC National Broadband Plan‘s release probably has nothing to do with the Satellite 2010 trade show at the Gaylord National Harbor Resort.

Sure, satcom is referenced in the plan, especially chapter 4.

More bandwidth. Lower price per MHz. Yeah, right.