12 November 2000

Satcoms

Alcatel Space Wins Contract for Three Express Payloads
The Russian Satellite Communications Company has contracted Alcatel Space to supply the communications payloads for three Express satellites.

The satellites, Express A1R and two Express AM satellites, are being constructed by NPO-PM. Alcatel already supplied the comms payloads for Express A3 and A6.

Express A1R is a replacement for Express A1, which was destroyed during launch last October when the second stage of its Proton launch vehicle malfunctioned. It will carry five Ku band transponders, twelve C band transponders, and one L-band transponders. It will generate 2.5 kW of on-board power and will have an expected operational life of seven years. It will be launched in 2002 at the earliest.

The two Ekspress AM satellites will have different payload configurations. One will have 10 Ku and 20 C band transponders, whilst the second will carry 1 Ku band and 24 C band transponders. Each will generate 7.3 kW of onboard power and will have a design life of 12 years. The first will be launched in 2002.

Avaya to Use Loral Cyberstar DVB Services to Deliver Training
Avaya, formerly the Enterprise Networks Group of Lucent Technologies, has chosen CyberStar to globally distribute its corporate communications and training content using CyberStar s high-speed, satellite-based, Infomedia business TV network.

Avaya locations in Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region will all receive training and corporate communications programming delivered from Avaya s US data centre in Colorado, USA.

Avaya will use the CyberStar network to deliver a range of eLearning programs including sales training, certification, product information and human resource training as well corporate communications and special event broadcasts for both internal employees and external partners and customers. The satellite-based network allows Avaya to bypass narrowband landline connections that make video distribution overseas virtually impossible and take content straight to remote offices networks.

Connexion and Loral Skynet Team for Atlantic Airline Internet Service
Connexion by Boeing and Loral Skynet do Brasil have teamed to provide transatlantic coverage to airline passengers between North America and Northern Europe.

Connexion will lease transponders on the Estrela do Sul 1 satellite, which is to be operated by Loral Skynet do Brasil, to provide Internet connectivity to flights over the North Atlantic. The satellite is scheduled for launch in mid 2002 and will be located at 63° W in geostationary orbit.

The Connexion by Boeing service will be available for installation onboard commercial aircraft beginning in 2001 and will expand coverage to Europe in late 2002.

Further Insat 2B Failure
India's Insat 2B satellite has failed for a second time in days, prompting its owners ISRO to decide to switch it off once a replacement satellite is launched next year.

Currently all of Insat 2B's services have been moved to other satellites except for those on three C band transponders and two S band transponders. The spacecraft's Data Relay Transponder will also continue to be used. The satellite's replacement, Insat 3C, will be launched in mid 2001 at which time it will take over the remaining services from Insat 2B.

Nera to Supply Satellite System for Telenor's Broadband Pilot
Nera has signed a contract with Telenor to supply a pilot system for broadband connection via satellite. The system will be part of Telenor's large field trial on broadband connection with a value of NOK 10 million.

Nera's communication system enables two-way, high capacity multimedia connection over Telenor's existing digital broadcasting satellites. The system is based on the DVB-RCS standard, and the technology will supplement broadband solutions based on cable - which will mainly be employed in cities and densely populated areas.

In their pilot project, Telenor will offer multimedia access solutions to defined test users among small and medium sized businesses and advanced private users, for example with a home office. The users will be able to benefit from capacities of up to 50 Mb/s into the home and up to 2 Mb/s in the return channel for interactive applications.

Nera's system comprises user terminals to be placed at the pilot customers as well as the main terminal, which will be connected to Telenor's earth station at Nittedal. Delivery of the system will be completed before the end of June 2001.

The field trial will be carried out as one of several pilot trials run by Telenor's Hybrid Broadband Access project.

Replacing Kopernikus
Société Européenne des Satellites SA (SES) and Deutsche Telekom AG have signed an agreement for SES to provide follow-on capacity for Deutsche Telekom's DFS 1 Kopernikus FM3 satellite at 23.5° E.

Following the agreement with Deutsche Telecom, SES has placed a contract with Boeing Satellite Systems Inc for the construction of the Astra 3A satellite.

Under the terms of the agreement with Deutsche Telekom, the German telecommunications company will utilise transponders on Astra 3A in order to continue DFS Kopernikus' existing cable TV feeds as well as to offer additional broadband communications. The remaining capacity on Astra 3A will be commercialised by SES, mainly for Internet and broadband services targeting the German language markets.

Astra 3A will be a Boeing 376 spin-stabilised satellite carrying 20 active high-power Ku band transponders (21 at beginning of life) with a bandwidth of 36 MHz in the DFS Kopernikus downlink frequency range 11.45 - 11.70 and 12.50 - 12.75 GHz. The spacecraft will have a minimum design life of 10 years in orbit and feature an optimised footprint for DTH reception (direct-to-home) in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Shaw Awarded Canadian Ka Band Licence
Shaw Communications Inc's Star Choice direct-to-home (DTH) satellite company, has been authorised by Industry Canada to build and launch a Ka band satellite using the satellite orbital position at 107.3° W.

This satellite will be used by Star Choice to offer its customers two-way, high-speed Internet access and a variety of interactive, multimedia services.

The Ka band satellite at 107.3° W will also provide extensive coverage of the continental United States. Shaw will be seeking partners to develop Ka band satellite opportunities in the US.

Streamlining CAST's Multichannel TV Operation
Multichannel broadcast television company CAST (Cable & Satellite Transmission Ltd) has streamlined part of its operations with automated digital video storage and delivery through the collaboration of Harris Automation Solutions and SeaChange International Inc.

A division of Barnes Trust Television, which owns Teddington Studios and Klones, CAST is one of the major playout facilities in the UK. CAST was established in 1994 and broadcasts over 100,000 hours of television per annum for a variety of clients from cable television pay-per-view to international satellite channels.

The configuration of SeaChange's Broadcast MediaCluster MPEG-2 video server system with Louth ADC-100 automation equipment from Harris Automation Solutions currently supports five television channels, including a number of the popular Zee TV channels and a home shopping service. CAST plans to expand its SeaChange-originated output with the addition of at least three channels, which will take advantage of SeaChange's Time Delay capability to delay satellite broadcasts from London to other time zones.

The Louth Media Client is used to prepare tapes and record over 300 hours of programming in the Broadcast MediaCluster, while the Louth Air Monitor provides a unique multichannel timeline display. A 24-hour operation with no proprietary traffic control, CAST's Louth Air Clients each handle four program play lists and provide play list creation and editing tools. The system is interfaced to the CAST central Transmission Control area, which is a state-of-the-art signal, audio and picture quality control area staffed by highly experienced transmission controllers.

Due to its expansion in channels and program output, CAST decided to replace a number of the existing hybrid server and cart/tape-based systems with a solution that was more flexible and scalable enough to allow for further anticipated expansion. Key considerations were SeaChange's and Harris Automation Solutions' proven record in interoperability, the provision of stable, established software configurable to the customer's requirements, and the user-friendly technologies, which enable operators to quickly become expert users of SeaChange's and Louth's systems. Another crucial factor in choosing video server and automation providers was the ability to have the system up and running within six weeks of placing the order.

The SeaChange Broadcast MediaCluster is available in various configurations to support small TV stations and the largest multichannel requirements, with incremental upgrade-as-you-grow capabilities. Each BMC system is comprised of server nodes, which leverage SeaChange's patented MediaCluster architecture to scale gracefully in storage and I/O capacity, while providing fault-resilience without costly mirroring of video data. With breakthrough performance at 50 Mb/s, SeaChange's new codecs are designed to provide Pro-MPEG compliance, which enables bit-stream interoperability between vendors.

Teleglobe Uses Inktomi Caching and Streaming Solution
Teleglobe is to deploy the Inktomi Traffic Server network cache platform, Media-IXT streaming media caching software and Content Delivery Suite software within its global Internet backbone network and at customer sites.

Teleglobe will use this core enabling technology to provide caching services as well as live and on-demand streaming services to deliver rich media and web content. It intends to introduce full commercial service in December 2000.

TRW Develops Ultracompact Upconverter for Communications Payloads
TRW has developed a highly compact upconverter which, weighing about 30 g, dramatically lowers the size and weight of TRW communication satellite payloads, while improving their capabilities.

The upconverter will see its first use in the payloads that TRW is building for Astrolink International LLC's global broadband telecommunications system, slated to begin service in 2003. It features TRW proprietary gallium arsenide integrated circuits, and converts payload signals at frequencies between 200 MHz and 5 GHz to Astrolink's Ka band downlink frequency of between 18 and 21 GHz for transmission to Earth.

TRW has completed and successfully tested an engineering model of the Astrolink upconverter and has started full-scale production of flight units.

Despite its small size, the miniaturised upconverter contains a number of high-performance components, including a 2X frequency multiplier, filters, an upconverter macrocell integrated circuit, an output amplifier and a voltage regulator.

USB Interface for Gilat Broadband Modems
Silicom Ltd has customised its USB technology to be deployed within the two-way, always-on broadband-over-satellite modems of Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.

Silicom will deliver USB interfaces to Gilat which have been customised to Gilat's specifications, worth approximately US$ 1 million, mostly during the fourth quarter of 2000. Silicom's plug-and-play USB technology enables broadband modems to be connected easily using the computer's external USB port.

Navigation

Lockheed Martin To Study Next Generation GPS
The US Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin Space Systems one of two industry contracts valued at US$ 16 million each to start a 12-month System Architecture and Requirements Definition (SARD) study for the next-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) program referred to as GPS III.

The Lockheed Martin GPS III team comprises a broad range of industrial partners including ITT Industries as the navigation payload provider, Rockwell Collins as provider of user equipment for both military and civil needs, and the Ball Aerospace Systems Group for technical expertise in space and ground components.

The objective of the SARD study will be to evolve military and civilian needs into performance and architectural concepts that optimise cost, schedule, performance and risk for the future system. Upon the completion of this study, the Air Force will conduct an open competition and award two contracts for the subsequent 26-month Program Definition/Risk Reduction (PDRR) phase. The single winner of the PDRR phase will be awarded responsibility for the GPS III Engineering, Manufacturing and Development of the program, as well as the sustainment of all existing GPS space and ground elements.

As envisioned, key objectives of the GPS III system include:

• The addition of two-new high power spot beam military-code (M-code) signals to the L-1 and L-2 channels that provide Warfighters with significantly enhanced anti-jam capability to meet battlespace needs
• The addition of two new civilian channels that provide three higher power navigation signals for civilian use in local, regional and national safety-of-life applications for improved position, navigation and timing knowledge
• Simplification of the GPS ground control architecture

Technology

Discovery Semiconductors Awarded Microsatellite Technology Patent
Discovery Semiconductors Inc has been granted US Patent 6,137,171 entitled "Lightweight miniaturised integrated micro-satellite employing advanced semiconductor processing and packaging technology".

The innovations claimed in the patent enable reducing the weight of communications and remote sensing satellites to 10 kg and the volume to 5000 cubic centimetres. The instrumentation module or payload portion of the satellite can be reduced to 32 grams and 200 cc.

This drastically lowers the cost of launching and maintaining fleets of low earth orbiting satellites. The packaging concepts utilised within the patent have broad applications for reducing the size and weight of many complex electronic assemblies in terrestrial and submarine systems.

Conventional satellites are ten times bigger and heavier than the patented design due to the bulk of packaging separate functions in individual sub-assemblies. By employing the company's capabilities to design and fabricate opto-electronic integrated circuits (OEIC) on Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) and Silicon (Si) wafers, complete sub-systems of the electronic module will be fabricated on individual wafers.

These wafers are then stacked in a cylindrical central housing and interconnected to the module via contacts on the circumference of the wafers.

Selected signals can be communicated between wafers utilising light sources and detectors integrated onto the wafers via methods patented by Discovery Semiconductors in US patent number 5,621,227 ("Method and apparatus for monolithic opto-electronic integrated circuit using selective epitaxy").

For example, the RF communications antenna would be fabricated on the wafer facing earth with one of the company's wide bandwidth detectors at its centre. The antenna drive signal would be communicated from the signal-processing wafer via an integrated semiconductor laser, eliminating the need for bulky RF interconnects.

In another example cited in the patent, the diffraction grating, several photodiode detection arrays and the signal-processing circuitry of a multi-wavelength band spectrometer could be implemented on one wafer for remote sensing applications. Combined with additional optics, the spectrometer would image the earth's landmass in UV, visible and infrared light to monitor the health of crops.

The monolithic design greatly improves the reliability of the spectrometer as it eliminates many mechanical connections that would be susceptible to vibration failure in a space launch.

Launches

GPS IIR-06

Launched: 10 November 2000
Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Launcher: Delta II
International Number: 2000-071A
Name: GPS IIR-06 (also called USA 154, Navstar 49 and SVN-41)
Owner: US Air Force
Contractor: Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space

Business

Aerojet and Pratt & Whitney End Joint Venture Talks
Aerojet and Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corporation, have ended negotiations to form a new joint venture space propulsion company.

Under the previously announced proposal, Aerojet's propulsion programs would have moved from Sacramento to facilities operated by Pratt & Whitney as majority owner.

Datron Sells Microwave Product Line
Datron Systems Inc has signed a definitive agreement to sell its microwave products line to Nurad Technologies Inc of Baltimore, Maryland for US$ 4 million in cash plus future incentives.

Nurad Technologies is a wholly owned subsidiary of a Chelton Group Company, which is owned by Cobham plc, a UK public company. The sale is expected to close later this quarter subject to certain pre-closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approval.

Datron's microwave products, which are sold under the "Transco" name, consist of fixed position microwave antennas for the aerospace industry that are used on high performance aircraft, missiles and space launch vehicles. This product line had sales of US$ 5 million in fiscal 2000.

HNS Expands into Middle East and Africa
Hughes Network Systems (HNS) has expanded its presence in the Middle East and Africa with the opening of a regional office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The Dubai office will also work closely with HNS' established network of distributors in the Middle East and Africa. Mr Soheil Mehrabanzad, regional director for Hughes Network Systems in Africa and the Middle East, will oversee the Dubai office.

Norsat Focuses On Broadband, Divests Norsat America
Norsat International Inc plans to divest Norsat America Inc, a wholly owned US subsidiary, in order to intensify the focus on its broadband and VSAT businesses.

The company has retained a US-based investment bank, to assist with the divestiture. Beginning in the third quarter, the company will report Norsat America as a discontinued operation.

Norsat America distributes DirecTV, DirectPC and other entertainment products in the United States through a network of 14 branch offices and 3,500 independent dealers.

Products and Services

StarBand Launches Service
StarBand Communications Inc, formerly known as Gilat-To-Home, has launched its high-speed, two-way Internet service via satellite for consumers in the United States.

StarBand is scheduled to launch its service in Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico next year.

Consumers can access the service using either a StarBand-ready Compaq personal computer from RadioShack or the StarBand Model 180 satellite modem which is available from DISH Network retailers and connects to an existing personal computer through a USB port.

The StarBand service supports 500 kb/s downstream (from Internet to PC) and 150 kb/s upstream. StarBand's oval dish will cost US$ 399 plus US$ 199 for installation, with a monthly subscription charge of US$ 69.

StarBand competitor Hughes Network Systems is due to launch its service before the end of the year.

People

Loral Names Director, Investor Relations
Loral Space & Communications has announced the appointment of Tony Doumlele as senior director, investor relations.

In this position, Mr Doumlele will be responsible for communications with the investor community for Loral and its business units, including Globalstar, the global mobile satellite telephone service. Based in Loral's New York City office, Mr. Doumlele will report to Jeanette Clonan, vice president, corporate communications and investor relations.

WildBlue Recruits Key Experts
WildBlue has named four new director-level employees to help the company in its efforts to establish an affordable satellite-based broadband Internet service.

Joining the satellite Internet company are director of satellite uplink/downlink gateways, Joe Ducey; director of satellite programs, Remberto Martin; director of subscriber antenna and transceiver development, Ken Westall; and director of information systems, David Novick.

As WildBlue's director of satellite uplink/downlink gateways, Ducey will manage all aspects of the design and construction of WildBlue's gateways to the Internet. These facilities will receive and transmit data to the satellites, provide content caching and centralised services (e-mail, web hosting, etc.), and house the intelligent processing that manages the sharing of bandwidth across multiple customers.

As WildBlue's director of satellite programs, Martin will manage the development of all WildBlue Ka band satellites. WildBlue's first satellite, which is currently being built by Space Systems/Loral is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2002.

As director of subscriber antenna and transceiver development, Westall will lead the effort to develop an affordable satellite dish that can transmit and receive data, a key component of WildBlue's broadband Internet service. He will be responsible for directing the design and manufacture of the satellite dish, including the design and development, vendor selection, production and continual product improvement.

At WildBlue, Novick will be responsible for building the company's customer care systems (including customer service, provisioning and billing) and business information systems.

Web spacenewsfeed.co.uk