13 August 2000

Satcoms

American Millennium Announces VisTrac Mobile Asset Tracking Product
American Millennium Corporation Inc has announced today the release of its new "VisTrac" product line. The VisTrac is an inexpensive, satellite-based, end-to-end, mobile asset tracking system.

The VisTrac products are designed to allow managers to know the location and status of "widely" mobile assets using only a web browser.

VisTrac is an affordable, fully self-contained, satellite-based, mass-producible solution, which can operate for over two years on a single non-rechargeable battery. The core product consists of two components: a completely self-contained VisTrac terminal device, which is attached to the asset and is based on Vistar Datacom's GlobalWave modems and satellite communications solution, and AMCI's Internet-based Sat-Trac tracking and monitoring package.

Globalstar Coverage Increased With Addition of New Gateway
Globalstar USA has announced additional international roaming service in South America as well as advanced coverage in the Caribbean.

The additional countries served by a newly completed gateway in Venezuela include Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Martinique, and Guadeloupe. Initially, coverage in the Caribbean was scheduled for later this year. However, due to customer interest, Globalstar is providing coverage in the area now -- with the exception of Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Jamaica -- utilising the gateways in Venezuela and Clifton, Texas. Coverage for all of the Caribbean will be switched to the Puerto Rican gateway in the fourth quarter.

More Contracts for Globecomm
Globecomm Systems Inc has been awarded three contracts with an aggregate value of approximately US$ 2.3 million, for satellite infrastructure equipment and services and power supply equipment upgrades in Kenya, Romania and Hong Kong. These projects are scheduled to be complete by the end of calendar year 2000.

Highlights of these contracts include the following:

Kenya - Globecomm Systems was awarded a contract for the supply of Uninterruptible AC and DC Power Supplies (UPSs) to supplement existing equipment at a Satellite Earth Station located in Longonot, Kenya. This equipment will enable that company to provide more reliable telecommunication service to its customers.

Romania - The Company was awarded a contract by a lottery systems company for the supply of a Modular Building Block Gateway Satellite Earth Station, with a 5.6 meter antenna, in Bucharest, Romania. This Earth Station will become a hub for lottery data services.

Hong Kong - The Company was awarded a contract by a satellite broadcasting company for the installation of monitoring and control systems and an 11 meter turnkey Satellite Earth Station in Kowloon, Hong Kong. This is the second contract with this customer. This project will enhance the customer's ability to provide Direct-to-Home Pay-TV to its subscribers.

Music Choice Selects NDS Technology
NDS Group plc, a leader in providing business solutions to content owners and TV channels through sophisticated interactive TV technology, has been chosen by Music Choice to provide digital TV technology for its new enhanced services on the Sky digital platform.

This contract follows on from NDS' provision of advanced interactive solutions on the Sky digital platform for Discovery, Flextech, Sky Sports Active and QVC UK.

NDS is providing Music Choice Europe with a cutting edge technology solution to enhance the viewer experience across the full range of Music Choice channels on the Sky digital platform. The application will supply a branded face to the Music Choice service as well as opening up opportunities for sponsorship and e-commerce in the future. The service will be available to UK consumers from autumn 2000.

Pegasus Communications and MetaTV To Develop Interactive TV Portal for Satellite Subscribers
Pegasus Communications Corporation, America's third largest digital broadcast satellite (DBS) provider, and MetaTV, the first global provider of broadband portals and applications for interactive television (iTV), have signed a strategic agreement to develop the first portal designed specifically to deliver iTV and TV-centric internet services to satellite subscribers in underserved areas.

Under the terms of the agreement, MetaTV will design, develop, maintain and host an iTV portal for Pegasus that leverages the MetaTV Universal Portal Platform.

MetaTV will enable the Pegasus portal to deploy on top of the Liberate TV Platform, which includes Liberate Connect Suite server software and Liberate TV Navigator client software. The MetaTV Universal Portal Platform will provide a state-of-the-art portal that will fully exploit the native capabilities of the Liberate environment, allowing Pegasus to deliver a robust offering of interactive content and services through the entertainment-rich media of television.

Teracom Orders 1,500 Wegener Digital Receivers
Wegener Corporation, a leading provider of digital satellite transmission equipment to broadcast television and cable networks worldwide, has received an order from Sweden's national broadcast agency, Teracom AB, for an additional 1,500 of Wegener's Unity 500 Digital Television Receiver.

Teracom, owned by the Swedish government, is responsible for the operation of all terrestrial broadcasting of television and most radio transmissions in Sweden. ATG, a customer of Teracom, manages the country's horse racing video distribution.

Teracom will use the Unity 500, in conjunction with its existing Compel Network Management System, to manage the distribution of horse racing video and race information over satellite for ATG. Teracom will install, operate and support the Unity 500's in all of ATG's Agent locations. Teracom will create multiple virtual networks from one master Compel control system, enabling total control over a defined sub-network while maintaining one central network control authority. This allows ATG AB to manage portions of their distribution network using Compel Web Access.

The Unity 500 Digital Television Receiver is high performance, economical satellite receiver targeted to meet the needs of the private and satellite television market place. Supporting both PAL and NTSC video standards, the Unity 500 operates in international applications providing high quality video, audio and data. The Unity 500 supports DVB Teletext and Line 21 closed captioning for enhanced video functionality. Data is also available on the Unity 500 at rates of 38.4 kb/s asynchronous and up to 15 Mb/s IP Data through a 100 Base T Ethernet output. The Unity 500 can also be commanded by Compel to display its serial number on-screen for asset protection.

WorldSpace Ready to Broadcast to Mobiles
Engineers from WorldSpace Corporation and the Fraunhofer Institut Integrierte Schaltungen have completed a successful test and demonstration of two techniques which together set the stage for WorldSpace receivers to operate in automobiles throughout the WorldSpace coverage area. These techniques are Time Diversity reception technology using current WorldSpace satellites and Multi-carrier Modulation (MCM) terrestrial rebroadcast technology for seamless reception in urban areas.

Time Diversity was achieved through the use of two broadcast channels from the AfriStar satellite, one channel delayed by 4.32 seconds with respect to the other. Time Diversity was used to eliminate blockages of the satellite transmission caused by obstacles such as bridges, trees and buildings that interrupt the line of sight to the satellite while in a moving vehicle. The method works by normally listening to the late channel and storing the early channel in a 4.32-second delayed memory. When a blockage occurs the receiver switches to the stored early channel in which the delayed early program is precisely synchronised with the content of the blocked late channel, thus eliminating any blockage of the flow of program content. The same process also works with data transmissions thus preventing the loss of any information content.

The MCM technology was demonstrated by conducting ground retransmissions of the same broadcast channels received from the satellite through three properly located terrestrial repeaters in Erlangen. The tests successfully demonstrated the efficacy of the MCM technique to allow seamless reception even in areas with heavy blockages of the direct signal path.

Taken together, these tests demonstrated the ability to receive the WorldSpace signal without any interruption through highway underpasses as well as in urban areas with tall buildings and structures. This is the first time that satellite Time Diversity and associated MCM retransmissions of the satellite signal have been demonstrated

Additional tests and demonstrations are to be performed in Pretoria South Africa during September 2000 using a terrestrial single frequency network of MCM transmitters combined with Time Diversity satellite reception from the AfriStar satellite. Mobile receivers will compare the signal quality from the terrestrial and satellite broadcast channels and automatically select which signal best provides seamless reception between satellite reception areas and terrestrial reception areas.

Navigation

Trimble Awarded High Precision GPS Contract
Trimble has been awarded a three-year contract to provide Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers for SuomiNet, a university-based, national GPS network that is being developed for atmospheric research and education in the US.

The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) awarded the SuomiNet contract with funding from the National Science Foundation and collaborating universities. Under the three-year contract, Trimble will provide an indefinite quantity, expected to be at least 100 systems per year, of the Company's 4700 GPS receivers with a Micro-centred antenna.

Trimble's GPS receivers will be used in the SuomiNet network to make thousands of accurate measurements of the upper and lower atmosphere per day. The atmosphere induces delays in GPS signals, which can be converted into water vapour and ionospheric measurements. This data, available in real-time on the Internet, will help university researchers and scientists study, model and assimilate information to improve our understanding in a wide range of areas including floods, regional and global climate changes, meteorology, astronomy and earthquakes.

Trimble's 4700 GPS receiver is a high-performance, dual-frequency GPS reference station, capable of making accurate measurements at the millimetre level. It is compact, lightweight, with low-power consumption and able to withstand extreme environmental conditions.

The Trimble 4700 Micro-centred antenna has sub-millimetre phase centre repeatability, reduced multipath and superior low elevation satellite tracking when compared with Choke Ring antennas. Low elevation satellite tracking is especially important for atmospheric research.

Military Space

Comtech Receives US$ 1.3 Million MTS Order
Comtech Mobile Datacom Corporation has received US$ 3.1 million in orders from the US Army for the supply of equipment associated with the Movement Tracking System (MTS) program.

This award, the first large equipment delivery order against Comtech's eight year, US$ 418million contract announced in June 1999, follows months of extensive operational and environmental testing conducted by the Army Test & Evaluation Command (ATEC). With this order, the Army has taken the first step in what could eventually be an Army-wide deployment of Comtech's messaging and location tracking MTS system.

The orders include the delivery of satellite tracking and messaging equipment for more than 460 Army logistics vehicles and mobile control stations, including the associated satellite-based communications services. Delivery of units to Fort. Hood is to begin in September.

Comtech, with the assistance of its partner, Anteon Corporation of Fairfax, Virginia, will also train the MTS operators in the use of the tracking and messaging applications that are part of the system. Equipment is manufactured to Comtech's specifications by SCI Systems, of Huntsville, Alabama and PGI of Hauppauge, New York. MTS mapping software is provided by Miletus Associates of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Remote Control Unit for Motorola's Satcom Radio
Motorola Inc has introduced a Remote Control Unit (RCU) for the LST-5D Satellite Communications (Satcom) radio that enables users to establish communications from ground locations that are outside the line-of-site (LOS) to a satellite.

Users simply set up the small satellite antenna in an area that has a clear signal to the satellite then they use the RCU to move the radio into areas that are under cover, such as bunkers and large buildings.

Users can attach a stand-alone, remote cryptographic device to the RCU to preserve transmission security (TRANSEC) of the information between the RCU and the LST-5D. The RCU also features a large, easy-to-read wide viewing angle screen with adjustable intensity for a variety of situations.

The front panel includes a convenient connector for audio, data and fill applications and a single switch that easily controls all key management functions of the radio. For aircraft applications, the RCU fits into the aircraft console and interfaces with the system's input-output via its rear connectors.

The LST-5D Lightweight Satellite Transceiver is the building block for a whole Motorola family of UHF Satcom systems designed to fit the warfighter's various missions and needs.

The Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA) radio system are portable, tactical FM/AM/PSK (Frequency Modulation/Amplitude Modulation/Phase Shift Key), UHF systems used for half-duplex, line-of-sight or satellite secure or non-secure communications.

They feature embedded Communication Security (COMSEC) and DAMA capabilities when combined with Motorola's certified AM-7175 (200 W Power Amplifier) and the PTPE-301D (Preamplifier) and are suitable for manpack, platform (fixed and rotary winged aircraft, ship/patrol boats), vehicular (wheeled and tracked) or fixed-station applications.

Science

NASA Sending Two Rovers to Mars
NASA has announced plans to launch two large scientific rovers to Mars in 2003, rather than the originally planned single rover.

Both Mars rovers currently are planned for launch on Delta II rockets from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The first mission is scheduled for May 22, with the second launch planned for June 4. After a seven-and-a-half month cruise, the first rover should enter Mars' atmosphere on January 2, 2004, with the second rover landing on the Martian surface on January 20.

The rovers will be exact duplicates of each other and will weigh in at 140 kg each. The rovers will have six wheels and will be powered by solar cells. For communications, the rovers will have a dish antenna which will link directly to Earth. Images from Mars will be posted immediately to a special web site. The rovers will probably have enough power for approximately 90 days of operation and will travel approximately 100 m each day.

During the next two to three years, engineers and scientists will conduct an intensive search for potential touchdown sites. Using the flood of data still coming in from Mars Global Surveyor, and that expected starting in 2002 from the Mars 2001 Orbiter, scientists will search for compelling landing zones with the fewest hazards and select the best candidates.

NASA estimates that building, launching and operating the first rover is expected to cost US$ 350 million to US$ 400 million. An identical second mission, which benefits from economies in testing and development, adds about US$ 200 million.

Manned Space

RSC Energia and Spacehab Team for ISS Enterprise Module
A Joint Resolution Document between the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (RASA) and RSC Energia (RSCE) has confirmed agreements to replace the Docking and Stowage Module of the International Space Station (ISS) with the commercial module Enterprise.

Enterprise is being designed and built as a commercial venture by RSCE and Spacehab for launch and deployment in 2003. RSCE is the prime contractor for the Russian Segment of the International Space Station.

The existence of this document, completed May 19, 2000, was confirmed by RSCE in the wake of announcements by other companies of potential plans to build their own module and attach it to the ISS.

RSCE and Spacehab are constructing Enterprise. The first truly commercial facility to be attached to the ISS, it will serve as a multimedia production facility as well as supporting scientific research, station logistics and stowage and acting as a docking location for visiting Soyuz and Progress supply spacecraft.

According to the Joint Resolution Document, Enterprise will be launched on a Zenit launch vehicle and docked to the ISS Russian Segment. Enterprise is currently under development and scheduled for attachment to the ISS in early 2003.

"Survivor" to Fly on Mir
TV producer Mark Burnett intends to build a show around a competition between 13 to 15 contestants undergoing space training in Russia. The winners prize - a 10 day trip to the Mir space station.

The "Destination Mir" show, which will be sold to major networks, is based on Burnett's "Survivor" game show. Contestants will undergo rigorous physical and psychological screening and will be sent to Star City in Russia for their training. In each weekly episode, the Russian officials overseeing the training will reject one of the contestants. In the final episode, the last remaining contestant will be launched in a Soyuz rocket along with two cosmonauts to Mir for a 10 day stay.

The mission and training program will be conducted by MirCorp for a US$ 20 million fee which will be paid by the network which wins the broadcasting rights.

Launch Services

Andrews Space & Technology Wins Contract for Future Space Transportation Study
Andrews Space & Technology has been awarded a contract by the NASA to conduct a Future Space Transportation Study that will analyse emerging space markets and their transportation needs.

The initial four-month study by Andrews Space & Technology supports NASA's work to define how the agency can get into space more safely and for less money using a second-generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV) than is possible today travelling on the Space Shuttle, a first-generation vehicle.

The study is being funded by NASA's Research Announcement effort known as the Second Generation RLV Risk Reduction Definition Program. Under this same program, Andrews Space & Technology, won another six-month contract from Kelly Space & Technology of San Bernardino, California, to perform systems engineering and detailed design activities in support of Kelly Space's Second Generation RLV Risk Reduction contract. Andrews Space & Technology was awarded both contracts, worth nearly half-a-million dollars, last month.

Andrews Space & Technology's tasks for the Future Space Transportation Study, a multiphase effort, include: identifying non-aerospace companies that could profit from doing business in space; interviewing select companies to better understand how they could do business in orbit; developing commercial business models for their respective industry niches; and characterising market size and elasticity.

The study also will include deriving market-driven, second-generation RLV system design requirements to address potential emerging space markets. The markets to be researched in this initial study phase are on-orbit microchip fabrication, materials development and processing, pharmaceutical manufacturing development and other biomedical and clinical applications.

Future study phases will address space tourism, orbit logistics, space traffic management and orbital infrastructure.

Launches

Progress

Launched: 6 August 2000
Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Launcher: Soyuz U
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 234 km, perigee: 203 km: inclination: 51.3°
International Number: 2000-044A
Name: Progress M1-03

Progress M1 supply ship to the ISS, carrying fuel, clothes, computers, food and other supplies for the station which will be unpacked by the crew of shuttle mission STS-106 which is scheduled for early September.

On August 8 Progress M1-3 successfully docked with the Zvezda service module.

Cluster II

Launched: 9 August 2000
Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Launcher: Soyuz U/Fregat
Orbit: polar, apogee: 121,100 km, perigee: 16,900 km
International Number: 2000-045A/B
Name: Cluster II (2 satellites - FM5 and FM8)
Owner: European Space Agency
Contractor: Dornier Satellite Systems

This is the second of two launches which will each place two Cluster scientific spacecraft in orbit. The satellites will study solar weather and its interaction with the Earth during a two year mission.

Each cylindrical Cluster II spacecraft, measuring 2.9 m in diameter and 1.3 m in height, weighs 1.2 tonnes when it is fully fuelled (spacecraft: 480 kg, fuel: 650 kg, instruments: 70 kg). Most of the science instruments are attached to the main drum-shaped body of the satellite, but the Cluster II spacecraft also carries two 5 m-long experiment booms, four 50 m-long wire booms, and two antenna booms.

Each spacecraft carries the following complement of 11 identical instruments:

• Active Spacecraft Potential Control (ASPOC) - will reduce the electric charge on the spacecraft, so very low-speed electrons can be measured
• Cluster Ion Spectrometry (CIS) - will measure the relative abundance of protons and helium nuclei and determine their three-dimensional distribution in the solar wind and magnetosphere
• Digital Wave Processor (DWP) - will provide data processing for the plasma wave instruments
• Electron Drift Instrument (EDI) - will determine strength and direction of the ambient electric field
• Electric Fields and Waves (EFW) - will measure fluctuating electric fields in the plasma surrounding the spacecraft
• Fluxgate Magnetometer (FGM) - will measure static and fluctuating magnetic fields at the spacecraft
• Plasma Electron and Current Experiment (PEACE) - will provide three-dimensional measurements of electron distributions in the solar wind and magnetosphere
• Research with Adaptive Particle Imaging Detectors (RAPID) - will measure energetic ions and electrons
• Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Field Fluctuations (STAFF) - will measure high frequency waves in the local plasma
• Wideband (WBD) Plasma Wave Investigation - will detect very high-frequency plasma waves at very high time-resolution
• Waves of High Frequency and Sounder for Probing of Density by Relaxation (WHISPER) - will use high-frequency plasma waves to probe surrounding plasma to determine the local density of charged particles

Business

Orbcomm's Cash Crisis Grows
Orbcomm revises its business plan "to refocus its marketing, distribution and operational activities" for its LEO satellite data service, and fires an additional 100 staff.

The company, a joint venture between Orbital Sciences Corp and Teleglobe Inc, continues to suffer from a shortage of cash and customers, condemning it to a spiral of cost cutting, layoffs and refocusing. Sound familiar? Compounding Orbcomm's predicament, industry analysts are openly saying that if the business was fundamentally sound they would have expected Teleglobe or Orbital to have found the financing to support Orbcomm whilst its business grows.

Although Orbcomm has outstanding orders for some 211,000 subscriber units, it only has about 31,000 subscriber units in service - to low a number to give the company anything like a positive cash flow.

To keep costs down, Orbcomm has laid off 100 US based staff in addition to the 112 staff and contractors fired at the end of June. In the last 3 months Orbcomm has shed approximately 40% of its staff, reducing the total down to about 300.

Adding to Orbcomm's woes, the company does not have the cash available to make an interest payment scheduled for August 15 on its outstanding senior notes.

To support short term operations, an affiliate of Teleglobe is providing US$ 17 million partly in the form of a secured loan which should allow the company to continue in business until September or October. Orbcomm is also looking for additional third party investors to join its existing partners. It is also looking at selling assets and restructuring or reorganising its debt.

Schlumberger Network Solutions to Acquire Data Marine Systems
Schlumberger Test & Transactions, a business unit of Schlumberger Limited, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Scotland-based Data Marine Systems Limited.

Data Marine Systems is a global provider of telecommunications services for transmitting data from remote locations. This acquisition will diversify the global network capabilities of Schlumberger. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Data Marine Systems owns and manages both a global VSAT-based network and an extranet that provide secure and remote network access to over 100 companies in the oil and gas industry.

ViaSat Declares 2-for-1 Stock Split
The Board of Directors of ViaSat Inc has declared a 2-for-1 split of its common stock. The stock split will be in the form of a 100% common stock dividend payable at the close of business on August 31, 2000 to shareholders of record on August 21, 2000.

ViaSat, Inc. designs, produces, and markets advanced digital satellite telecommunications and wireless signal processing equipment for government and commercial markets. Other products include information security devices, tactical communication radios, and communication simulators.

People

Head of Space Foundation Departs
Bill Knudsen, President and CEO of the Space Foundation, has announced his intention to leave the national non-profit organisation to pursue a challenging opportunity in private industry.

To maintain leadership continuity during the replacement process, Chief Operating Officer Chuck Zimkas will assume the added responsibility of interim president and the Honorable Jaime Oaxaca, chairman of the Foundation's Board of Directors, will assume the added responsibility of interim CEO.

Zimkas joined the Foundation in July 1986 and is responsible for the operations, human resources and logistical support functions. He also manages the planning, coordination and execution of major Foundation events.

Oaxaca has served on the Foundation's Board since 1996 and was elected Chairman in July 1999. He is the Vice-Chairman of Coronado Communications, a Los Angeles-based Hispanic communications, marketing and research company.

Loral Cyberstar Appoints Senior Executives To Management Team
Loral CyberStar has announced the appointment of Vini Handler as senior vice president, technology, and John Conron as vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) of the company.

Handler, who will report directly to Patrick Brant, president and chief operating officer of CyberStar s enterprise services, will be responsible for CyberStar's information technology and product engineering, as well as network engineering and infrastructure functions, including earth station operations and maintenance and capacity planning.

Conron will be responsible for the company s accounting, financial analysis, contract finance, and financial systems functions. He will report directly to Neil Bauer, president of Loral CyberStar.

OpenTV Promotes Two
OpenTV, the world's leading interactive media solutions company, has announced the promotion of Debbie Coutant from Vice President to Senior Vice President of OpenTV's platform group, and Jean-Rene Menand to Vice President, platform architecture.

Coutant will oversee the platform group, which is responsible for defining, developing and delivering OpenTV's middleware, server and tools system software for the interactive TV and wireless markets.

Menand will provide architecture and design oversight, and will be the architectural point of contact for the platform group across the country.

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