27 February 2000

Satcoms

Comtech's US$ 650,000 Modem Contract
Comtech Telecommunications Corp has announced that ATCO Frontec of Ottawa, Canada, has awarded it a contract with a value of US$ 650,000 for the Comtech Model CDM-550 Satellite Modem.

ATCO Frontec, will use the CDM-550 modems to update a USA/Canada defense communications satellite network.

The contract provides for immediate delivery of more than 200 modems.

The CDM-550 modem features a revolutionary new Turbo Codec forward error correction algorithm providing up to a 40% bandwidth reduction compared to the more traditional concatenated Reed-Solomon Codec. It requires only half the power of low-bandwidth modulation techniques such as 8 PSK-TCM. The modem also offers Viterbi and Sequential decoders, BPSK, QPSK and OQPSK modulation, data rates from 2.4 to 2048 kb/s in one bit increments, and the EDMAC (Embedded Distant-end Monitor and Control) channel, which enables the full monitoring and control of remote sites through the hub site modem without additional cabling or equipment.

Comtech Communications provides complete equipment solutions for data and voice delivery over VSATs. It designs and manufactures a broad range of high performance, high quality products for a multitude of satellite communications applications for the domestic and international marketplace. These products C, X, and Ku Band Transceivers, Frequency Up and Down Converters, Solid State Power Amplifiers and Satellite Modems.

Echostar's Two-way Internet Network - Courtesy Gilat
EchoStar Communications Corp and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd have agreed to jointly offer consumers two-way, high-speed satellite Internet access along with hundreds of channels of EchoStar's DISH Network satellite television programming via a single small consumer dish.

Under the agreement, EchoStar will distribute the Gilat-To-Home Inc satellite Internet service powered by MSN along with DISH Network satellite TV service through its more than 20,000 retailers across the USA. This agreement follows last week's joint announcement of Microsoft and Gilat's establishment of Gilat-To-Home Inc, and their joint plan to provide the first consumer two-way satellite broadband offering.

EchoStar's DISH Network customers will benefit by having "always on" access to the Internet via MSN Internet Access and an MSN-Gilat-To-Home co-branded portal.

EchoStar and Gilat-To-Home will be the first to offer consumers a complete hardware and services solution for broadband Internet access combined with satellite TV programming. EchoStar will streamline the consumer experience by providing complete installation of the satellite television receiver, a two-way Internet terminal and a single dish antenna at the consumer's home. Limited availability of this new service is expected to be available by the end of 2000.

Group W on Eutelsat
Group W Network Services (GWNS) has been granted a license to access Eutelsat satellite capacity from within the US, allowing GWNS to provide direct transatlantic connections directly to 18 countries in Europe and North Africa.

GWNS has been authorised to uplink to the Eutelsat system with services that will include IP multi-cast, Internet data and video programming. GWNS may also develop opportunities for delivering content from Europe into the US market.

Service will begin in March 2000.

News, sports and entertainment feeds will be delivered to European destinations via GWNS's 18 m earth station in Connecticut. Internet and private network feeds also will be carried. The service is being offered from Europe to North America on a bi-directional basis.

HNS Leases Satmex 5 Transponders
Loral Space & Communications and Hughes Network Systems (HNS) Broadcast Product and Services Division have reached an agreement to provide satellite capacity for HNS' DirecPC service to be delivered throughout the Americas using Loral Global Alliance satellite capacity.

HNS Broadcast Products and Services Division will lease a total of 10-Ku band, 36 MHz transponders on Satmex 5 through the year 2005, which will be used for DirecPC, its high-speed Internet access service via satellite. The agreement with HNS is one of the largest contracts for the Loral Global Alliance to date.

Satmex 5 is the fifth commercial satellite for Mexico and the first Mexican commercial satellite launched since Satmex's privatisation. Satmex 5, launched on December 5, 1998, is a geosynchronous satellite, operating at 116.8° W.

Intersat Leases Satmex 5 Transponders
InterSat, a major satellite telecommunications services provider, will lease capacity on the Satmex 5 satellite, enabling it to provide satellite networking services throughout the Americas.

InterSat s services will include high speed data, audio and video transmission services, complete radio and video formats, live audio broadcasts from exchange floors utilising frame relay and Internet/Intranet based networks and services.

The Satmex 5 satellite will be used to distribute these services throughout Central and South America to users such as oil drilling and exploration firms and Internet Service Providers as well as to the distance learning and financial industries.

Satmex 5 is a geostationary satellite at 116.8° W that is owned and operated by Satilites Mexicanos SA de CV (Satmex), a member of the Loral Global Alliance. InterSat will utilize full-time Ku-band, 26 MHz capacity on the satellite, adding to existing capacity it is already leasing on Loral Skynet s North American Telstar 5 satellite, to provide extensive coverage and services across the hemisphere.

Orbcomm Licensed in Ukraine
Orbcomm Ukraine, a service distribution partner of Orbcomm Global LP, has received an exclusive operating license and full frequency allocation from the Interministerial Licensing Commission of the Ukrainian Government.

The license gives Orbcomm Ukraine the right to install an Orbcomm Gateway Earth Station in the Kyiv region and to provide services using the Orbcomm system in Ukraine. This marks the first independent republic of the former Soviet Union to grant a commercial license for Orbcomm service.

In early March 2000, Orbcomm Ukraine will launch a pilot project at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The program will use the Orbcomm network and sensor equipment to monitor remote assets such as automatic gas pumps in the Chernobyl zone as well as to track the transport of nuclear materials to and from the station.

Three More Satellites For Echostar
EchoStar Communications Corporation has announced the commencement of construction of three new satellites for its DISH Network satellite TV service.

EchoStar VII and VIII will be advanced, high-powered direct broadcast satellites (DBS). Each will include spot-beam technology that will allow DISH Network to offer local channels in as many as 60 or more markets across the United States.

EchoStar IX, a hybrid Ku/Ka-band satellite, may provide dynamic new opportunities for EchoStar to pursue business-to-business customers and for DISH Network subscribers to experience expanded services that could include internet, data and potentially two-way wireless communications.

Delivery of EchoStar VII and EchoStar VIII is expected during December 2001, with delivery of EchoStar IX expected during 2002.

EchoStar VII is to be based on the Lockheed Martin A2100 AX satellite bus optimised for direct broadcast applications. The spacecraft, with nearly 10 kilowatts of power, will provide Ku-band services over the continental United States and will include spot-beam coverage to enable EchoStar to serve customers with local broadcast channels in the top US markets. The satellite will be assembled in the Lockheed Martin Commercial Satellite Center in Sunnyvale, California and will be located at 119° W.

EchoStar VII is the fifth satellite that EchoStar Communications Corporation has awarded Lockheed Martin and the third based on the A2100 design.

EchoStar VIII, which will operate at 110° W and EchoStar IX, which will operate at 121° W, will be designed and manufactured by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, California. Both satellites will be based on SS/Loral's FS1300 series platform.

EchoStar VII and VIII each will be capable of operating 32 DBS transponders at 120 watts each, switchable to 16 transponders operating at 240 watts each. The spot beam payloads for each satellite have been designed to work together to maximise the number of local spot markets served across the United States, while providing mutual back up to offer increased reliability to customers.

EchoStar IX will be capable of operating 32 Ku band transponders at 110 watts each, in addition to the Ka band payload.

EchoStar is in discussions with various launch vehicle providers and will announce launch plans for each of the satellites once final agreements have been reached.

Science

Stardust Begins Collection of Interstellar Particles
NASA's US$ 165-million spacecraft, Stardust, began collecting particles of interstellar dust on Tuesday, sweeping up and capturing microscopic specks of material that stream into our solar system from distant stars.

Stardust's dust collector, a waffle iron-shaped instrument, was deployed from the probe's heat shield and will remain extended until May and will be extended again during much of2002. During that time, scientists hope the metre square collector will sweep up as many as 100 particles. The dust collector consists of 130 blocks of aerogel, a glass foam, which slow and trap the particles as they strike the spacecraft at a relative speed of 10 to 26 km/s.

Along with bits of comet dust the reverse side of the collector will trap in 2004 from the comet Wild-2, Stardust will then return the samples to Earth in 2006, jettisoning them to a soft landing at the US Air Force's Utah Test and Training Range.

Throughout Stardust's flight, its Dust Flux Monitor Instrument (DFMI) monitors dust particle impacts and transmits data back to Earth. In addition, the probe's Cometary and Interstellar Dust Analyzer instrument (CIDA) carries out real-time compositional analysis of the dust as it is strikes the spacecraft.

Third Kamikaze Flyby of Io for Galileo
NASA's Galileo spacecraft has made a third, high risk flyby of Jupiter's volcanic moon, Io on Tuesday and survived the encounter.

Galileo passed within 200 km of the surface of Io, braving exposure to intense radiation belts trapped by Jupiter's magnetic fields.

While approaching Io, the spacecraft experienced two radiation-related false resets of its main computer. Onboard software correctly diagnosed these as false indications, and went ahead with the Io encounter unaffected. Later, on Thursday, the spacecraft experienced a third reset.

This flyby comes at the end of Galileo's life. Galileo entered orbit around Jupiter in December 1995 and was originally assigned to spend two years studying Jupiter, its moons and its magnetic environment. When that original mission ended in December 1997, it was followed by a two-year extended mission, which ended in January 2000. This Io flyby is part of an additional extension, called the Galileo Millennium Mission. Galileo was launched from the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1989.

Most of the scientific data collected during the flyby was stored on an onboard tape recorder for playback over the next few months. This playback has already commenced.

Technology

HS702 Unfurls Its Wings On Camera
For the first time from space, video images have been captured of a commercial satellite deploying its solar arrays in geostationary orbit 36,000 km above Earth.

The images of the solar wings were transmitted from the first Hughes Space and Communications' HS 702, the largest, most powerful commercial satellite ever launched.

Two video cameras specially modified to withstand the rigors of a rocket launch and the extreme temperature variances in space captured the 30-minute-long sequence of the spacecraft's uniquely designed solar arrays unfolding, panel by panel, until the satellite reached its full wingspan of 34 m.

The HS 702 solar arrays carry angled solar reflector panels along each side that concentrate more of the sun's rays onto the solar cells in order to generate increased power. The gallium arsenide solar cells are among the most efficient available, able to convert nearly 25% of the sun's rays into spacecraft power. The satellite, Galaxy XI, was built by HSC for PanAmSat Corporation and was launched on an Ariane rocket on Dec. 21, 1999.

The HS 702 model spacecraft was introduced in 1995 to meet customer requirements for satellites with more than 10 kilowatts of power, and with flexible payload capacity. A total of nine of these powerhouses have been ordered by customers including PanAmSat Corporation, XM Satellite Radio, Telesat Canada, and Hughes Spaceway.

Launch Vehicles

Russia and Baikonur
After reports in the Russian press that over the next decade Russia will transfer its rocket launches from Baikonur in Kazakhstan to Plesetsk, the Russian Aerospace Agency (RASA) has said it expects to continue using Baikonur for commercial and government launches beyond 2010.

The Russian Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) would like to transfer all military launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to Russian launch sites (Plesetsk, Svobodny and Kapustin Yar) to cut their dependence on the Kazak government, which imposed two launch bans at Baikonur last year. The launch bans were as a result of two failures of the Proton launcher which scattered debris and toxic fuel over a wide area of Kazakhstan. Furthermore, Russia has been very slow to pay rent for the cosmodrome.

Such a move would be dependent on the development of Russia's new Angara launcher. The small lift version of this is expected to be available in 2005 with heavier lift versions following a few years later.

Business

Gilat to Invest in KnowledgeBroadcasting.com
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd and Knowledge Universe Inc have announced that Gilat has agreed to invest US$ 10 million in exchange for approximately 5.5% of an Internet-based broadcasting venture launched by Knowledge Net Holdings, a subsidiary of Knowledge Universe (KU).

KU operates, incubates and invests in leading web-based companies. The venture, KnowledgeBroadcasting.com LLC, intends to be a web-based, multiple-channel broadcasting company that transmits a wide range of content using interactive broadband satellite services and other access technologies. KnowledgeBroadcasting.com will offer its programming services to the business and consumer markets, providing the opportunity for individuals to engage in interactive sessions with the world's leading financial, business strategy, and lifestyle management experts. KnowledgeBroadcasting.com's programming will introduce new knowledge-based interactive Internet experiences, from basic compliance and safety training to real-time access to the intellectual leaders of our time.

ISS Cost Overruns Down to Boeing?
According to a recent NASA report, Boeing is responsible for nearly US$ 1 billion in cost overruns on the International Space Station project.

The report, by NASA's Inspector General Roberta Gross, assigns much of this cost to Boeing's 1996 acquisition of Rockwell International and its merger, in 1997, with McDonnell Douglas.

Boeing is the prime contractor for the US$ 9.8 billion contract, managing 150 subcontractors.

As a result of poor performance, Boeing will only receive US$ 75.4 million of a US$ 203 million bonus for good contract management. Boeing has also had to repay a US$ 16 million incentive payment that was made following inaccurate performance estimates by Boeing.

New Business Unit for New Ventures at Boeing
The Boeing Company is starting a new unit to develop new ventures combining emerging technologies like the Internet and satellite communications with its thousands of commercial aeroplanes.

Boeing named Anil Shrikhande, 47, vice president of New Ventures to lead the initiatives. He will report to the Boeing executive counsel through Chief Financial Officer Debby Hopkins. Shrikhande was most recently vice president of the interactive business unit of Canada's Moore Corp.

The unit will look for partnerships, alliances and business opportunities across a spectrum of business areas, Boeing expects particularly strong growth in aerospace communications.

Products and Services

Glentel Launches Mobile Satellite Service in US
Glentel Inc has launched its mobile satellite services in the United States. Glentel's satellite dispatch radio offers affordable, cost-effective fleet tracking and 2-way digital voice services throughout North America.

Glentel is presently the largest supplier of satellite dispatch radio in Canada.

Glentel offers wireless satellite solutions to the transportation industry, public safety, governments, and the gas/oil industry. Glentel will continue to include the integration of voice, data and dispatch radio services. The company focuses on the seamless integration of satellite services with existing fleet information systems - services that range from data acquisition to nation-wide dispatch radio access.

SSE Telecom and Station 12 Team for Internet Service
SSE Telecom Inc and satellite service provider Station 12 have successfully completed a series of beta tests of the SSET iP3 satellite gateway, which promises a "dramatic throughput improvement over standard TCP/IP transmission."

SSET's iP3 satellite Internet gateway combines a flexible, scalable architecture with TCP/IP acceleration and bandwidth aggregation, enabling users to quickly adapt to dynamic market conditions - without replacing or reengineering their equipment. The iP3 Gateway can also connect to network management systems directly via any SNMP-based network management system or RS-485 port.

Consisting of an outdoor unit (ODU) and an indoor unit (IDU), the iP3 Internet gateway is a "Satellite-in-a-box" solution, eliminating the need for separate modems, protocol accelerators, and in some applications, routers.

StratosNet - The Internet Solution for Mobiles
Stratos Global Corporation has introduced a new Internet Protocol (IP) solution optimised for cost-effective communications over its multiple mobile satellite networks. StratosNet, the company's latest IP service, offers built-in compression in conjunction with web access, Internet e-mail and FTP capabilities.

StratosNet delivers a complete Internet solution to mobile satellite users, complete with 4:1 data compression for e-mail transactions and 2:1 compression for web browsing. The service also includes compatibility with a range of circuit-switched services, a message notification system using handheld satellite phones and belt-worn pagers, online registration and other enhanced Internet functionality.

Stratos, 65 % owned by Aliant Inc, is a multi-network international telecom service provider offering voice and data network solutions from a range of newly emerging and established technologies.

People

New President and COO for SpaceDev
SpaceDev Inc has announced that Stan Dubyn has been appointed Chief Operating Officer and President.

Dubyn, previously COO and Senior Vice President at Spectrum Astro Inc will provide executive leadership in acquisitions, business development and operational functions for SpaceDev.

New President at Loral Space & Communications
Eric J. Zahler has been elected president and chief operating officer of Loral Space & Communications.

He will be will be responsible for overseeing the company s business segments, including Loral Skynet, Loral CyberStar, Space Systems/Loral and Globalstar LP. Mr. Zahler was also elected vice-chairman of Globalstar Telecommunications Limited.

Spacehab Appoints Enterprise Program Leader
Spacehab Inc has announced that John M. "Mike" Lounge, currently Executive Vice President of the Company's Johnson Engineering unit, has been named Program Manager for the Company's new Enterprise Program.

Enterprise is a historic project: this space habitat will be the first commercial real estate in space. Spacehab is building Enterprise with the Russian aerospace company RSC Energia. Enterprise will be docked to the International Space Station (ISS) and equipped for research, stowage, and television and Internet broadcasting.

The broadcast studio on Enterprise will be the first of its kind, dedicated to producing original informational, educational and entertainment programming live from orbit.

Enterprise will extend SPACEHAB's traditional businesses of microgravity research support and space station services from the Space Shuttle to the ISS and initiate its long-term strategy of addressing mass markets through broadcasting from space. Worldwide interest in space activities should provide substantial opportunities for advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.

As Enterprise Program Manager, Lounge will manage contracts and joint agreements with Energia and others as required and work with potential customers to validate and implement system requirements.

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