2 April 2000

Satcoms

AOL Plus Over DirecPC Via PanAmSat
PanAmSat has announced its expanded role as a satellite service provider for DirecPC. Under this latest agreement, PanAmSat will provide Hughes Network Systems with up to 10 Ku band transponders on PanAmSat satellites located in orbit at 99° W for the launch of the new AOL Plus via DirecPC service later this year in the United States.

The service is a result of the 1999 strategic alliance between Hughes Electronics Corporation and America Online Inc, in which the two companies agreed to jointly market a number of services, including AOL Plus via DirecPC.

Using a small antenna and satellite modem, DirecPC allows information to be beamed over the satellite directly to homes and offices. Hughes Network Systems already uses various PanAmSat satellites for DirecPC and other satellite-based communications services in the United States.

Comsat Peru Awarded 20 Year Licence
Comsat Peru, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Comsat International (CI), announced that it has received a 20 year license as a public carrier for national and international long distance telecommunications.

It was awarded by the Peruvian Ministry of Transportation, Communications, Housing and Construction.

The license enables Comsat Peru to expand its operations and services to business customers. Comsat's new GlobalWay regional networking technology is now available throughout the country and internationally.

As a result of this license, Comsat Peru today expanded its GlobalWay offerings to Arequipa, the country's second largest city and a major center for industry, agriculture, commerce and tourism. GlobalWay is now available in Lima, Peru, and launched today in Arequipa. Services are scheduled to be extended in the future to other Peruvian cities to meet customer needs.

Comsat Peru began offering local connections in 1998, when it obtained a 20 year license to offer public carrier services throughout the Lima metropolitan area.

Echostar Invests in iSky
EchoStar Communications Corp has announced a US$ 50 million investment in iSKY Inc. The companies also announced plans to jointly offer consumers two-way wireless broadband iSKY Internet access via satellite, along with hundreds of EchoStar's Dish Network satellite television channels, using a single small dish at any home or office in the United States.

Under the agreement, following the launch of iSKY's service, currently anticipated during late 2001, EchoStar would also distribute the iSKY satellite Internet service along with Dish Network satellite TV service through its more than 23,000 retailers nationwide.

With this investment, EchoStar will own 12% of iSKY and receive warrants which, based on reaching iSKY customer targets, could increase its stake up to 20.8% on an outstanding basis. Other major iSKY investors include TV Guide, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, TRW, TeleSat and Liberty Media Group. Under the agreement, EchoStar will also obtain a seat on iSKY's board of directors.

iSKY expects to deliver its always-on broadband solution to the home and small office/home office markets at speeds of 1.5 Mb/s or more -- 30 times faster than current dial-up speeds of 56 kb/s. iSKY expects to be the first two-way, Ka-band, satellite broadband Internet access service when it launches in 2001.

Under the non-exclusive agreement, EchoStar will provide sales and installation for consumers through its nationwide Dish Network Service Corp, which will install a single iSKY/Dish Network dish that can simultaneously "see" EchoStar's and iSKY's satellites. The 66 cm dish will be capable of both receiving and sending Internet data, while at the same time receiving hundreds of Dish Network satellite television channels, including the same popular sports and entertainment services enjoyed today by Dish Network's customers nationwide, including local channels, interactive television services, international programming and more. EchoStar and iSKY expect to be the first to offer residential consumers and small businesses a completely bundled hardware and services solution for Ka-band broadband Internet access combined with satellite TV programming. EchoStar will streamline the consumer experience by providing complete installation of the single set-top box and single dish at the consumer's home.

Under the agreement, EchoStar will also receive a substantial revenue-sharing payment. iSKY and EchoStar have mutual, long-term bundling rights to sell each other's service.

iSKY's initial Ka-band satellite, which is expected to be launched in third-quarter 2001 to its 109.2° W orbital location, is currently under construction by Space Systems/Loral and would allow iSKY to serve North America. iSKY is expected to provide service in Latin America with the launch of its second satellite in mid-2002.

GE Capital IT Solutions Expands Disaster Recovery Service
GE Capital Information Technology Solutions (GECITS) announced today that it has added several significant enhancements to its comprehensive bank of Disaster Recovery services. Now offered directly from the Disaster Recovery unit, GECITS provides customers with state-of-the-art disaster recovery solutions for end-users of IT services where they are the needed the most -- close to home.

As the cornerstone of GE Capital IT Solution's Disaster Recovery Service, the Guaranteed Technology Replacement (GTR) program provides customer-specific technology on-site within 24 hours following a disaster. This subscription- based service features an automatic technology refresh for protection against inventory obsolescence. GE Capital IT Solutions is able to secure replacement equipment for its customers from desktops to high-end servers, and any peripherals required in a high-tech computer environment.

In addition to the GTR program, Modular/Mobile Recovery Services now provides local recovery for anywhere from ten to 1,000 employees at a customer's facility or a nearby location. By eliminating the need to relocate staff, the success of a recovery effort is greatly improved, as it provides close proximity to existing customers, vendors, services and infrastructure. The Mobile Recovery Service utilises two distinct types of units, Mobile and Modular, as part of the service. First is the Mobile Hot-Site (MHS) which comes complete with a diesel generator, satellite connectivity, late model desktop computers for up to ten workstations, fibre switches, fully cabled and wired. The MHS is designed to be first on-site, providing rapid recovery of the network.

The second type of unit is the Modular End-user Unit that provides space, furniture and technology for hundreds of users. This enables customers to recover large office buildings, call centres, and other user intensive environments locally. It has the capacity to provide up to 200 end user seats at a customer's recovery location within the first 48 hours after the disaster and expands at the rate of 200 additional seats every subsequent 48-hours, following the disaster.

To complete its Disaster Recovery service offering, GECITS offers a voice recovery/data recovery solution via satellite, including multiple line voice capability, robust data channels and ACD options that gives customers true on- site recovery.

Globalstar Launches Services in Australia
Vodafone Globalstar, Globalstar's service provider and partner in Australia, has launched commercial service in that Australia, increasing the total number of countries now serviced by the Globalstar network to thirty-one.

Services in Australia are provided through Vodafone Globalstar's gateway in Dubbo, covering most of the eastern portion of the country. In the next few weeks, two additional gateways will be brought into service, providing full coverage across the entire nation, including Tasmania and offshore areas. In addition to the more than 150 dealers now offering Globalstar service in Australia, a further 300 outlets have been authorised to sell the service when it is introduced nationwide.

Intellicom Wins US$ 16 Million Dominican Contract
Intellicom, a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftNet Systems Inc and a provider of broadband satellite-based Internet services for ISPs, telecommunications carriers and corporations, has signed a contract with Tricom to provide high-speed, two-way satellite Internet access and Intranet services to every public high school in the Dominican Republic.

According to the terms of the five-year agreement, which will translate into more than US$ 16 million in revenue for Intellicom over the agreement period, the two companies, in conjunction with the Dominican Republic Department of Education, will implement an interconnected Internet and Intranet system at all public high schools in the country. The roll-out will begin immediately, with a completion target date for the installations of August 15, 2000.

This alliance marks the first joint implementation for Intellicom and Tricom, a leading integrated communications service provider in the Dominican Republic, since the recent announcement of the companies' strategic alliance to bring Internet access to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. This agreement also marks an effort by the government of the Dominican Republic to fulfil a promise made by its president, Leonel Fernandez Reyna, to provide Internet access to the country's 310 public high schools before the end of his term on Aug. 15, 2000.

As part of Intellicom and Tricom's roll out, each public high school can expect to enjoy the benefits of Internet and Intranet services, allowing students and teachers alike to easily exchange knowledge and obtain distance-learning content that can be effectively customised and readily updated for specific grade levels or types of schools. Additionally, local school administrators will have access to centralised database capabilities, which can replace existing databases that are currently maintained manually.

All the participating schools will be interconnected via Intellicom's central earth station in Livermore.

Tricom will distribute, install and maintain VSATs and computer equipment at all 310 locations. The Department of Education will also act as a facilitator, collaborating with Tricom on the installation of the antennas. In addition, Tricom will provide tier-one service-level support, with Intellicom providing the second level of support through its 24-hour-a-day Livermore-based Network Operations Centre.

iSKY Partners With Telesat
iSKY has finalised a deal worth in excess of US$ 200 million with Telesat. iSKY will have a license to use the Ka band multimedia capacity on Telesat's Anik F2 satellite, slated for launch in 2002.

The satellite will operate in the strategic orbital slot of 111.1° W. This is one of the few satellite locations physically capable of allowing consumers using a mini dish to receive both 2-way wireless broadband Internet access and satellite television services from DirecTV or EchoStar's Dish Network. iSKY already owns a license for another of these valuable slots at 109.2° W, where it will launch its iSKY-1 satellite in 2001 covering the United States and parts of Canada. iSKY-2 will launch in 2002 and cover Latin America.

According to the terms of the deal, Telesat will receive cash and an ownership stake in iSKY in exchange for iSKY's rights to use Ka band capacity on the satellite. In the transaction, iSKY and Telesat have agreed to work together on the development of current and future Ka band satellite services, satellite procurement, satellite operations, gateway operations and consulting services. In addition, the alliance will bring significant technical benefits, including capacity efficiencies and co-ordination capabilities for iSKY and Telesat's neighboring satellites at the 109.2° W and 111.1° W orbital positions, respectively.

With the launch of Anik F2, iSKY will increase its capacity to offer two- way wireless broadband Internet access in North America. Telesat currently provides a number of services to remote and underserved areas of Canada and will continue to enhance these offerings with the Anik F2 satellite.

Open Deploys VideoPropulsion DVB for On-Line Service
VideoPropulsion Inc (VPI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Genroco, Inc has announced today that its VDOPro DVB solutions are utilised in BSkyB's Sky Digital on line services offered by Britain's first national interactive digital TV provider, Open.

Open, Britain's leading interactive digital TV service, uses the VPI DVB transmit products to continuously pump full bandwidth, precisely timed transport streams containing video, audio and data for on-line transactions. Open's customers are able to arrange timely delivery of ordered goods and services from the comfort of their homes. This service has led the industry world-wide with a broad selection of activities ranging from on-line banking to the purchase of theatre tickets.

VideoPropulsion Inc is a leading edge digital video technology company with expertise in providing high performance, low cost hardware and software solutions for MPEG transport. The company's partners include Oracle, SGI, Compaq, Sun Microsystems, Lysis and other major video server and iDTV applications suppliers. VDOPro products have been in active use in Europe since 1995. Incorporated into offerings from OpenTV, Concurrent, Open, Lysis, Peach, and others for applications such as interactive TV services and video-on-demand, VPI has been leading the way with its reliable and innovative products.

Open is the free interactive digital TV service created by British Interactive Broadcasting and backed by BSkyB, BT, HSBC and Matsushita. Launched in October 1999, it offers home shopping, TV banking, entertainment and e-mail, initially to digital satellite TV households. It can also be carried on other digital TV networks. Nearly half of Sky Digital's customers access the service at least once a week; at least 8 million visits were made to Open between the launch and Christmas, with peak sales exceeding one million pounds per week. Content providers on Open include retailers Argos, ASDA, Carphone Warehouse, Dixons, Manchester United merchandise, Next, Thorntons, Comet, WHSmith, Somerfield 24-7 and Woolworths; internet traders E*Trade, Kitbag, Yalplay, Toyzone and Gameplay; advertisers Ford, Scottish Power, Mastercard, Nestle and Unilever; HSBC, Abbey National, Halifax, The Woolwich and Cornhill for financial services and First Call for ticketing at theatres and sports events and Going Places, Tropical Places and First Choice for travel.

PanAmSat and RealNetworks Ally on Broadband Multimedia Delivery
RealNetworks Inc, Internet media delivery specialist, and PanAmSat have announced the integration of RealNetworks' broadband-enabled RealSystem G2 to power PanAmSat's satellite-based Internet broadband broadcast network, NET/36.

The two companies will deploy RealSystem G2 throughout NET/36, enabling highly scalable broadcast to the edges of the Internet, bypassing sources of Internet congestion. The combination of PanAmSat's global geostationary satellite-based broadcast network, RealServer 7.0's patent-pending performance capabilities and the breakthrough broadband video encoding technology of RealProducer 7.0, provides content and last-mile providers with a robust solution and network for delivering superior quality media experience virtually anywhere on the globe.

Radyne Comstream Awarded Internet Over Satellite Contract
Radyne ComStream has been awarded an initial contract to supply the satellite communications systems in support of a Southeast Asian government's "Distance Learning Over the Internet" project. The network will employ Radyne ComStream's Internet-over-Satellite technology.

Radyne ComStream is providing a turnkey, end-to-end solution for the project that will provide Internet access to a large number of schools and universities in this Southeast Asian country. The company reports the value of the initial contract to be in excess of US$ 740,000. It is believed that there will be additional follow on contracts.

Radyne ComStream designs, manufactures, and markets satellite Internet infrastructure equipment as well as satellite broadband modems, multicasting receivers, converters and ancillary products for digital TV, data and telephone service.

Teleglobe Extends Service to Brazil
To address the growing demand for data, Internet and content distribution services out of Brazil, Teleglobe has activated its second Brazilian GlobeCity network access site, located in Rio de Janeiro.

Teleglobe's new earth station antenna complements the company's existing network access site in Sao Paulo where customers can take advantage of the cost-savings, route diversity and high quality of Teleglobe's world-wide network. In addition, Teleglobe announced that it has opened a sales office in Rio. Brazil is Latin America's largest and fastest growing telecommunications market.

Teleglobe's new 7.3 m C band antenna in Rio, which faces Intelsat 307, connects directly to Teleglobe's GlobeSystem network, one of the largest broadband networks in the world. Through its subsidiary TGO do Brazil, Teleglobe is licensed to offer specialised services, including Internet access, voice, video, data and other enhanced services, to closed user groups.

TGO do Brazil, as are all of the Teleglobe companies around the world, is increasingly positioning itself as an ISP, delivering quality Internet services, as well as voice and transmission services, to international telecom users.

With satellite Internet links to over 70 countries, Teleglobe connects more countries to its global Internet backbone network via satellite than any other company. In addition, Teleglobe is serving a growing number of carrier, ISP, content provider and corporate account customers in Brazil. Customers include Bovespa (the Brazilian Stock Exchange); Credit Suisse First Boston - Garantia; Embratel (national carrier); Telesp Celular (wireless carrier); Unysis (ISP/Content Provider); Netstream (local loop provider); and ATS, Globecall and Voitel (all telecom resellers).

WSNET Signs Agreements With Loral Skynet and HITS
World Satellite Network Inc (WSNet) has signed an agreement with Loral Skynet for the use of Ku band transponders on the Telstar 6 satellite and has signed a programming transport agreement with HITS (Headend-In-The-Sky) for its HITS2HOME service.

As a result of these agreements, WSNet has also unveiled plans to launch a new digital satellite television service. The company's new service will allow for the delivery of over 180 digital video, music, movie and pay-per-view channels. Under this new initiative, WSNet's service, which uses a single mini-dish antennae, will be sold through established video service operators, including private cable operators serving multiple dwelling units (MDUs), small and rural cable operators, and wireless cable operators, allowing these operators to provide a privately branded service to their subscribers. The service will be launched at WSNet's annual operator summit in Austin on April 12th, 2000 and will be available to customers starting in May.

Under the terms of the Loral Skynet contract, WSNet has acquired access to multiple Kuband transponders on the Telstar 6 satellite located at 93° W. These transponders enable WSNet to deliver more than 50 basic channels of digital video programming, significantly increasing its satellite television program offerings.

Under the HITS agreement, WSNet will supplement its 50-plus channel basic service with up to 140 additional channels available on HITS. With these two agreements WSNet will be able to offer its customers a digital video service with over 180 channels, including almost 100 video channels, 30 digital music channels, 40 premium multiplexes, a variety of pay-per-view services and special networks.

WSNet is the largest distributor of satellite television programming to the private cable and wireless cable industries in the United States. Private cable operators primarily serve apartments, condominiums, hotels, motels, universities and hospitals. WSNet offers competitively priced quality programming, and excellent customer service and support, to maintain its reputation as the industry leader. Currently, WSNet serves over 1,700 small operators nationwide with over 5,000 properties and nearly 750,000 subscribers, providing these customers access to more than 100 national satellite programmers.

Earth Observation

Space Imaging Acquires Pacific Meridian Resources
Space Imaging has signed an agreement to acquire Pacific Meridian Resources. The acquisition will enable Space Imaging to significantly expand its offerings of value-added, visual Earth information products to its customers and also increase Pacific Meridian's product offerings in a number of vertical market areas. Pacific Meridian will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Space Imaging.

Space Imaging acquired Pacific Meridian Resources, a leading value-added information company, to add the technology, tools and resources Pacific Meridian offers for value-added applications and visual information products to the product and service offerings of Space Imaging. Pacific Meridian Resources has extensive experience developing products and services for land use mapping, growth monitoring, fire modelling, change detection, toxic waste site management, pipeline siting, forestry inventorying, environmental assessment and land management.

Pacific Meridian Resources' activities in GIS and remote sensing include using satellite imagery and advanced image processing techniques to create land use and land cover maps for a number of markets. Pacific Meridian Resources has created information-rich databases and classifications as well as geospatial software for quantitative and statistical analysis, spatial modelling, growth simulation, change detection and various GIS applications. Pacific Meridian Resources also develops customised Web interfaces for vertical markets.

Kass Green will be president of the wholly owned subsidiary, Pacific Meridian Resources, and lead the expansion of the Space Imaging value-added business.

Science

Mars Report
The Mars Program Independent Assessment Team (MPIAT), after two and a half months of study, has released an in-depth review of NASA's Mars exploration program, finding that significant flaws in formulation and execution led to the failures of recent missions, and providing recommendations for future exploration of Mars.

The assessment team, headed by Thomas Young, a seasoned space-industry executive, was asked to independently assess current and future Mars programs. The team's charter was to review and analyse successes and failures of recent missions to determine why some succeeded and some failed; examine the relationship between and among NASA Headquarters, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the California Institute of Technology and industry partners; assess the involvement of scientists; identify lessons learned from successes and failures; review the Mars Surveyor Program to assure lessons learned are utilised; oversee Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 failure reviews; and evaluate the risk management process.

The report concluded the most probable cause of the failure was the generation of spurious signals when the lander legs were deployed during descent. The spurious signals gave a false indication that the spacecraft had landed, resulting in a premature shutdown of the engines and the destruction of the lander when it crashed on Mars.

Without any entry, descent and landing telemetry data, there is no way to know whether the lander reached the terminal descent propulsion phase. If it did reach this phase, it is almost certain that premature engine shutdown occurred, the report concluded.

NASA's Office of Space Science will develop an integrated strategic response to the findings and recommendations of the report. NASA Chief Engineer W. Brian Keegan also will co-ordinate an integrated Agency response to the recent reviews of NASA program management practices.

In addition, Dr. Edward Weiler, the Associate Administrator for Space Science, announced the cancellation of the planned Mars 2001 lander awaiting his approval of a new overall Mars "architecture" plan. Weiler also will make management changes in the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters and work with the California Institute of Technology to institute effective change at JPL, clearly articulating lines of authority, clarifying roles and improving communication between all organisations involved. In that regard, Weiler appointed Scott Hubbard as the Mars Program Director at NASA Headquarters. Hubbard is now Associate Director for Astrobiology and Space Programs, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California.

The MPIAT report findings included:

• Mars exploration is an important national goal that should continue.
• Deep space exploration is inherently challenging, but the risks are manageable and acceptable.
• NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and U.S. industry have the unique capabilities required to conduct successful planetary and deep space missions.
• NASA's "faster, better, cheaper" approach, properly applied, should be continued as an effective means of guiding program implementation.
• There were significant flaws in the formulation and execution of the Mars program, but all of the problems uncovered are correctable in a timely manner to allow a comprehensive Mars exploration program to continue successfully.

The MPIAT report found common characteristics among both successful and unsuccessful missions:

• Experienced project management or mentoring is essential.
• Project management must be responsible and accountable for all aspects of mission success.
• Unique constraints of deep space missions demand adequate margins.
• Appropriate application of institutional expertise is critical for mission success.
• A thorough test and verification program is essential for mission success.
• Effective risk identification and management are critical to assure successful missions.
• Institutional management must be accountable for policies and procedures that assure a high level of success.
• Institutional management must assure project implementation consistent with required policies and procedures.
• Telemetry coverage of critical events is necessary for analysis and ability to incorporate information in follow-on projects.
• If not ready, do not launch.

In response to the report a new office devoted to management of future Mars missions is being formed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, along with another new office that will oversee the implementation of space science flight projects

The changes are being made to provide strengthened institutional support for implementing JPL's space science missions, and to bring added focus to the Laboratory's management of exploratory missions to Mars planned for coming years.

The heads of both new offices will report directly to the director of JPL. A new manager for the Mars Program Office is expected to be named in about a week.

A new JPL Space Science Flight Projects Directorate, to be headed by Thomas R. Gavin, will manage the implementation of space science projects, including those of the Mars Program. Gavin, currently deputy director of JPL's Space and Earth Sciences Programs Directorate, was previously spacecraft system manager for the Cassini mission, now en route to Saturn. Gavin's other experience at JPL includes management responsibility for the quality assurance and mission reliability of the Galileo mission, currently orbiting Jupiter. His newly formed directorate will be responsible for all non-Earth orbiting flight missions. Under the Laboratory's previous management structure, these projects were carried out under the Space and Earth Sciences Program Directorate.

Mission operations management for space science missions will be the responsibility of JPL's Telecommunications and Mission Operations Directorate, headed by Gael Squibb. Previously, operations for Mars missions and a few others were managed by the Space and Earth Sciences Directorate. Now, the Telecommunications and Mission Operations Directorate, which also manages NASA's Deep Space Network, will be responsible for all deep space missions in flight.

SpaceDev and Wireless Future Team to Develop S-Band Transponder
SpaceDev and Wireless Future Inc will jointly develop and market a next-generation, miniaturised, low-cost STDN-compatible transponder (the MST-21), for use on government and commercial lunar and earth-orbiting missions.

The first MST-21 will fly on the CHIPSat spacecraft currently under development by SpaceDev for the University of California, Berkeley. CHIPSat is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2002 from Cape Canaveral on a Boeing Delta-II launch vehicle. The MST-21 can also be used for a variety of other missions, including SpaceDev's proposed live, streaming video lunar entertainment and science orbiter, and for its planned commercial near-earth asteroid exploration mission.

The MST-21 is intended for usage in typical Telemetry, Tracking and Control operations of orbiting satellites, and is configured for digital applications up to 1.5 Mb/s. The transmitter section uses linear phase modulation allowing users to receive proprietary baseband waveforms. This important feature gives the MST-21 unparalleled flexibility in space-based applications. The MST-21 is designed to operate over a wide range of supply voltages, provides coherent receiver-to-transmitter operation upon command, and incorporates coherent ranging capability to allow for precision navigation. Specified by SpaceDev to be fully compatible with NASA's worldwide Space Tracking and Data Network (STDN), and with commercial ground station providers with STDN capability, the MST-21 weighs just under 1 kg, and measures only 17 x 11 x 5 cm. With a 30% efficient solid state power amplifier (SSPA), the MST-21 incorporates commandable power output settings, ensuring its flexibility to accommodate variable link conditions and to support a wide variety of earth-orbit and near-earth missions. Testing will be performed to ensure compatibility with a range of launch vehicle and space thermal and radiation environments.

Manned Space

Boeing's ISS Contract Modified
NASA and the Boeing Space and Communications Group, have signed a modification to the International Space Station contract (NAS15-10000) valued at US$ 26.3 million which defines planned changes to the assembly sequence baseline.

The changes included moving launch dates, deleting and adding US flights, and revising the Multi-Increment Manifest (MIM). These factors required rework to the Design Analysis Cycle, Verification Analysis Cycle, mass properties and other analysis-related activities.

Work under this Cost-Plus-Award-Fee contract will be performed by Boeing in Houston as well as at Boeing Information, Space and Defense Systems locations in Huntington Beach, California; Canoga Park, California; and Huntsville, Alabama.

Launch Vehicles

Sea Launch Failure Blamed on Software
Sea Launch reports significant progress in the investigation of the launch failure on March 12. Preliminary investigations indicate off-nominal operation of the second stage propulsion system. All other systems appear to have performed as expected.

Liftoff of the third flight of Sea Launch, carrying the ICO F-1 communications satellite, occurred on schedule at 6:49 am (PST), March 12, from the equatorial launch site at 154° W. An anomaly occurred just prior to second stage separation. The ICO spacecraft did not reach orbit.

As a result of the off-nominal flight operations, an on-board automatic flight termination command was issued approximately 8 minutes after liftoff, near the end of the second stage burn. A solid telemetry link was maintained for 15 seconds after flight termination and intermittent data was received for an additional 5 minutes. During the entire flight phase, good quality and complete telemetry was received through both the line-of-sight systems and the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS).

A core team of Boeing experts has heard strong evidence and supporting rationale indicating the root cause of the failure is related to a ground software logic error. Sea Launch partners Yuzhnoye and Energia detected the error during post-launch data review and probable cause investigation. Initial review of the flight telemetry supports this root cause scenario.

The logic error would appear to have failed to command a valve to close in the second stage pneumatic system. This system performs several functions, including operation and actuation for the steering engine. Data indicates this system had lost more than 60% of its pressure. Continued pressure loss reduced the capability of the engine, ultimately leading to a significant deviation in attitude, triggering the automatic flight termination system.

Each of the Sea Launch partners continues to conduct independent investigations, looking beyond the immediate concern to address the overall system, to ensure potential failure points do not exist elsewhere. Beginning in April, the full Sea Launch Failure Review Oversight Board, with representatives from customer companies as well as from the satellite and aerospace industries, will review and validate the results of each investigation to assess the root cause of the anomaly and corrective action required. Following this process, a return-to-flight program will be initiated.

Based on current progress, Sea Launch anticipates the investigation can be completed by mid-May, with a return to flight this summer.

Business

eSAT Announces Redemption of Convertible Notes
eSAT Inc, a broadband satellite service provider, has announced its intention to convert or redeem all of its Series A, B and C shares.

After reviewing current financing alternatives and likely capital requirements, eSAT, Inc. determined it best to implement the following in the Company's interest:

The Series A notes, with Vantage Capital, will be block-converted into Section 144 restricted common shares. The Series A convertible preferred shares were issued in conjunction with a private placement in November 1999. There are no remaining shares of the Series A preferred stock to be converted.

eSAT Inc has earlier redeemed its Series B convertible preferred stock and cancelled all related agreements and rights to purchase any additional shares. Previously, the Series B shareholders had the right to acquire shares in combination with a private placement transaction in November 1999. There are no remaining Series B preferred shares to be converted. An aggregate amount of US$ 1 million was paid to redeem all outstanding series B shares.

The six percent Series C convertible preferred shareholders were given notice on March 29, 2000 of the intended redemption of the Series C shares. The aggregate value outstanding within the Series C shares is approximately US$ 5.6 million. The Series C shares were issued in a December 1999 financing. Within 7 days of the redemption notice, eSAT will transfer US$ 3.56 per share to the Series C shareholder in order to redeem all outstanding shares of the Series C preferred shares.

The Company has elected to cancel its US$ 20 million standby equity line, which was secured in December 1999, but was never used. Furthermore, the Company has indicated its intention to withdraw the form SB-2 filed in January 2000.

eSAT Inc has obtained a funding commitment in the amount of US$ 12 million from the Ballsbridge Finance Ltd fund to be used to redeem the Series C shares and provide the capital for the completion of the acquisition of PacificNet and Interwireless. PacificNet and Interwireless, with revenue in excess of US$ 3 million provide significant synergies with eSat Inc. This combination will supply the combined entities with the opportunity to deliver broadband ISP and other services to areas of the world without sufficient terrestrial infrastructure. The blend of eSAT Inc's long haul satellite capability and Interwireless' last mile solutions, at speeds up to 155 Mb/s, will complete the wireless network of eSAT Inc. Additionally, the combination of PacificNet's proprietary ISP software solution enables the Company to provide the capability of global Internet distribution.

eSAT Inc is a broadband service provider via satellite. The company's core products provide Internet access and networking services through its Global Satellite Internet gateway and its Nexstream product, with bi-directional communications. eSAT Inc's Nexstream provides organisations with an untethered, secure, transportable, cost-effective, global communications, regardless of their communications infrastructure. Additionally, eSAT Inc's ChannelCasting Service (IP multicasting) provides delivery for consistent, accurate, secure and reliable content instantaneously within an eSAT Inc Virtual Private Network or Private Network.

Marine Audio to Distribute XM Radio to Boat Market
XM Satellite Radio and Marine Audio Engineering and Sales Inc have announced that Marine Audio will provide XM-Ready radios to its extensive boat customer base. Marine Audio directly distributes the majority of the marine industry's audio systems to nearly all of the high-end boat builders and to their network of over 2,500 dealers throughout the United States.

Marine Audio is the world's premier manufacturer of marine audio and multimedia components. Marine Audio provides research, design and development of new marine products, customer sales and service, along with marketing, promotional and technical support to boat builders.

Pacific Digital Media Licenses Macrovision's Digital PPV Copy Protection
Macrovision Corporation has announced that Pacific Digital Media Corporation (PDM), Taiwan's first officially licensed direct-to-home (DTH) satellite service operator, has licensed Macrovision's copy protection technology for use in its forthcoming pay-per-view programming. Under the agreement, PDM will implement Macrovision copy protection capability within its uplink centre software system and within its digital set-top boxes (STBs). Initially, Thomson will manufacture the digital STBs.

Macrovision's digital pay-per-view copy protection technology allows consumers to view, but not record, programs that are encoded at the discretion of system operators or copyright owners. The technology is designed to deter unauthorised home taping of digitally delivered pay-per-view programs. This allows system operators to maximise pay-per-view revenues while minimising cannibalisation of copyright owners' home video revenues. Over 30 million Macrovision-enabled digital set-top boxes have been shipped since 1995, comprising approximately 90% of all digital set-top boxes shipped worldwide. Since 1998, over 40 million pay-per-view and video-on-demand buys have been copy protected, which has helped to maximise new and repeat program purchases.

Tachyon Established Mexican Subsidiary
Tachyon Inc, the first company to bring to market high-performance, two-way satellite-delivered Internet access, has opened its Mesoamerican headquarters in Mexico City.

Joaquin Patron was named managing director of the new company.

The creation of Tachyon de Mexico will bring high-performance Internet access to Mexico and Central America. Tachyon de Mexico, as the operation will be called, will be headquarters for the company's activities in the Mesoamerican (Mexico and Central America) region.

Tachyon's satellite-delivered two-way Internet protocol enables subscribers to have high-performance access in areas where high-speed land lines and telephone connections are not available. Tachyon guarantees installation throughout the region of its satellite receiver and server, called a Tachyon Access Point or TAP and access to the Internet within 10 business days after receiving an order.

Because Tachyon's TAPs take relatively little time to install, Tachyon will provide the region with a fast and simple solution to the area's urgent networking and communications needs, including much-needed education applications.

Tachyon's two-way high-performance satellite-delivered Internet service is called Tachyon.net. The service exploits the capacity of geostationary satellites already in orbit to bring the advantages of two-way broadband access to the Internet to everyone, everywhere.

SatMex 5 provides the capacity in the United States and Mesoamerica. Tachyon.net delivers data rates ranging from 300 kb/s to 2 Mb/s.

Products and Services

Analytical Graphics Extends Satellite Tool Kit
Analytical Graphics Inc has expanded its Satellite Tool Kit (STK) product line through the addition of enhanced radar analysis, space environment modelling, and an interface to MATLAB.

AGI often joins forces with other industry leaders to strategically develop specialised STK add-on modules through its STK Business Partner Program. Most recently, AGI worked with Photon Research Associates (PRA), SM & A Corporation, and The MathWorks, Inc. to bring essential new STK functionality to market.

These AGI business partner relationships yielded three jointly developed products, all of which will be available in the April 2000 release of STK version 4.1.1.

• STK/Radar Advanced Environment offers the defence modelling and simulation community the ability to determine the degree to which ground clutter interferes with a radar's ability to detect a target. A 4 km global ground clutter database is included.
• STK/Space Environment allows spacecraft designers, analysts, and operators to evaluate the effects of the space environment on their vehicle. Calculations include exposure to ionising particles, thermal radiation and space debris throughout a spacecraft's orbit, including transit times through the South Atlantic Anomaly.
• STK/MATLAB Interface provides a communication bridge between the STK software suite and MATLAB. MATLAB users can take advantage of STK's ability to model and analyse orbital, ballistic or great arc trajectories from within the MATLAB environment or easily port MATLAB simulations to STK for exciting and intuitive 2D and 3D visualisation.

Analytical Graphics Inc provides commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) analysis and visualisation software solutions to over 23,000 aerospace industry professionals through its core product Satellite Tool Kit (STK) and a series of specialised STK add-on modules. STK supports end-to-end aerospace systems from mission planning through operations and is available free of charge to all aerospace professionals.

Ericsson's Globalstar Phone Receives European Approval
Globalstar's Ericsson-manufactured mobile satellite phone has received type approval from the European Telecommunications Standards International (ETSI.) Ericsson will begin shipping phones immediately to its established global distribution network. The Ericsson R290 Satellite Globalstar/GSM dual-mode handset offers cellular extension services to vast regions of the world where there is no cellular service or where service is inadequate.

The Ericsson R290 features include:

Ericsson also offers accessories including a car/cigarette lighter adapter, a universal travel charger, a data cable and a protective travel case.

PanAmSat Unveils NET/36
PanAmSat has unveiled NET/36, a high-speed, bandwidth-intensive network that will be capable of broadcasting IP video, audio and data simultaneously to thousands of digital subscriber line (DSL) providers, cable headends, Internet service providers (ISPs) and broadband wireless providers worldwide. NET/36 will provide an overlay to the slow, congested terrestrial Internet network.

PanAmSat has entered into separate strategic alliances with US West and RealNetworks as part of the rollout of NET/36. US West, one of the largest DSL service providers in the United States, will use NET/36 for IP content delivery to US West's DSL and Internet subscribers. RealNetworks, leader in streaming media delivery on the Internet, will provide RealSystem G2, which offers a scalable distribution architecture for the delivery of video and audio programming to large audiences worldwide.

PanAmSat has initially allocated up to 24 Ku band satellite transponders for NET/36 worldwide. Following trial transmissions to a US West DSL site during the second quarter of 2000, PanAmSat plans to roll out NET/36 in the United States and internationally during the third quarter of 2000. As part of the US rollout, PanAmSat plans to purchase approximately 1,000 satellite-enabled servers for deployment to last-mile Internet providers over the next 12 months.

PanAmSat expects that NET/36 will have the capability of supporting approximately 3 million simultaneous broadband video end users by late 2002.

PanAmSat will invest up to $250 million in capital and operating expenses over the next two years to deploy NET/36. Since PanAmSat already operates a large commercial geostationary satellite fleet, NET/36 does not require significant new investment to build additional orbital assets. The largest portion of the investment by PanAmSat will be used for the rapid development of network software and the deployment of PanAmSat-owned antennas and servers at DSL provider sites, cable headends, ISPs and broadband wireless provider sites.

Telia Mobile Launches Inmarsat ISDN Service
Telia Mobile is launching Global Area Network (GAN), the latest generation of mobile satellite telephony services. Users of the new satellite telephony service will be able to send very high quality moving pictures, fax, data and sound through a terminal similar to a portable computer. GAN increases bandwidth to the equivalent of ISDN speed (64 kbit/s).

GAN is the world's first global communications system with wireless transfer speeds of up to 64 kb/s. The service uses Inmarsat's satellite system, which covers 98% of the earth's surface. Telia Mobile is one of the first operators in the world to offer its customers the GAN satellite service.

People

Radyne Comstream Promotes Brian Duggan
Radyne ComStream Inc has appointed Brian Duggan to the position of president and chief operating officer.

Duggan has served as Radyne ComStream's vice president of sales and marketing since December 1998. Duggan was responsible for global sales and marketing efforts for Radyne ComStream's complete equipment line, with all regional sales offices reporting directly to him. Duggan previously served as director of worldwide sales for ComStream Corp.

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