30 April 2000

Satcoms

Cidera Provides Telenor's Usenet Feeds
Telenor of Norway has chosen Cidera's satellite-delivered Usenet News service. Usenet traffic will be broadcast to satellite dishes installed at points of presence (POPs) along Nextra's backbone.

Telenor's Internet Business Unit, Nextra, will be able to receive more than 100 gigabytes of Usenet News each day to its Internet subscribers in Norway, Germany, Italy, and other locations across Europe. Cidera Usenet News Service delivers more than 12 megabits of news each second via broadcast - at a cost well below that of terrestrial bandwidth costs.

Comsat MAX to Provide Indian Internet Gateways
Comsat MAX, a joint venture between Comsat International and MAX India Limited, has received clearance from the Indian Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to establish international Internet gateways in five cities in India.

Service is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year. The authorisation to provide international Internet gateways via satellite follows the Indian government's decision in December 1999, granting Comsat MAX an Internet Service Provider (ISP) license. The use of foreign satellites to carry data traffic is a "first" for ISPs in India and is expected to allow service providers rapidly to expand Internet access and accommodate increasing demand for business critical applications.

Globalstar Intercontinental Roaming Service Now Commercially Available
Globalstar has announced that roaming satellite telephone service is now commercially available between most countries in North America, South America and Europe. With the introduction of this feature, Globalstar customers will be able to make and receive satellite phone calls wherever they go between nearly 30 countries.

Two-way roaming is now available among virtually all countries where Globalstar gateways are now in full service operations. Specific areas covered under these new roaming agreements include: North America, Bermuda, Argentina, Brazil, Morocco and most of continental Europe with the exception of Scandinavia, the Baltics and some eastern European countries. Roaming to and from the remainder of Europe as well as Australia, Russia, and additional countries in South America will be added by the end of June.

Report Predicts Continuing Boom for Broadband Satellite Access
The explosion of the Internet in the 1990s and subsequent demand for high-speed Internet connections has put an immense strain on terrestrial communications networks. Consequently, satellite broadband technology is now emerging as an important alternative to land-based services such as cable or DSL.

According to strategic research conducted by Frost & Sullivan, "World Broadband Satellite Service Markets," revenues for the total market have climbed by more than 100% to US$ 198.6 million in 1999. Rapid market growth is anticipated to continue through 2006. Despite the promise of this nascent industry, satellite technology will have to find its niche in the marketplace. Ultimately, providers might find the best opportunities in remote regions with weak infrastructures.

As multimedia applications are increasingly used in areas served by cable infrastructure, users who live or work beyond major metropolitan areas will have to find alternative means to stay connected. Satellites could be that alternative.

This Frost & Sullivan report analyses the markets for Internet services via satellite and next generation broadband satellite systems. It evaluates market drivers and restraints, tracks technology and pricing trends, and presents expert forecasts for each segment.

World Broadband and Satellite Service Markets: report: 5876-66, available April 2000, price: US$ 3,450.

Earth Observation

NASA Developing Sensor Net for Earth Observation Satellites
NASA is taking the first steps toward Internet-like connectivity among its future Earth sensing satellites with the funding of 30 research proposals from industry, academia, government and NASA centres in Advanced Information System Technology.

Known as "Sensor Web," this is the first in a series of information technology research initiatives that will help NASA's Office of Earth Sciences solve the massive challenge of collecting, processing, routing and storing Earth science measurement data. Of the 117 proposals submitted, the 30 selected cover a variety of topics ranging from satellite on-board processing, data collection and analysis, information transmission and wireless networks, to satellite platform control.

"Sensor Web" is what NASA calls the concept of integrating a constellation of Earth observing satellites into a cohesive network of measurement instruments. Scientists and other users will have access to any on-orbit sensors and be able to direct and control those sensors in the same manner as we access information on the Internet today. The Sensor Web concept also will take full advantage of the revolution occurring in information and telecommunications technologies for direct delivery of space-based Earth observations to the end-user at the cost of placing a long distance telephone call.

Research funded by this program will proceed over three years. During that period, a second increment of research projects will be initiated, focusing on other aspects of information technology essential to the next generation of Earth science missions. When fully implemented, an unprecedented amount of scientific data on the Earth's atmosphere, land and oceans will be available for study and public use.

The 30 research proposals selected by the Advanced Information System Technology program will have a total value of approximately US$ 26 million over a three year period.

Navigation

Frost and Sullivan Report Predicts Solid GPS Growth Into New Applications
With US$ 2.07 billion in 1999 North American revenues, Global Positioning System (GPS) products are gaining acceptance among an increasing number of end users in previously untapped markets. GPS-enabled products in high-volume consumer applications such as in-vehicle navigation, recreational marine and other land markets are major drivers for this trend.

According to new strategic research from Frost & Sullivan , the North American Global Positioning System Market grew 21.1% in 1999 to US$ 2.07 billion in revenues, while 2006 revenues are projected to increase to US$ 4.6 billion. Average prices for GPS products are expected to decrease 7.4% per year through 2006. Falling price points will increase use in non-traditional GPS applications, allowing market participants to sell a greater number of products into commercial and consumer markets.

The North American GPS market is divided into five segments, with the US$ 1.28 billion land-based segment experiencing the most growth in 1999. This segment accounted for 61.8% of total revenues in 1999, a statistic not likely to change greatly through 2006.

North American Global Positioning System Markets: Report: 7267-22, available May 2000, price: US$ 3,950.

Military Space

Litton PRC Awarded USAF Space and Missile Support Contract
PRC Inc, a subsidiary of Litton Industries, is one of 10 companies awarded a Technical Acquisition Support Services (TASS) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) by the US Air Force Materiel Command, Space and Missile Center (SMC).

The Air Force and other related DoD agencies will use the US$ 390 million BPA to support Space and Missile Center activities. The potential value of the contract to Litton PRC is approximately US$ 60 million. Litton PRC's work under the TASS BPA will include systems engineering and integration, speciality acquisition, integrated logistics support, computer resources and software, and acquisition security.

Under the Air Force Space Systems Acquisition Support II (SSAS II) contract (the predecessor to the TASS BPA), Litton PRC supported the Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS), MILSATCOM Joint Program, Air Force Satellite Control Network, the 61st Communications Squadron, the Eastern Range Program Office, the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). Other tasking included systems engineering support to other space-based systems, including Space Based Laser (SBL), where Litton PRC developed operational concepts as well as designed reference missions to support SBL on-orbit servicing. Litton PRC expects to see increased work for all of these programs under the new contract.

Sarnoff's Super Cameras for USAF Satellite Tracking Network
Sarnoff Corporation has been awarded a US government subcontract to develop a camera that will help the US Air Force to track dim objects, such as US and foreign satellites, in space.

Working as a subcontractor to TRW on the Deep STARE (Deep Space Surveillance Technology Advancement & Replacement for Ebsicons) project, Sarnoff will draw on its CCD (charge-coupled device) technology to develop a camera with exceptional sensitivity and a 5-megapixel resolution. The finished camera will use a state-of-the-art, large-format backside illuminated CCD, developed and produced at Sarnoff, that will allow more precise tracking of objects of lower visibility than is possible with existing systems. Contract options provide for delivery of up to 10 full camera systems.

The camera development effort is one part of the US$ 5 million Deep STARE project, which was awarded to TRW's Space and Missile Systems division last month. Deep STARE will upgrade the Air Force's Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance System (GEODSS), which tracks satellites orbiting at altitudes above 35,000 km, beyond where most radar can see.

Sarnoff's camera will use a split-frame-transfer architecture with an imaging register format of 2560 (H) x 1960 (V) with 24 um pixels. The 5 megapixel device will have a total of eight output ports servicing the top and bottom storage registers. The device will feature pixel buried blooming drains, a peak quantum efficiency of >85%, <10 e RMS noise (@ 2 MHz output port clock rate), high vertical transfer speed (employing metal strapping), and 14-bit dynamic range. When the prototype is successfully completed, the Air Force can exercise options to upgrade and enhance operational sites.

Science

ESA To Sign First Contract for Biomedical Research on International Space Station
Early next week the European Space Agency and researchers from academia and industry in Germany, Italy and Switzerland will sign a contract for a health research project which will lay the scientific and industrial foundations for the development of a space bioreactor for biomedical applications to be set up on the International Space Station.

A bioreactor is a cultivation vessel used in research laboratories and industrial production to grow bacteria, yeast or animal cells and, increasingly in the recent past, tissues. The one to be developed under this contract will be designed specifically for mammalian cell cultivation and will be used on the International Space Station to study the cultivation of medically relevant cells, tissues and organ-like structures, with particular emphasis on vessels and cartilage.

Millions of people every year suffer organ and tissue damage from diseases and accidents. Transplantation of tissues and organs from other human bodies is severely restricted by the limited availability of donors. Taking tissue samples from unaffected areas of a patient's own body, growing them in vitro, outside the patient's body, to a size and structure suitable for re-implantation into the body parts affected by organ or tissue damage is therefore seen as a promising alternative to the transplantation of foreign tissues and organs. Re-implantation also eliminates the fundamental problem of rejection of foreign tissues and organs by the patient's system. Growing tissue samples in vitro, i.e. in a bioreactor, is currently one of the major goals of medical research.

One of the possible applications of this technique is mass cultivation of biological implants to regenerate the meniscus and the articular cartilage of the knee. Cartilage regeneration is urgently needed by patients in their 20s to 50s, many of them with injuries from sports accidents. Demand for such implants in Europe alone is estimated at 100 000 cases a year. The principles of in vitro cell culture have been known for almost 100 years, but only in the last 10 - 20 years has the cultivation of mammalian cultures increased significantly, leading to the creation of the discipline of tissue engineering. These techniques are expected to revolutionise biomedical and surgical procedures in the near future.

Space research has potential to give a boost to tissue engineering. As compared to the normal gravity conditions on Earth, a weightlessness environment may provide much better conditions for obtaining proper three-dimensional cell structures. Over the past decade, evidence in the scientific literature has indicated that weightlessness may become a surprising, unconventional and yet attractive medium for the generation of macroscopic tissue equivalents for a variety of basic and applied medical purposes.

Technology

Garuda Unfurls Its Giant Antennas
Harris Corporation has announced the successful on-orbit deployment, test, and operation of two unfurlable mesh reflectors operating onboard the Garuda 1 satellite.

The satellite was built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, in Sunnyvale, California for the Asia Cellular Satellite (ACeS) system, the first regional satellite-based, handheld mobile telecommunications system designed exclusively for the Asia Pacific region. When service is initiated, it will provide voice, paging and facsimile services to countries throughout Asia. Millions of customers will be able to use the same telephone and telephone number to access the service or ground-based cellular systems while travelling throughout Asia.

The 4,500 kg satellite - the largest commercial communications satellite ever built by Lockheed Martin - was launched on February 12, 2000, from Baikanour Cosmodrome, Kazakstan, aboard a Proton rocket. Harris' two 12 m diameter reflectors - the largest ever deployed on a commercial satellite - were launched while in their pre-designed, stowed and compact configuration in order to easily fit within the Proton's payload bay. Once the satellite achieved its assigned, geostationary orbit, deployment of their umbrella-like structures and subsequent testing of their surfaces was initiated. On March 15, 2000, ACeS successfully placed the first phone call using the full system and has completed over 500 calls since that time.

Engineers and technicians from Harris' Government Communications Systems Division began designing and developing the unique reflectors in 1996. Delivery of the equipment to Lockheed Martin for satellite integration was made in the summer of 1998. Both mechanical assemblies include a two-segment boom connected by a hinged joint, the mesh reflector itself, and associated fastening hardware for attachment to the satellite. Each reflector passed extremely stringent pre-launch RF testing in the company's Passive Intermodulation facility in Melbourne, Florida.

Harris is currently working on a second set of 12 m reflectors for Lockheed Martin supporting the Garuda 2 satellite. In addition to work on both the Garuda satellites, Harris was recently awarded another multi-million dollar contract by Lockheed Martin to provide a similar 5 m reflector solution for the NSTAR-c satellite. NSTAR-c is slated for launch in 2002. Once operational, the satellite will supplement portable maritime telephony and data services throughout Japan.

Surrey Space Centre Pioneering Nano-Satellites
SSTL's first nanosatellite, SNAP-1, is being completed for launch in June 2000 at the Surrey Space Centre. SNAP-1 is a highly-integrated and sophisticated spacecraft weighing just 6 kg with advanced micro-miniature GPS navigation, on-board computing, propulsion and attitude control technologies - all developed in the UK.

SNAP-1's primary payload is a machine vision system capable of inspecting other spacecraft in orbit and the tiny spacecraft will use its propulsion and navigation systems to rendezvous after launch with another Surrey-built satellite, Tsinghua-1, in order to demonstrate orbital formation flying for the first time. This will lead the way to the development of micro/nano-satellite swarms and constellations in orbit that are due to revolutionise space exploration in the 21st Century.

Recent advances in the miniaturisation of electronic and mechanical technologies have made it possible to construct a new breed of tiny nanosatellites weighing less than 10 kg and dramatically reducing the cost of access to space. This development opens up many new possibilities for space exploration at low cost for a far wider community of scientists and businesses.

The SNAP-1 nanosatellite will be launched on a COSMOS rocket from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia.

Launch Vehicles

Second Static Firing of Delta IV Solid Motor A Success
Alliant Aerospace Propulsion Company, Magna, Utah, has successfully completed the second of three static test firings to qualify a new solid rocket motor for The Boeing Company's Delta IV Medium-plus family of launch vehicles.

The Delta IV vehicles are the latest derivative of the Delta family of rockets that has been lifting satellites into orbit since 1960. The new graphite epoxy motor, known as GEM-60, is designed to provide a lift capacity ranging between 5847 and 6566 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) for the Delta IV Medium-plus family of vehicles.

Alliant Aerospace Propulsion Company is part of ATK's Aerospace group, which comprises the company's space and strategic propulsion and Utah- and Mississippi-based composite structures operations.

Univ of Queensland Prepares for Scramjet Launch
A University of Queensland-led international project involving the world's first flight test of a scramjet using a supersonic combustion process is likely to take place in October.

Scramjets are air-breathing supersonic combustion ramjet engines. They are set to revolutionise the launch of small space payloads, such as communications satellites, by substantially lowering costs.

The $1.05 million HyShot project plans to launch two Terrier Orion rockets fitted with hypersonic air-breathing engine (scramjet) experiments from the test range at Woomera, 500 km north of Adelaide.

The project is supported by an international consortium including The University of Queensland, Astrotech Space Operations, DERA (The UK Defence Evaluation and Research Agency), NASA Langley Research Center, The DSTO (Dept. of Science and Technology, Australia), Seoul National University, the DLR (German Aerospace Center) and Australian Space Research Institute (ASRI). Australian firms, Alesi Technologies, AECA, Luxfer Aust. and British Aerospace Australia will assist by providing operational and logistic support. Funding has also been secured from the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, the Australian Research Council and assistance and support from the Ministry of Defence.

Launches

Progress M1-2

Launched: 26 April 2000
Site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan
Launcher: Soyuz
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 223 km, perigee: 175 km: inclination: 88.47°
International Number: 2000-021A
Name: Progress M1-2

This is a resupply mission for the Mir space station. Progress carried oxygen, fuel and food for the crew on Mir as well as scientific equipment. It will also be used to raise the orbit of Mir to about 360 to 370 km altitude.

Progress docked with Mir on Friday.

Business

AMSC Chooses New Name
American Mobile Satellite Corporation (AMSC) has been renamed Motient Corporation.

Space Operations International Now Roton's Primary Agent
Space Operations International LLC (SOI) has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Rotary Rocket company to use Rotary's Roton family of launch vehicles for providing transportation to space for secondary payloads.

Rotary Rocket will use SOI as its primary agent in obtaining US government small payloads and U.S. government-funded small payloads for the Roton, which is to enter commercial service in 2002.

SOI is a new company jointly formed by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp and Universities Space Research Association.

Products and Services

Boeing Announces Connexion Internet Service for Air Travellers
The Boeing Company plans to develop a global communications network and other services, called Connexion by Boeing, that will provide air travellers with an array of high-speed data communication services via a space-based network - all for about the same price as cellular phone service.

Using Connexion, commercial airline passengers soon will be able to access the Internet, e-mail, television, news and information - essentially any form of high data-rate communication today's business or leisure travellers require - in real-time in flight. Other applications include corporate and private business jets, US government platforms, and aircraft health monitoring.

Boeing has signed memoranda of agreement with: CNN Inflight Services, Mitsubishi Electric Corp, Alenia Spazio, Loral Skynet, Matsushita Avionics Systems Corp and CNBC. The company currently is negotiating with prospective airline partners, and additional content and service suppliers.

While anticipated revenues for Connexion by Boeing have not been announced, analysts project the program's addressable market to be about US$ 70 billion over the next 10 years. Company officials said they hope to capture a significant share of that market with the venture's unique services.

With Connexion by Boeing, airline passengers will be able to choose from a multitude of personalised communications services, including Internet and corporate intranet access, e-commerce, live television and entertainment, transmission and receipt of data, shopping, travel and destination information - all in real time. Airline operators also will benefit from in-flight access to aircraft and crew data.

Digital broadband capability, which provides increased bandwidth -- or a larger "pipeline" -- for two-way interactive applications, allows customers to send and receive data at rates equivalent to cable Internet access. To provide the capability to airborne travellers, Boeing will lease multiple transponders on Loral Skynet's Telstar satellites, including Telstar 6, located at 93° W. As the Connexion by Boeing service grows, the need for satellite capacity will grow with it and the Loral Global Alliance and its extensive fleet of satellites will provide additional capacity.

The introduction of Connexion by Boeing follows the pending acquisition of Hughes Space & Communications and signals the move by Boeing into commercial, space-based communications markets. Intended as a global service, initially Connexion by Boeing will be available to commercial airline customers operating in North America. Service later will be expanded to other regions, over ocean areas and onto other moving platforms. The system is already available for installation on private business jets today and will be available on commercial aircraft shortly. System installations are expected to begin in late 2001, with operability expected shortly thereafter.

Hughes Announces Two-Way DirecPC Service
Continuing its theme of Broadband Everywhere Hughes Network Systems (HNS) plans to market a two-way broadband satellite service to consumers.

Hughes Network Systems (HNS), a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation, will add two-way capabilities to its US high-speed satellite Internet service, DirecPC, early in the fourth quarter of this year. The new service will be marketed through the more than 26,000 retail and distribution outlets currently carrying Hughes products and services such as DirecTV services and HNS receivers. Offering always-on capability, the new two-way high-speed satellite service allows consumers to completely bypass the dial-up telephone network and land-based choke points on the Internet.

For consumers the upstream speed for the new service is anticipated to be between 128 kb/s and 256 kb/s and the downstream will be at speeds over 40 Mb/s, supporting bursts up to 400 kb/s for each user. The new two way terminal will support small office/home office (SOHO) and enterprise applications such as IP multicasting and content delivery. Two-way DirecPC will also be offered with a DirecDuo antenna system, allowing consumers to receive both DirecPC and DirecTV on the same antenna.

The company expects that the new two-way services will be competitive with cable and DSL broadband services, and will announce pricing, availability and service plans later this year.

The two-way DirecPC product will require an antenna to enable transmission to the DirecPC satellites and will use an external device connected via a USB port to the PC. The two-way version of DirecPC will operate on the current medium-power Ku-band satellites operated by PanAmSat, which is 81% owned by Hughes Electronics. A program enabling existing DirecPC subscribers to upgrade to two-way by adding the additional equipment will be announced later this year.

The new two-way DirecPC will also be offered by DirecTV as an integrated broadband service in conjunction with its industry-leading entertainment services. DirecTV will now be able to enhance its popular entertainment programming packages with the addition of broadband services through DirecPC. Using the DirecDuo antenna, consumers will receive the new DirecPC service delivered to their desktop computers while simultaneously receiving DirecTV service through a set-top box to their televisions.

Maritime Telecommunications Network Adds Inmarsat Services
Maritime Telecommunications Network will now provide Inmarsat services to the cruise and offshore industries, offering a complete satellite communications solution.

MTN's decision to offer Inmarsat services is two-fold. First, Inmarsat services provides current customers with an auxiliary communications system in addition to their existing C-Band system. Second, this service offers a cost effective satellite communication solution to smaller cruise ships and oil and gas vessels, whose needs do not require a full time communications solution system. MTN can now better fulfill the cruise and oil & gas industry's communications needs by delivering the high quality of service necessary for maintaining a competitive advantage in today's marketplace.

MTN has formed a strategic alliance with Stratos, an international leader in the provision of mobile satellite services. The following Inmarsat services are also available through MTN's alliance with Stratos:

• Global satellite coverage in Inmarsat -A, -B, -C, -M, and Mini-M
• Global Internet access and e-mail capabilities
• Sophisticated International PSTN interconnections; providing faster call setup
• Flexible billing

US$ 12 Million Contract for Netsat Express' New DVB Service
NetSat Express, a provider of Internet services via satellite and a subsidiary of Globecomm Systems Inc, has announced the launch of a new Internet and Multicast service based on a Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) platform.

The announcement of the new offering coincides with the company being awarded a five-year US$ 12 million contract for the new DVB service into the Middle East. The contract, awarded by Al-Harbi International for Telecom, will utilise space on the Telstar 12 satellite and represents NetSat Express' first major customer for this service.

Multicast-enabled DVB services allow ISPs to obtain a higher data rate utilising less satellite space. The new DVB platform enables NetSat Express to provide both Internet and multicast services, which include video, audio, and data distributed content delivery throughout Europe, the Middle East and South America.

People

Alan DeClerck Joins SkyStream
SkyStream Networks, a provider of broadcast Internet equipment, today announced the appointment of Alan DeClerck to Vice President, worldwide field operations.

DeClerck assumes immediate responsibility for all aspects of managing and scaling SkyStream's global sales organisation.

Changes at DirecTV
Hughes Electronics Corp named Odie C. Donald as president of DirecTV Enterprises Inc, effective immediately.

Donald also becomes a vice president of Hughes Electronics and a member of the company's Management Committee. He succeeds, and will report to, Eddy W. Hartenstein, former president of US DirecTV, who earlier this year was promoted to DirecTV global chairman and senior executive vice president of the Hughes Electronics Consumer Sector, which includes global responsibility for DirecTV and the consumer marketing strategies of DirecPC and Spaceway.

Donald's appointment as DirecTV president was also accompanied by the expansion of responsibilities for two DirecTV senior executives: Larry Chapman and Bill Casamo.

Larry Chapman, currently DirecTV executive vice president in charge of New Ventures, Advanced Products and Programming, has been appointed president of a new Hughes business unit named DirecTV Global Digital Media Inc, reporting to Hartenstein. In this role, Chapman will be responsible for the development and acquisition of content and television-based interactive services for the worldwide DirecTV businesses.

Joining Chapman at DirecTV Global Digital Media will be two long-time DirecTV executives in strategic planning and business development. Steven J. Cox, senior vice president, New Ventures, is promoted to executive vice president of the new unit; and Bradley J. Beale, senior vice president, Advanced Products and New Media, is named senior vice president. Stephanie Campbell, DirecTV senior vice president of Programming, and Teresa Ferguson, DirecTV vice president of Business Development and Strategic Planning, will continue their current responsibilities at DirecTV and will report to Donald.

Bill Casamo, DirecTV executive vice president in charge of Sales and Distribution, Marketing and Customer Service, will assume an additional role as president of DirecTV Merchandising Inc, an existing subsidiary of DirecTV Enterprises Inc, reporting to Donald. In this capacity, Casamo will expand his responsibilities to include marketing and distribution of today's DirecPC interactive data services, and the new generation of two-way DirecPC services to be available to customers by year-end, along with future consumer products and services from Hughes.

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