30 July 2000

Satcoms

American Multiplexer Corporation Inks Deal for Digital Cinema
American Multiplexer Corporation has a signed contract with AndAction Corporation to provide content distribution services for feature films to major cinema chains throughout the US.

Field trial deployment is currently underway and is slated for five theatres in the US. Both companies anticipate a full rollout over the next three years. The contract agreement includes additional services such as live sports events, concerts and multicast data services.

Through its Secure Media Network (SMN), AndAction applications and services enable secure distribution and management of a limitless variety of big screen digital entertainment. AndAction's Digital Entertainment Infrastructure spawns new revenue generating opportunities including digital cinema, multiplayer video games, pay per view events, corporate presentations, distance learning and e-commerce.

The costs to distribute a film can be over US$ 7 million per new release. Major movie distribution companies will find that digital distribution of films terrestrially and by satellite can substantially reduce costs along with other benefits. The AMC solution can save distribution costs and simplify procedures.

Astra Broadband Interactive Contract Awarded to ND Satcom
Société Européenne des Satellites (SES) has awarded ND Satcom a contract to integrate the different subsystems of the Astra Broadband Interactive (BBI) network into a single unified Internet gateway at SES's headquarters in Betzdorf, Luxembourg.

The BBI system, based on the new international open standard DVB-RCS (Return Channel over Satellite), will enable end-users to have two-way broadband data communications from their own premises via low-cost Satellite Interactive Terminals (SIT's), at speeds of more than 30 times faster than a standard 64 kbit/s ISDN connection.

Recent BBI demonstrations, undertaken by ND Satcom, have successfully proven that the Astra Ku/Ka-band platform is ideally suited for high performance broadband interactive IP applications. The demonstrations included high speed web access and file transfer, high-quality IP video streaming and interactive video conferencing.

ND SatCom Gesellschaft für Satellitenkommunikationssysteme mbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nortel Dasa Networks Systems GmbH & Co. KG, a joint venture between Nortel Networks and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (now EADS). The company ranks worldwide amongst the leading manufacturers and suppliers of turn-key fixed and mobile earth stations as well as satellite-based communications networks. ND SatCom's customers include public and private TV broadcast companies, satellite and network operators, service providers, international corporations and organisations as well as government agencies. ND SatCom was founded out of the corporate division Satellite Communications of Nortel Dasa in July 2000. ND SatCom has over 20 years of experience in the satellite networks and systems business.

India Relaxes Uplinking Regulations
India has liberalised its satellite uplinking policy. The new policy will bring a large number of TV channels within the country's broadcasting codes.

At the moment only Indian broadcasters with a minimum of 80% domestic share holding and Indian management control are permitted to uplink their channels. The new policy will allow Indian companies to set up uplinks and lease them to broadcasters. Foreign equity in such companies would be limited to 49%. Companies will be allowed to set up teleport facilities subject to necessary security clearances. All TV channels irrespective of their equity holding, ownership or management control will be permitted to uplink from India, provided they complied with Indian broadcasting codes. Both Indian and foreign satellites can be used.

In addition, Indian news agencies will be allowed to use satellite newsgathering technology as long as they are incorporated in India, accredited by the Press Information Bureau and 100% owned by Indians with Indian management control.

Intelsat Provides Duplex 45 Mb/s Internet Backbone to Philippines
Philcomsat and ATC Teleports Inc have signed a three-year agreement to lease a duplex 45 Mb/s service on the Intelsat 802 satellite at 174° E.

This first DS-3 satellite service will provide a duplex link between the Internet backbone in the US, via ATC Teleports' facility in Brewster, Washington and Philcomsat's facility at Pinugay Baras/Tanay Rizal, Philippines.

iPSTAR Contracts Awarded
Shin Satellite is to sign a US$ 400 million contract with for the iPSTAR satellite and ground infrastructure with Loral Space and Communications. Codespace Inc and Efficient Channel Coding (ECC) will produce the first generation iPSTAR satellite terminal.

Loral is reported to have won the deal over Hughes Electronics in the final bidding round.

iPSTAR is scheduled to be put into orbit in 2002. It will be Shin Satellite's fourth and the most expensive satellite, and follows three Thaicom satellites.

The iPSTAR system will provide low-cost broadband services throughout the Asia Pacific Region. The first generation technology will be rolled out in 2000 and 2001 using existing Thaicom satellites while the second generation will support the further expansion of the terrestrial infrastructure as satellite coverage is extended further over Asia and Australia and the satellite capabilities are greatly enhanced.

Shin Satellite has appointed Codespace Inc, of Monmouth, Oregon and Efficient Channel Coding (ECC) of Cleveland, Ohio to implement its advanced proprietary design and produce the first generation iPSTAR satellite terminal.

The terminal will be a smart satellite modem that uses proprietary channel coding technology to enable more efficient use of satellite bandwidth. Although it is a part of iPSTAR broadband Internet satellite, it can be used initially with current satellites to provide double the capacity of existing conventional technology. When iPSTAR is launched, the capacity will be further increased when coding performance is matched to the unique iPSTAR system design and capabilities.

Shin Satellite has spent almost US$ 2 million developing the technology for the terminal with expected cost approximately US$ 1,000 per terminal in mass production. The same technology will be a part of the implementation for its iPSTAR gateways, now under construction by NERA SatCom AS in Norway and will be used by consumers to enjoy broadband access speeds. The company expects to be able to offer iPSTAR's bandwidth at an affordable price, comparable with terrestrial broadband services like cable modem and ADSL.

Japanese Transponders for RSSC Satellites
A consortium of three Japanese companies led by NEC Corporation has won an order to supply satellite components for three Russian Ekspress AM-1 satellites.

The consortium, consisting of NEC, Sumitomo Corporporation and Mitsui & Co Ltd, will build transponders and other components for three Express-AM1 satellites. The order was placed by the state-owned Russian Satellite Communications Co (RSCC.)

The first phase of the order is worth approximately US$ 37 million. NEC expects the total order of the three satellites will amount to over US$ 100 million.

This is the first order order of its kind for Japanese companies from Russia.

RSCC is planning a fleet of 10 satellites of which the first three have already been launched. Seven AM-1 satellites will be launched in 2002 and 2003.

Loral Cyberstar to Deliver Medical Network News to Healthcare Professionals
Loral CyberStar has announced that Medical Satellite Broadcasting Corporation (MSBC), a subsidiary of Global Healthcare Communications Corporation (GHCC), will use Cyberstar's satellite-based digital video broadcasting (DVB) services to deliver its new broadband information service, Medical Network News (MNN). Initial estimates suggest that within the next three years MNN could reach healthcare professionals at approximately 20,000 sites worldwide.

Using Cyberstar's satellite-based, IP multicast technology, MSBC's healthcare information portal will directly deliver to the desktop a wide range of services that will include medical textbooks, publications, peer-reviewed clinical papers, and live or recorded TV-quality video such as seminars and presentations.

MNN will include a multimedia rich format that incorporates text, video, and sound and will be introduced on a trial basis in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Bulgaria, The Netherlands, and Germany. MSBC will supply and install DVB satellite receiving equipment, free of charge to hospitals across the globe over the next three years.

MSBC will send content in Web site format directly to a server housed at each hospital and connected to the hospital's local area network (LAN). Doctors and other healthcare professionals will be able to read electronic versions of the MNN texts and services at their leisure on to their desktop computers or can print and read specific articles.

Netsystem.com to Use Astra-Net Broadband Delivery Service
Italian broadband service provider, Italian broadband service provider, Netsystem.com, and Société Européenne des Satellites, operator of the Astra satellite system, have signed contracts for two Astra transponders at 19.2º E as well as for Astra-Net broadband DVB/IP network services.

In addition, SES will invest Euro 25.8m to gain a 5% interest in Netsystem.com.

From October, Netsystem.com will use the network services of Astra-Net to create a broadband service that will be delivered, via Astra, direct to residential users in Italy, Europe's fastest growing Internet market. Netsystem.com will undertake an aggressive marketing campaign to achieve their target of 500,000 connected homes within the next two years.

The Netsystem.com service will combine web-based applications, interactive services, web-caching and on-demand files complemented by Videoportal.com. Videoportal will be the first Italian web TV portal to offer Astra broadband users high quality multimedia applications such as streaming video and interactive video information banners. Content will reflect topics of particular interest to Italian audiences and relevant to the new e-economy such as news, fashion and lifestyle.

OnSat Files Streamlined Satellite Broadcast License Application For Navajo
OnSat Network Communications, has filed the first streamlined application for bi-directional C band satellite service at the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

This streamlined application process will dramatically speed the time to operation for OnSat's bi-directional C band satellite connectivity in the United States and territories under the jurisdiction of the FCC.

In the absence of a streamlined procedure, all satellite providers who desired to use C band must apply for and be granted a license for each earth station prior to operation. This process can take many months and is very expensive. OnSat's customers like rural telephone companies, Indian reservations and schools were having to wait as much as a whole school year before students could get connected to the Internet will applications for license awaited approval at the FCC. In many rural communities throughout the United States, especially in areas like Navajo, high-speed connections are not affordable or even available. OnSat is one of a very few viable options for connection to the Internet and distance learning programs in these areas. The FCC's tentative decision, at OnSat's request, to allow a streamlined applications process will allow OnSat to submit the application electronically on a monthly basis after the systems are installed and operational.

The first such streamlined application at Red Mesa, Arizona, allows OnSat to provide high-speed Internet service to many students and residents on a Navajo reservation there. It is already up and running.

OnSat Signs Broadband Satellite Deal With NTCA
OnSat Network has announced an exclusive Satellite Internet Services Marketing Agreement with the National Telephone Co-operative Association (NTCA), a non-profit association representing more than 500 locally owned telecommunications co-operatives and commercial companies in the rural US.

The agreement designates OnSat as the exclusive satellite-based Internet and broadband services provider to the NTCA for its Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS), Internet and Competitive Communications Carriers (C3A) Alliance members. This strategic agreement allows NTCA Alliance members to expand Internet growth and product offering opportunities quickly and substantially. The addition of satellite based broadband services will result in greater throughput, reduced bandwidth requirements, faster data transfers, larger data pipes, reduced rates, and greater growth flexibility without additional capital expenditure.

The partnership comes at a time when rural telecommunications companies are working to meet the booming demand for Internet services. It is expected that 65% of rural access lines will be broadband capable by the year 2002. But costs to upgrade the remaining 35% will, at a minimum, be nearly US$11 billion, according to a recent National Exchange Carrier Association study.

Vipersat and LGIC to Market Broadband VSATs in Korea
NeTrue subsidiary Vipersat Networks and LG Information & Communications Ltd (LGIC) have entered into a memorandum of understanding to develop, market and distribute wide-band multimedia satellite communications networks to the Korean market.

Under the terms of the MoU, NeTrue and LGIC are committed jointly to developing a business plan and concluding a binding agreement in respect of the provision of multimedia, Internet and telephony services to LGIC's Korean customers utilising Vipersat Networks' DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) two-way IP over-satellite solution. LGIC is to specify the requirements of the networks and NeTrue is to supply network hardware and software. Both companies undertake to support the venture's marketing efforts.

The Vipersat DVB Multimedia Solution provides IP Ethernet routing via satellite utilising a DVB outbound and a Star Data Management System (SDMS-II) return path. Vipersat provides low cost, satellite communication networks ideal for Internet and Intranet access and for video teleconference and distance learning applications.

LG Information & Communications Ltd, Korea, is an integrated information/communications manufacturing and marketing company with global operations. LGIC's products include wireless communications systems, switching and transmission systems, and information systems.

Earth Observation

Spot Image partners US GS for Landsat 7 Data
Spot Image Corp has been named a US Geological Survey (USGS) business partner to commercially distribute Landsat 7 satellite imagery.

Spot has committed itself to ordering a minimum of 50 images from Landsat 7 over the next two years. Spot will resell the images to its customers as individual scenes or as part of other products. Spot Image Corp is the US subsidiary of the French Spot system which includes multiple Earth observation satellites, 24 ground receiving stations worldwide and more than 100 international distributors.

Navigation

Tracking Junior
Advanced Tracking Technologies Inc (ATTI) has introduced TravelEyes, a miniature tracking device for monitoring travel activities of personal or small business vehicles.

By utilising Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology, TravelEyes can deliver vital information on where your spouse or teenager took the family car last night, verify how long your employee really took for lunch today or automatically provide detailed mileage information for tax and billing purposes.

Smaller than a credit card and less than 2.5 cm thick, the TravelEyes device is compact enough to be concealed in your vehicle, if you don't want the driver to know it's there. Using GPS signals the unit and software can provide a wide range of historical data, from length of time at each stop and number of stops, to actual routes taken, including street names.

The TravelEyes system can pinpoint where the vehicle stops on the street, provide stop times and record how fast the driver was going. The information is downloadable into a home, business or laptop computer from which you can print detailed maps and reports.

Record-keeping for billing and tax purposes is simplified because the system eliminates manual logging of mileage and stops and builds a database of this information.

Military Space

Hughes Ships Last MDR Payload
Hughes Space and Communications Co has shipped the last in a series of powerful medium-data-rate (MDR) communications payloads to Lockheed Martin Space Systems for the US Air Force Milstar satellites.

The MDR payload provides jam-resistant communications to the US military through unique onboard signal and data processing capabilities.

Milstar is the tactical and strategic multiservice satellite system designed to provide secure, survivable communications for US forces world-wide. The constellation can transmit voice, data and imagery, in addition to offering video teleconferencing capabilities. The programme is managed by the US Air Force Space and Missile Center.

HSC is responsible for supplying the MDR communications and crosslink payloads on Milstar. HSC subcontracts with TRW for the MDR antennas and digital subsystem. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co (LMSSC), the prime contractor, is responsible for the space and mission control segments of the program.

The MDR payload dynamically sorts incoming data and routes the data to the proper downlinks to establish networks and provide bandwidth on demand. If necessary, it crosslinks the data between satellites. These crosslinks provide rapid, ultra-secure communications by enabling the satellites to pass signals to one another without assistance from ground stations.

The MDR payload uses a 32-channel EHF (44 GHz) uplink and an SHF (20 GHz) downlink. It sends real-time voice, video and data to military personnel in the field at rates that range from 4.8 kb/s to 1.5 Mb/s. The crosslinks provide communications capability at 60 GHz between Milstar satellites for both the MDR payload and the 2.4 Kb/s LDR communications payload on the satellites.

The MDR antennas consist of eight narrow spot-beam antennas: six distributed user coverage antennas (DUCAs), and two narrow spot beams with nulling capabilities, known as nuller antennas. In contrast to commercial communications satellites, whose beams can cover entire continents, Milstar's beams are very narrow, providing less opportunity for enemy detection and penetration.

The payload HSC has just delivered is for the F-6 spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2002. Two Milstar I satellites are in orbit. The remaining three in the Milstar II series will be launched over the next two years, with the next one scheduled for this autumn.

Science

NASA Plans New Mars Rover
In 2003, NASA plans to launch a relative of the 1997 Mars Pathfinder rover. Using drop, bounce, and roll technology, this larger cousin is expected to reach the surface of the Mars in January, 2004 following a launch on June 4, 2003.

The Mars Exploration Program Rover was chosen as the best of two possible missions which had been under study at NASA since March. NASA has not yet decided whether it will send a single rover or two rovers, each to a different area of Mars.

With far greater mobility and scientific capability than the 1997 Mars Pathfinder Sojourner rover, this new robotic explorer will be able to trek up to 100 meters across the surface each Martian day of 24 hrs 37 min. The Mars rover will carry a sophisticated set of instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past, as well as study the geologic building blocks on the surface.

After launch on a Delta II rocket, and a cruise of seven and a half months, the spacecraft should enter the Martian atmosphere January 20, 2004. In a landing similar to that of the Pathfinder spacecraft, a parachute will deploy to slow the spacecraft down, and airbags will inflate to cushion the landing. Upon reaching the surface the spacecraft will bounce about a dozen times and could roll as far as a kilometre. When it comes to a stop, the airbags will deflate and retract, and the petals will open, bringing the lander to an upright position and revealing the rover.

Where the Pathfinder mission consisted of a lander, with science instruments and camera, as well as the small Sojourner rover, the Mars 2003 mission features a design that is dramatically different. This new spacecraft will consist entirely of the large, long-range rover, which comes to the surface inside a Pathfinder landing system, making it essentially a mobile scientific lander.

Immediately after touchdown, the rover is expected to send back a high resolution panoramic, colour and infrared image of the landing site. It will then leave the petal structure behind, driving off as scientists command the vehicle to go to rock and soil targets of interest.

This rover will be able to travel almost as far in one Martian day as the Sojourner rover did over its entire lifetime. The rover's science package will consist of six scientific instruments, which will allow it to act as "a robotic field geologist." The instruments, besides the Pancam, are a device called Mini-TES, to view the scene around the rover in the infrared; a microscopic camera; a Mössbauer spectrometer to identify iron-bearing minerals; and an instrument called the alpha-proton-X-ray spectrometer, an improved version of the instrument used by Pathfinder's Sojourner rover that will measure concentrations of most major elements. The package also includes a rock abrasion tool, or RAT, to expose fresh rock surfaces for study.

The rover will weigh nearly 150 kilograms and has a range of up to about 100 meters per Martian day. Surface operations will last for at least 90 Martian days, extending to late April 2004, but could continue longer, depending on the health of the rover.

The exact landing site has not yet been chosen, but is likely to be a location such as a former lakebed or channel deposit - a place where scientists believe there was once water. A site will be selected on the basis of intensive study of orbital data collected by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, as well as the Mars 2001 orbiter, and other missions.

The alternative mission, which had been under consideration for the 2003 opportunity, was a Mars scientific orbiter, which featured a camera capable of imaging objects as small as about 60 cm across, an imaging spectrometer designed to search for mineralogical evidence of the role of ancient water in Martian history, and other science objectives.

Teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California, and Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colorado, conducted separate, intensive, two-month studies of the missions.

Manned Space

EMS Technologies Delivers High Precision Robotic Device for ISS
EMS Technologies, Inc has announced the initial delivery of a device that enables greater precision and control of robots in space. As a result, astronauts operating a new two-armed robot will be better able to manipulate objects with which the arms come into contact, making their space work easier and safer.

The Force and Moment Sensor (FMS), designed and developed by EMS' Space & Technology Group in Ottawa, Ontario, will be installed on Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) as part of a contract with MacDonald Dettwiler Space and Advanced Robotics Ltd (MD Robotics) of Brampton, Ontario.

In addition to the work on the FMS, EMS is the key supplier of electronics for the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, designing, manufacturing and testing a total of 22 joint assemblies and dozens of related electronics packages, including two 1553B Data Bus Repeaters.

The first release of the FMS will be followed by two additional deliveries of the same instrument in the near future.

Tragedy at Zvezda Celebrations
Official parties in Houston to celebrate the successful launch of the Zvezda module and its subsequent docking with the rest of the International Space Station have been cancelled following the death of a Russian flight controller.

The 38 year old mission specialist was accidentally drowned in an apartment complex swimming pool. He had been celebrating the docking of Zvezda with friends at a private party.

Zvezda Docks to ISS
With the ISS' Zarya Control Module operating as the active vehicle, the ISS and the Zvezda module gently docked July 26, two weeks after Zvezda was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Zarya's jets controlled the final minutes of the approach for docking, as the ISS closed on Zvezda at a rate of 0.2 m/s.

Within minutes, hooks and latches on both sides of the docking interface between Zvezda and Zarya began to engage one another to form a tight seal between the two vehicles. The ISS has now become a far larger complex than previously at some 36 m in length and weighing about 60 tonnes.

Immediately after docking, the solar arrays on Zvezda, which had been locked "edge on" to prevent any impingement from Zarya's jet thrusters, began articulating again to follow the sun and Zarya's Motion Control System was deactivated. Upon command from Russian flight controllers, a valve in Zvezda will be opened to pressurise the vestibule, or passageway, between the two modules. On Sunday, flight controllers in Korolev will begin the critical transfer of commanding and attitude control of the ISS from Zarya's computers to those on Zvezda, part of the command and telemetry system in the Service Module supplied by the European Space Agency.

The next module to be added to the ISS, the Destiny science module, will be launched in January next year.

Technology

BNSC Funding For Small Satellite Projects
The British National Space Centre has announced £15 million of contracts for the Small Satellite Initiative "MOSAIC" programme.

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) picked up approximately £11M of funding for three projects: the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) of Earth Observation microsatellites, the GEMINI Geostationary communications minisatellite, and the TOPSAT high resolution EO enhanced microsatellite for military Earth Imaging.

GEMINI is a project led by SSTL to develop a low cost small geostationary communications minisatellite to support a diverse range of data, telephone, television and radio services. SSTL's geostationary minisatellite, employing cost effective commercial-off-the-shelf technologies (COTS), will enable customers to own a dedicated communications satellite to provide real-time services but at a fraction of the conventional cost - opening a new and commercially attractive export market for Britain.

Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) is an international project proposed and led by SSTL to construct a network of five affordable microsatellites in low Earth orbit to provide daily imaging for rapid-response disaster monitoring and mitigation. Every year natural and man-made disasters around the world cause devastation, loss of life, widespread human suffering and huge economic losses. Daily monitoring from the high vantage point of space can greatly aid the response, management and mitigation of such disasters wherever they occur in the world. Current Earth observation satellites only offer infrequent image revisit and delivery of critical information may take months due to periodic cloud cover and tasking conflicts - thus images of disaster-stricken areas are often available too late to be of real use. A constellation of conventional large Earth observation satellites able to provide world-wide daily imaging would be prohibitively expensive. However, SSTL has developed highly capable 50 kg microsatellites that can provide high quality multispectral imaging at 1/50th the conventional cost thus making the constellation and this humanitarian service both practicable and affordable.

TOPSAT is a mission to provide high-resolution Earth images direct to the local user from a low cost enhanced microsatellite in a project led by the UK Defence Evaluation & Research Agency (DERA). TOPSAT consists an advanced panchromatic optical camera able to image the Earth at 2.5m resolution, integrated with a microsatellite that is capable of delivering this imagery direct to a mobile ground terminal. The mission has been made possible through the collaborative efforts of DERA, SSTL, RAL and NRSC and makes good use of the UK's world class capability in small satellites and high performance space missions.

Boeing Wins Space-Based Air Traffic Management Study Contract
A contract to explore modernising ground-based air traffic management in Venezuela, awarded this week to a Boeing-led team, could be the first step toward development of a space-based architecture that will make flying safer and more efficient around the world.

The Venezuelan government, through funding provided by the US Trade and Development Agency export promotion program, has chosen The Boeing Company, Innovative Solutions International, Design Operations Requirements Strategies International, and Grupo Efezeta CA of Venezuela to perform a modernisation study for applying space-based solutions to the country's radar-based air traffic management system.

Under the terms of the contract, Boeing will assist in the development of the Communication, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) transition plan for Venezuela's Ministry of Infrastructure. The Boeing team will assess current system capabilities and recommend long-term solutions and a transition plan for moving from a ground-based navigation system to a satellite-based one and for implementing CNS/ATM technologies.

The eight-month study, of which $450,000 is funded by the US Trade and Development Agency, takes into account the anticipated increases in overall air travel volume and the system infrastructure capacity needed to ensure effective air traffic management. It also will provide the basis for the Venezuelan Ministry of Infrastructure's investment decision over the next 10 years.

Star Tracker Success for EMS Technologies
EMS Technologies Inc has announced the successful completion of the first flight of its new Caltrac Star Tracker system aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-101.

The tracker provided critical navigation functions to the mission crew during an experiment of orbital attitude readiness involving the International Space Station.

The EMS system also will fly on one of NASA's Discovery missions, Genesis, scheduled for launch in January 2001. The two-year mission will involve sending a spacecraft that is to help scientists better understand the composition of the solar system.

The Caltrac Star Tracker system has a wide field of view so it can quickly provide attitude pointing for satellite or shuttle missions. It also features its own power supply and processor so it doesn't draw on the shuttle's central processing system.

Developed by EMS Space & Technology Optical Products Group in Ottawa, Ontario/Canada, the Star Tracker provides the shuttle's position as a reference for other navigational devices, such as the GPS (Global Positioning System) and the INS (Inertial Navigation System).

Launch Vehicles

CNES and DLR to Co-operate on Satellite Control During Launch
The Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the German Space Agency (DLR) have signed an agreement for the mutual supply of ground stations networks support during station acquisition of satellites following launch.

The agreement will enable both parties to profit from the support of the other's ground stations to carry out certain critical missions, such as the station acquisition of satellites or the assistance to satellites in difficulty, using frequency S or Ku band. The agreement between CNES and DLR highlights the will of both agencies to strengthen the co-operation in satellite control operations as well as to build up a European network of technical centres.

The first implementation of the new agreement will take place during the station acquisition of the Eutelsat W1.

Launches

PAS-9

Launched: 28 July 2000
Site: Odyssey launch platform in the Pacific Ocean (206° E, 0° N)
Launcher: Sea Launch Zenit-3SL
Orbit: GEO, 58° W
International Number: 2000-043A
Name: PAS 9
Owner: PanAmSat
Contractor: Hughes Space and Communications

PAS 9 is a communications satellite which will be used for coverage of the Atlantic Ocean Region, providing video distribution, Internet and data services throughout the Americas, the Caribbean and Europe. It will replace PAS 5.

PAS 9 weighed 3,650 kg at launch (2,389 kg at beginning of life in orbit) and carries 24 C band and 24 Ku band transponders. Its solar array have a span of 26 m and provide 9.9 kW of power. It is an HS 601 HP spacecraft.

This was Sea Launch's first launch since a Zenit failure destroyed an ICO satellite on March 12.

Business

Castle Harlan Drops Iridium Offer
Potential Iridium buyer Castle Harlan Inc has withdrawn its US$ 50 million offer for the US$ 5 billion satellite system.

Castle Harlan backed out of the deal because their due diligence and marketing studies convinced them that they could not make money out of the system even at the incredibly low knock down price of US$ 50 million.

A further potential buyer, Venture Partners, has yet to have talks with Iridium.

A new bankruptcy hearing is now scheduled for Monday, 31 July.

Hughes Appeals DirecTV Financing Verdict
Hughes Electronics Corp will appeal a United States District Court jury verdict in a breach of contract lawsuit involving a failed consumer financing program for satellite receiving systems.

A District Court jury in Connecticut, Friday returned a US$ 133 million verdict against Hughes and its DirecTV subsidiary in a three-year lawsuit involving General Electric Capital Corporation.

Hughes does not believe that the litigation will ultimately have a material adverse impact on Hughes' results of operations or financial position.

DirecTV, in 1995, retained GE Capital to establish, administer and manage a consumer-financing program for the purchase of DirecTV satellite entertainment systems and related video equipment and services.

The program, called EZ Approval, ran from March 1996 through August 1996. DirecTV and Hughes had agreed to reimburse GE Capital if consumers defaulted on their loans through the program. Losses under the program were much higher than expected, and DirecTV contends the losses were caused by GE Capital's failure to perform.

GE Capital on September 5, 1997, filed a US$ 157 million lawsuit against DirecTV and Hughes to recover its losses. DirecTV filed counterclaims totalling US$ 45 million against GE Capital alleging that GE Capital fraudulently induced DirecTV to enter into the program agreement by misrepresenting its abilities to provide accurate credit scores for loan applicants and other services.

iBeam Acquires NextVenue
Streaming media network operator iBeam Broadcasting Corporation is to acquire NextVenue Inc, the established leader in providing streaming media services to the financial community and business enterprise markets.

NextVenue provides Wall Street and the world with end-to-end streaming solutions for virtual roadshows, multimedia and interactive analyst reports, and other media-rich, immediate impact tools for the financial and enterprise markets. NextVenue's services will now be delivered via iBeam's satellite/fibre streaming media platform.

The acquisition will be accounted for as a purchase transaction. iBeam will issue US$ 375 million in stock to NextVenue's shareholders at the closing of the transaction, which is planned for the third quarter of 2000. Wasserstein Perella acted as the financial advisor to iBeam on the transaction.

NextVenue's clients include leading financial institutions, such as Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Salomon Smith Barney, and Citigroup.

iBeam's global distribution network bypasses many of the problems associated with traditional streaming media by delivering content via satellite to the edge of the Internet.

Norsat Files for Nasdaq National Market Listing
Norsat International Inc, a developer and marketer of satellite access systems and components, has applied for a listing on the Nasdaq National Market. The company is currently trading on the Nasdaq Small Cap Market.

Norsat International Inc designs, engineers and distributes premium products for use in the satellite wireless communications industry. It has four principal operating units. Norsat Satellite Products is a supplier of satellite signal receivers, transmitters, and other ground station equipment and provides an after-market maintenance and repair service. Norsat Broadband Networks develops components and systems to the satellite broadband IP market. Norsat Narrowband Networks specialises in voice and data products and services for the Globalstar satellite constellation. The Company's Norsat America Inc subsidiary operates a network of 14 branch offices across the US and is a distributor of DirecTV satellite service to the direct-to-home (DTH) market and a DirecTV Master System Operator (MSO) for the multiple dwelling unit (MDU) market. Norsat America also distributes DirecPC.

SES Takes Stake in Embratel
Société Européenne des Satellites SA (SES), the Luxembourg-based owner and operator of the Astra Direct-To-Home (DTH) satellite system, has entered into a definitive agreement with Worldcom's Embratel Participações SA, the company that controls the Brazilian national telecommunications operator Embratel.

As part of the agreement, SES will purchase a 20% interest in Embratel Satellite Division, a pan-regional Latin America Internet high-speed broadband operations company based in Rio de Janeiro. The transaction is subject to approval by the relevant regulatory authorities and is anticipated to close in 3Q 2000.

Embratel Satellite Division operates the Brasilsat Satellite System, the largest satellite fleet in South America, and together with SES, will introduce satellite broadband Internet services directly to homes and businesses in Latin America, one of the fastest-growing broadband markets in the world.

SES will pay a total consideration of US$ 135 million to acquire 20% of Embratel's existing stake in Embratel Satellite Division, valuing the company at a total of US$ 675 million. SES retains an option to acquire a further 10% interest.

The consideration for the transaction is being funded from SES' available resources. The impact of the transaction is expected to be a slight dilution in earnings in 2001 and 2002 due to the cost of financing the investment.

Completion of the transaction is subject to the approval of the relevant Brazilian telecommunications and competition authorities, ANATEL and CADE.

SES and Embratel will also enter into Shareholder and Strategic Partnership Agreements. These Agreements focus on their shared interest in developing both the service portfolio and geographical penetration of Embratel Satellite Division. The orbital positions and frequency spectrum available through this investment will notably permit the rapid expansion of new broadband multimedia services, starting with Brazil, the biggest market in Latin America. Embratel and SES plan also to install an open standard Astra-Net multimedia platform in Rio de Janeiro.

Tax Breaks for Florida Space Businesses
Florida's space-related businesses will be eligible for significant tax exemptions under legislation recently approved by Governor Jeb Bush.

The exemptions are for space flight property leases, new machinery and equipment used for space technology products and research and development. They could result in millions of dollars in cost savings for Florida's space-related companies.

Under the lease tax exemption, which went into effect on 1 July, the renting, leasing, or granting of a license for the use of real estate is exempt from Florida's 6% sales tax when the property is used or occupied predominantly for space flight business purposes. As it relates to this tax exemption, "space flight business" is defined as the manufacturing, processing, or assembly of a space facility, space propulsion system, space vehicle, satellite, or station of any kind possessing the capacity of space flight. Also included in the definition are launch facilities, flight operations, ground control or ground support, and all administrative activities directly related to the space flight business.

The machinery and equipment exemption will go into effect in January 2001 and will allow companies planning to establish or expand their space industry manufacturing or R&D operations in Florida to exempt 25% of state sales taxes on their qualified purchases of machinery and equipment.

In addition to these new space business incentives, the state continues to provided tax exemptions for the sale of rockets, satellites, other payloads, and their components, and for fuels used on rockets and satellites.

Teleglobe Arranges US$ 1.25 Billion Credit Facility
Teleglobe Inc has signed a 364-day senior credit facility of $US 1.25 billion subscribed by a syndicate of 10 US, Canadian and European banks.

These facilities include a US$ 750 million revolving facility originating from the US and a US$ 500 million revolving facility originating from Canada.

This new financing replaces the corporation's facilities that were amended in May.

Products and Services

TelesciCOM Announces Low Cost, Chipset for Two-Way Satellite Access
Utilising technology derived from the development of their Skygain product line, TelesciCOM have announced the development of their Spacegain chipset for two-way broadband satellite access. The Spacegain chipset is intended to address the professional and residential markets and is intended to be used in low cost Satellite Interactive Terminal (SIT) In-Door Units (IDU).

TelesciCOM's IDU technology and architecture significantly reduces the cost of the SIT by utilising low cost IDU/RF and significantly reducing the cost of the ODU by enabling the use of simplest available ODU architecture. This can be provided by a Block-Up-Converter (BUC) with fixed LO where all frequency synthesis is done in the IDU.

The Spacegain IDU chipset provides the following functions:

• RF Front End that converts the baseband directly into an IFL RF signal at L or S Bands covering the full satellite bandwidth (1650-3000 MHz). This allows the use of a simplified ODU BUC.
• Base Band Processing provides modem functionality, converts digital data into analogue baseband signals at high throughput.
• Forward Error Correction (FEC) that provides either the existing DVB-S Viterbi and Reed Solomon coding schemes or the most advanced schemes such as Turbo Codes. Turbo Codes excel in providing extremely high coding gain. It can also support the new DVB-RCS standard.

Triple Module Redundancy for Space Qualified Field Programmable Gate Arrays
Actel Corporation has implemented the concept of triple module redundancy (TMR) in silicon for field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) used in space applications.

TMR, to be included in Actel's next generation of aerospace FPGAs, provides embedded "majority voting" circuits in flip-flop cells that will provide unprecedented levels of tolerance to single event upsets (SEUs), according to the company.

SEUs occur when a high energy particle hits the spacecraft electronics, disrupting the spacecraft's computer operations. A single latched logic state is changed from one to zero, or vice versa. The upset is described as "soft" if the latch can be rewritten and behaves normally afterwards.

Current TMR solutions for space applications are very complex hardware/software design interventions. Actel said it provides a more efficient solution to the designer in a "use it, then forget it" approach. Actel's TMR is "hardwired" into the silicon design as an additional feature, and does not require use of the FPGA's programmable gates or embedded processor machine cycles to support majority voting in software macros.

Radiation testing is presently being conducted on Actel's silicon to prove the TMR implementation, with results expected to be available later this quarter. Introduction of Actel's new high-reliability FPGA devices based on 0.25-micron antifuse silicon with the TMR architecture is expected late in the fourth quarter of 2000.

People

Appointments at EMS Technologies
EMS Technologies Inc has announced two appointments in its Atlanta-based Space & Technology Group.

William P Reiner has been appointed Director, Military Space Business Development, and Nick A Fuhrman has been appointed Director, NASA Business Development. Both Reiner and Fuhrman will report to Paul R Cox, Vice President and General Manager, EMS Space & Technology Group,Atlanta.

Greg Clarke Joins ICO-Teledesic Global as CEO
ICO-Teledesic Global Limited, a new holding company that controls the satellite assets of Craig McCaw, has announced that Greg Clarke has joined the company as Chief Executive Officer.

Clarke, 42, is the former Chief Executive Officer of Cable & Wireless Communications plc (CWC), which prior to a recent restructuring was the United Kingdom's largest cable television company and Britain's second largest telephone company.

Clarke will lead the New ICO and Teledesic teams and have overall management responsibility for the development of the companies' advanced wireless services. He will also work closely with ICO-Teledesic Global's international partners.

James Ackerman Joins OpenTV as President and COO
OpenTV has announced that James Ackerman, the current Chief Executive of British Interactive Broadcasting (BIB), the parent company of Open Interactive Ltd., has been appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of OpenTV Corp, as well as CEO of OpenTV's applications business, reporting directly to Jan Steenkamp, OpenTV's CEO.

OpenTV is the leading worldwide provider of software, services and applications that enable digital interactive television (ITV). OpenTV provides a complete end-to-end solution for the development and delivery of interactive services via digital satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcast. OpenTV set-top box software has been shipped with or installed in more than 7.8 million digital set-top boxes worldwide.

OpenTV software solutions have been selected by 30 television network operators in over 50 countries, including British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB), TPS, Noos, PrimaCom, Via Digital, Galaxy Latin America and EchoStar's
DISH Network.

The OpenTV set-top box software is licensed to 30 digital set-top box manufacturers, and OpenTV's authoring tools are licensed to hundreds of independent developers and content and service providers.

New Directors at American Multiplexer
American Multiplexer Corporation has appointed four new members to its board of directors at the third annual general meeting of stockholders.

One of the appointments to the company's board of directors is Barbara Stinnett, Director Worldwide Sales, E-Service and Service Provider Infrastructure for Hewlett-Packard.

Additional new board members that were appointed include: John Andreini, who is the founder and principal owner of Andreini Insurance Company, one of the largest insurance brokers in the US; Richard Casey, president of Venture Capital Services for Imperial Bank; and Karl Schleicher, a German industrialist and major stock holder of AMC.

SSET Appoints Daryl L Mossman as Vice President of Marketing
SSE Telecom Inc has announced that Daryl L. Mossman has joined the firm as Vice President, Marketing, reporting to President and CEO Lee Blachowicz.

His first tasks will be to define and develop new markets and products for Internet transport via satellite.

SSE Telecom is a leading provider of digital satellite communication products worldwide including the iP3 satellite Internet transport product line. The iP3 enables system integrators, service providers and global enterprises to leverage satellite's unique capabilities to quickly deploy reliable, revenue-enhancing, mission-critical IP-based services anywhere in the world.

Three New Vice Presidents for Hughes Electronics
The board of directors of Hughes Electronics Corp has elected as corporate vice presidents Pat Doyle, controller and chief accounting officer; Mike Gaines, finance; and Ken Heintz, mergers and acquisitions.

Gaines has also been named acting treasurer of Hughes.

As Hughes Corporate Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer, Doyle, 44, will oversee corporate financial accounting and planning functions and will retain responsibility over corporate tax activities.

In his new role as Corporate Vice President, Finance, and Acting Treasurer, Gaines, 42, will be responsible for treasury functions for the corporation and also undertake other finance-related activities in support of the Chief Financial Officer.

As acting treasurer, Gaines succeeds Treasurer Mark McEachen, who resigned from Hughes earlier this month.

Heintz will rejoin Hughes as a corporate officer responsible for the day-to-day execution of all mergers and acquisitions within the corporation and its business units, including the management of investment-banker relationships related to merger and acquisition transactions. Heintz will report to Mufit Cinali, Hughes corporate vice president for Strategy and Business Development.

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