8 October 2000

Satcoms

200,000 Customers for Inmarsat
Global mobile satellite operator, Inmarsat Ltd, has announced it now has more than 200,000 satellite communication terminals active world-wide.

It has taken a little over two years to double active terminals and achieve this figure.

By 1995, Inmarsat had 50,000 active terminals. In two years - 1997 - this figure had doubled to 100,000. Inmarsat edged this up to 150,000 in 1999 and now in 2000, it has passed the 200,000 mark.

Cyberstar Provides Satyam Infoway with Internet Gateways
Loral Cyberstar has signed a two-year contract to provide WorldCast Premier, its high-bandwidth, satellite-based Internet backbone service, to Satyam Infoway Ltd, India's premier Internet and eCommerce company, and the largest private Internet service provider (ISP) in India.

With this contract, Satyam becomes the first private Indian ISP to offer Internet services through its own gateway, allowing the company to offer its customers higher speeds and more direct access to Internet content around the world.

Globecomm Awarded BellSouth DTH Contract
Globecomm Systems Inc has been awarded a contract by BellSouth Entertainment Inc, a subsidiary of BellSouth Corporation, for a Direct-To-Home (DTH) Uplink Earth Station and three Local Access Transmission Stations that will be used to deliver digital television services to households in BellSouth's nine-state service area.

Globecomm Systems will design, engineer, build and commission two Television Uplink Earth Stations to be located in Georgia, as well as Local Access Transmission Stations in various cities throughout the south-eastern United States.

HGS-1 C Band Capacity For Sale
bitcentral.com is offering low-cost inclined orbit C band satellite bandwidth from Hughes Global Services (HGS) on the HGS-1 satellite.

In addition to providing bandwidth and full transponder pricing at approximately half the market rates, bitcentral.com can provide customers with all the necessary satellite equipment, financing installation and maintenance support in a complete turnkey package.

The bandwidth available on the Hughes HGS-1 satellite, located at 60° W, provides coverage of most of North and Central America, the northern part of South America, the Caribbean and the bulge of Africa. It is in an inclined orbit of approximately 7° and will be available for the next two to three years.

Full transponders are priced at US$ 650,000 per year, ad hoc at US$ 60,000 per month and one-year bandwidth contracted at 6 MHz minimum is available for US$ 2,000 per MHz per month.

Intersputnik Looks at Small GEO Satellites
Intersputnik is reported to be looking for a joint venture partner to produce, launch and operate up to a hundred small satellites, each carrying six to ten transponders, and which would be placed in geostationary orbit using converted intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The Intersputnik-100M satellites as they would be called would initially cost up to US$ 45 million each, falling to US$ 25 million to US$ 35 million as production costs fall with increased production volumes. Each satellite would cost US$ 10 million to US$ 15 million to launch.

In five to seven years time , Intersputnik expects to be using three large LMI satellites, five medium Ekspress-A satellites and up to one hundred Intersputnik-100M satellites, located in 13 orbital slots. Currently, Intersputnik uses capacity on two Ekspress satellites, two Ekspress A satellites, six Gorizont satellites and one Ekran-M satellite.

Jamming Iranian TV
A rogue carrier, originating from Iran or a country close to Iran, has blocked transmission from all US-based National Iranian TV (NITV) over Europe and the Middle East.

Los Angeles-based NITV independently operates a 24-hour a day satellite TV station that reports Iranian culture and world news. Not affiliated with any political or governmental organisation, NITV's purpose is to culturally unite Iranian expatriates. The station reaches an estimated sixty million viewers worldwide, including several million in Iran. NITV satellite programming has been off the air since October 1.

GlobeCast, which provides uplink services to NITV as part of a multiplex of satellite TV channels, confirmed satellite transmission problems began on October 1 stating that they noticed a rogue carrier on transponder 156 beginning at 11:40 GMT. Eutelsat, one of whose satellites carry NITV's broadcasts, also confirmed the presence of a rogue carrier. The rogue carrier stopped, according to GlobeCast, once Eutelsat ordered GlobeCast to cease transmitting NITV programming at 15:59 GMT.

According to GlobeCast, they resumed transmitting NITV programming on October 2 at 13:10 GMT only to be interrupted again by a rogue carrier who began interference at 14:02 GMT. Again at Eutelsat request, GlobeCast ceased transmission of NITV programming at 14:45 GMT. The rogue carrier reportedly disappeared at 14:47 GMT.

GlobeCast have filed an official complaint with Eutelsat.

STM Wireless Wins Peruvian VSAT Telephony Bid
STM Wireless Inc has announced that its bid, submitted in association with CIFSA Telecom SAC (CIFSA), a Peruvian telecommunications licensee, was declared as the winner in a project involving installation of VSATs in more than 2,000 locations in Peru.

Under the terms of the public tender, Organismo Supervisor de la Inversion Privada en Telecomunicaciones (OSIPTEL), a government authority on telecommunications regulation, will pay approximately US$ 28 million in subsidies to CIFSA and STM for the project, which will have to be completed over 18 months.

Based on the official tender conditions, STM and CIFSA are invited to enter contract negotiations with OSIPTEL, which are expected to be concluded within 60 days.

TMI Communications Signs Three-year Agreement With XS Technologies
TMI Communications has signed a three-year agreement with XS Technologies Inc under which XST will use capacity aboard TMI's MSAT-1 satellite to offer customers across North, Central and part of South America an efficient and reliable means of tracking and managing mobile assets.

Using TMI Communications' extensive coverage, XST will now be able to expand its customer base into new markets, as well as provide enhanced service to existing clients. XST's MobileTrac products enable companies to monitor and protect all types of mobile assets and remote stationary equipment, such as generators, oil and gas or agricultural machinery, among other valuables. For example, a piece of heavy machinery that has gone missing from a work site - a common problem in the construction industry today - can be located quickly and accurately using XST's satellite-based tracking systems, whether it is stationary or on the move.

XS Technologies Inc is a security solutions provider and the proprietary designer of MobileTrac, a full-featured, open- architectured GPS tracking product line. XST has tracking products and systems that are in use in every continent of the world.

Military Space

DRS Technologies Wins USAF Infra Red Technology Contract
DRS Technologies Inc has received a contract from the US Air Force to develop new infrared focal plane arrays (FPAs) for the High Operating Temperature Staring Arrays (HOTSTAR) program in support of future advanced space surveillance applications.

The award represents the first time DRS's advanced focal plane array technology will be used for space-based applications.

The US$ 1.3 million contract was awarded to DRS by the USAF Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Work for this contract will be accomplished by the company's DRS Infrared Technologies unit in Dallas, Texas. HOTSTAR will be designed to implement improvements to Mercury Cadmium Telluride infrared detector technology, so that infrared sensors can operate at temperatures significantly above those currently possible. This technology, once developed, will provide staring FPAs that will extend the life expectancy of sensor payloads in various satellite surveillance systems, as well as reduce the systems' weight, power and cost. The contract has a duration of 27 months.

Under separate awards, DRS provides advanced focal plane arrays for several significant US military programs and is a market leader in long-range, advanced infrared sighting and weapons systems technology for day and night target detection under harsh environmental conditions.

EDS Wins US$ 7 Billion Navy Contract
The US Navy has awarded an IT contract worth US$ 7 billion, the largest ever awarded by the US government, to Electronic Data Systems.

Electronic Data will build and maintain an internal computer network, the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet, to link sailors and Marines in the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Iceland. Ships at sea would be connected by satellites.

This is the first time a branch of the US military has turned the responsibility and risk of operating and maintaining its entire network of computer systems over to a private company.

The new system is expected to be fully operational by June 2003. The Defense Department sees this system as a model for the military. By 2020, the Pentagon plans to link its war-fighting and intelligence-gathering networks in a vast system it calls the Global Information Grid.

The contract is for a guaranteed minimum of five years, with a possible extension of three years at a minimum of US$ 2.8 billion for each of those three years. The overall contract could be worth as much as US$ 16 billion over the eight years.

Science

Doppler Problem Disables Huygens-Cassini Data Link
A design fault in the data link between the Cassini Saturn orbiter and the Huygens probe will mean that data cannot be relayed from Saturn at anything like the rate anticipated.

NASA's Cassini planetary probe is due to enter orbit around Saturn on 1 July 2004 to begin a four-year tour of the planet's moons and its ring system.

ESA's Huygens probe, which is currently attached to Cassini, will detach itself from the parent spacecraft and will parachute to the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, in November 2004. During its two and a half hour fall to the surface through Titan's atmosphere Huygens will transmit its data via a relay on Cassini back to Earth.

The problem with the data link was identified last month, some three years after the October 1997 launch, during a series of tests on the probes and the communications links. It was completely missed throughout the design process and during ground testing. Unfortunately, the relative velocities of the two spacecraft, once they reach Saturn, will impose a Doppler shift on the signal which will no longer be in the pass band of the ESA supplied receiver subsystem on the Cassini spacecraft, but would be received some 10 dBs below the expected level.

An enquiry board has been charged with discovering why the problem was not identified before launch.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratories design team is currently reviewing several options to determine what can be done to recover the science data that would otherwise be lost due to the Doppler problem. An action plan is expected to be in place by Summer 2001. The JPL team is optimistic that a solution can be found.

Manned Space

Mir's Future
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, Ilya Klebanov, during a visit to India, commented that Mir had outlived its scientific usefulness compared to the US$ 60 billion International Space Station.

No decision has yet been taken on Mir's ultimate fate, but Energiya, the company which operates Mir, has warned that the station urgently needs to be re-boosted into a higher orbit to prevent it from re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. Mir has been facing problems recently because of the current peak of solar activity which has increased the density of the atmosphere where Mir is orbiting, and consequently increasing drag. Next week (October 16) a Progress unmanned supply spacecraft is being launched to the space station with a supply of fuel to keep Mir in orbit for the time being.

It has also been reported that Russia is preparing two additional spacecraft to dock with Mir to help steer it into a controlled re-entry over the Pacific early next year, should no more funds for the operation of the station be forthcoming.

MirCorp, the organisation which is leasing Mir from Energiya, remains upbeat about Mir's possible demise, though it is difficult to differentiate bravado from serious business plans which, for commercial reasons, MirCorp may wish to keep confidential. Currently MirCorp is known to be planning two commercial flights carrying paying customers - businessman Dennis Tito and the winner of the "Destination Mir" gameshow. Both of these flights are scheduled for 2001/2 after Mir may have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.

Technology

Primex Supplies Hall Current Thrusters to Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Missiles and Space Operations has selected Primex Aerospace Company as its preferred supplier of the Hall Current Thruster System for a variety of commercial and government programs.

The Hall Current Thruster System is Primex Aerospace Company's newest electric propulsion technology and provides higher performance than traditional systems. Primex Aerospace Company is the leading manufacturer of small rocket engines and has numerous electric propulsion thrusters on Lockheed Martin Corporation's orbiting satellites.

Launch Services

Beal Cuts Workforce and Restructures
Privately funded Beal Aerospace has restructured its expendable rocket development program and laid off about 80 of its 150 workers.

The program to develop the company's BA-2 rocket was over budget and behind schedule and so now instead of developing the various components of the rocket in parallel, the company now intends to work on them in series, starting with the rocket engines and tanks. Other components will be developed later.

In March the company successfully tested its BA-810 motor that will power the booster's second stage. This motor is capable of generating up to 3.6 MN of thrust and is the third most powerful liquid-propellant engine ever developed.

Beal is currently developing a more powerful engine for the booster's first stage. Test firings were scheduled for April or May 2001, but these will probably now be delayed.

Launches

Cosmos 2373

Launched: 29 September 2000
Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Launcher: Soyuz-U
International Number: 2000-058A
Name: Cosmos 2373
Owner: Russian Defence Ministry

This is probably a remote sensing satellite, but few details are available.

GE-1A

Launched: 1 October 2000
Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Launcher: Proton/Block DM
Orbit: GEO, 108.2° E
International Number: 2000-059A
Name: GE-1A
Owner: Americom Asia-Pacific
Contractor: Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems

GE-1A is a high power Ku band communications satellite which will provide services in Asia. It has three beams covering China, Northeast Asia and the Philippines and South Asia including India. It is based on an A2100AX platform, and is equipped with 28 Ku band FSS transponders each with 36 MHz bandwidth and 120 W TWTAs. GE-1A will serve the following regions: Greater China: 8-16 transponders; NE Asia/Philippines: 8-16 transponders; South Asia: 0-8 transponders. The spacecraft has a planned service life of 15 years.

GE-1A is operated by Americom Asia-Pacific which is a joint venture between GE American Communications and Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications.

N-SAT-110

Launched: 6 October 2000
Site: CSG Kourou, French Guiana
Launcher: Ariane 42L
Orbit: GEO, 110° E
International Number: 2000-060A
Name: N-SAT-110
Owner: Space Communications Corporation (SCC) and JSAT Corporation
Contractor: Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems

N-SAT-110 is a communications satellite based on Lockheed's A2100AX platform. It carries 24 Ku band direct broadcast television transponders each with a 120 W HPA and will provide coverage of Japan and the local Asia region. The satellite has a 15 year life and generates 8.3 kW of onboard power.

Business

Boeing Completes Hughes Acquisition
The Boeing Company has completed its acquisition of Hughes Electronics Corporation's space and communications business and related operations.

The acquisition makes Boeing the world's largest space company, boosts its space-related revenues and provides for significant future growth in information and communications products and services.

The resulting entity, called Boeing Satellite Systems Inc creates a satellite-based information and communications company with nearly 9,000 employees, mostly based in Southern California.

The Hughes acquisition is a key part of Boeing's growth strategy. Traditionally recognised as the technological world leader in space-based communications, reconnaissance, surveillance and imaging systems, Hughes Space and Communications is also the world's leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites. Its current backlog of more than 36 satellites valued at more than US$ 5 billion transfers to Boeing.

In addition to Hughes Space and Communications, included in the acquisition are: Hughes Electron Dynamics, a leading supplier of electronic components for satellites; Spectrolab, a premier provider of solar cells and panels for satellites; and a 50% share of HRL Laboratories, a world-renowned research centre owned jointly with Raytheon.

Boeing Satellite Systems is part of the Boeing Space and Communications Group. Boeing Satellite Systems is headquartered in El Segundo, California, under the leadership of Tig H. Krekel, formerly president and chief executive officer of Hughes Space and Communications Company. Boeing Satellite Systems will be operated as a wholly owned subsidiary.

As a result of the transaction with Boeing, Hughes received approximately US$ 3 billion after taxes that will be used primarily to fund the growth of its DirecTV, DirecPC broadband and Spaceway businesses into the next year, as well as pay down debt.

Hughes has retained approximately 8,000 employees in three strategic and complementary business units, each one the leader in its market:

• DirecTV of El Segundo, California, is the world's number-one digital multichannel entertainment provider. With more than 9 million customers nationwide, DirecTV is now the United States' third largest provider of multichannel entertainment. Meanwhile, Galaxy Latin America of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida., of which Hughes owns 78%, delivers DirecTV to more than 1 million subscribers in 27 countries, virtually the entire Latin American, Mexican and Caribbean market.
• Hughes Network Systems of Germantown, Maryland, is the world's leading provider of satellite-based private business networks, with an installed base of more than 300,000 VSATs (very small aperture terminals) in 85 countries. HNS is also a leading supplier of DirecTV receiving equipment, provider of the DirecPC nationwide high-speed Internet access service, and a growing force in the global growth of broadband services for consumers and businesses.
• PanAmSat Corporation of Greenwich, Connecticut, of which Hughes owns 81%, is the world's leading provider of commercial satellite services, all delivered via a global spacecraft fleet. PanAmSat is the industry leader in the distribution of cable and broadcast TV programming, and it is leveraging its customer base of the world's leading entertainment companies as it pursues new broadband Internet-related business opportunities.

Datron Renames Broadcast Division
Datron/Transco Inc's DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) Products Division has changed its name to the Mobile Electronics Division.

Datron/Transco is a wholly owned subsidiary of Datron Systems Inc.

The Mobile Electronics Division offers a broad range of products that bring live digital audio and video programming to a variety of mobile platforms, including recreational vehicles, buses, boats, long-haul trucks, vans and sport-utility vehicles. The systems are designed for use while the vehicle or boat is stationary or in motion.

Sverdrup Technology Selected for US$ 300 Million NASA Contract
Sverdrup Technology Inc has been selected to provide engineering, science and technical services at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

The contract, effective October 15, includes a two-year performance period plus three one-year priced options. The contract has a potential value of US$ 300 million over five years.

Under the contract, Sverdrup will provide engineering, scientific and technical services to Marshall's Engineering, Flight Projects, Science and Space Transportation Directorates; Systems Management Office; Space Shuttle Projects Office; and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

Technical services will support the Space Shuttle, advanced space transportation vehicles, the International Space Station, and ground and space scientific research.

Swisscom Sells Satellite Business to Verestar
Verestar Inc (formerly known as ATC Teleports Inc), has purchased Swisscom's satellite business assets, in their entirety. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition includes four Standard A antennas at the Satellite Network Access Point (SNAP) facility in Leuk, Switzerland; seven antennas in Basle, Geneva and Zurich; and direct fibre links to New York and London.

Verestar already has ten North American gateway SNAPs accessing satellites in both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean Region.

Strategically located far enough south and east to see virtually every available spacecraft in the IOR, the purchase delivers Verestar a new gateway SNAP equipped with the latest digital equipment, plus substantial fibre connectivity, including OC-12 links to London for inter-European and IOR connectivity and backhaul OC-12 links to New York for Internet, voice and data services.

Teledesic and Motorola End System Agreement
Teledesic LLC and Motorola Inc have agreed to end their Teledesic system agreement in the wake of Teledesic's plans to merge with ICO-Teledesic Global Limited.

The mutual decision by Teledesic and Motorola to end the system agreement that called for Motorola to serve as prime contractor of the Teledesic system gives Teledesic the flexibility to pursue alternative approaches for building its global, broadband satellite communications network.

The McCaw organisations and Motorola will maintain a close relationship, and Motorola remains an investor in Teledesic.

People

Hughes Names 3 to Leadership Team
Hughes Space and Communications Company (HSC) has named three people to top management positions.

Joseph M. DeSarla has been promoted to the newly created position of Executive Vice President of HSC. Succeeding DeSarla as Senior Vice President of Operations is Dr. Alexis Livanos. Concurrently, Dr. Ronald C. Maehl is promoted to Senior Vice President for Business Development.

HSC, Spectrolab Inc, and Hughes Electron Dynamics will form the new Boeing Satellite Systems Inc, (BSS) subsidiary following the just completed purchase from Hughes Electronics Corp.

In his new position, DeSarla, 55, will function in a chief operating officer role, emphasising performance and execution of the business plan. Besides supervising the satellite manufacturing business of the former HSC, he will also oversee Spectrolab and Electron Dynamics Designs, formerly Hughes Electron Dynamics.

Livanos will report to DeSarla as he joins Hughes/BSS. He will be responsible for all the product groups, Supply Chain Management, Factory Operations, Production Planning and Control, Facilities Administration, and Safety, Health and Environmental Affairs.

Maehl, 52, has been with Hughes for a year, when he joined the management team as Vice President for Strategic Development. His new position as Senior Vice President expands his responsibilities to include all new business efforts, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, marketing and development of new systems.

New CFO at American Multiplexer Corporation
American Multiplexer Corporation has announced the appointment of Ned Chapman as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective October 1, 2000.

Mr Chapman is responsible for all financial matters and investor relations. He will also be involved with strategic planning as well as corporate promotion and development.

Resignations at eSat
eSAT Inc has announced the resignations from its Board of Directors of Michael C Palmer, formerly eSAT Inc's chief executive officer, and Esther L. Rodriguez.

The reason for the resignations was not given. Replacements have not yet been announced.

Tandberg Television Appoints Donald Barnard as Regional Head, Asia
Donald Barnard joins Tandberg Television from Ericsson, where he was Asia Pacific General Manager, responsible for Business Development in the company's regional office in Singapore.

Donald Barnard will be based at Tandberg Television's Asia Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong and will be responsible for the company's team of sales, marketing and technical support professionals across the region.

Web spacenewsfeed.co.uk