9 April 2000

Satcoms

American Millennium Corporation in South America
American Millennium Corporation Inc (AMCI) has announced several major initiatives in South America following meetings with various companies in Brazil over the past two weeks.

AMCI and its Brazilian joint venture associate, Brasil Wireless (BWS), had meetings with an electric utility company, a natural gas provider and a major automotive manufacturer. The purpose of the meetings was to develop pilot programs involving the remote monitoring and tracking of high-value assets.

The AMCI/BWS joint venture has been invited by CERO, a major Brazilian electric company with approximately 1.6 million meters in use, to submit a proposal for a satellite-based remote meter reading pilot program. The pilot program would involve installing 500 Satellite Communicators (SCs) on CERO electric meters. Once a final agreement has been approved, the installation of the 500 SCs with their monthly airtime revenues would begin immediately.

In an unrelated meeting, AMCI/BWS met with officials at COMGAS, a Sao Paulo-based natural gas provider with approximately 300,000 customers. AMCI/BWS was invited to submit a proposal for a pilot program to equip 10 service fleet trucks with vehicle tracking. Discussions are also underway with COMGAS for remote meter reading as well.

In yet another development not connected with the utility companies, an AMCI pilot program has been approved for vehicle tracking in the truck division of a major automotive manufacturer located in Brazil.

AMCI is a provider of wireless and wire-line solutions for tracking moving assets and remote monitoring fixed assets through a network of Low-Earth-Orbit Satellites (LEOs), geo-stationary satellites, and Local Area Networks (LANs). The company has hundreds of SCs in the field tracking, monitoring, and reporting data on oil wells, natural gas compressors, and light trucks. Subscribers to the AMCI service pay monthly fees similar to long distance telephone or cable television for access to the system.

Astra Mosaic Goes Live
Société Européenne des Satellites has launched a free interactive viewer service - The Astra-Mosaic. The Astra-Mosaic is an easy to use on-screen guide featuring the growing choice of freely available digital TV channels on Astra 19.2° East.

As well as providing an overview of over 65 pan-European channels available via Astra, viewers equipped with a Mediahighway receiver (approximately 75% of all Astra digital satellite homes at 19.2° East) will be able to directly access their selected channel from the Astra-Mosaic.

Just by selecting the channel logo, Mediahighway viewers will see the current programme details displayed on the bottom of the screen. Then, to select the desired channel, all the viewer has to do is press the OK button on their remote control.

To make full channel choice even easier, links have been created to the information channels of digital bouquets using Mediahighway technology: Canal Digitaal in the Netherlands, Canal Satélite Digital in Spain and Canal+ and Canal Satellite in France.

Accessing the Astra Mosaic on transponder 108 (12.551 GHz, Polarisation V, Symbol rate 22.0 MSymb/s, FEC 5/6) is easy too. In France, on all Canal Satellite receivers, the Astra Mosaic can be found on channel 123. In the Netherlands, viewers with a Canal + Seca receiver will find the Astra-Mosaic on channel 55.

Later this year the ASTRA-Mosaic will be expanded to include the digital radio services on Astra. The service will be regularly updated as new freely available channels join the Astra digital line up at 19.2° East.

Calian's SED Wins XM Satellite Authorisation Follow-on Contract
Calian's Systems Engineering Division (SED) has been awarded the Uplink Authorisation System contract from XM Satellite Radio Inc.

Under the terms of the contract, SED will design, manufacture and install the Uplink Authorisation System that provides authorisation of conditional access for subscriber radios to the XM Satellite Radio broadcasts.

Starting in first half of 2001, XM Radio will offer up to 100 channels of digital-quality music, news, sports, talk and children's programming, which will be transmitted directly from the company's powerful satellites to vehicle, home and portable XM-Ready radios coast-to-coast for a monthly subscription fee of U$ 9.95. XM Radio will offer a broad selection of listening choices created by its XM Originals programming unit and by premier brand-name content providers, including USA TODAY, NASCAR, the BBC World Service, Black Entertainment Television, the Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation (formerly Heftel), Bloomberg News Radio, C-SPAN Radio, CNN/Financial Network, CNN/Sports Illustrated, The Weather Channel, One-On-One Sports and many others.

SED's Uplink Authorisation System (UAS) is an integral part of the XM Radio infrastructure, and works in conjunction with the Uplink Delivery System previously contracted to SED by XM Satellite Radio. The Uplink Authorisation System will be located at XM's headquarters in Washington DC.

EBU Scrambling System Tested
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has successfully tested a simple standardised scrambling system suitable for Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) that can work with all makes of equipment used to transmit and receive television pictures by satellite.

The EBU developed the Basic Interoperable Scrambling System (BISS) in collaboration with a consortium of manufacturers. Based on the DVB common scrambling algorithm available through the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, the system is proposed for standardisation by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) later this year.

Equipment from five manufacturers was tested back-to-back at the EBU's Geneva headquarters in March using "mode 1" (fixed control word) scrambling under the BISS specification (EBU Tech. 3290), with connection from transmission to receiver equipment made on the L-Band.

Thomson Broadcast Systems, Tandberg Television and Scientific Atlanta provided encoders and IRDs, Tadiran Scopus provided an encoder, and Thomcast provided a transmux, all incorporating the BISS. Every possible combination of equipment worked successfully.
Six other manufacturers have also been involved in elaborating the specification: Tieman Communications, Digital Vision, Barco, Divicom, Newtec, and Alcatel, so additional BISS-compatible equipment will be available in the near future.

eSAT in Indonesian Joint Venture with Leading ISP
eSAT Inc has signed a Letter of Intent with PT. Jaring Data Interaktif (JDI). eSAT and JDI have agreed to form a joint venture, eSAT Indonesia Inc, to operate broadband wireless internet services in Indonesia.

This agreement is subject to the approval by the Board of Directors of both companies, all required regulatory and government approvals. JDI, will be 90% owned by AcuBid.com Inc of Carlsbad, California, who will provide eSAT Indonesia with sales, marketing and distribution channels in addition to existing network infrastructure. Under the joint venture, eSAT will deliver a high-speed satellite connection to Indonesia and distribute the bandwidth using its last mile wireless technology.

JDI provides both dial-up and broadband Internet services for Indonesian customers. JDI has licenses and contracts to exclusively market a wide range of content from media sources, including TV stations, radio stations, cable TV and newspapers. JDI holds the Internet marketing rights for: 15 radio stations across Indonesia; Datakom Asia, Indonesia's largest Direct TV company; SCTV, Indonesia's third largest national television station; Indonesia TV guide and other national media publications, including Indonesian Observer, one of the largest English-Indonesian daily newspapers. In addition, JDI owns Asia Connect, a start-up ISP and Mesana Investments, a stock brokerage company.

eSAT Inc is a broadband service provider via satellite and microwave. The company's core products provide Internet access and networking services through its Global Satellite Internet (GSI) gateway and its Nexstream product, with bi-directional communications.

Globalstar Starts Scandinavian Services
Globalstar has commenced services in Finland, Sweden and Denmark, and the company plans to add service in Norway and Lithuania in the weeks ahead.

The total number of countries now within the Globalstar network to 34.

The newly expanded service brings wireless telephony to all main land areas of the three countries, including the northernmost reaches of Finland and Sweden, as well as to most of the Baltic Sea, a vital seaway for freight, fishing and passenger vessels which are frequently well outside the range of cellular systems. When service begins shortly in Norway, extensive areas of the North and Norwegian Seas will also be covered, bringing service to even more maritime customers, including offshore oil exploration platforms.

The initiation of service in this region follows the February inauguration of the Globalstar gateway in Karkkila, Finland. This gateway already allows Globalstar phones equipped with a Radiolinja SIM-card to roam between the three Scandinavian countries now in service, and it will provide full roaming for all Globalstar phones to and from other active gateways in the next few weeks. The Karkkila gateway also joins Globalstar gateways in Italy and France to complete the system s coverage across essentially all European countries, from Greece to Portugal and as far north as the top of mainland Norway.

Globalstar service in Scandinavia is provided by Globalstar Northern Europe, a joint venture between Globalstar service provider partner Elsacom SpA. of Italy and Oy Radiolinja Ab, one of Finland s largest cellular telephone providers. Founded in 1988, Radiolinja was the first company in the world to offer GSM cellular telephone service, beginning in 1991. The Radiolinja Group has operations in Finland and Estonia.

Global TeleMedia International Opens 44th BentleyTel Satellite Tele-Center
Global TeleMedia International (GTMI) subsidiary BentleyTel.com (Philippines) which had 100% annual growth over the last 3 years has already completed its first quarter 2000 roll-out of 11 more new V-Sat Bentley Tele-Centers in the Philippines, a growth of 75% in this period.

The roll-out brings the number of deployed Bentley Tele-Centers from twenty-six to forty-four. The 44th Tele-Center was opened nearly nine months ahead of schedule. These self-contained, air-conditioned Bentley Tele-Centers provide both local and long distance calling and are located in towns with populations from 10,000 to 50,000, which have either no telephone system or who are poorly serviced.

The Bentley Tele-Centers operate on a cash basis and offer local and direct long distance as well as 0+ International collect calling.

As the only telephone service in most of these areas, the V-Sat Tele-Centers can also offer additional revenue generating services such as an ATM link to local banks, e-mail and Internet access, photocopying, scanning, and message delivery. The Tele-Centers have enhanced service revenue opportunities such as linking local schools to enable the students to communicate with other schools in the 44 BentleyTel serviced towns. They can also enable e-commerce via fees for downloads or orders for books and other educational material.

Hughes Supplies California with Satellite Equipment and Services
The state of California has contracted with Hughes Global Services Inc (HGS) to provide satellite telecommunications products and equipment to state agencies on an expedited basis.

This contract, the most comprehensive ever with the state for satellite communications, puts HGS on the California Multiple Award Schedules (CMAS). This is an umbrella contract that allows state agencies to purchase satellite equipment and products directly from HGS, without having to undergo the lengthy process of seeking competitive bids. HGS has been performing under a similar contract for federal agencies since February 1999. There is no ceiling on the amount of business the company can do with the state.

HGS, part of Hughes Electronics Corp, was created to provide local, state and federal agencies, as well as commercial organisations, with access to a full range of satellite communications products and services. This is HGS's first major contract at the state level.

ICTI Selected to Build Islandssimi's Multi Service Network Earth Stations
Innovative Communications Technologies Inc (ICTI), a subsidiary of Advanced Remote Communication Solutions (ARCOMS), has been selected to build a satellite earth station for Islandssimi's multi-service network.

The earth station will be integrated with Islandssimi's multi-service fibre optic network, delivered by Ericsson, to provide backup during cable restoration and offer advanced satellite-delivered digital services.

Islandssimi is a 21st century communications company based in Reykjavik, Iceland, providing comprehensive communications solutions to its clients. ICTI is a leader in the design and implementation of multimedia satellite networks and proprietary technologies for clients within the commercial, government and military markets requiring links with multiple remote locations.

Intersat and Barton Team to Offer IP Anywhere to Energy Industry
Interprovincial Satellite Services Ltd (Intersat) and Barton Instrument Systems Ltd have teamed to offer IP Anywhere wireless data services to the energy industry.

Barton will re-sell Intersat's IP Anywhere services, for use with the Barton line of electronic instrumentation and measurement products.

Intersat's IP Anywhere services employ various wireless data technologies to extend the Internet past the desktop office PC to include all of the electronic devices and assets in the field, owned or operated by industrial customers. This includes fixed assets such as oil and gas wells, compressor stations, pipelines, fluid storage tanks, utility meters, environmental meters, as well as certain mobile assets. With IP Anywhere, customers have access to and control over their electronic assets, regardless of nature or location, as a secure extension of the Internet or corporate intranet, for a low monthly fee.

Satellite Mediacasting - Report
Pioneer Consulting's latest report, "Satellite Mediacasting: A New Model for the Internet" predicts that total satellite multicast and content distribution service revenue will increase from close to US$ 450 million in 2000 to over US$ 14 billion in 2005.

Business will represent the largest market at over US$ 10 billion in 2005. Residential users will also exhibit strong demand for satellite mediacast services, as will ISPs especially throughout the early stages of the forecast period.

North America will represent the strongest market for satellite mediacast services. Europe, which will be a strong secondary market for mediacast services, will also show heightened demand for satellite services that move content closer to end users. Regions such as Asia and Latin America will lag North American satellite mediacast demand by a period of 2-3 years.

For more information: Satellite Mediacasting http://www.pioneerconsulting.com/mediacasting/index.html

SkyStream and Geocast to Enable Broadcasters to Deliver Rich Media to Desktop
Geocast Network Systems and SkyStream Networks intend to work together to deliver rich integrated information, entertainment and commerce to PC users nationwide in the USA.

Geocast intends to use SkyStream's source and edge media routers -- new categories of networking products to connect the Internet with broadcast networks -- to help broadcasters leverage their investment in digital TV by bringing this new programming service to their customers.

Geocast intends to run its US-wide service using an infrastructure that incorporates several SkyStream products. The company will deploy SkyStream's DVB-based source media routers at its network operations centre based in Mountain View, California to beam multimedia-rich Internet content via satellite that is received by a SkyStream edge media router located at the edge of affiliates around the country. Content is then collected and routed to SkyStream's ATSC-based source media routers that are also located in the broadcasters' sites. These source media routers encapsulate data into television broadcast streams and then deliver them over digital television airwaves to millions of viewers' PCs.

The Geocast service will provide PC users with instant access to their personal selection of local and global information and entertainment offerings, as well as a choice of e-commerce catalogues from national brands and distributors, including downloadable software and music files.

Tadiran Scorpus Equipment a Winner in Intelsat Interoperability Tests
In a recently released Intelsat report, Tadiran Scopus gained high scores in the latest series of interoperability tests conducted by Intelsat, in Washington, DC from November 29 through December 3, 1999.

Tadiran Scopus, was one of ten vendors who voluntarily submitted products and provided engineering support for the interoperability tests. For the testing, Tadiran Scopus provided the CODICO E-1100 Professional Encoder and the CODICO IRD-2520, part of the CODICO IRD-25X0 product family.

The performance of both was extraordinary and unmatched by any other vendor present. The Tadiran Scopus E-1100 encoder had all "green lights" on the Tektronix stream analyser (the official test equipment used for recording transport streams at the testing). The E-1100 showed full interoperability as the streams from through the E-1100 were received perfectly by all the IRD's present at the testing without adjustments or configuration being needed. The E-1100 exhibited a smaller percentage of null packets in comparison to other encoders, allocating more bits to the video and audio, which will result in higher quality at a given bit rate, especially at low bit-rates. The CODICO IRD-2520 also performed superbly without problems with streams from all the encoders present at the testing.

The E-1100 Professional Encoder and the IRD-2520 are part of Tadiran Scopus CODICO product line:

The CODICO E-1100 Professional Encoder, housed in 1RU enclosure supports both 4:2:0 MP@MP and 4:2:2P@ML encoding levels. Using innovative dynamic noise reduction, a sophisticated frame synchroniser and advanced analogue to digital conversion and processing, CODICO E-1100 optimises the encoding process, especially with marginal signal sources to provide excellent picture quality. The dynamic process ensures high video quality at any given bit rate.

The CODICO IRD-2520, is an MPEG-2 DVB Application Specific IRD. It is part of the IRD-25X0 series modular designed IRDs. The IRD-2520 features a large variety of options, allowing customer specific configurations as well as various front -end options, including: QPSK, QAM, Telecom G.703 (with or without FEC) and Transport Stream input. Its richness in software options and its design, finally turned to the highly demanding standards expected by Tadiran Scopus customers, made the IRD-2520 the premier choice for an application specific professional IRD / Decoder.

Intalsat Interoperability Tests (Nov. 29 - Dec. 3, 1999)

The Intelsat Interoperability Tests are voluntary testing that allow customers to confidently deploy digital video equipment from multiple vendors. The focus of this round of testing was on the SCPS (Single Carrier Per Channel) video compression equipment. The testing was designed to achieve "plug-and-play" for both NTSC and PAL standards, at two different profiles: 4:2:0MP@ML and 4:2:2P@ML - which are most popular profiles used by broadcasters for contribution and DSNG applications. To facilitate the interoperability tests, measuring equipment was provided by Tektronix.

Usha Provides Billing for European IP Satellite Project
Usha Communications Technology has been selected as the Billing partner for the EEC supported SATISFY2000 consortium.

The SATISFY2000 project will offer high speed IP services and Interactive Multimedia services via mobile, portable and semi fixed terminals to an area initially covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East and part of the Confederation of Independent States. With SATISFY2000 for the first time true mobile personal multimedia communications will be possible at any place at any time. These services can be accessed from literally anywhere within the service region. The project is therefore expected to benefit low population density and rural areas which might otherwise have limited access to equivalent terrestrial and UMTS cellular services. Key users are expected to be aid organisations, news agencies, shipping, governmental agencies and international organisations. Applications include education, telemedicine, remote site surveillance and the deployment of multimedia services in emergency or disaster situations.

SATISFY2000 is a European consortium which includes industrial enterprises, Universities, an Internet Service Provider, marketing companies, and a research institute.

Viacom on PanAmSat
Viacom Inc has expanded its service and reach into the Asia-Pacific region through its transition from PanAmSat's PAS-2 Pacific Ocean region satellite to the PAS-8 spacecraft. Viacom's migration and increased service on PAS-8 has enabled the programmer to launch its Nickelodeon channel in New Zealand as well as to continue delivering other marquee cable television programming to audiences throughout the region.

Viacom has increased its service from 27 MHz on a PAS-2 Ku band transponder to a full 36 MHz C band transponder on PAS-8. The agreement will enable Viacom to continue delivering its programming, including MTV Taiwan and Nickelodeon Japan, in a high-quality digital format. In addition, the satellite's C band Pacific Rim beam offers Viacom more extensive coverage of the Asia-Pacific, providing access to new markets. Viacom will take advantage of the greater reach and extra capacity to deliver new services, including the launch of its Nickelodeon children's channel in New Zealand.

Military Space

US Navy Exercises US$ 54.5 Million Option for Raytheon Satcom System
Raytheon Company has announced that the US Navy has exercised first year production options worth more than US$ 54 million for satellite communication systems for surface ships, shore stations and submarines.

The procurement -- Navy EHF Satcom Program Low Data Rate/Medium Data Rate (LDR/MDR) Follow On Terminal -- includes options for the acquisition of additional systems during this year and over the program's four remaining years. If the Navy exercises all options, LDR/MDR Terminal production, installation and commissioning could be worth more than US$ 414 million to Raytheon. The Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting agency.

LDR/MDR Terminal is the successor to Raytheon's AN/USC-38 extremely high frequency (EHF) low data rate military satcom terminal. It consists of a common communications equipment suite fitted with one of four antenna sets adapted for surface ships, submarines and shore stations. The Navy EHF Satcom Program provides secure, highly reliable, satellite connectivity for transmit/receive imagery, data and voice communications anywhere in the world.

The US Navy's newest class of integrated MILSATCOM terminals, the LDR/MDR Terminal operates at EHF using the Milstar, the UHF Follow On and the Polar orbiting satellite constellations. Plans are underway for Navy EHF Satcom Program (NESP) terminals aboard submarines to communicate via the Defense Satellite Communication System. Improvements planned for the terminal include super high frequency and/or Ka band transmission that will enable LDR/MDR Terminals to operate with Gapfiller and commercial Ka band satellites.

Science

When Ulysses Flew Through a Comet's Tail
On 1 May 1996, Ulysses flew through the tail of comet Hyakutake whose nucleus was more than 500 million km away at the time.

Two teams stumbled across the telltale signature of a comet quite independently when reviewing old Ulysses data. Jones and colleagues at Imperial College found their evidence in magnetic field data. The other instrument team, lead by George Gloeckler from the University of Maryland, found their evidence when looking at the composition of the solar wind. Cometary tails are rich in oxygen and carbon compared with the solar wind, but depleted in nitrogen and neon.

The Imperial College team identified comet Hyakutake as the source of the anomalous readings. On 1 May 1996, Ulysses was aligned with the Sun and the position Hyakutake had occupied eight days earlier, which Jones calculated was the time needed for material leaving the comet's nucleus to travel the distance to Ulysses.

One of the most surprising aspects of the discovery is the length of Hyakutake's tail. Cometary experts had thought that comet tails eventually spread out and lose their integrity.

Archived data is now being checked for other occurrences. The comet nucleus has to be in exactly the right position with respect to the Sun and the spacecraft for the tail to pass over the spacecraft at the right time - and the chances of that happening very often are probably small.

Manned Space

Spacehab to Conduct Next ISS Resupply Mission
Spacehab Inc has announced that NASA has added US$ 21.6 million to the company's REALMS contract to perform the next re-supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

This Space Shuttle mission, designated STS-106 and slated for launch in August, will use Spacehab's Logistics Double Module (LDM) and Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) to ferry vital supplies to the ISS. Spacehab's carriers are needed to stock the ISS with food, equipment, and spare parts for the first permanent crew that is scheduled to arrive in October.

The STS-106 mission will be the second re-supply mission for Spacehab in calendar year 2000. Spacehab already is under contract to perform a re-supply mission to the ISS scheduled to launch on April 24. The company will be flying an LDM and an ICC on this mission.

Spacehab's LDM adds 2200 cubic feet of pressurised volume to the space shuttle, more than quadrupling the living and working area for the astronauts onboard. Up to 10,000 pounds of supplies can be packed into the LDM for delivery to the ISS through a pressurised access tunnel connecting the LDM to the Space Shuttle's primary crew quarters. The ICC, a flat-bed pallet mounted in the Shuttle cargo bay over the LDM access tunnel, enables Spacehab to transport equipment and spare parts that need to be attached to the outside of the ISS by astronauts on several space walks. Both missions will carry Spacehab Oceaneering Space Systems (SHOSS) boxes that attach to the top of the ICC and hold equipment in easily accessible locations for astronauts performing these space walks.

The Research and Logistics Mission Support (REALMS) contract with NASA was established in 1997 enabling NASA to manifest new research flights or ISS re-supply missions as needed. Spacehab's next research mission is scheduled for launch in early-2001 on Space Shuttle mission STS-107. This mission will be the debut of the company's Research Double Module (RDM). More than 8,500 pounds of equipment is manifested on this international research flight. Spacehab's customers include NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the German Space Agency (DLR), and the US Department of Defense. Spacehab's Space Technology and Research Students (S*T*A*R*S) program also will have a payload on this mission accommodating student experiments from the United States, Japan, Israel, China, and Australia.

Launch Vehicles

Kennedy Space Center Breaks Into Fertiliser Market
A system for converting vapours from the Shuttle's hypergolic oxidiser into fertiliser was installed at Launch Pad 39A in early March. Already in use, it received its first major test during pre-launch hypergolic loading operations for STS-101.

The Space Shuttle uses nitrogen tetroxide as the oxidiser for the hypergolic propellant in its on-orbit reaction control system. When the oxidiser is transferred from ground storage tanks into the Shuttle storage tanks - and during maintenance operations - some nitrogen tetroxide vapour develops as a by-product. Kennedy Space Center has used a "scrubber" system since the 1980s to capture the toxic vapour, preventing it from escaping into the atmosphere.

The Improved Nitrogen Tetroxide Scrubber system traps the vapour in water and then uses hydrogen peroxide to produce nitric acid. The addition of another compound, potassium hydroxide, converts the nitric acid into potassium nitrate, a commercial fertiliser.

Plans call for the resulting fertiliser to be used on the orange groves that KSC leases to outside companies. The fertiliser
will replace 10 % of the amount purchased at KSC, resulting in an annual savings of approximately US$ 20,000. Equally important, the conversion process eliminates KSC's second largest source of toxic waste and saves about US$ 60,000 on disposal costs.

The installation of the scrubber follows a five-year process of development and production.

Lockheed Gave China Technical Help for AsiaSat Launch
The US State Department has charged Lockheed Martin with giving Chinese state-owned Asiasat a scientific assessment of a Chinese-made satellite motor in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. Lockheed has 30 days to respond.

Lockheed is charged with 30 separate violations of federal export controls. The charges could result in a fine as high as US$ 15 million and a ban on exporting satellite technology for up to three years.

Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin has denied that the company had violated export laws, claiming to have obtained a Commerce Department license before assessing the satellite motor.

The charges include:

• Lockheed specialists assessed Chinese manufactured apogee kick motors for use in Chinese Long March 2E launch vehicles for Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co (Asiasat). The majority shareholder of Asiasat at the time was China International Trust and Investment Corp (CITIC), a Chinese financial and industrial conglomerate.
• Lockheed sent Asiasat ten copies of a 50 page technical evaluation of the motor in 1994, even though the Pentagon had ordered it to be reduce to about five page.
• Lockheed identified flaws in Chinese testing procedures and instrumentation, made recommendations to improve procedures and discussed problems with US solid rocket motor technologies.

SpaceDev Funded for Orbital Transfer Vehicle Motor Firings
SpaceDev Inc is to receive a grant from the California Space and Technology Alliance (CSTA) to perform test firings of it's hybrid rocket motors, which are designed to power SpaceDev's Orbital Transfer Vehicle.

In 1999, SpaceDev began working on conceptual and preliminary dsigns of an inexpensive space vehicle that would be capable of boosting secondary payloads into longer-life orbits, and that could manoeuvre on-orbit for such possibilities as satellite inspection, rendezvous, docking and moving, and refueling. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) awarded SpaceDev funds to further develop SpaceDev concepts for an Orbital Transfer Vehicle. Work on the NRO project was completed this March.

SpaceDev's unique and low-cost design includes motor fuel that is solid, inert and safe, and oxidiser that is gaseous and self-pressurising at room temperature. This elegantly simple design results in only one moving part, a valve, and supports a major mission benefit the OTV, which is long-term storability, on the ground and on-orbit. The OTV is restartable, throttleable, and relatively clean-burning because its fuel and oxidiser are based primarily on hydrocarbons, nitrogen and oxygen. Current versions are designed to fit on commercial launch vehicles that inexpensively carry small secondary spacecraft to earth orbit. The smallest SpaceDev OTV weighs 25 kg. and the largest 100 kg. OTV-compatible launch vehicles include the Ariane 4 and 5, the Boeing Delta II, the Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus, and the Shuttle Hitchhiker and SHELS payload areas.

Teal Predicts 2147 Payloads in Next Decade
The Teal Group has published its new Worldwide Mission Model: 2000-2009. The study counts a total of 2,147 payloads proposed for launch to Earth orbit during the next 10 years, up slightly from last year's total of 2,123 payloads for 1999-2008.

The Model breaks outs the data by customer region; payload type, mass and orbit; prime contractor, and launch vehicle. It provides a framework from which to make projections about the future of space based on the relatively "hard information" available on a wide range of payloads, including satellites, microgravity experiments capsules, and manned missions. It is a snapshot of what has been proposed for construction and launch as of this writing.

The Model identifies more than 70 different prime contractors. According to the study, the top 20 primes account for 62% of the total payloads. The top five primes-Hughes Space and Communications, Space Systems/Loral, Alcatel Space Industries, Motorola Space and Systems Technology, and Orbital Sciences- alone account for 33%. The Model also identifies more than 30 launch vehicle programs. Of the total payloads, only about 46% have a designated launcher. The top five launch vehicle programs -- Arianespace's Ariane, Boeing's Delta, International Launch Services' Proton, NASA's Space Shuttle, and Eurockot Launch Services' Rockot -- account for 64% of the assigned payloads.

Launches

Soyuz TM 30

Launched: 4 April 2000
Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Launcher:
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 356 km, perigee: 335 km
International Number: 2000-18A
Name: Soyuz TM 30
Owner:
Contractor:

This is a manned mission, financed by MirCorp, to reactivate the Mir space station and to bring it up to a fully operational status. The main purpose of the flight is to review all systems to determine whether Mir is suitable for the accommodation of crews in the near future. The highest priority task is to search for an air leak and to seal it.

The Soyuz transport spacecraft docked with Mir on 6 April.

It carried a two man crew:

• commander Sergei Zalyotin
• engineer Alexander Kaleri

The mission is expected to last for 45 days, but may be extended for about a month. It is the first manned presence on Mir since August 1999.

Business

Litton Joins Skybridge Consortium
SkyBridge LP and Litton Industries have entered into partnership for space telecommunications, with Litton joining the SkyBridge industrial team under the Alcatel leadership.

SkyBridge will provide telecom operators and service providers with broadband capacities, enabling them to offer business and residential users access to high-speed, highly interactive multimedia services anywhere in the world via an 80 low earth orbiting satellite constellation.

Litton has been selected by Alcatel under their space segment contract to provide the satellite constellation key attitude control system components, including the inertial reference system and the reaction wheels.

The inertial reference system solution being provided by Litton's Guidance & Control Systems division is the Scalable SIRU. This low-cost product family addresses commercial and military customer mission needs over a broad performance range, building on the heritage of Litton's successful hemispherical resonator gyro first introduced in 1996. This design includes the highest reliability space proven gyro technology available today. Seventeen Litton systems are currently in space flight and have accumulated over 650,000 hours of gyro operation.

Litton's affiliate, TELDIX GmbH, located in Heidelberg, Germany, will provide Reaction Wheels with integrated wheel drive electronics. Reaction Wheels are used in satellites as actuators to control the angular attitude in orbit. For the SkyBridge satellite constellation program, four wheels per satellite provide a redundant control of all three axes.

Norsat Completes SpectraWorks Acquisition
Norsat International Inc has completed its acquisition of SpectraWorks Inc, a leading developer of systems and software for broadcasting multimedia broadband content across satellite, terrestrial wireless and digital cable networks.

SpectraWorks will operate at its current location in Winnipeg as a unit of Norsat Broadband Networks group. Norsat issued an aggregate 2,154,000 of its common shares to acquire SpectraWorks and its working capital of approximately $4 million, principally in cash. The transaction will be accounted for as a purchase.

As a provider of wireless broadband multimedia network systems and software, SpectraWorks recorded its initial commercial sales of approximately $2 million in 1999. Several of its products are pre-commercial, and full-scale marketing will begin later this year. Norsat expects that SpectraWorks will be essentially self-funding this year, based on its existing working capital and prospective cash flow from commercial sales.

Products and Services

1.2 m Ku Band SNG Antenna From Andrew
Andrew Corporation has introduced the Ku band NewsFlash 1.2 m vehicle mountable, variable speed, receive/transmit satellite newsgathering antenna.

This high performance, compact antenna is designed for mobile television newsgathering applications and can be mounted onto an SUV, RV, or truck.


The Ku band NewsFlash SNG antenna operates in the 10.95-12.75 GHz receive and 13.75-14.5 GHz transmit bands. The antenna's feed system is prime focus offset for extremely high gain, superior efficiency, and closely controlled pattern characteristics.

A 12 V DC motorised system provides reliable and precise handling and ease of operation from the truck. The drive controller combines encoders and remote/local controls into either a panel mountable unit for in-vehicle use or a handheld remote antenna control unit. Both control systems have tactile feedback controls for easy system set-up and operation. LED displays show the antenna position angles and operating status information.

The 1.2-meter Ku band NewsFlash antenna has automatic stowing capability, making it easier to pack after a newsfeed is completed.

The unit may be stowed with a push of the button on the controller. To reduce the overhead clearance height of the truck and keep windloading to a minimum, the antenna stows at a height of just 46.5 cm.

At 68 kg, the NewsFlash antenna is light and portable for ease of transportation and speedy set-up and takedown.

Suitable for broadcast use worldwide, the electrical performance of the 1.2 m SNG NewsFlash antenna meets or exceeds Intelsat, Eutelsat and other global operator requirements; formal Intelsat type approval has been applied for.

Andrew's 3.7 m Antenna Gets Eutelsat Type Approval
Andrew Corporation has received Eutelsat type approval for its 3.7-meter pipe mountable Earth Station Antenna for Ku band applications.

The Eutelsat type approval registration certificate EA-A002 covers the 3.7-m pipe mountable and pedestal designs. The 3.7 m pipe mountable ESA can be securely mounted onto a customer-supplied 6 inch (6.5 inch outside diameter) nominal pipe instead of a pedestal. This design eliminates the equipment enclosure, enabling the antenna to be installed in areas where space is limited.

The 3.7 m pipe mountable Ku band ESA features advanced dual reflector technology and has a two-piece, precision-spun aluminium reflector to provide accurate surface contour, high gain, and closely controlled pattern characteristics. C, X, and K bands are also available.

The 3.7 m Ku band pipe mountable antenna now has both Eutelsat and Intelsat type approvals.

Conexant Demonstrates Digital TV Receiver Platform for PC
Next week at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference, Conexant Systems Inc will demonstrate a comprehensive Digital Broadcast Satellite (DBS) receiver platform for the PC.

Conexant's DStream DBS solution will bring broadband connectivity and free-to-air digital satellite TV and radio broadcasts to the PC via direct broadcast satellite, and will use a PCI interface, so products can be bundled directly inside the PC at a fraction of the cost and complexity of alternative solutions.

Based on Conexant's Fusion 878A PCI decoder platform, the company's DStream DBS technology will enable the development of a complete DVB-S receiver card that can acquire free-to-air content via satellite and deliver it to the PC. Conexant's DVB-S broadcast reception and playback solution also will enable these PC cards to act as broadband satellite data receivers for Internet content, music and video.

Conexant's DStream DBS reference design combines its widely-adopted Fusion 878A PCI decoder, and its industry-leading HM1821 and HM1221 silicon tuners and demodulators for quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) satellite reception, to support a suite of media processing and transport demultiplexing software.

Software-based digital video disc (DVD) playback technology will enable the DStream DBS solution to inexpensively perform MPEG-2 video and audio decoding on the PC, while supporting a broad spectrum of third-party applications on both new and existing PCs.

Conexant's Fusion decoder platform already supports Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC) digital TV standard in the US, and the new Fusion-based DBS technology will support DVB-compliant satellite delivery, while also serving as the basis for future solutions that will support worldwide DVB terrestrial and cable delivery standards. The addition of an analogue tuner will enable the platform to support multi-standard TV receiver cards.

DISH Network Brings Streaming Video to Desktop
EchoStar Communications Corporation has introduced DISHLink, which offers an affordable and convenient system for delivering broadband content and video channels to the office desktop.

DISHLink is an intranet appliance that connects a customer's Local Area Network (LAN) to EchoStar's DISH Network satellite TV system, providing an easy way to distribute large data files as well as live streaming video via EchoStar's high-powered satellites to thousands of PCs in remote U.S. locations.

Due to the bandwidth limitations of the Internet and most corporate intranets, businesses typically distribute large electronic files either on CD-ROM or by using overnight mailing services. With DISHLink, customers can receive multi-gigabyte documents at speeds of up to 27 Mb/s. DISHLink's video streaming option also provides companies with the capability of delivering broadcast-quality video to desktop PCs and to remote locations at a fraction of the cost of high-speed terrestrial networks. Live video such as news, speeches, and educational or training classes, as well as hundreds of popular satellite TV channels, can be encoded and broadcast via satellite as IP multicast streams where they can be viewed on desktop or laptop PCs. Desktop video provides alternative ways of training and communicating with employees, partners, and customers and is the most effective way to offer training and to distribute corporate communications. In addition to carrying private network content, DISHLink can also provide a selection of live channels right on each office PC to keep employees up to date on news and information necessary for the work place. A standard web browser allows DISHLink users to easily change channels or view the program guide.

DISHLink is an integrated, "IT-friendly" solution that requires no additional hardware or software to operate. EchoStar provides DISHLink customers with a secure FTP server that automatically schedules data and video files for delivery at the appropriate time and data rate. Live streaming video can be multicast over the subscribers LAN at adjustable data rates from 100 kb/s to 1.5 Mb/s. Unlike video streaming over the Internet, no additional bandwidth is required to support multiple, simultaneous viewers.

DISHLink services are transmitted from EchoStar's fleet of five satellites to a small dish at each subscriber's location.

Two models of DISHLink are available: DISHLink 100 and DISHLink 100VR. DISHLink 100 can deliver data files while the DISHLink 100VR can deliver both data files and streaming video. DISHLink will be available in mid-April with prices beginning at US$ 1,000 each per unit depending on options and quantities. Monthly service fees start at US$ 30 per month. For more information visit www.dishbusiness.com.

Startrack to Launch Australian Services
Interprovincial Satellite Services Ltd, Canada, and Startrack Communications Limited have signed an agreement to form an alliance to offer industrial wireless data services to the Australian market. Services will be provided through the pairing of Startrack core technologies with the application enabling technologies of Intersat, including its PAC technology and IP Anywhere Service Centre.

Startrack provides the only private-sector industrial communications network that covers the entire Australian continent. Startrack's core communications framework incorporates GlobalWave technology and the Optus B1 satellite. Together with Intersat's IP Anywhere application services technology, Startrack will offer messaging and tracking services to Australia's natural resource sector and mobile industrial markets. These services will include monitoring of remote oil and gas pumps and pipelines, water and irrigation systems as well as mobile assets, such as trucks, trailers, rail cars, and marine buoys and vessels. Service parameters will include location, speed, direction, pressures, temperatures, valve positions, fluid flow, relay switch operation and cycle time.

People

Interpacket Networks Appoints Chairman and COO
InterPacket Networks has announced the appointments of Norman Pattiz as Chairman of the board and James E. Kolsrud as Chief Operating Officer.

Kolsrud will have overall responsibility for both technology and service operations for InterPacket Networks.

Loren Shriver Joins United Space Alliance

Veteran Shuttle astronaut and senior Space Shuttle manager Loren J. Shriver has announced his departure from NASA/Kennedy Space Center. Shriver has joined NASA's prime contractor for the Shuttle program, United Space Alliance in Houston, Texas as deputy program manager of operations.

New CEO for KPN/Telstra Joint Venture
Knut Reed has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Station 12, following the merger of Royal Dutch Telecom's (KPN) Station 12 mobile satellite business and the mobile satellite business of Telstra, the Australian telecommunications company.

Mr Reed was formerly the Regional Director for Telenor in Asia and interim Chief Operating Officer of DiGi Telecommunications Berhad, a mobile operator in Malaysia partly owned by Telenor. Previously Mr. Reed was CEO of Telenor satellite services.

Mr. Reed's appointment follows the announcement by KPN and Telstra last year of their plans to merge their global mobile satellite business in order to strengthen their position as world market leader.

The company, which is 65 per cent owned by KPN, is headquartered in the Netherlands but will market satellite communications services worldwide, including in the United States.

The new joint venture has worldwide revenues of some US$ 250 million and is the largest supplier of Inmarsat services in the world, with 24 percent of the worldwide market.

New Exec VP and CFO for Kistler
Kistler Aerospace Corp has announced that August (Augie) F. DeLuca has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the company.

DeLuca joined the company four months ago as Senior Vice President/Treasurer. DeLuca will work closely with Robert Wang, chairman of Kistler's board, to continue the company's capital development efforts.

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