9 July 2000

Satcoms

Another Coup for SES
BT Broadcast Services has sold capacity on Eutelsat's new EuroBird satellite to British Sky Broadcasting. BSkyB is sub-leasing four of Broadcast Services' digital transponders on the EuroBird satellite which is scheduled for launch in February 2001.

This additional capacity will allow BSkyB to increase the number of channels and services it can provide to digital satellite viewers in the UK and Ireland. The company already broadcasts on SES's Astra 2A and 1D satellites at 28.2° E. EuroBird will be co-located at 28.5° E, alongside the Astra 2 series at 28 2° E - the orbital location for UK digital direct-to-home (DTH) transmissions. The small separation between the satellites will allow dishes pointed at the Astra satellites to also receive transmissions from EuroBird.

These transponders are in addition to the six 72 MHz transponders on EuroBird that SES has already contracted to lease from P & T Luxembourg.

EMS Multibeam Antenna Feeds for Inmarsat 4 Satellites
EMS Technologies Inc has been selected by Astrium (formerly Matra Marconi Space) to supply three combined transmit/receive antenna feeds for the Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network (B-GAN) program in a contract valued at US$ 25 million. The EMS contract will extend until March 2002.

The Inmarsat B-GAN program will consist of three I-4 satellites, two of which will be launched in 2003, with the third earmarked as a ground spare. Once launched, each satellite will feature 200 spot beams generated by the EMS antenna feeds. The feeds will give corporate customers high-speed (432 kb/s) Internet access, video-on-demand, video-conferencing, fax and e-mail across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia.

EMS' multi-element cup-helix L-Band antenna feeds are considered to be one of the most challenging subsystems of the Inmarsat B-GAN program and, as such, were the first major subsystem to be awarded by Astrium.

New Orders for Radyne Comstream
At its annual shareholders meeting, Radyne Comstream has announced key orders from Meissa Telecommunications, China's Environmental Protection Agency and Reuters.

Details of the orders are as follows:

Meissa Telecommunications, which is providing a service for a consortium of governmental and educational institutions - United States Geological Survey (USGS), the United Nations agency UNAVCO, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - and is developing a network of satellite earth stations to report seismic tectonic and tsunami activity. The network will begin with a coverage area spanning from Hawaii, to South and Central America and onto central Africa. The network will soon be expanded to include Russia, the Middle East and other parts of the world. This new program incorporates the company's C band Earth Stations and satellite modems.

China's Environmental Protection Agency has selected Radyne ComStream to provide Ku Band Earth Stations and modems. The equipment will be used to report environmental data from remote locations back to the agency's central reporting facility. This approximately US$ 0.5 million order is significant not only because of who the client is, but also because of its potential to expand into a multi-million dollar program as China's Environmental Protection Agency continues its infrastructure build-out.

Reuters is incorporating Radyne ComStream's digital video broadcast equipment as they expand the Reuters Financial Television Network. This will allow Reuters to broadcast up-to-the-minute financial information throughout Europe and Asia. The dollar value of this significant contract was withheld for competitive reasons.

Telstra and The Fantastic Corporation Team for Broadband Services
The Fantastic Corporation and Telstra have announced their intention to work together in relation to the delivery of broadband multimedia distribution services. The relationship will potentially open up new services to Australian businesses, education institutions and people in general, delivering multimedia rich content to any IP (Internet protocol) device.

Telstra already provides broadband (high-speed) access via cable and satellite. From August, ADSL will be added as a significant means of accessing broadband services. The agreement with Fantastic means that Telstra as an initial step will trial the Fantastic platform. If successful, the parties will expand their relationship to enable Telstra to aggregate multimedia rich content from any number of content providers and broadcast that content to Telstra customers.

The Fantastic software is an end-to-end platform that facilitates the aggregation of content, controls how the content is transmitted across the full range of broadband networks and allows consumers to interact with the content in a way that provides a rich multimedia experience.

Telstra is already committed to providing broadband access to all Australians either via cable, ADSL or satellite. Fantastic provides a sophisticated overlay to Telstra's broadband networks that enable Telstra to offer real broadband services.

Telstra is currently testing the Fantastic platform over its SkyConnect satellite service though it can be used on any broadband network such as cable, ADSL, satellite and 3G.

The Fantastic Corporation (Zug, Switzerland) is the leading provider of software solutions for data broadcasting. This is an emerging communications technology which combines point-to-multipoint digital broadcasting with point-to-point Internet connectivity, in order to deliver rich interactive media content to PCs, digital set-top boxes or handheld devices (including 3G mobile phones) over any broadband IP network.

Type Approval for Magellan's S@tellite Modem for OrbComm
Magellan Corporation has obtained Orbcomm and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Type Approval for its S@tellite Modem(TM) OEM board.

Magellan's S@tellite Modem is a low-cost OEM module that allows users to monitor, track and communicate with assets anywhere in the world using the Orbcomm satellite network. Magellan's Wireless Communications unit plans to make the S@tellite Modem OEM board commercially available this month.

Magellan's S@tellite Modem OEM board is designed to receive and forward messages through the Orbcomm wireless network and features an embedded Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. In addition, the OEM board is equipped to monitor digital Input/Output signals and features a wide range of built-in functions. The S@tellite Modem is ideal for numerous tracking and monitoring applications where low power consumption and low cost are important discriminators.

Typical S@tellite Modem applications are expected to include automatic vehicle location (AVL), automatic meter reading (AMR), security and equipment monitoring, among others. Its built-in functions enable the integrators to monitor and control the state of eight on-board digital lines, GPS position or movement functions, and communications from the unit without needing a host computer.

Magellan Corporation is a broad- based satellite access technology company specialising in positioning, navigation, communications and guidance products. It is a pre-public company with a majority of stock held by Orbital Sciences Corporation.

Vipersat and Hutchison Team for China Venture
Vipersat Networks, a division of NeTrue Communications Inc and Hutchison Corporate Access, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd have entered into a Letter of Intent to form a joint venture for marketing telecommunications over-satellite services into Greater China (the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan).

The joint venture will operate from Hong Kong under the corporate name World Master Resources Limited. ("WMR").

Under the Letter of Intent NeTrue has the right to acquire 25% of the common stock of WMR in consideration of approximately 109,290 common shares of NeTrue valued at US$ 15.25 per share (US$ 1,666,667 in the aggregate). NeTrue also acquires the right to appoint 25% of the members of WMR's board of directors and the exclusive right to supply two-way, over-satellite equipment and software to WMR. NeTrue's division, Vipersat Networks brings to the joint venture its industry-leading technology for two-way, broadband Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) over-satellite and its favourable reputation based upon its five years of industry experience in China. HCA contributes to the joint venture an established operation in Hong Kong, access to Internet backbone and matured business relationships throughout Greater China.

Initially, WMR will provide international Internet backbone to Internet service providers (ISPs), a market which is currently growing by 100% per year according to official sources in the People's Republic of China. WMR's business plan also includes bidding on large telecommunication service projects in the People's Republic of China. The initial deployment of a Vipersat Internet Protocol (IP) based, two-way broadband, over-satellite network is scheduled for mid-July.

Upon completion of final documentation forming the joint venture, WMR will commence service and sales efforts in August.

The Vipersat DVB Multimedia Solution provides IP Ethernet routing via satellite utilizing a DVB outbound and a Star Data Management System (DMS II) return path. Vipersat provides low-cost, satellite communication networks ideal for Internet and Intranet access.

Hutchison Corporate Access provides end-to-end, Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) based satellite telecommunications solutions to companies operating within remote areas or locations with poor quality connectivity in Asia and the Middle East. HCA transmits high quality voice, fax, data and video through a private telecommunication link via VSAT technology. HCA has offices in Hong Kong, Japan, Beijing and India.

Military Space

ITT Industries Awarded DSCS Ground Segment Modernisation Contract
ITT Industries Inc has been awarded a US$ 63 million contract to modernise the key ground control segment for the US Military's Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS).

The contract, awarded by the US Army Communications & Electronics Command, calls for ITT Industries to design, develop, integrate and install network control terminals for the DSCS satellite ground segment. The ten-year contract also includes options for depot, technical services, and post production software support. Work will be performed in Colorado Springs, Colorado by ITT's Systems Division.

The Defense Satellite Communications System provides US military commanders with world-wide, secure communications. The system is used for high priority command and control communication such as the exchange of wartime information between defence officials and battlefield commanders. The military also uses DSCS to transmit space operations and early warning data to various systems and users. The new system will greatly improve this capability. ITT's innovative network-centric design provides more automated and responsive link power control capabilities, reduces operational manpower requirements and easily provides for future expansion of the system.

Science

Deep Space 1 Mission Continues After Star Tracker Failure
Two months after the end of its successful primary mission, Deep Space 1's star tracker, which was responsible for determining the probe's orientation, ceased operating. Spacecraft engineers devised a way to restore the craft's sense of direction by writing new software to use the camera instead of the star tracker.

The aim during the recovery operation was to be ready to resume thrusting in July in time to give DS1 a chance to encounter a comet in September 2001.

The new system allows Deep Space 1 to regain full three-dimensional control and knowledge of its orientation by taking pictures of a reference star. As the spacecraft rotates, the reference star appears to drift away from the centre of the camera's view, so the computer programs analyse the pictures and determine how to reorient the craft to bring the star back to its intended location. This provides the means to keep the spacecraft stable.

On June 21, with the spacecraft locked on a star in the view of the camera, after more than 7 months of dormancy the ion propulsion system began thrusting. The attitude control system, whose on-board task of controlling the spacecraft's orientation was made so difficult when the star tracker failed, not only has to keep the spacecraft steady while the ion propulsion system is firing, but it actually uses the ion drive to stabilise the spacecraft's rotation whenever it is thrusting.

Engineers have devised a new way to chart a course from where DS1 is now to where it will reach the comet by thrusting with just a few selected stars in the camera's view during the next year.

On Friday June 23, a one hour test of thrusting with the ion drive under the control of the new orientation technique was successfully completed. The test was particularly complex because to start the test and then to repoint the spacecraft to Earth to return the test data, the spacecraft orientation was monitored by laser gyros until the camera acquired the predetermined reference stars used for tracking with the camera. On June 28 the engineering team began a one week thrust test using the maximum throttle level available from the ion drive.

Deep Space 1 is currently nearly 315 million kilometres from Earth.

Manned Space

Boeing and Honeywell Team for International Space Station Work
The Boeing Company and Honeywell have entered into an agreement for ongoing and future International Space Station (ISS) work relating to avionics, systems, and software.

Boeing, as NASA's prime contractor for ISS, is well positioned to continue its role for sustaining and upgrading the ISS vehicle avionics subsystem, and in ISS Operations & Utilization.

Honeywell currently provides command and data handling and custom mechanism subsystems, software and engineering support, life support and safety systems, thermal controls, power and data transfer assemblies, guidance and navigation controls and berthing mechanisms to Boeing for ISS.

The agreement remains in effect through 2003.

Technology

Flight Recorders Needed on Satellites?
Scientists at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory have been awarded a year's contract to build a prototype black box flight recorder for satellites which would measure the flux of the high energy particles.

The idea is that if a satellite fails, data on the local radiation environment could be deduced from flight recorders on nearby satellites to try to get some understanding of what caused the failure. The belief is that superfast particles from the sun, at times of solar maxima, could be triggering satellite failures, but hard evidence is just not available.

Data provided by the 0.5 kg black boxes will be used to design more survivable satellites and to help set insurance premiums.

The project is funded by the Tsunami consortium and the UK Department of Trade and Industry. Tsunami is a consortium of scientists and UK insurance companies.

NASA Demonstrates Space Sail Advances
In two breakthrough developments, NASA scientists have beamed microwaves and laser energy to "fill" lightweight sails in laboratory demonstrations of how these technologies might provide propulsion for interstellar exploration.

The sails used in the microwave experiment were actually driven to liftoff and flight, while the laser-driven sails achieved horizontal movement.

Future spacecraft that explore the depths of space will need to be very lightweight and be propelled by a reliable source of energy. Solar sails and microwave- and laser-beamed sails meet this requirement, with minimal weight since in the first case the "engine" is the Sun, while in the latter two the engine is left at the point of origin. The sails are driven by photons, particles of energy in which sunlight and other forms of electromagnetic radiation are emitted. By use of a remote laser or microwave source, beamed energy can be directed toward a space sail. In space, the laser or microwave source may be provided by a satellite or other type of spacecraft.

The microwave-beamed sail experiment was conducted in a vacuum chamber at JPL, while the laser-driven experiment took place in another vacuum chamber at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Both of these experiments appear to be firsts.

About 10 kilowatts of microwave power were beamed to the sails which were lifted about half a metre into the air. Analysis of data is underway to isolate the photon pressure effect from other possible causes of sail movement. In the other tests, laser powers from 7.9 to 13.9 kilowatts were directed to the sails. Photon thrust was calculated from movements of the sails, which were mounted on pendulums. Future research will fine-tune the scientific understanding of flight using photon pressure.

Sails for both experiments were made of carbon-carbon microtruss fabric. This very light but stiff fabric can withstand high temperatures that are typical of flight-level power densities.

Energy Science Laboratories Inc holds the patent on the sail materials used in these tests. JPL has overall responsibility for NASA's interstellar missions, while NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., is responsible for developing transportation systems for the missions. The laser experiment was conducted in the Laser Hardened Materials Evaluation Laboratory II at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Launches

Geyser

Launched: 4 July 2000
Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Launcher: Proton K
Orbit: GEO
International Number: 2000-00A
Name: Cosmos 2371 (Geyser)

Geyser is a Russian military communications satellite operating in the C band. The Geyser constellation consists of four satellites but the status of the other satellites in the constellation is unknown. The last Geyser satellite was launched in August 1995.

Although the launch was successful, post launch analysis identified a chamber pressure problem in the second stage that has been attributed to a faulty sensor.

This launch is also significant because it used the same booster as will be used next week to launch the Russian Zvezda module to the International Space Station (ISS).

Business

Cancom Arranges New Credit Facilities
Cancom (Canadian Satellite Communications Inc) has announced that The Toronto-Dominion Bank and The Bank of Nova Scotia have arranged a Cdn$ 400 million seven-year secured revolving term credit facility, and a Cdn$ 15 million operating line for Cancom.

Cancom will use the net proceeds from the facility to finance the acquisition of additional satellite capacity in the Ku band and Ka band, the development of satellite-based Internet and interactive television offers, growth of the Star Choice direct-to-home satellite television service, and for general corporate purposes including the refinancing of an existing Cdn$ 40 million senior credit facility. Completion of the financing (which is subject to the usual conditions, including the finalisation and execution of definitive documentation) will increase Cancom's total credit facilities to Cdn$ 455 million, having varying maturities and rates of interest.

Cancom is a Canadian satellite broadcast and communications company providing direct-to-home (DTH) television services through Star Choice Communications Inc, its wholly owned subsidiary. Star Choice was Canada's first DTH provider. Cancom is also Canada's leading provider for evaluating, selecting, integrating and implementing satellite-based solutions for business. It provides continent-wide satellite-to-cable program distribution; broadcast network management service for broadcasters; satellite interactive distance learning for corporations and government; and tracking and messaging services to the Canadian trucking industry.

MacDonald Dettwiler to go Public
Orbital Sciences Corp subsidiary MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd has filed a prospectus to sell six million shares at Cdn$ 14.00 a share.

4 million shares would be issued as an initial public offering with the rest being sold as a secondary offering to certain shareholders.

The net proceeds will be used primarily to fund future developments and acquisitions.

The offering, is being underwritten by a syndicate of underwriters led by RBC Dominion Securities Inc and is expected to be completed on July 12. On completion, MDA will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Shaw Communications Becomes Majority Shareholder in Cancom
Cancom (Canadian Satellite Communications Inc) reports that Shaw Communications Inc has become the controlling shareholder of Cancom following the approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Shaw has acquired the 21.18% voting interest in Cancom previously held by WIC Television Ltd to take a controlling interest in Cancom.

Tandberg TV to Open Orlando HQ
Tandberg Television, a leading supplier of open digital solutions for the management and transmission of digital TV signals, will be moving its Americas' corporate headquarters to the Central Florida Research Park in Orlando, at the end of this summer.

The move will see Tandberg Television's senior management, customer service, marketing, and sales administration re-locate to the new Orlando headquarters, bringing them closer to key customers and prospects on the US's east coast, as well as to the growing Latin American broadcast market.

At the same time a team of key sales, pre-sales technical support, customer service, and sales administration personnel will remain in Southern California, dedicated to servicing Tandberg's many high-profile west coast customers. The Tandberg Television team of regional sales and technical sales support engineers will remain in their existing locations across the US and South America.

Tandberg Television's move to its Orlando headquarters is expected to begin in the fall of this year and be completed by January 1, 2001. The new address for Tandberg Television, Inc. will be: 12633 Challenger Parkway, Orlando, Florida 32826, USA.

Products and Services

SES Opens Asian Gateway
SES' Astra-AsiaSat gateway is now fully installed and operational. Based in Cyprus, the gateway creates a single-hop turnaround for Europe-based broadcasters and multimedia service providers who want to make their services available throughout Asia, Australasia and the Middle East.

Services from Astra's digital customers at 19.2° E and 28.2° E can be downlinked to the Cyprus hub station and uplinked to AsiaSat 2 at the orbital position of 100.5° E for retransmission to audiences within the AsiaSat footprint.

Following the installation of an Astra-Net multimedia platform in Hong Kong, SES' clients now only need to contract with SES to reach potentially three quarters of the world's population under the combined Astra and AsiaSat footprints.

People

Astrolink Names Steve Soroka as Vice President, Operations

Steven L. Soroka has been named Vice President, Operations at Astrolink. He will report directly to the chief executive officer Celso Azevedo.

Mr. Soroka will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Astrolink network, as well as development of gateways, terminal products, and the customer care and billing systems.

Mr. Soroka came to Astrolink from Iridium LLC, where he was responsible for managing world-wide network operations.

Astrolink is a wireless broadband venture scheduled to become the first global, satellite-based broadband service provider in 2003. Astrolink will begin with service to the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East in 2003 and then to Asia beginning in 2004. Astrolink has investments totaling US$ 1.33 billion from Liberty Media, Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, TRW, and Telespazio.

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