18 February 2001

Satcoms

Globalstar Opens 25th Gateway
Globalstar has opened its 25th gateway in Manaus, Brazil, completing full network coverage across North and South America.

Globalstar service is now available across all land areas from the Canadian and Alaskan Arctic to the southern tip of Chile and Argentina, plus virtually all territorial waters and extended regions in the North Atlantic and North Pacific.

The new gateway, in the heart of the Amazon basin, is the third gateway to be operated by Globalstar do Brasil, bringing wireless telephone service across vast stretches of northern Brazil where telecommunications service is almost non-existent.

Globalstar service is now available throughout the continents of North and South America, Europe and Australia, as well as across all of Russia, Korea, and northern China and northern Africa. An already-completed gateway serving southern Africa is currently awaiting licensing approval, and gateways serving the remaining parts of the world are in various stages of planning and development.

NetSat Express Signs US$ 5.7 Million Contract with Al-Harbi International
NetSat Express, a leading provider of Internet Services via satellite worldwide and a subsidiary of Globecomm Systems Inc, has signed a contract with Saudi Arabia-based Al Harbi International.

The contract, which will utilise NetSat Express' leased transponder space on the Telstar 12 Satellite, is for 20 Mb/s of return capacity. This will enable Al Harbi to expand its Internet service offerings throughout the Middle East.

This agreement represents an addition to a five-year US$ 12 million service contract with Al Harbi International announced in April 2000 to provide Digital Video Broadcasting services into the Middle East.

Star One to Order Two Satellites
Embratel subsidiary Star One is to invest US$ 500 million in two new communications satellites which will operate in the C and Ku bands.

Star One, which was established in December 2000 to operate Embratel's satellites, is to issue a tender to select the satellites' manufacturer. Embratel holds 80% of Star One's capital while SES holds the remainder.

Wipro.Net Signs High-Speed Internet Contract With Loral Cyberstar

Wipro.Net, one of India s leading ISPs, has signed a multiyear contract with Loral CyberStar for the high-speed, satellite-based WorldCast Premier Internet access service.

Wipro.Net will, initially have nine gateways located throughout India.

CyberStar s WorldCast Premier service provides high-performance connectivity to businesses needing access to the North American Internet backbone.

Military Space

US Military to Beta Test Spaceway Service
Hughes Network Systems' Spaceway broadband satellite service will be utilised by the US Government during beta testing as part of the Wideband Gapfiller Satellite (WGS) contract recently awarded to Boeing Satellite Systems Inc (BSS).

BSS will lead its team to design and manufacture the Wideband Gapfiller Satellite (WGS) system that is readily integrated within the existing MILSATCOM infrastructure, is easily operated by military personnel, and is responsive to their needs across the broad spectrum of operations in peace time and conflict situations. WGS is an effective, interoperable complement to augment the existing Defense Satellite Communication System (DSCS) and Global Broadcast Service (GBS).

By participating in the Hughes Spaceway beta test program, the US Government including selected continental US military forces will have the ability to test the performance of the unique broadband communications system for a variety of innovative applications.

Spaceway is a high-speed, high-bandwidth communications system scheduled for North American launch in 2002 and service in 2003. This next-generation broadband technology system will provide bandwidth-on-demand capability by employing satellites with innovative on-board digital processors, packet switching and spot beam technology. Boeing Satellite Systems is building the Spaceway satellites for North America under contract from HNS.

The initial Spaceway North America constellation will include two Boeing 702 satellites and one in-orbit spare, all built by BSS.

Science

GOCE to be ESA's First Living Planet Core Project
Scheduled for launch in 2005, the GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady State Ocean Circulation Explorer) satellite is to be the first of the core explorer missions planned as part of ESA's Living Planet Programme.

ESA has selected Alenia Spazio as the prime contractor of the mission to measure the Earth's gravity field and a derived geoid to unprecedented accuracy and resolution using a highly sophisticated three-axis gradiometer. Alenia Spazio will be supported by a core team consisting of Astrium GmbH (platform), Alcatel Space Industries (Gradiometer instrument) and ONERA (Gradiometer accelerometers and supporting the assessment of the satellite performances).

The GOCE satellite will be in orbit for a minimum of two years and will provide unique data which will help to advance knowledge in a wide range of research and application areas, including solid Earth physics, oceanography, ice sheet dynamics and sea level changes.

NEAR Probe Survives Asteroid Touchdown
After a flawlessly executed sequence of complex manoeuvres, the NEAR Shoemaker probe has landed on the surface of the Eros asteroid which it had spent the last year orbiting. Amazingly, the probe survived and was even found to be in an orientation which allowed it to continue communicating with Earth.

Four hours after first firing its thrusters to begin dropping out of its 26 km high orbit above the surface of Eros, NEAR Shoemaker touched down in an area just outside a saddle shaped depression, called Himeros. During the descent the probe took a series of 69 pictures with the final photos showing features as small as 1 cm across.

This is the first time that a spacecraft has landed on an asteroid and Eros is only the fourth body in the solar system (after the Moon, Mars and Venus) that a spacecraft has landed on.

The achievement is all the more amazing because of the complexity of the manoeuvres required since Eros is not spherical, but is potato shaped and because asteroid 433 Eros is currently 315 million km from Earth.

The achievement becomes stunning when it is realised that the probe was never designed to land on anything - it was only ever intended to operate in orbit. NEAR Shoemaker has no legs to land on and its structure was not strengthened to survive a landing. Following the 1.9 m/s landing it is believed that the probe rests on the surface of Eros at an angle propped up on one of its solar arrays.

On landing, NEAR Shoemaker began transmitting a beacon signal which was picked up be NASA's Deep Space Network.

Following its highly successful landing, the mission will now be extended for up to 10 days to allow additional, unique data to be collected from gamma ray spectrometer which could provide information about the surface and subsurface composition of the asteroid.

Technology

Litton to Help Guide JPL Probe to Jupiter's Moon
The Guidance & Control Systems Division of Litton Industries has been awarded a US$ 13.7 million contract from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the design, development and delivery of an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) for the Europa Orbiter Spacecraft.

The requirements for the upcoming mission to Jupiter's moon Europa are unique and challenging, requiring critical technologies to be developed in order to meet important science objectives. The Litton IMU is a key element of the spacecraft's attitude control subsystem, typically complemented with a star camera and/or other optical reference sensors.

In the case of the Europa Orbiter, the mission includes critical manoeuvres, such as the Europa Orbit Insertion (EOI) required to place the spacecraft into orbit about the Jupiter moon, in which the IMU becomes the sole sensor for propagating spacecraft attitude during the EOI burn.

The contract is a follow-on to a study program started in May 1999 to identify an IMU that can withstand Europa's harsh radiation environment and fit within all of the other constraints and goals for spacecraft components. Litton's second-generation hemispherical resonator gyro (HRG) space inertial reference unit (Scalable SIRU) was found to be an enabling technology for the Europa mission.

It provides improved capabilities over the first-generation HRG-based SIRU in helping to enable the current generation of long-life 3-axis stabilised geostationary communication and deep space exploratory spacecraft missions.

The IMU is part of the new Scalable SIRU inertial product family addressing the expanding commercial, NASA and military high reliability mission needs over a broad performance range, building on the heritage of Litton's successful first-generation systems. This design includes the highest reliability space proven gyro technology available today. Twenty-seven systems are currently in space flight, having accumulated more than 1,100,000 hours of successful gyro operation.

Launch Services

Artemis to Fly on Ariane 5
Arianespace has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to launch the Artemis (Advanced Research & Technology Mission) satellite. Artemis will be launched into geostationary transfer orbit by an Ariane 5 between June and August 2001, and positioned at 21.5° E.

Built by prime contractor Alenia Aerospazio, Artemis is an experimental telecommunications satellite. It will carry two payloads for high-speed inter-satellite links ­ one laser and one for S and Ka bands, as well as an L band payload for mobile communications in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and neighbouring maritime regions.

Artemis is designed to support real-time, high-speed data transmissions.

It will establish laser links with the Spot 4 Earth observation satellite (which was orbited by Ariane in March 1998), as well as Ka band links with the International Space Station and the Envisat observation satellite (scheduled for launch this summer by an Ariane 5).

One of the missions assigned to Artemis' L band payload is the transmission of GPS (Global Positioning System) correction signals within the scope of the European Global Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) satellite navigation program.

General Dynamics Opens SpacePlex
General Dynamics Worldwide Telecommunication Systems has opened SpacePlex, a new, custom-designed facility that provides satellite command and control services, network operations and ground-station support for up to 100 satellites. A collaborative effort between General Dynamics and New Mexico State University (NMSU), SpacePlex is located on the NMSU campus in Las Cruces.

SpacePlex is an 11,000 square foot facility with 28 control stations dedicated to supporting satellite operations 24 hours per day, year round. The New Mexico location has the geographic advantage of being highly visible to satellites in the Atlantic and Pacific regions, minimal threat of natural disasters, minimal rainfall, and a highly qualified workforce.

General Dynamics Worldwide Telecommunications Systems provides satellite engineering support services to NASA and the US Department of Defense from several locations and is currently flying 38 spacecraft as a third-party operator. The SpacePlex service package includes space mission engineering services, spacecraft operational services, ground segment services, teleport services, and satellite network engineering services.

The SpacePlex network offers connectivity via a high-bandwidth ATM link and terrestrial fibre optic backbone and, through an alliance with Universal Space Network (USN), will offer C, S, X and Ku band antenna resources from Las Cruces and other USN tracking, telemetry and command (TT&C) sites worldwide. Looking to significantly expand its customer base, General Dynamics will provide end-to-end services for up to 100 LEO, MEO and GEO satellites using the efficiencies and scalability of Raytheon's EclipseTM satellite command and control software.

With more than 200 satellite professionals supporting customers, SpacePlex enables General Dynamics to meet the demand for low-cost network management, uplink/downlink and satellite operations services. It provides the ground infrastructure and personnel to safely operate any satellite fleet.

Sri Lanka Telecom Monitors Eutelsat's Sesat
Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) has been awarded the contract to monitor Eutelsat's Sesat satellite at 36° E.

Sesat is Eutelsat's first satellite providing coverage of South Asia. It has 18 Ku band transponders which will be used to carry a full range of telecommunications, television, multimedia and Internet services.

SLT will monitor Seasat from its earth station at Padukka.

Business

Hyundai to Spin Off Satellite Division
Hyundai Electronics Industries Co Ltd (HEI) is to spin off its satellite services operation as a separate unit called to be called Space Broad Band Corp as part of its restructuring.

Hyundai is transferring licenses and operations to the new company and plans to finish the separation by the end of June. Hyundai is currently waiting for approval from the Ministry of Information and Communication for the spin-off

Credit Suisse First Boston is arranging a deal to attract investment in Space Broad Band from local and foreign telecommunications service operators, satellite broadcasting companies and makers of satellites.

Space Broad Band is expected to launch its first satellite, a Ka band bird, by the end of 2002 and provide commercial services in Asia by early 2003. The satellite will provide high-speed Internet services in Asia and leased circuits to broad-band multimedia service providers. The contract for the satellite is currently out to tender and a final bidder is due to be selected next month.

Loral Writes Off Globalstar Investment
Reporting its financial results to December 2000, Loral has confirmed losses of US $1.4 billion, some US$ 1.3 billion of which is attributed to the ailing Globalstar operation.

Loral also confirmed that it will not deploy a proprietary direct-to-the-consumer broadband service, as previously planned, with its attendant time-to-market, partner, marketing and financial challenges. Instead, Loral will participate in the broadband market by providing its customers with satellite platforms for their broadband offerings, through Loral's expansion of its fixed satellite services fleet and related capabilities and through its satellite design and production capabilities.

Loral has also written off its Globalstar losses and will make no further financial contribution to the project except as a partner in gateway operating companies in Brazil, Canada, Mexico and Russia.

Loral's loss for year 2000 was US$ 1.4 billion compared to a loss of US$ 247 million in 1999.

Globalstar losses accounted for nearly all of this consisting of an operating loss for the year of US$ 386 million and a loss from the writing down of investments of US$ 908 million.

Loral ended the year with a total debt of some US$ 2.5 billion.

New Facility for SpaceDev
SpaceDev has completed construction of its new Satellite Assembly and Test (SAT) facility.

California's Western Commercial Space Center (WCSC) last year awarded SpaceDev a US$ 200,000 State Grant, with matching contributions by SpaceDev, to help build-out and equip the first new full-up satellite and space vehicle manufacturing facility in the San Diego area in over 30 years.

The completed SAT facility includes 1,800-square-ft. of Class 100,000 clean room space, and will include laminar flow benches for supporting special Class-100 activities, and enough workspace to support the simultaneous assembly and test of up to eight CHIPSat-class or deep space micro-mission spacecraft, or up to sixteen of SpaceDev's orbital Maneuvering and Transfer Vehicles. The facility adjoins the electrical assembly and test laboratory where SpaceDev's miniature MST-21 S-Band transponder, Power Conditioning and Distribution board product, and the HPX-21 single-board MPC 750 flight computer products are being developed.

The new multi-function facility is adjacent to the Mission Operations Center at SpaceDev's Poway headquarters, and will support the assembly, manufacturing, integration, test, and checkout of avionics, power, telecom, structure and propulsion components & subsystems; earth-orbiting satellites; and deep space flight systems; and other related activities for ongoing and future commercial and government space programs.

SpaceDev is already using the High-bay Area of the facility for assembly and integration of hybrid rocket motors for its orbital Maneuvering & Transfer Vehicle (MTV) product line, and will start using the separately enclosed SAT facility and clean room to integrate and test the CHIPSat earth-orbiting science satellite being built by SpaceDev for the Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley.

Orbimage Defaults on Interest Payments
Orbital Imaging Corporation (Orbimage) is not making the interest payment scheduled to be paid on March 1, 2001 to its bondholders and has retained Rothschild Inc as its financial advisor to assist, among other things, in restructuring these obligations.

Orbimage currently has $225 million in Senior Notes at 11 5/8% interest, which mature in 2005. Orbimage is having discussions with Orbital Sciences Corporation, its largest shareholder, and others in pursuit of additional sources of capital to meet its future funding needs.

Orbimage is a leading global provider of Earth imagery products and services, with a planned constellation of five digital remote sensing satellites. The company currently operates the OrbView-1 atmospheric imaging satellite (launched in 1995), the OrbView-2 ocean and land multispectral imaging satellite (launched in 1997), and a worldwide integrated image receiving, processing and distribution network. Currently under development, Orbimage's OrbView-3 and OrbView-4 high-resolution satellites will offer one-meter panchromatic and four-meter multispectral digital imagery. OrbView-4 will also offer the world's first commercial hyperspectral satellite imagery. Orbimage is also the exclusive distributor of imagery from the Canadian Radarsat-2 satellite in the United States.

Orbimage has just renegotiated its agreement with MDA over Radarsat-2 rights to reduce its financial commitments. Until 14 February 2001, Orbimage had the full rights to all economic benefit from Radarsat-2, in exchange for certain payments to MDA during its construction and operation. Under the terms of the new agreement, Orbimage will retain the exclusive distribution rights for Radarsat-2 imagery to customers in the United States and the world-wide satellite capacity necessary to service this market. MDA now retains world-wide rights to Radarsat-2 distribution, except for the USA. In exchange for the sale of the US distribution rights, MDA will keep all money received from Orbimage to date, and will receive additional cash payments during construction and operation.

SDSI Signs Distribution Deal With Iridium Satellite
Iridium Satellite LLC has announced an agreement with Satellite Distribution Services Inc (SDSI) for the management of its worldwide distribution channels. Under the terms of the five-year agreement, SDSI will work with Iridium Satellite management and its investor companies to build a global network of leading service providers that will sell its satellite-based communications solutions to industrial users worldwide.

Iridium, which is preparing to launch its mobile satellite communications service to industrial and commercial users, will use SDSI to support its channel relationships with top-tier telecommunications and satellite service providers. SDSI will support the global marketing efforts undertaken by Iridium Satellite through direct interface with the distribution channels. Specifically, SDSI will help identify potential service providers, provide service provider training and assist with implementation of tactical marketing programs.

SDSI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stratos Global Corporation, was created to provide channel management and marketing services on behalf of Iridium Satellite to service providers whose customers are operating in remote locations requiring a variety of wireless, IP, data and voice solutions through a range of newly emerging and established technologies.

Stellat Joint Venture Finalised
Europe*Star and France Telecom have finalised their agreement to establish a new joint venture to provide fixed satellite services across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The new company, called Stellat , has already committed to the construction of a new high-powered communications satellite, called Stellat 5, to be launched by mid-2002 into the 5° W orbital slot.

Under the agreement signed in Paris last month, Stellat is owned 70% by France Telecom and 30% by Europe*Star and will have access to France Telecom s orbital position at 5° West, ensuring service continuity to users of France Telecom's Telecom 2 satellite, which is currently in that slot until the launch of Stellat 5. Stellat will also become a member of the Loral Global Alliance, a consortium providing worldwide fixed satellite services.

Stellat has contracted with Alcatel Space for the construction of the new satellite based on the Spacebus 3000 B3 platform. Stellat 5 will be equipped with 45 transponders: 35 Ku band and 10 C band. It will provide a Ku band Superbeam for DTH video and high-speed Internet services across Europe and Northern Africa, while the Ku band Widebeam will extend Internet and video distribution to Eastern Europe and the Middle East, supplemented by a steerable beam. The C band hemi-beam will cover Africa and Europe. Both C band and Ku band will include connections across the Atlantic and will be capable of linking the eastern seaboards of the US and South America with Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Furthermore, Stellat 5 will be capable of allowing the use of small two-way VSATs in Europe.

Products and Services

Pegasus Express Two-Way Internet Available in US
Pegasus Communications has launched the Pegasus Express high-speed "always-on" Internet access to customers in the continental USA.

The Pegasus Express system consists of a DirecPC Internet/satellite TV dish antenna, USB satellite modem, software, plus additional hardware and accessories. In addition to high-speed Internet service, the system's hybrid dish also enables customers to receive DirecTV digital television broadcasts (a DirecTV subscription and receiver are required for DirecTV service).

Pegasus Express is available through Pegasus' thousands of retailers and installers across the USA. The Pegasus Express has a suggested retail price of US$ 499, with a US$ 69.95 per month usage fee; or US$ 399 with a US$ 59.95 per month usage fee with a one-year commitment concurrent with a DirecTV subscription.

People

Boatracs Appoints New Personnel
Boatracs, a business unit of Advanced Remote Communication Solutions Inc (ARCOMS) has appointed new personnel to better service clients, and expand sales coverage in the Pacific Northwest.

In their newly created positions, Robert Trainor joins the company as Sales Engineer, managing activities for the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and western Canada, and Steven M Bryan Sr as Manager of Projects, Design and Development. Both positions report to Charles J Drobny Jr, Chief Operating Officer of Boatracs.

Mr Trainor is responsible for expanding Boatracs' regional coverage by delivering products and services that improve safety, integrate information, manage data, and facilitate fishermen's ability to obtain the best price for their catch while at sea.

Mr Bryan is responsible for the smooth, seamless, and timely integration of Boatracs' products.

Boeing Names Space and Communication Group Operations Vice President For Colorado Region
Boeing has announced the appointment of John Lorber to vice president, Space and Communications Operations, for the Colorado region.

Lorber will be the senior executive representative for The Boeing Company Space and Communications Group in the Colorado region. In that role, he is responsible for the strategic business planning for Colorado to include industry partnering, public relations, local and state relations, government relations and customer affairs. Lorber will also co-ordinate all Space and Communications Group business development and customer relations activities relating to the United States and to the Air Force Space Command organisations in the Colorado region. He will be located in Colorado Springs.

Space Systems/Loral Promotes Dewitt, Hoeber, Barberis, Owiesny And Haley
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) has named five executives to new positions: C Patrick DeWitt is now executive vice president; Christopher F Hoeber is senior vice president of business development and strategy; Neil J Barberis is senior vice president of spacecraft programs; Robert J Owiesny is senior vice president of engineering and manufacturing; and Ronald A Haley is senior vice president of finance and administration.

Under the new company structure, Dr Klineberg and Mr DeWitt comprise the Office of the President, sharing responsibility for the company s operations. Previously, Mr DeWitt was responsible for the business and marketing functions.

Under this office, these four sectors run the business:

Business Development & Strategy: This new sector, headed by Mr Hoeber, combines SS/L's research and development activities with sales and marketing.

The organization is also responsible for strategic analysis, and will co-ordinate closely with both the Spacecraft Programs and Engineering & Manufacturing organisations in evolving a cohesive strategy for the company's future.

Spacecraft Programs: This sector, headed by Mr Barberis, now combines program management, systems engineering, spacecraft assembly, integration and test, launch base operations, and flight operations into a single organisation.

Engineering & Manufacturing: This sector, headed by Mr Owiesny, has responsibility for the design and manufacture of all spacecraft components, whether purchased or produced internally, and their delivery to the Spacecraft Programs organisation.

Finance & Administration: This organisation, headed by Mr Haley, is responsible for the complete set of the company's financial and administrative functions.

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