21 October 2001

Satcoms

Three More Contracts for Globecomm
Globecomm Systems Inc has been awarded three contracts for satellite earth station infrastructure development valued at approximately US$ 2.3 million.

Highlights of these contracts include the following:

7.2 Meter Satellite Earth Station: One of Europe's top ten telecommunications organisations has contracted Globecomm to provide and install a 7.2 meter satellite earth station. The new teleport will enable the customer to transmit and receive digital video broadcast signals via Eutelsat's W2 satellite. The project, valued at approximately US$ 600,000 is scheduled for installation and completion in January 2002.

7.3 Meter Satellite Earth Station: Globecomm will provide and install a 7.3 meter earth station for a global multinational peacekeeping organisation. The new teleport facility will improve the quality of data and voice communications between the organisation's regional centre of operations and its headquarters in the United States. It will also enhance communications between the organisation's local facility and surrounding countries. Installation is scheduled to begin in January 2002, with completion in March 2002. The contract is valued at approximately US$ 400,000.

Turnkey Satellite Earth Station: In a contract valued at approximately US$ 1.3 million, a large information technology and telecommunications centre has contracted Globecomm to provide a turnkey satellite earth station. The project will include a 4.8 meter and a 7.2 meter antenna system, RF equipment and an equipment shelter. Globecomm had previously installed a teleport facility for the centre, which became operational in October 2001. That facility enables the client to offer tenant companies within its business complex the ability to broadcast audio and video content from the facility, via satellite, to regional television and radio distribution points. The project is scheduled for completion in December 2001.

TSI Technology Acquires SSE Telecom Product Lines
TSI Technology Inc (TSI Tek) has acquired the product lines with the associated design and intellectual properties and all other assets of SSE Telecom Inc (SSET) that filed for bankruptcy this year. TSI Tek has successfully resumed production and sales of the product lines with enhanced customer support service at the former SSE Telecom location in Fremont, California.

TSI Tek have staffed a maintenance centre at the Fremont facility and offer repair service to the installed-base of products previously supplied by SSET. Maintenance centres at overseas locations will be installed in the near future.

TSI Tek has hire back many of the key individuals who were the prime contributors in the design and manufacturing of former SSET products. The experienced and skilled team have made it possible for TSI Tek to resume the production, accept orders, and establish a customer support centre in a short period of time. The resumed production includes all models of the Star Series transceivers up to 450 watts for Ku, X, and C-band earth stations, the SM Series 2000, 3000 and 4000 satellite modems, and the DoD certified DDT flyaway terminals.

Earth Observation

Canadian Space Agency Investing in Hyperspectral Imaging
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has announced the awarding of seven contracts, worth more than Cdn$ 1 million, to Canada's space industry for developing hyperspectral processing systems and applications.

These contracts have been awarded to MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, Atlantis Scientific, Borstad Associates, Lockheed Martin Canada, Tecsult and MIR Télédétection.

The projects, which were awarded through the Earth Observation Applications Development Program (EOADP), are to support leading edge Canadian space companies that are also bearing their share of risks in developing and commercialising innovative processing systems and applications. These innovations will have a major impact in remote sensing, vegetation land cover classification and mineral exploration. Funding for this project was provided for in the CSA's February 2000 budget and is built into the existing financial framework.

Land Info Now Delivers Global Sub-Meter Russian Satellite Imagery
Land Info International LLC, a provider of digital geospatial information across the world, has announced the availability of 0.95-meter, 1.56-meter, and 2-meter imagery from Russian satellites. The data includes recent satellite photos for hundreds of major cities in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Brazil, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey and other regions.

The expanded coverage includes archived panchromatic data from 1992 to 2001. The data is captured through Russia's DK-1, DK-2, and KVR-1000 satellites. Data coverage includes hundreds of major international cities, including Boston, USA; Dallas, USA; Washington DC, USA; Islamabad, Pakistan; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cairo, Egypt; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Vienna, Austria; and Berlin, Germany. Land Info offers this data as low as US$ 22 per square kilometer.

Land Info International provides digital geospatial information of the world, including satellite imagery, 3D models, and topographic maps.

NIMA Buys All Ikonos Afghanistan Images
In an interesting development of the new war in Afghanistan, the US government's National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) has signed a contract with Space Imaging for the exclusive rights to imagery from its Ikonos satellite of the whole Afghanistan theatre of operations including surrounding countries.

Although the official line is that the deal gives the US access to imagery in support of the war, the real reason is probably more a form of "shutter control". The exclusive contract effectively denies the media and possible adversaries access to the imagery.

The contract, which is renewable monthly, does not allow Space Imaging to provide the imagery to anyone else.

Although the US government has the right to forbid Space Imaging from collecting and distributing from "sensitive" areas, particularly during military operations, they have chosen not to do so. This regulatory constraint is known by the term "shutter control". Instead the government has chosen to impose a form of commercial shutter control by tying Space Imaging into an exclusive contract.

Ikonos provided black and white imagery with a resolution of 1 m and colour imagery with a 4 m resolution.

Military Space

Globalstar Phones for Italian Navy
Globalstar has announced that the Italian Navy is in the process of installing Globalstar fixed maritime phone units on each of its major vessels across the entire fleet.

The agreement between the Italian Navy and Elsacom, Globalstar's service provider partner in Italy, followed a thorough study by the Navy of the technical and operational capabilities of the Globalstar system in various situations and environmental conditions. Several phones have already been installed and are now in use providing secure, reliable telephone communications from virtually anywhere the ships may be operating.

Russia to Close Cuban Spy Base
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia is to close its surveillance base in Lourdes, Cuba in a move that will reportedly save the Russians US$ 200 million per year.

The base was established by the Soviet Union in 1964 and is operated by 1,500 military specialists. Although the announcement by Putin appeared to be a sudden change in Russian policy and a sign of Russia's increasing closeness the USA since the September 11 terrorist attacks, there have been reports that the withdrawal from the base began in the summer.

The USA has long objected to the base and only last year Congress passed a bill preventing the rescheduling of hundreds of millions of dollars of Russian debt if the base remained open.

Science

Galileo Returns to Io
NASA's Galileo spacecraft has had its closest-ever flyby of Jupiter's moon Io - an alien world where fiery volcanoes throw up jets of vapour hundreds of kilometres above the surface which then freezes and falls as sulphurous snow.

Just over two months ago Galileo flew past the north pole of Jupiter's moon Io, right through a swarm of sulphurous snowflakes hurled into space by a previously unknown volcano.

On October 16, the spacecraft skimmed just 181 km above Io's surface near the moon's south pole. The close encounter will mark the sixth time Galileo has flown by Io since the spacecraft arrived in Jupiter's neighbourhood in 1995.

When Galileo sped past Io's north pole on August 6, scientists were watching for activity from a polar volcano named Tvashtar, which had been spewing a plume several hundred km high only seven months earlier. But Tvashtar was quiet. Instead, the spacecraft spotted a new eruption from a previously-unknown volcano 600 km away. The plume, the tallest on record, soared approximately 500 km above Io's surface as Galileo glided through the outskirts of the billowing ejecta.

It proved a fortuitous encounter for scientists who have long sought a fresh sample of Io's volcanic material. Galileo's onboard plasma science instrument detected particles that had rushed out of a vent on the ground no more than a few minutes earlier. The particles Galileo caught were sulphur dioxide snowflakes. Although Io's volcanic vents are very hot, much of the moon's surface is frigid (-150 C) and Io's thin atmosphere is space-cold. As soon as volcanic gases rise into the air they quickly begin to freeze. Snow forms in the plumes and frosts collect on the surface. Researchers think Galileo detected sulphur-dioxide snowflakes, each consisting of 15 to 20 molecules clumped together.

The primary goal of the encounter, like August's north polar flyby, is to collect magnetic data. Magnetic readings above Io's poles might reveal whether the satellite generates a magnetic field of its own. Discovering Io's magnetic field (if it exists) and finding its form could reveal much about the moon's internal structure.

II-VI Inc Delivers Radiation Detectors for Swift Program
II-VI Incorporated's eV Products division has completed the delivery of the final quantities of radiation detectors required for the NASA SWIFT program - a total of 40,000 Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CdZnTe) radiation detectors.

The goal of the NASA SWIFT program is to study the underlying cause of gamma ray bursts, the largest known explosions in the universe. The CdZnTe radiation detectors produced by eV Products will be placed in the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on the gamma burst observatory of the NASA SWIFT mission currently scheduled for launch in the autumn of 2003.

Proba Micro-Satellite Will Hook Into Internet
Later this month India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will launch the European Space Agency's (ESA) small technology satellite PROBA from the Shriharikota launch centre as a piggyback payload. The launch is scheduled for 21-31 October. The satellite will be launched into a 600 km polar orbit.

PROBA (Project for On-Board Autonomy) may be tiny in spacecraft terms but this European satellite is paving the way for future missions of global importance. Despite its diminutive size and weight (just 100 kg), PROBA has a mind of its own and boasts an extensive range of advanced capabilities and instruments.

PROBA is the first ESA spacecraft with fully autonomous capabilities, allowing it to operate virtually unaided, performing everyday tasks like navigation, payload and resource management with little involvement by staff at ESA's ground station in Redu, Belgium.

The innovative design and operating systems are the result of ESA's collaboration with prime contractor Verhaert Design and Development of Belgium, working alongside other European companies and universities. PROBA will allow engineers to evaluate the advantages of autonomous
spacecraft operation.

PROBA's payload is controlled by a computer system 50 times more powerful than its counterpart onboard ESA's full-size solar observing satellite, SOHO, allowing the micro-satellite to combine in-orbit technology demonstration, such as an onboard mission planning and onboard navigation and failure detection, with some useful monitoring of the Earth's environment.

Its instruments are CHRIS (Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer, from SIRA), DEBIE (Debris In-Orbit Evaluator, from Patria Finnanvitec) and SREM (Standard Radiation Environment Monitor, from Contraves). PROBA also carries two imagers, a Wide Angle Camera (WAC) and a High Resolution Camera (HRC) with a 10 metre resolution, both built by OIP of Belgium.

The cameras will also be used by students from selected Belgian schools whose experiment proposals have been accepted under the EDUPROBA project.

Images of the Earth and other data gathered by PROBA will be sent direct to a webserver located at the ESA ground station in Redu, Belgium, where scientists will be able to access the information over the Internet as soon as it is delivered from the satellite.

In the first three months after launch, the satellite will be tested by Verhaert from the ground station in Redu. The satellite will then be handed over to ESA and the scientific user community. PROBA is expected to operate for at least two years.

Manned Space

NASA Ames Seeking Bed Rest Study Volunteers
NASA is looking for people willing to spend a month in bed, as part of a study of how long-term space flight affects the human body.

The upcoming study, which will begin in January 2002, will require that volunteers lie in beds tilted head-down at a six-degree angle for 30 days, 24 hours a day. Bed rest in the six-degree head-down tilt position is considered the best Earth model to simulate the effects of prolonged microgravity on the human body.

The goal of the project, which is managed by NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, is to sponsor space flight and ground-based analogue campaigns that facilitate evaluation of promising countermeasures for future flight validation. A countermeasure is a drug, exercise or other intervention that minimises the changes that occur during space flight and that impede normal functioning after people return to Earth. Ames manages the facility where the bed rest studies are carried out.

Male and female volunteers between the ages of 25 and 55 are needed for the study. Candidates must be non-smokers in good health and not participating in a highly competitive or rigorous exercise program. They should have no history of cardiovascular or musculoskeletal disease or hernia. Female volunteers must not be pregnant.

Participants will be housed in Ames' Human Research Facility for 45 days. They will lie in bed for 30 of those days. In addition to bed rest, these studies will involve a standardised battery of integrated physiological and cognitive tests called the Integrated Testing Regimen (ITR). These tests measure changes in physical and mental performance before, during and after bed rest. Currently many of these tests are performed on astronauts before and after space flight to measure the changes caused by extended space travel.

Most of the changes that occur during space flight are a normal acclimatisation to the space environment. A successful countermeasure limits this acclimatisation, so the astronauts can return to Earth without any persistent physiological or psychological impairments.

The first countermeasure to be tested is a regimen of resistance exercises performed with a machine called the interim Resistive Exercise Device (iRED). The iRED exercise regimen will be compared with a no-exercise regimen to determine which is more effective at preventing losses in muscle volume and strength, as well as losses in bone mineral density that occur during bed rest. Testing will occur both before, during and after volunteers have undergone 30 days of bed rest at the six-degree downward tilt.

Launch Services

Logica Software to Control ESA Satellites for Next Five Years
A consortium led by Logica has been awarded an initial €2 million, 5 year support contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) Operational Centre (ESOC) to help enhance its mission control facilities for Europe's space research missions of the 21st century. Logica's subcontractor, Space Software Italia (SSI), will ensure that experience from the International Space Station and Italian national space programmes is available to ESOC.

For more than 25 years the Darmstadt-based ESOC has watched over the operation of ESA satellites in space. It is Europe's mission control centre for scientific, applications and deep-space missions. The computer facilities employed within the control centre, broadly termed mission control systems, monitor the satellites, analyse the performance of the equipment and instruments they carry, and send radio commands to the satellites when necessary.

The previous 5 year contract resulted in more than €25 million of business for Logica. The value of this new contract will depend on a number of factors such as the timing of ESA's new missions. The Logica consortium's initial tasks under the new contract include the maintenance and enhancement of existing facilities used to control satellites such as the ERS-2 environmental monitoring satellite and XMM-Newton - the world's largest X-ray astronomy observatory. As well as ensuring smooth operation of these satellites, Logica's work is targeted at overall reduction of operational costs.

Launches

QuickBird 2

Launched: 18 October 2001
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Launcher: Delta 2
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 450 km, perigee: 450 km: inclination: 98° (sun synchronous)
International Number: 2001-047A
Name: QuickBird 2
Owner: DigitalGlobe
Contractor: Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp

QuickBird 2 is a commercial imaging satellite with a 61 cm panchromatic resolution. It has a 5 year design life.

Business

GE Share of SES Global to Increase
Société Européenne des Satellites (SES) is to give the General Electric Company a larger stake in itself as a part payment for GE's GE Americom satellite communications subsidiary after delaying a new public share offering.

SES, had agreed to buy GE American Communications for US$ 5 billion in cash and stock when the deal signed in March. GE was to have received US$ 2.7 billion in cash and a 25% shareholding in SES Global.

Since then the sale has received regulatory approval in the US and Europe, but SES has postponed a planned share sale because of the state of the financial markets.

SES will now pay GE US$ 2.4 billion and a 27.5% shareholding in SES Global.

Integral Systems Ends Stock Buyback
Integral Systems Inc has terminated the stock repurchase program which it instituted on September 18, 2001 pursuant to certain SEC Emergency Orders which liberalised the stock buyback rules.

The termination of Integral's stock repurchase program at market close on Friday coincided with the expiration of the Emergency Orders. The Company repurchased approximately 5% of its outstanding common stock as a result of the Emergency Order.

Founded in 1982, Integral Systems is a leading provider of satellite ground systems and has supported over 120 different satellite missions for communications, science, meteorological and earth resource applications.

International Datacasting Ends Acquisition Talks
International Datacasting has decided not to proceed with its acquisition of the Satellite Express products business of California-based BroadLogic Network Technologies.

The two companies announced the signing of a letter of intent on September 5, but subsequently were unable to reach mutually agreeable terms and have now discontinued negotiations.

IDC provides advanced products, systems and services for the implementation of broadband wireless infrastructure networks used to distribute multimedia data. It delivers IP-based wireless datacasting solutions, via both satellite and terrestrial "last-mile" technologies.

iPSTAR Still on Track Despite Financing Problems
Shin Satellite is reported to be having difficulties raising the US$ 350 million it requires for its iPSTAR broadband satellite. These problems will not, apparently, delay the planned launch of services using the satellite in 2003.

Shin Satellite has not been able to arrange a syndicated loan with US Exim Bank to finance the project in the uncertain financial environment following the September 11 attacks in the USA.

Motient's New Funding for Mobile Satellite Ventures Subsidiary
Motient Corporation has reported that new investment had been secured for Mobile Satellite Ventures LLC (MSV), enabling Motient to complete its previously announced plan to integrate the satellite operations of Motient and those of TMI Communications and Company LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of BCE Inc. of Canada. The formation of MSV, announced in January 2001, is currently awaiting customary American and Canadian regulatory approvals.

The new investment involves MSV's issuance of US$ 55 million in subordinated convertible notes to an investor group including Telcom Ventures LLC, Columbia Capital, Spectrum Equity Investors, a subsidiary of Rare Medium Group, Inc and Motient. The US$ 55 million investment will provide MSV with sufficient resources to close on its pre-existing agreement to consolidate the satellite-related assets of both Motient and TMI, and allows it to move forward as a standalone operating entity.

As a part of this transaction, Motient will receive US$ 60 million, of which US$ 45 million will be in cash and US$ 15 million in a note, and after closing Motient will remain a minority investor in MSV, allowing Motient substantial participation in MSV's potential success. Motient indicated that the cash payment, along with an additional US$ 10 million released from escrow based on certain milestone achievements surrounding the prior sale of its transportation mobile communications assets, is expected to provide liquidity for Motient's operations during its restructuring process. Separately, Motient reported it had retained the services of Credit Suisse First Boston to advise it in connection with the possible restructuring of its debt, including its Senior Notes.

Upon completion of the transaction, MSV will bring together the mobile satellite businesses of both Motient and TMI and creates the largest provider of mobile satellite services in North America.

In separate action, Motient and Rare Medium announced that Motient repaid approximately US$ 26.2 million, plus accrued interest, of the US$ 50 million aggregate principal amount of exchangeable notes issued by Motient to Rare Medium by delivering to Rare Medium five million shares of XM Satellite Radio common stock held by Motient. The maturity date for the remaining outstanding principal amount of approximately US$ 26.2 million was extended for 60 days, and will be further extended to October 12, 2002 upon satisfaction of certain conditions.

XM Satellite Radio Announces US$ 66 Million Financing Package
XM Satellite Radio Inc has reached agreement on the basic terms of a US$ 66 million funding package, including US$ 35 million in new debt financing with Boeing Capital Services Corporation and US$ 31 million in restructured obligations with Boeing Satellite Systems International Inc. The company expects to close these transactions later this month.

In light of current financial market conditions and the aftershock of recent events, XM has refocused its marketing strategy on key early adopter consumer segments, while maintaining adequate financial resources to sustain its business momentum until a stable financing climate is re-established. The company is carefully managing all operating expenses, and, due to the coverage being provided by its satellites, has been able to eliminate many of its planned terrestrial repeater sites.

Completion of the Boeing financing package is subject to final documentation, including customary terms and conditions for transactions of this type.

Products and Services

Globalstar Extends Data Services to Telit Phones
Globalstar LP and Telit Mobile Terminals SpA of Italy have announced the commercial introduction of data communications software for Telit Globalstar phones, giving users access to the Internet or other data networks, even when they are far outside the range of cellular or other telephone services.

Telit Globalstar phones allow users to make calls either over the Globalstar satellite telephone network or through regular GSM-based cellular networks, GSM being the cellular standard commonly used throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Australia and other parts of the world. Telit Globalstar phones have been available with voice-call capability in most of these markets for nearly two years, but until now they provided data capability only over GSM terrestrial networks. With the new software, Telit phones now can provide GSM-like data connectivity over the Globalstar satellite network as well.

Globalstar data services were originally introduced in North America in December 2000, using Qualcomm Globalstar phone units which are compatible with CDMA cellular networks common in the US and Canada. Telit now makes this data service available for the first time on a GSM/satellite phone.

The new Telit data software can be used with either Telit Model Sat 550 or Sat 600 Globalstar phones. Using a simple adapter cable, the phone connects to a regular PC serial port and provides asynchronous dial-up data capability, generally through a regular Internet service provider (ISP) or over a private corporate network. Additional dialler and driver software for PC installation is also provided, with documentation in eight languages.

When used on the newer-model Telit Sat 600 phone, the new software also provides greatly extended battery life - up to 24 hours (in Globalstar Satellite mode) or more without recharging - through a new "slotted paging" function. Previously, Telit Globalstar phones in stand-by mode continuously scanned for incoming call signals, rapidly draining battery power. Slotted paging, which is also used on current generation cellular phones, instructs the phone to scan for incoming signals only for a very brief instant every few seconds, resulting in far less battery usage per hour while in stand-by mode.

Integral Systems Announces Skylight Product Line
Integral Systems Inc has announced the availability of its Skylight product line, a low-cost off- the-shelf system for acquiring, processing, and distributing satellite imagery.

Skylight is an end-to-end system that includes an antenna, data capture hardware and software, data processing to create and analyse calibrated Earth images, and archiving and distribution of the images for users. Though low- cost, it a high performance system aimed at the Earth science market, particularly for users interested in NASA's Terra spacecraft, launched in December 1999, and its upcoming follow-on mission, Aqua. The complete system can be delivered anywhere in the world within 60 days from receipt of order.

The product's open architecture can handle multiple missions, so support for satellites such as Landsat and Radarsat can be included as options. Archive access is via a web interface, and Skylight nodes all over the world will be able to see each others' archives and share data. The entire system is also available in a mobile and shipboard configuration.

People

Iridium Satellite Recruits Charlene King
Iridium Satellite LLC has appointed Charlene King as executive vice president of marketing and channel management. King will oversee Iridium's service partner relationships, marketing communications, product management, pricing and market research.

King joins Iridium from SkyBridge, where she served as senior vice president of business development and marketing. In this role, King had responsibility for raising capital for SkyBridge's low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite project and oversaw the creation of new satellite offerings in the Americas. Prior to that, King was vice president of marketing for SkyTel's international and wholesale divisions, managing programs in more than 20 countries.

NASA Administrator, Dan Goldin, Resigns
After nearly ten years as the head of America's space program, NASA's Administrator, Daniel S Goldin, has announced his resignation, effective November 17.

A successor has not yet been named. Goldin, was appointed as NASA Administrator on April 1 1992.

Quake Global's New CTO
Quake Global, a San Diego-based company that tracks and monitors remote assets, has announced the promotion of Mark Jones to Vice President, Product Development & Chief Technical Officer.

Jones will oversee the design, development, and implementation of Quake Global products.

A founding engineer with Quake Global, Jones started the Engineering Department at Quake's inception in December 1998. Jones was responsible for the design, development, testing, and certification of Quake Global's satellite communication products.

Prior to founding the Engineering Department at Quake, Jones was a lead Systems and Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Engineer responsible for development of DSP and support software for satellite communicators at Torrey Communications.

Web spacenewsfeed.co.uk