7 October 2001

Satcoms

Boeing to Build Superbird 6
Boeing Satellite Systems has signed a contract with Space Communications Corporation (SCC) of Tokyo, Japan for a Boeing 601 communications satellite.

The satellite, designated Superbird-6, is scheduled to launch in the third quarter of 2003. SCC will select the launch vehicle at a later date.

Superbird-6, slated for an orbital slot at 158.0° E, will provide business telecommunication services using Japan Beam and Steerable Beam. The satellite has a payload of 23 active Ku band transponders and four Ka band transponders.

Space Communications Corporation (SCC), a Japanese satellite communications service company, was established in 1985 by Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO), and other Mitsubishi Group Companies. SCC now operates four communications satellites named Superbird-A, B2, C, and D at four orbital slot, by which SCC is providing stable and high quality telecommunication services to a wide range of customers. Superbird is the name of the series of high-performance communications satellites owned and operated by SCC.

Caterpillar Renews Orbcomm Licence Agreement
Orbcomm LLC, has announced that Caterpillar Inc has renewed its licensing agreement to continue to use the Orbcomm network to transmit data for Caterpillar's Product Link System. Product Link is a wireless equipment tracking and monitoring solution that enables two-way data communications between Caterpillar on-board machine systems and Caterpillar dealers and customers around the globe.

Using the Orbcomm system, Caterpillar dealers and customers will have access to timely and accurate machine data, such as engine hours, location, event/diagnostic information, as well as status reports on other important machine conditions. Product Link helps Caterpillar dealers more efficiently manage their service contracts, provide more timely preventive maintenance on their equipment and enhance fleet utilisation. Today, Caterpillar dealers worldwide, including those in Europe, Asia, South America and North America, are using the Product Link System.

Caterpillar's Product Link is available through its dealer network and can be installed on any Caterpillar machine or engine. When fully integrated into Web-based applications, such as Cat Dealer Storefronts, Product Link allows customers and dealers to collaboratively manage a wide variety of product information online, enabling unparalleled levels of service and productivity.

Exus to Provide Medical Distance Learning Network for Poland
Exus Networks Inc has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Medical Centre for Postgraduate Education (MCPE), a Polish government-sponsored Continuing Medical Education (CME) provider, for a satellite based distance learning network.

The MOU calls for the creation of a satellite-based telemedicine network that will provide Poland-based doctors with access to continuing education programs delivered from the US, Europe, and Israel. The CME-based information will be delivered using streaming media, VoIP communication services, and video teleconferencing, among other telecommunication technologies. MCPE, through CME programs, trains approximately 20,000 doctors annually, who are collectively in contact with some 10,000,000 total patients.

The initial deployment of this program calls for the installation of VSAT terminals at hospitals in Warsaw, Posnan, and Katovitz, which will be connected to Exus' shared satellite network. The Polish Ministry of Health will provide the licenses for operation of these satellite-based services.

Under the agreement, Exus will be responsible for installing and maintaining the network infrastructure that will provide the necessary connectivity to operate the MCPE's CME programs. Exus will also be responsible for managing business relationships and financial arrangements with CME content providers. Both MCPE and Exus Networks will pursue financing for the project through a combination of international, Polish government initiated grants; sponsorships from companies in the health industry; and course fees charged to doctors. The programs are expected to commence in the first quarter of 2002 and yield US$ 2 million in revenue.

Gilat to Provide Rural Telephony Network for Peru
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd has signed a contract with Fondo de Inversion en Telecomunicaciones del Peru (FITEL) to provide a fixed rural satellite telephony network.

The FITEL network will serve more than 2,000 communities throughout the northern, northern-central and central-eastern regions of Peru. The project also includes the provision of Internet connectivity to 10% of those sites. The value of the project is approximately US$ 27 million.

FITEL is Peru's national telecommunications investment fund, which uses a percentage of the revenues of the country's telecommunications companies to develop communications systems in rural regions. FITEL is a department of the Peruvian national telecommunications agency OSIPTEL.

The network, based on Gilat's DialAw@y IP Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) product, is expected to begin deployment this month and is scheduled to reach completion by the end of 2002. Gilat will expand its existing rural telephony infrastructure in Peru - which already serves hundreds of thousands of citizens - to provide FITEL with a comprehensive VSAT network solution.

DialAw@y IP is the only VSAT product capable of providing high-speed Internet connectivity and toll-quality telephony service at the same time. Each unit supports a PC/LAN connection and up to six telephone lines. It is a low-cost solution for the fulfilment of Universal Service/Access Obligations, Public Call Office requirements and small office/home office (SOHO) requirements for bundled telephony and Internet access.

HERTZinger dataNET to Use DirecWay for Internet Access in Netherlands
HERTZinger dataNET has signed on to offer high- speed Internet services to its enterprise customers using Hughes Network Systems Europe's (HNSE) DirecWay broadband by satellite. HERTZinger dataNET, which provides over 1,000 customers with one-way data broadcast services across the Netherlands, now will offer DirecWay two-way, high-speed Internet connectivity via satellite.

HNSE is Europe's leading provider of broadband satellite services, which it markets under the DirecWay brand. Under the terms of the relationship, HNSE will provide DirecWay services and products to HERTZinger dataNET. In addition to two-way broadband Internet access, HERTZinger dataNET will market Virtual Private Network (VPN) services.

Implementation of pilot sites has already begun with the first formal installation scheduled for December 2001.

Integral/Antek Antenna Patents Approved
The US Patent Office has allowed all claims filed on Integral Technologies Inc's "Planar Antenna Comprising Two Joined Conducting Regions with Coax" (GPS/LEO antenna) and "Dual Disk Active Antenna."

Final patents on these two antenna concepts will be issued within the next two to three months.

The application for Integral's GPS/LEO antenna is for use in the Orbcomm Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite-based data communication system. Orbcomm provides two-way monitoring, tracking and messaging services through the world's first commercial low earth orbit satellite-based data communication system. Integral was appointed a business partner of Orbcomm in November 2000.

Iridium Satellite Proposes Aircraft Monitoring System
Iridium Satellite LLC has submitted a preliminary proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other appropriate US government organisations for a real-time cockpit voice and flight data monitoring capability utilising its constellation of 66 low earth orbit satellites. The service, which would address national security concerns relating to aircraft safety and control, could be deployed quickly using commercial off-the-shelf components and the Iridium system.

The current system, which captures information in cockpit voice and flight data recorders or "black boxes" located on the aircraft, provides insight into the causes of a crash only after the fact and only if the recorders are found intact. Since the black boxes provide no information to ground control during flight, they cannot be used to intervene in the event of an emergency. Under Iridium's proposal, the voice and data signals captured by the cockpit voice and flight data recorders would also be transmitted via existing FAA-certified equipment to the Iridium satellite constellation and sent directly to secure FAA data centres for live monitoring.

The Iridium system, when coupled with other security enhancements currently under review, could have a profound impact on aircraft safety both through active use and as a deterrent. Iridium state the benefits of a real-time system as being:

• Ability to provide immediate response in the event of a medical, terrorist or other in-flight emergency.
• Ability to initiate monitoring from the ground, the cockpit, automatically when flight parameters are breached or continuously as part of basic flight operations.
• Ability to record continuously for full duration of flight.
• Ability to initiate investigations in real time prior to recovery of cockpit voice and data recorders.
• Ability to use accumulated data to enhance aircraft safety, operating performance and efficiency through more timely maintenance and repair.

Orbital to Build BSAT-2C
Orbital Sciences Corporation has signed a contract to construct and launch a geostationary (GEO) communications satellite for Japan's Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT). The BSAT-2c satellite will be the third spacecraft built by Orbital for B-SAT, an affiliate of Japan's NHK and other major private broadcast networks. The BSAT-2c satellite is planned for launch in the first quarter of 2003. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The BSAT-2c satellite design is based on Orbital's "STAR" family of lightweight GEO platforms.

Following the loss of BSAT-2b which was placed in the wrong orbit by Ariane 510 on July 12 this year, B-SAT has decided to order a replacement based on Orbital's STAR design would again provide the best solution. The previous two satellites that Orbital built for B-SAT, BSAT-2a and -2b, were also based on the STAR platform. The first satellite, BSAT-2a, launched in March 2001, is currently in orbit, providing reliable broadcasting service throughout Japan.

Satellite Radio Receivers Use Silicon Laboratories CMOS RF Synthesiser
New satellite radio receivers from XM Satellite Radio Inc use Silicon Laboratories Inc' highly integrated Si4136XM RF synthesiser.

The 100% CMOS RF synthesiser was selected because it provides leading performance and integration by eliminating over 30 components that would have been required by other synthesiser solutions.

XM Satellite Radio formally launched the first US digital satellite radio service last month with 100 channels of coast-to-coast CD-quality music and news. The Si4136XM provides the frequency synthesis functionality needed to down-convert the satellite and terrestrial repeater broadcast signals in the XM radio receiver.

The Si4136XM is included in both the radio receiver modules offered by XM through a contract-manufacturing partner and in the stringent reference design that all XM-compliant receivers must meet. Manufacturers wishing to incorporate the XM radio receiver in their products must either purchase the module or follow the reference design.

Tiscali Pilots Two-way Internet in Germany
Internet service provider Tiscali is running a three-month pilot program in Germany for its two-way satellite Internet broadband service using Eutelsat's Eurobird at 28.5° E.

When available commercially, the service will cost €65 a month. The hardware will cost €565 and there will be an installation fee of €300.

Tiscali's service will be offered Europe-wide and is based on Gilat's VSAT technology.

Until the trial is completed Tiscali will not know what transmission rates the network will support, but expects a minimum download speed of 150 kb/s at peak usage times and 400 kb/s off peak. Upload speeds are expected to be in the range of 40 to 150 kb/s.

Navigation

NovAtel Achieves Major Milestone on EGNOS Contract
NovAtel Inc has achieved a major milestone on the EGNOS RIMS-C receiver contract with the successful completion and approval of the Final Qualification Review (FQR).

Following formal sign off of the FQR by Thales Avionics UK (RIMS-C contractor) and Alcatel Space Industries (EGNOS prime contractor), NovAtel has also shipped the first batch of six production EGNOS RIMS-C receivers. This milestone achievement will allow NovAtel to recognise Cdn$ 1.8 million revenue, the majority of which will fall in the company's third quarter, related to its EGNOS RIMS-C receiver contract with Thales Avionics UK.

EGNOS is the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System managed by the European Space Agency which is the European equivalent of the US FAA Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), and RIMS-C (Remote Integrity Monitoring System - C) is the designation for the ground reference system being provided by Thales Avionics UK to Alcatel Space Industries for EGNOS. NovAtel initially announced its contract with Thales Avionics UK (formerly Thomson-Racal Avionics Ltd.) on October 30, 2000.

Raytheon and USAF Demonstrate Civil-Military Interoperability for GPS-Based Landing System
A government-industry team has accomplished the first precision approach by a civil aircraft using a military Global Positioning System (GPS) landing system at Holloman AFB, New Mexico.

A FedEx Express 727-200 Aircraft equipped with a Rockwell-Collins GNLU-930 Multi-Mode Receiver landed using a Raytheon-developed military ground station. Raytheon designed and developed the differential GPS ground station under an Air Force contract for the Joint Precision Approach and Landings System (JPALS) program. The JPALS system is being developed to meet the Defense Department's need for an anti-jam, secure, all weather Category II/III aircraft landing system that will be fully interoperable with planned civil systems utilising the same technology. Raytheon and the U.S. Air Force have been conducting extensive flight testing for JPALS at Holloman over the last three months.

The FedEx Express 727-200 aircraft at Holloman successfully conducted a total of sixteen Category I approaches. After completing a number of pilot flown approaches for reference the aircraft conducted six full autolands using the JPALS ground station. The aircraft was guided by differential GPS corrections, integrity information, and precision approach path points transmitted from the Raytheon developed JPALS ground station. Although the approaches were restricted to Category I, accuracies sufficient to meet Cat II/III requirements were observed.

Category I/II/III refer to different levels of low visibility approaches. CAT I is the least severe.

Raytheon is the world leader in designing and building satellite-based navigation and landing solutions for civil and military applications. In addition to developing JPALS for the Department of Defense, Raytheon is also developing both the Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) and the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) for the Federal Aviation Administration. The JPALS and LAAS will provide an interoperable landing capability for military and civil applications.

Military Space

USAF Awards Additional US$ 136 Million for AEHF Work
The US Air Force has awarded the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (Advanced EHF) "National Team" (comprised of Lockheed Martin, TRW and Boeing) a US$ 135.5 million firm-fixed-price contract modification.

This modification provides for an additional preliminary design effort and extends the system definition phase of the Advanced EHF Satellite Communications System Program through the end of December 2001. At this time, US$ 25 million of the funds have been obligated.

The Advanced EHF system is intended to provide secure, survivable communication to US warfighters during all levels of conflict and is the protected backbone of the Department of Defense's military satellite communication architecture. The fully operational Advanced EHF constellation will consist of four cross-linked satellites providing global coverage.

Science

Galileo Probe Flies Through Volcanic Plume Above IO
Jupiter's moon Io has pulled a surprise on NASA's Galileo spacecraft, hurling up the tallest volcanic plume ever seen, which arose from a previously unknown volcano.

A different volcano had been lofting a plume seven months earlier, but Galileo saw no sign of that plume during its latest Io flyby in early August.

Adding to the surprise, for the first time a Galileo instrument has caught particles freshly released from an eruption, giving scientists a direct sample of Io material to analyse.

The Jupiter-orbiting spacecraft has been gradually transmitting to Earth the new pictures and data from its flight over Io's north pole in early August.

Galileo engineers and scientists had anticipated that the August 6 flyby might take the spacecraft right through gases rising from a volcano named Tvashtar near Io's north pole. Tvashtar had been lofting a high plume when last seen seven months earlier by both Galileo and the passing Cassini spacecraft. However, the Tvashtar plume has not been found in images from the August flyby. Researchers were startled to find, instead, that a previously unknown volcano just 600 km from Tvashtar was spewing a grand plume as Galileo passed.

The new plume rises at least 500 km above ground, nearly 10 % higher than the tallest ever seen before on Io.

Scientists using Galileo's infrared mapping instrument have pinpointed the site of the eruption as a new hot spot at a location that was not known to be an active volcano.

The particles detected in Galileo's plasma science instrument as the ageing spacecraft sped within 194 km of Io's surface likely came from the new hot spot rather than Tvashtar. The volcanic material reached the spacecraft no more than a few minutes after rushing out of the source vent on the ground. The particles are apparently snowflakes made of sulphur-dioxide molecules with as many as 15 to 20 molecules clumped together in each flake.

NASA Selects Spacecraft Contractor For 2005 Mars Mission
NASA has selected Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, to build the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a spacecraft scheduled for launch in August 2005 to return the highest resolution images yet of the Red Planet.

Lockheed Martin will build the orbiter bus and be responsible for integrating and testing six science instruments and two engineering payloads. Lockheed Martin will also provide spacecraft operations support for the five-and-a-half year mission. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission.

The contract awarded to Lockheed is for US$ 145 million, including the development and operations phases.

The 1,800 kg orbiter is twice the mass and will return over 12 times the data of the Mars Global Surveyor, which has been in orbit around Mars for more than four years and has returned more than 101,000 images of the surface. The Global Surveyor spacecraft was also built by Lockheed Martin under contract to JPL.

The Mars Reconnaissance Obiter science payload currently includes the following instruments: a high-resolution camera, a visible/near-infrared imaging spectrometer, an atmospheric sounder, a wide-angle colour imager, a shallow sub-surface sounding radar and a context imager. The engineering payload consists of a telecommunications package that will provide surface communications relay and approach navigation support, and an optical navigation camera that will demonstrate precision entry navigation capability for future landers and orbiters.

The 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is scheduled for launch in August 2005. The primary science mission phase will last for one Martian year (approximately two Earth years), followed by a one-year relay phase in support of future missions of the international Mars exploration program. There is a high potential for continuing science observation during this phase, giving priority to evaluating landing sites for future missions.

NASA's MAP in Place and Ready to Go
After its three-month journey in space, NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) moved into its new home millions of kilometres from Earth and is ready to chart the oldest light in the cosmos.

MAP, launched June 30, 2001, was placed into a highly elliptical orbit around the Earth. From there, the spacecraft team executed a series of manoeuvres using on-board thrusters to bring MAP around the Earth three times and position it for a gravity-assist boost from the Moon. The lunar swing-by occurred a month after launch, on July 30.

Since then, MAP has cruised toward L2, a quasi-stable position two million kilometres from Earth in the direction opposite the Sun. While previous missions have passed through the L2 neighbourhood, MAP is the first mission to use an L2 orbit as its permanent observing station.

All of MAP's spacecraft and instrument systems are performing well.

MAP will scan the skies over two years, collecting information on the faint cosmic glow in five distinct wavebands of light. The data will be analysed and made into a full sky map for each waveband. The first sky map results are expected about December 2002.

The space probe will collect the information needed to make a map of the entire sky in the microwave light left over from the Big Bang. The entire universe is bathed in this afterglow light. This is the oldest light in the universe and has been travelling for 14 billion years. The patterns in this light across the sky encode a wealth of details about the nature, composition and destiny of the universe.

The images of the infant universe are viewed by measuring tiny temperature differences within the microwave light, which now averages 2.73 degrees above absolute zero. The extraordinary design of MAP allows it to measure the slight temperature fluctuations to within millionths of a degree. The unprecedented accuracy of MAP has the potential to revolutionise current views of the universe.

MAP was produced in partnership between Princeton University and Goddard. Goddard and Princeton University produced the MAP hardware and software. In addition to Goddard and Princeton, science team members are located at the University of Chicago, the University of California, Brown University and the University of the British of Columbia.

Launch Services

Delta IV Engine Nozzle Passes Flight Certification Testing
A rocket nozzle for the Boeing RS-68 engine developed by ATK Thiokol Propulsion Company, Promontory, Utah, has successfully passed a series of four flight certification tests, clearing the way for production of the nozzle and its use on the maiden flight of the new Boeing Delta IV launch vehicle in early 2002.

Designed by the Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power business of Boeing, the RS-68 engine will provide first-stage propulsion for the Delta IV vehicle. With 650,000 pounds of thrust, it is the largest liquid-oxygen/liquid-hydrogen engine in the world and the first large, liquid-fuelled rocket engine developed in the US since the Space Shuttle main engine. ATK Thiokol Propulsion Company was awarded a contract in 1998 for engineering and manufacturing development of the engine's nozzle.

Two of the nozzle's flight certification tests simulated the most extreme mission cycles that could be experienced in flight. The other two tests replicated the first two tests at 120% of the mission cycle. The tests were conducted at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis.

Several new technologies were involved in the design of the composite nozzle, including proprietary thermal protection material to shield it from extreme gas temperatures that can exceed 6,000 degrees F.

ATK Thiokol Propulsion Company has been building nozzles for solid propulsion motors since the late 1950s. The Boeing RS-68 engine is the first production application of a nozzle of this type and the first use of the company's nozzle technology in a liquid engine application.

Launches

Titan 4B

Launched: 5 October 2001
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Launcher: Titan 4B (B-34)
International Number: 2001-044A
Owner: National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

This was a launch of a classified satellite, probably an optical imaging satellite. The launch was reported to be successful.

Business

L-3 Communications Partners with ND Satcom
L-3 Communications' Communication Systems-West division has entered into a joint business agreement with ND SatCom, a leading manufacturer and provider of satellite based communication systems and networks.

Through this partnership, L-3 Communications and ND SatCom together will provide turnkey multi-node, fully meshed satellite terminal networks for civilian and military customers. Under the agreement, L-3 will provide mobile satcom systems and ND SatCom will provide anchor stations and network management systems.

L-3 Communications to Acquire Spar Aerospace
L-3 Communications has signed a definitive agreement with Spar Aerospace Limited pursuant to which, L-3, through a wholly owned subsidiary, will offer to purchase all of the outstanding common shares of Spar for Cdn$ 15.50 per share in cash.

The total value of the transaction is approximately Cdn$ 182 million, net of cash to be acquired of Cdn$ 47.5 million. The transaction is being unanimously recommended by Spar's Board to its shareholders. The offer will be mailed to shareholders in approximately 10 business days, and is expected to close by the end of 2001, pending standard closing conditions, including 66 2/3% of the outstanding shares (on a fully diluted basis) being deposited to the offer, and customary regulatory approvals. The acquisition is expected to add approximately US$ 100 million of sales and between US$ 0.03 to US$ 0.04 of earnings per share to L-3's 2002 results of operations, under the new accounting rules for business combinations.

Crescendo Partners II LP and funds managed by Enterprise Capital Management Inc, holders of 2,599,898 and 1,996,770 shares of Spar common stock, respectively (representing 30.4% of total fully diluted common shares), have agreed to irrevocably tender their shares to the L-3 offer.

Motient to Reduce Cost Structure
In light of current economic conditions, Motient Corporation, has announced cost reduction actions aimed at maintaining targeted profitability goals and reducing funding requirements. Central to this action was a reduction in force at both its Reston, Virginia and Lincolnshire, Illinois locations that is expected to result in a 25% decrease in staff.

Additionally, the company announced that it will not fund the US$ 20.5 million interest coupon payment on its 12.25% Senior Notes due October 1, 2001. The company is currently in the process of retaining a financial advisor to assist in connection with a possible restructuring of the Senior Notes.

In a related event, Motient reported that the Boards of Directors of both Motient and Rare Medium have mutually agreed to terminate their pending merger. In concert with this, the US$ 50 million Rare Medium loan to Motient has been extended to October 8, 2001. Additionally, Motient no longer plans to pursue a 1-for-10 reverse split of the company's outstanding common stock.

Motient owns and operates an integrated terrestrial/satellite network and provides a wide range of two-way mobile and Internet communications services principally to business-to-business customers and enterprises.

Tridon Enterprises to Acquire Alpha Spacecom
Tridon Enterprises Inc has entered into a preliminary agreement to acquire all of the operations of Alpha Spacecom (Alpha), a Hong Kong based company with a key principal role in an on going program to construct and launch a Ka band satellite for the distribution of media, sports and entertainment programming to mainland China.

Alpha's team of Beijing based scientists and engineers have developed sophisticated Ka band technologies for platforms relevant to both receptive and interactive satellite signals enabling Chinese language programming to be distributed by spot beams throughout both the major urban and rural areas of the country.

Alpha's Chinese partner in this venture is a major state owned satellite broadcasting group which has the government mandate to develop a co-ordinated means of satellite transmission of both domestically produced and foreign language programming in China.

To that end Alpha is working with one of the US's largest satellite and defence contracting groups to facilitate, design, construct and launch its first satellite.

Products and Services

Comsat Mobile Launches Aeronautical High-Speed Data Service
Comsat Mobile Communications (CMC), a business unit of Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, has announced that it will be the first to offer Inmarsat high-speed data service to the aeronautical market.

Currently undergoing final quality testing, Comsat Aero High Speed Data (HSD) Service is planned to be available commercially in the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions by the end of the year. Commercial service in the Indian Ocean Region is planned to begin during the first quarter of 2002.

The service uses Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) technology and provides reliable connections at speeds of 64 kb/s permitting customers to transfer large files such as proposals, presentations, and complex graphics and images. Users also can e-mail and fax, participate in video and teleconferences, and connect to their corporate LAN/WAN.

Comsat Aero HSD allows customers to browse the Internet at speeds higher than those allowed by conventional dial-up modems.

The service also offers secure communications over a range of secure terminals including STU-III, STU-IIB, KIV7, and STE.

Comsat Aero HSD is compatible with Inmarsat Aero H antennas and systems, is easy to use, and works with popular operating systems such as Microsoft Windows. The service is part of CMC's portfolio of Aeronautical communications solutions that provide customers a virtual Office in the Sky(SM).

Kingston inmedia's New SNG Fleet
Kingston inmedia has introduced its new fleet of satellite newsgathering (SNG) truck at the Sportel event in Monaco.

All of the trucks are built to state-of-the-art SNG specifications with multi-chain capabilities, rapid deployment and are based on the Mercedes Sprinter chassis. Kingston inmedia's fleet of SNG trucks enables players in the sports broadcast market to access the company's extensive TV production, teleport facilities and space segments and to benefit from a completely scalable solution, calling on all the facilities and services co-located at Kingston's inmedia's Gerrards Cross facility.

The highly specified trucks include both uplinking and production facilities to provide a total solution in the field. The Kingston inmedia fleet includes both left and right hand drive vehicles, licensed for use in all major European countries, and with all major satellite systems. Key features include:

• On board generators and GSM cellphone connections offer sports broadcasters total self-sufficiency and also the flexibility to accept shore power and a local landline.
• The RF systems comprises 1 + 1 redundant Xicom 350 W HPA's with fully agile peak upconversion into a type approved 1.5 m transmit/receive antenna. The systems are extended Ku band capable, subject to satellite operator regulations, and can deliver a maximum EIRP of 67 dBW or 72 dBW. Dual path uplinking is also possible, whilst retaining full redundancy.
• All trucks in the fleet are equipped with a standard set of two of the latest TANDBERG Television 4:2:2 MPEG-2 SNG systems, enabling RAS-1 encryption and up to 34 Mb/s carrier bandwidths. Two standard Alteia IRD's can be used to receive signals from any Ku downlink band and feed them into the system.
• Videotape playout machines of any format can be requested for use within the Kingston inmedia vehicles. 8 x 8 or 16 x 16 SDI, video and 4 audio matrixes enable easy analogue switching.
• Comprehensive audio, video, RF and tailboard patching give easy access to all signals. Comprehensive monitoring equipment also comes as standard.
• Vehicles are fitted with full production facilities, including a 6 channel digital vision mixer and 16 channel digital audio mixer. Additional production equipment includes 2 fully duplex UHF talkback systems with handsets, and additional vision monitoring / processing for the increased number of input signals that require handling.
• Triax cameras, including Ikegami and Sony, can be integrated into the truck as required, or ENG cameras can also be handled, along with various formats of editing requirements.
• Full live position kits can also be supplied.

Smith Micro Helps Thuraya Phones Receive Internet and Fax
Smith Micro Software Inc, a developer and marketer of a wide range of software and service solutions for the wireless and broadband market, has announced a deal to provide Smith Micro's QuickLink Mobile and QuickLink Fax software and data cable kits to Hughes Network Systems (HNS) services and user terminal equipment.

The data connectivity kits are compatible with the Hughes Network Systems HNS-7100 and the Ascom Systems AG ASCOM 21 dual mode satellite phones used on the Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company system. As a result of the deal, Thuraya will be able to offer customers in 100 countries the opportunity to link their mobile PCs to the Internet via satellite phone.

Thuraya provides mobile voice and data services utilising a dynamic, dual mode architecture that combines satellite connectivity, including GPS location, and cellular access via existing GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) networks. The company's satellite footprint covers a vast region of the world including the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Central Asia, North and Central Africa, and most of Europe. Maritime coverage is provided to the eastern Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the English Channel and other bodies of water adjacent to areas of land listed above. 2.3 billion people inhabit this coverage area.

QuickLink Mobile is a powerful Internet connectivity product that maximises Web efficiency for mobile users. Its installation wizard makes the set-up easy and offers users various performance-enhancing options, such as eliminating unnecessary graphic downloads. What's more, QuickLink Mobile enables valuable e-mail management, by allowing users to view the size and quantity of incoming messages on their PC or laptop displays. QuickLink Mobile's companion product, QuickLink Fax, gives users complete inbound and outbound fax capability.

Thuraya data connectivity kits will be available shortly for HNS-7100 and ASCOM 21 dual mode phone customers in all areas, and can be obtained at any Thuraya retail location.

People

EMS Technologies Names Vice President, Director of AEHF Projects
EMS Technologies Inc has announced the appointment of Linda S Cook as vice president and director of AEHF (Advanced Extremely High Frequency) Projects, within EMS' Space & Technology Group/Atlanta. AEHF is the U.S. Department of Defense next-generation defence communications satellite constellation, which is proposed to be deployed in mid 2006.

EMS is aligning with the AEHF National Team contractors to pursue development and production contracts. Cook will lead EMS' efforts to provide expertise in key pieces of the payload hardware, including switching networks, modulators and signal-nulling subsystems. In this role, Cook reports to Jay Grove, senior vice president and general manager - EMS Space & Technology Group/Atlanta.

Prior to this position, Cook was director, Engineering, at EMS Wireless. A key accomplishment in that role was more closely aligning engineering and manufacturing operations to help EMS Wireless achieve rapid growth as North America's dominant cellular/PCS antenna supplier. Cook joined EMS in 1984 as a quality engineer after earning a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Georgia State University in 1983.

PanAmSat Expands In India
PanAmSat Corporation has announced that Narasimhachari Sampath, a veteran of the Indian space industry with nearly three decades of experience, has been named to the newly created position of managing director, India.

From PanAmSat's new sales office in Mumbai (Bombay), Mr Sampath will lead the company's efforts in India and its campaign to expand its presence throughout the country.

Expansion into India is one of PanAmSat's major strategic initiatives for 2001. In addition to this major market, PanAmSat has been successful in opening up Mexico in mid-August, and in early July it received a license to sell services on PAS-1R in Brazil.

In his new position, Mr Sampath will be responsible for introducing PanAmSat's premier satellite services to broadcast, cable, Internet and telecommunications customers throughout the Indian market. These offerings include the company's global program distribution, direct-to-home, Internet backbone access, business communications and data services as well as special event and ad hoc services. He will report to Ashley Fernandes, PanAmSat's vice president, Pacific Ocean Region.

Mr Sampath began his career as a project engineer in the country's fledgling Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1972 and successfully implemented several ISRO application projects. He then progressed in the organisation to take responsibility for space systems applications planning. In addition, Mr Sampath actively contributed toward management of the payloads development for all Indian satellites and the ground segment to user requirements.

For the last 13 years, Mr Sampath had been charged with the task of commercialising technologies. His efforts resulted in the creation of several commercial companies involved in space equipment manufacture. In 1992, Mr Sampath lead the creation Antrix, a wholly owned subsidiary of ISRO that was designed to take advantage of business opportunities in the global market arising out of developments at ISRO.

Skystream Appoints VP
SkyStream Networks, a leading provider of networking solutions for broadband media delivery, has appointed Tony Casalena to the position of vice president of worldwide sales and field operations.

Casalena assumes immediate responsibility for managing and scaling SkyStream's global direct and channel sales, systems engineering and field support organisations. He is charged with overseeing the worldwide distribution of SkyStream's networking infrastructure equipment and content delivery solutions. Casalena reports directly to Jim Olson, president and CEO.

He joins SkyStream Networks from Avici Systems, where he served as vice president of North American sales. While at Avici, Casalena was instrumental in establishing the company's presence with leading Inter-Exchange Carriers (IXCs), Network Service Providers (NSPs), Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) and Federal Sales.

Prior to Avici, Casalena served as regional sales manager at Cisco Systems where he was responsible for direct and channel sales and systems engineering support to major accounts with top tier service providers. While at Cisco, Casalena managed sales of an entire line of products and services ranging from WAN, IP and ATM to multi-service switches, routers, and voice and data solutions. Before Cisco, Casalena spent more than 13 years at Hewlett-Packard where he held several positions in client business management and global sales focusing on its global telecommunications business.

Casalena holds a bachelor of science degree from Towson University and a masters of science degree in engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

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