10 February 2002
Satcoms
Banks in Africa Continue to Purchase STM Wireless' VSATs
Eutelsat Selects
Castify Networks for its IP Delivery Platforms
Euteltracs Selected by Vos
Logistics
Textron
Chooses InterSky to Deploy Fast Internet in Philippines
Thuraya Accepts Boeing Built
Satellite
Navigation
World's Largest Carrot Producer Picks Trimble
GPS
Military
Space
Alcatel and
Thales Win Military Modem Contracts
Manned
Space
Kennedy Space
Center To Perform Shuttle Modifications
NASA Modifies Boeing's ISS Contract
Technology
Boeing Ships X-37 Spaceplane Wings
Launch
Services
Satmex Chooses
Arianespace
Launches
MDS-1, DASH, VEP-3
HESSI
Business
atrexx Opens New Satellite and Telecommunications
Exchange Platform
Inmarsat Opens Washington DC Office
Space Imaging Opens Florida
Office
Products and Services
BAe Systems Launches New Space Microprocessor Line
eCTrack, The World's
Smallest Inmarsat-C System
Skystream Networks' Zband Content Delivery Platform Now Available
on HP Blade Server Architecture
People
PanAmSat Promotes Michael J Inglese
Radarsat International Announces
New President
Banks in Africa Continue to Purchase STM Wireless' VSATs
STM
Wireless Inc has received recent orders in excess of US$ 3.0 million from
several customers in Africa. These include Standard Trust Bank Limited (STB),
one of the five largest banks in Nigeria with 76 branches and a customer base
in excess of 300,000, and Banque des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale (BEAC), which
is headquartered in Cameroon and operates as the Central Bank for Cameroon,
Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad. The orders
were placed to expand and upgrade existing networks.
Acknowledged for its deployment of cutting edge technology to enhance service
delivery, STB's expansion is part of a migration to a private IP-based network.
STB, which is one of several banks in Nigeria using STM's VSAT products, was
originally using a shared network with access through a local service
provider.
The new expansion by BEAC will allow many of their regional
branches in member countries in the French speaking central part of Africa to
have direct, digital phone and video connections as part of a modern, private
communications network. STM was originally awarded a contract by BEAC to
deliver and install a state of the art IP network as part of BEAC's automated
transaction processing.
In separate but related news, STM announced
that it would establish in Lagos a new regional office for sub-Saharan Africa,
providing sales and technical support to its customers and
distributors.
Eutelsat Selects Castify Networks for its IP Delivery
Platforms
Castify Networks' content delivery software has been
selected by Eutelsat for its satellite-based content delivery and streaming
platform. In co-operation with leading broadband and service providers,
Eutelsat is deploying Castify's content routing and management components in
DSL Points-of-Presence, cable head-ends and in backbone data centres.
Eutelsat's content delivery platform will allow residential
broadband subscribers to enjoy a high quality media experience and benefit from
an extensive variety of supported media programs. Castify's scalable networking
components enable Eutelsat to deliver the highest quality media to end-users
for various business models; such as subscription, pay-per-view, advertisement
insertion and bandwidth-based billing.
Castify Networks is the leading
European technology supplier of media delivery solutions on the Internet and on
intranets. Castify Networks' software solutions enable network providers and
enterprises to build scalable, highly reliable and cost-efficient content
delivery platforms over the Internet and intranets. Castify's technology is
perfected to deliver to networks the most compelling and comprehensive
solutions; enabling content delivery services of the highest quality via
terrestrial or satellite links at the lowest cost of service
management.
Euteltracs Selected by Vos Logistics
Vos
Logistics, a leading European truckload carrier based in the Netherlands, has
signed a three-year agreement to transfer from its existing supplier to
Qualcomm Wireless Business Solutions Europe (QWBS Europe), a wholly owned
subsidiary of Qualcomm.
Under the terms of the
agreement, QWBS Europe will provide robust, reliable satellite communications
services to Vos Logistics' nearly 2000 truckload fleet over the Euteltracs
network. Euteltracs is the service name in Europe for Qualcomm's OmniTRACS
satellite-based mobile communications system, which uses Eutelsat satellite and
network services. The combination of Euteltracs' satellite communication
service and Vos Logistics' LOVOS information system, enables Vos to offer their
customers real-time track and trace capability. The Lovos system also uses the
data transmitted over Euteltracs to perform freight allocation, route
optimisation, fleet management and exception reporting. Data provided by
Euteltracs is also used to populate Vos Logistics' LOTREX and ETIS Inventory
and Warehouse Management systems. This backbone of data extrapolation gives
Vos' customers absolute visibility of consignments via the Internet or EDI.
Vos Logistics specialises in dry bulk, packed goods, as well as liquid
bulk transport, full and less-than-full truckload and intermodal solutions. Vos
Logistics has over 3,000 trucks, 6,000 trailers and containers, 350,000 square
metres of warehousing space, 325 storage silos, two rail service centres and
six tank cleaning stations. Vos' 4,000 employees work at 30 offices throughout
Europe. Annual turnover is in excess of Euro 500 million.
Qualcomm's
Omnitracs system is a satellite-based mobile communications and tracking system
that provides real-time messaging and position reporting between fleets and
their operations centres. Messages are sent via satellite through Eutelsat's
Network Management Centre to dispatch centres throughout Europe. The Euteltracs
system is an interactive, fully integrated information management system that
includes two-way mobile communications, satellite tracking and fleet management
software. To date, Qualcomm has shipped over 400,000 Omnitracs mobile
communications system units worldwide.
Textron Chooses InterSky to Deploy Fast Internet in
Philippines
Shiron Satellite Communications has been chosen by
Textron Corporation to provide a broadband Two-Way via satellite network for
the Philippines.
Using Shiron's InterSky system, Textron
will provide its corporate and SME (small and medium enterprise) customers
nationwide with immediately deployable wireless Internet, intranet, satellite
radio services and IP applications, such as distance learning and
videoconferencing.
Textron will also offer this technology to regional
ISPs, enabling them to offer their end users a level of service that was not
widely available up until this point.
Shiron's InterSky system offers
a two-way via satellite solution, which bypasses terrestrial bottlenecks and
eliminates the delays experienced with traditional landline Internet
connections. The system is available in all areas - even in those with no
terrestrial infrastructure. The system is optimised for fast Internet and can
be configured to support all IP applications, including telemedicine,
interactive distance learning, videoconferencing and multicast
transmission.
Shiron engineers have already installed the InterSky Hub
for Textron and are in the process of installing numerous Remote Gateways
across the nation. Textron's system has three backbone connections, both to the
United States and the Philippines. Two of the connections are via satellite,
while the other is via terrestrial leased line.
Textron Corporation is
a Philippine-based telecom Firm and Internet Service Provider that provides
data connectivity, wireless Internet access and web hosting to corporations,
regional ISPs and Small and Medium Enterprises. Textron also aids SMEs in
software development. Textron already serves several leading companies in the
Philippines including "7-11" convenience stores, Goldilocks Bakery, Sulpicio
Lines, De la Salle University, RCBC Banking, Grepalife Insurance, Norwegian
Maritime and Century Canning Corporation.
Thuraya Accepts Boeing Built Satellite
Thuraya Satellite
Telecommunications Co has assumed control of the Thuraya turnkey satellite
mobile communications system which was designed and built by Boeing Space and
Communications.
Thuraya's acceptance marks the
successful culmination of Boeing's first effort to design and deliver an
integrated mobile communications system.
The system built for United
Arab Emirates-based Thuraya relies on the high-power Thuraya-1 GEO-Mobile
satellite delivered in October 2000 by Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS). BSS also
provided the requirements for the Thuraya ground station and user handsets,
which were delivered through a subcontract to Hughes Network Systems.
Two Thuraya satellites were built under a US$ 960 million contract signed in
September 1997. The first spacecraft was launched in October 2000 and Thuraya's
commercial service commenced in mid-2001. A second Thuraya satellite has been
built as a ground spare or to expand the capacity of the system.
The
satellite's on-board digital signal processor combined with a reflector
provided by TRW Astro Aerospace enable the spacecraft to handle tens of
thousands of phone calls simultaneously. The Thuraya digital signal processor,
five times more capable than any previous Boeing digital processor, has more
computing power than 3,000 Pentium III-based computers.
Established in
April 1997 in the UAE as a private joint stock company, Thuraya has a
shareholder base made up of 18 prominent telecommunications operators and
investment houses. Thuraya is a US$ 1 billion mobile satellite
telecommunications project that will serve about 100 nations in Europe, Africa
and Asia.
Besides its integrated satellite-GSM handsets, Thuraya's
product offerings include a vehicular adapter, a home docking unit for indoor
use and a fleet management system.
World's Largest Carrot Producer Picks Trimble GPS
Grimmway Farms, the world's largest carrot producer,
has purchased six Trimble AgGPS Autopilot systems for use with its
tractors.
The tractors will be used on numerous farms -
over 35,000 acres - that Grimmway Farms services in several counties of
California. Grimmway Farms is using the AgGPS Autopilot systems to prepare or
list crop beds, significantly increasing productivity, efficiency and quality
by improving accuracy, decreasing guess rows and reducing downtime due to fog
or nightfall.
Trimble's AgGPS Autopilot is a high-performance Global
Positioning System (GPS) navigation control system that connects to a tractor's
steering system to automatically steer it in consistently straight rows. The
system's features enable drivers to ensure minimum overlap and spend more time
overseeing in-field operations such as bed preparation, planting and
cultivating.
Grimmway Farms started researching navigation control
products about a year ago; to evaluate competitive products, they put three
products through a side-by-side comparison for approximately four months. The
AgGPS Autopilot system came out on top: four out of four Grimmway farm managers
preferred Trimble over its competitors, citing ease-of-use and reliability as
significant benefits.
In addition to the farm managers, the tractor
drivers also ranked the Autopilot's visual guidance lightbar very high. Because
the lightbar is mounted at the top of the windshield in the cab, drivers are
able to look straight ahead rather than looking to a side monitor.
While initially using the AgGPS Autopilot for listing, the large agri-business
has also used the system for ploughing, discing, planting and grain drilling.
Grimmway Farms harvests almost every day of the year, requiring the same
schedule for field preparation. Grimmway's listing-dedicated tractors are
always in use, whether in Bakersfield, California or shipped to the other
areas.
Listing creates guess rows, which result in unusable land
between the eight rows the implement creates on each pass through the field.
When listing manually, drivers usually achieve 2.5-3 inch accuracy; the Trimble
Autopilot improves accuracy to approximately 0.5 inch, increasing the number of
usable rows in each field.
Additionally, the Autopilot allows listing
to be done at night or in fog, both conditions that limit manual listing.
Because of the intense harvesting schedule, every field operation has to be
done on time or a "domino effect" occurs if an operation is late.
Alcatel and Thales Win Military Modem Contracts
Alcatel
Space and Thales Communications have been awarded two military modem contracts
by the Delegation Generale pour l'Armement (DGA), France's defence procurement
agency.
The first contract is for the development and
production of the Modem XXI, a secure, high speed modem for use with the
France's Syracuse III military communications satellite system.
Alcatel Space is responsible for overall validation and performance of the
complete system. Thales is developing the modems, and is in charge of network
management.
Modem XXI will be based on the SHF-NG modem platform which
is currently under development. First shipments are scheduled for 2004.
The second contract is to research the use of the EHF (extremely high
frequency) band for use with secure tactical terminals. It will validate the
use of commercial-based technologies for highly secure links with tactical
terminals. The investigation will be performed by both Alcatel Space and Thales
and will focus on anti-jamming antennas and onboard satellite signal
processing.
Kennedy Space Center To Perform Shuttle Modifications
After
completing detailed, independent cost and risk assessments, the agency has
decided to perform Space Shuttle Orbiter Major Modifications (OMM) at NASA's
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.
Since the
inception of the Space Shuttle program, the Palmdale Manufacturing Facility in
California has served as the manufacturing site for all orbiters, in addition
to the primary location for performing periodic maintenance and safety
upgrades.
However, beginning immediately with the Space Shuttle
Discovery, which is scheduled for its periodic structural inspection and
maintenance period in early spring, the work will be moved to KSC.
NASA Headquarters' Office of Space Flight made the decision following an
extensive review. While it was determined that either KSC or Palmdale could
support the current Space Shuttle launch schedule, keeping two modification
facilities active to support four orbiters is no longer feasible in today's
fiscal environment. Program managers believe significant infrastructure savings
would be realised performing the major modifications in Florida. Shifting work
to KSC would also minimise risk.
The decision was reached after
evaluating site selection criteria established by the Office of Space Flight,
which included cost and risk, manifest impacts, shuttle flight schedule,
management and workforce skills and experience, major modification performance
in the past and present, facility utilisation and centralisation of
operations.
While both KSC and Palmdale could support the OMM,
managers determined keeping both active to support four orbiters is no longer
practical or feasible given the current shuttle manifest and budget
environment.
NASA Modifies Boeing's ISS Contract
NASA has awarded a US$ 936
million modification to the prime contract for the International Space Station.
The Boeing Company will extend station integration and operations work through
December 31, 2003, the current period of performance. This work has been
planned and is contained in the budget estimates represented in the FY 2003
President's budget.
The eight-year prime International
Space Station contract awarded to Boeing in 1995 covers construction,
integration and operations of the station by Boeing Information, Space and
Defense Systems. The modification brings the total value of the contract,
NAS-15-10000, to US$ 10.7 billion.
Work on the contract will be
performed at various Boeing facilities located in Huntington Beach, California;
Canoga Park, California; Huntsville, Alabama; Orlando, Florida., and Houston,
and at a variety of subcontractor facilities located throughout the United
States.
Boeing Ships X-37 Spaceplane Wings
The Boeing Co has recently
completed the composite wings for the X-37 reusable spaceplane at its
Huntington Beach, California, facility and delivered them to the High Desert
Assembly Integration & Test facility in Palmdale, California.
The wings of this next-generation Reusable Launch Vehicle
(RLV) technology demonstrator are now co-located with the fuselage, produced by
the Boeing Phantom Works prototyping centre in St. Louis.
The complex
wings were produced by a Phantom Works composite development team at Huntington
Beach using sophisticated, highly controlled machining and bonding processes.
When attached to the 27.5 ft.-long X-37 fuselage, the wings will have a span of
15 feet.
The fuselage is constructed of Graphite Bismaleimide (GrBMI),
which is a high temperature composite ideally suited for reusable vehicles
returning from orbit. GrBMI operates at 450 degrees F, 100F higher than the
current aluminium structure of the Space Shuttle, allowing for a thinner and
lighter thermal protection system. In addition, the fuselage is primarily
bonded together to minimise weight.
During the final assembly process
the wings will be mated to the fuselage this June, with completion of the X-37
targeted for late 2003. The first unpowered drop test from a NASA B-52 is
slated for early 2004 at Edwards Air Force Base, California. NASA and Boeing
continue to discuss plans for boosting X-37 into orbit.
The X-37
government team, led by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, also
includes NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California; Kennedy Space
Center, Florida.; Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.; Langley
Research Center, Hampton, Virginia.; and Dryden Flight Research Center and the
U.S. Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base,
California.
Satmex Chooses Arianespace
Mexican satellite operator
Satelites Mexicanos SA de CV (Satmex) has selected Ariane to launch its Satmex
6 satellite from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, during the
first quarter of 2003. The launch contract should be signed shortly.
Satmex 6, a Space Systems/Loral-built satellite, is
currently under construction at SS/L's facilities in Palo Alto, California.
Weighing approximately 5,700 kilograms at liftoff, the satellite will be
positioned at 109.2° W and carry 36 C band and 24 Ku band transponders.
Satmex will use the state-of-the-art Satmex 6 satellite to bolster its
telecommunications and Internet transmission capacity for all of Mexico, as
well as other parts of North America and Latin America.
MDS-1, DASH, VEP-3
Launched: 4 February 2002
Site:
Tanegashima Space Centre, Japan
Launcher: H-IIA
Orbit: GTO,
apogee: 35,658 km, perigee: 468 km: inclination: 28.5°
International
Number: 2002-03A
Name: MDS-1
The Mission Demonstration Satellite
(MDS) carries commercial parts and systems for flight qualification including:
semiconductors, a computer, a solid state data recorder, a nickel-hydrogen
battery system and solar cells. MDS-1 also carries a number of space
environment sensors.
Orbit: GTO, apogee: 35,615 km, perigee: 471 km:
inclination: 28.5°
International Number: 2002-03B
Name: DASH
The Demonstrator of Atmospheric Reentry System with Hyper Velocity (DASH)
payload is intended to test the re-entry system for NASDA's Muses-C asteroid
probe. The capsule was expected to re-enter three days after launch and to land
in the Sahara desert. Unfortunately, contact with the payload was lost after
launch and ground controllers were not even able to confirm that it had
successfully separated from the launcher's upper adapter as intended some 50
minutes after launch. The upper adapter itself successfully separated from the
launcher's upper stage about 40 minutes after launch allowing the MDS-1
payload, which was mounted below the adapter, to be deployed about 5 minutes
later.
Orbit: GTO, apogee: 35,756 km, perigee: 482 km: inclination:
28.5°
International Number: 2002-03C
Name: VEP-3
The
Vehicle Evaluation Payload (VEP) monitors the performance of the launcher
during launch. It remains attached to the upper stage of the H-IIA.
HESSI
Launched: 5 February 2002
Site: Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station, Florida
Launcher: Pegasus XL
Orbit: LEO/GEO, apogee:
596 km, perigee: 575 km: inclination: 38.0°
International Number:
2002-004A
Name: HESSI
Owner: NASA
Contractor: Spectrum Astro
High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI) is a scientific satellite
intended to image solar flares using hard X-rays and gamma rays. HESSI carries
a single instrument, a high resolution imaging spectrometer. The satellite is
expected to remain operational for 2 to 3 years.
atrexx Opens New Satellite and Telecommunications Exchange
Platform
atrexx Global Capacity and Facility Exchange has
opened a new online exchange at www.atrexx.com for the trading of surplus
satellite and telecommunications capacity.
atrexx
mediates between suppliers and buyers. Suppliers increase their turnover by
selling unused capacity, which otherwise would stay idle, to numerous potential
buyers all over the world. This results in profitable new long-term business
relations. Suppliers take advantage of an innovative low-cost sales channel and
thus reduce their cost of sales considerably.
Buyers can choose from
the most attractive suppliers and realise considerable savings. In addition, by
outsourcing routine tasks they can reduce the cost of internal booking
services. The service is free of charge for buyers.
All individual
requests are handled personally by atrexx' professionals who are able to
undertake the whole process of obtaining requirements, opening the bidding,
pre-negotiating the contract terms and finally bringing the two parties
together in a well defined framework. atrexx' professionals support both buyers
and suppliers to find the best solution and to close the best deal.
atrexx, Global Capacity & Facility Exchange, was founded at the beginning
of 2002 by experienced professionals of the telecommunications and broadcasting
industries. It is an independent exchange and consulting agency with the
mission to support players in these industries in planning and realising their
projects. atrexx' market exchange provides a neutral and independent arena for
buyers and sellers through its portal-style bilingual Internet platform.
Subscribers of the service can post offers of spare capacity and other
resources, such as production equipment or up-link facilities, or ask for such
resources.
Inmarsat Opens Washington DC Office
Inmarsat Ventures plc has
announced the opening of their first US-based operations with an office located
in Washington DC.
Inmarsat will execute their North
American operations strategy through the new office following the October 2001
legislation extending the Orbit Act deadline for the company's initial public
offering, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling granting
access rights for several Inmarsat partners. The legislation and FCC ruling
will enable businesses in the US to benefit from Inmarsat's robust and reliable
high-speed data and voice communications services through Inmarsat
partners.
As a former Intergovernmental Organisation, Inmarsat was
restricted from conducting business in mainland United States except in the
coastal waters around the country and in the skies overhead under the terms of
the Orbit Act of 2000. The October FCC ruling grants several Inmarsat partners
the rights to provide Inmarsat services in the US with immediate effect.
The Washington DC office will include Alan Auckenthaler, Vice President of
The Americas for Inmarsat Inc, and Robert Demers, Director Government Accounts
for Inmarsat Inc. With over 40 combined years of governmental and satellite
communications experience, Auckenthaler and Demers will take the lead in
building Inmarsat's presence in the US through working with service providers
and Land Earth Station Operators (LESOs) to provide on-the-ground assistance
and education to prospective customers. The new office will also be responsible
for interfacing with the U.S. government on strategic satellite communications
policy.
Inmarsat's existing North American partners include: Stratos
and Telenor Satellite Services Inc (formerly Comsat) who offer land-based
Inmarsat services including 64 kbit/s mobile ISDN Global Area Network (GAN)
services; Honeywell and SITA who offer aeronautical services; and John Deere
for agricultural tracking solutions.
Inmarsat has also opened a Miami
office to service their Latin American operations in the coming months and
years.
Space Imaging Opens Florida Office
Earth imagery provider, Space
Imaging, has opened a regional services office in Orlando, Florida.
Space Imaging's new office is located at 3361 Rouse Road,
near the University of Central Florida and the National Center for Simulation.
The office will offer end-to-end solutions directly to the south-east region of
the United States.
The Orlando office has a team of five specialists
with expertise in cartography; geographic information systems (GIS); global
positioning systems (GPS); database development, design, and integration; and
Web development.
BAe Systems Launches New Space Microprocessor
Line
BAe Systems is now producing the RAD750 microprocessor
- the most powerful radiation-hardened general-purpose microprocessor ever
developed. The processor has successfully passed manufacturing and
environmental testing and is ready for civil, military and commercial satellite
applications.
The RAD750 is a licensed,
radiation-hardened version of the PowerPC 750. It has almost ten times the
performance of current space processors.
The RAD750 advanced
architecture and processing throughput will allow a new generation of
high-performance satellite payloads to solve more intensive computing problems,
while using fewer processors. The RAD750 architecture supports an
industry-leading 240 million instructions per second (MIPS) and operates at
speeds of 133 MHz and greater. This feature increases onboard processing
capability while reducing the number of processors needed - saving power,
weight and cost.
The RAD750 is available on the 3U CompactPCI space
flight computer (SFC) board design, which was developed under contract to
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). A companion ASIC (Application Specific
Integrated Circuit), the Power PCI, was developed simultaneously with the
board, and provides the bridge between the CPU, main memory and the PCI
bus.
The RAD750 3U CompactPCI board provides the main computational
capability for a spacecraft. This SFC, combined with other I/O and memory
boards, forms the core of a powerful and compact spacecraft avionics command
and data handling system.
The microprocessor is a follow-on to the
successful RAD6000 processor, which currently supports customers in the defence
and scientific community. More than 100 RAD6000s are in orbit today serving
commercial telecommunications, military, and research and exploration programs,
including NASA's Mars Odyssey and Saturn Cassini missions.
The
RAD750's rigorous manufacturing testing included more than one million
manufacturing test vectors and complete board-level testing. BAe Systems has
also conducted temperature and voltage characterisation. Radiation
qualification shows that the RAD750 will achieve a single event upset (SEU)
hardness level of 1E-10 upsets/bit-day and a total ionising of greater that 200
Krads (Si). A satellite in a geo-stationary earth orbit (GEO) will, on average,
experience only one upset every ten years.
eCTrack, The World's Smallest Inmarsat-C System
LandSea
Systems has announced their introduction of Thrane & Thrane's eCTrack into
the US market.
The eCTracks global communications via
email, provides mobile to base, base to mobile and mobile to mobile
communications. The eCTrack also performs the function of automatic position
reporting (tracking) of vehicles and vessels and supports the x.25 file
compression at the Land Earth Stations (LES). The x.25 compatibility
accommodates users that are transferring large quantities of files or polling
for numerous position reports. The eCTrack is ideal for government, military
and companies who want to know the location of their assets and personnel at
all times regardless of location or time.
The TT-3026L/M eCTrack
system is the fourth generation of Inmarsat-C systems designed by Thrane &
Thrane. The eCTrack is a unitised design where the omni-directional antenna,
transceiver and GPS are packaged in one unit. This will meet customer
requirements for Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition (SCADA) Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) and E-mail applications.
The eCTrack, like previous Inmarsat-C Systems is a reliable way of transferring
messages, loading and uploading information and route planning.
The
eCTrack features an advanced sleep mode function, which will reduce typical
power consumption to between 11 mW and 28 mW depending on reporting intervals.
The system also comes with Input and Output ports. The Input/Output Ports can
be controlled remotely using the Capsat Manager 3.5 software program.
LandSea Systems has been distributing and supporting Thrane & Thrane
satellite communications equipment since 1992. As Thrane's authorised US
Distributor and Certified Service Center for the Western Hemisphere, they offer
a complete line of satellite communication solutions and full product support
in the United States.
Skystream Networks' Zband Content Delivery Platform Now
Available on HP Blade Server Architecture
SkyStream Networks, a leading
developer of hardware and software solutions for the delivery of converged
video and data services, has announced the availability of its zBand Content
Delivery Platform as a solution in the HP Blade Server Architecture.
Service providers and enterprises that want to deliver
content such as corporate training material and streaming media out to many
remote or edge sites can easily do so by adding the appropriate zBand blade
into their network. The blade-based architecture eliminates the need for custom
and complex server installations and tasks related to integrating with
third-party appliances such as caching and streaming media servers, resulting
in quicker deployments and lower integration costs. SkyStream has also joined
the HP Blade Server Alliance Program, under which HP will assist the zBand
blades and promote SkyStream with its "go-to-market" efforts.
The HP
Blade Server Alliance Program is designed to expand customer choice and
adoption by supporting third-party blade solution development and marketing of
HP's open-standard blade product series. SkyStream's zBand blade, built to the
compactPCI industry standard and fully compatible with HP's new blade product
series, provides a complete content delivery application for Web-accessed
services in enterprise data centres, telecommunications companies and service
providers. The zBand blade also includes additional tools and richer
audio/visual support for customers looking to integrate streaming media
applications within their blade server environments.
SkyStream will
offer three different blade based products: the zBand server blade, zBand
upload server blade and the zBand client blade. The zBand Content Delivery
Platform blades will be available from SkyStream and authorised
resellers.
PanAmSat Promotes Michael J Inglese
PanAmSat Corporation has
announced that Michael J Inglese has been promoted to executive vice president
and chief financial officer and is responsible for the overall financial
management of the company's global operations.
Mr
Inglese, 40, assumed the position of chief financial officer in July 2000,
previously serving as vice president of finance for PanAmSat since May
1998.
In addition to financial and accounting management functions, Mr
Inglese oversees the financing of PanAmSat's global satellite network,
including the construction and launch of new space resources, as well as
information systems and the financial evaluation of potential acquisitions and
joint ventures. Mr Inglese brings to the office more than 15 years of
experience in the financial sector.
Prior to joining PanAmSat in May
1998, Mr Inglese was chief financial officer of DirecTV Japan Inc., a joint
venture that was owned in part by Hughes Electronics. Mr Inglese was
responsible for financial management and control of the broadcast and customer
service operations of the new direct-to-home television project. He also was
senior manager of corporate development at Hughes, where he focused on mergers,
acquisitions, joint ventures, equity investments, divestitures and internal
reorganisations.
Mr Inglese earned a Bachelor of Science degree in
Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration from Rutgers
University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the Association
for Investment Management & Research and the New York Society of Financial
Analysts.
Radarsat International Announces New President
MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates (MDA) subsidiary
Radarsat International (RSI) has announced today the appointment of Phil S Gray
as its new President.
Mr Gray succeeds Roland Knight,
who has moved to MDA's Information Products Group as Operations Manager. Mr
Knight has been with RSI for eight years, the last two as President.
Mr Gray brings over 20 years of experience in business and operations
management in the Aerospace and Aviation industry. Mr Gray's priorities at RSI
are to continue growing the company to be the world's premier one-stop shop for
Earth-observation satellite data, products and services.
Prior to
joining RSI, Mr Gray was President and General Manager of another MDA
subsidiary, Access BC Information Services. Access BC provides online property
information in British Columbia. Mr Gray's previous positions include Director
of Project Operations at Glenayre Electronics, and Director of Aviation Systems
at MDA.
