11 August 2002
Satcoms
Andrew Receives Intelsat
E-2 Type Approval for 4.9-meter Ku Band Antenna
China Aerospace Subsidiary Forms
Strategic Alliance with STM Wireless
HNS Provides AFSAT Communications with Broadband
Satellite Technology
Hughes Global Services to Provide Satellite to
Pakistan
Navigation
Trimble Wins New Japanese GSI Contract
Science
Stardust
Spacecraft Begins Cosmic Dust Collection
Launch
Services
Demonstrator 2 Update
Business
Lockheed Martin Mississippi Space & Technology Center
Opens
Products and Services
Dyband Delivers Intelligent IP Traffic Management for
Satellite Access
First 90% Efficient All-Hybrid Electronic Power Conditioner
Platform for Spacecraft Applications
PanAmSat Introduces New Video Distribution
Services
Andrew
Receives Intelsat E-2
Type Approval for 4.9-meter Ku Band Antenna
(8 August 2002) Andrew Corporation has received E-2
Intelsat type approval (Intelsat Approved Code IA099A00) for the 2-port Ku band
version of its 4.9-meter earth station antenna. The approval covers the antenna
and its feed system. Andrew 4.9-meter Ku band earth station antennas can be
used in multinational private networks, broadcast news reporting, and
public-switched services.
The Intelsat type-approved
2-port Ku band earth station antenna is offered with a manual or motorisable
mount and 2-port linearly polarised combiner.
The type approved Ku
band 2-port 4.9-meter earth station antenna joins the Andrew Intelsat
type-approved C band 2- and 4-port versions (IA081A00 and IA081B00
respectively) of the same size antenna. System operators wanting to switch from
C band to Ku band, or Ku band to C band, need only change the antenna feed
system.
China Aerospace Subsidiary Forms Strategic Alliance with STM
Wireless
(8 August
2002) STM Wireless Inc (STM) has formed a strategic alliance with Beijing
Changfeng Century Satellite Hi-Tech Co Ltd (BCS), a subsidiary of China
Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation (China Aerospace), for the
offering of VSAT network systems and solutions to customers in China.
China Aerospace is the largest industrial base in China
involved in satellite communications and launch systems and has established BCS
for the expansion of its activity into satellite ground equipment and VSAT
network systems integration. The agreement provides for STM and BCS to
co-operate in development and commercialisation of new ground equipment
technologies and sales and support of STM's products throughout China. Under
the terms of the broad collaboration agreement, BCS will, under license from
STM, establish local production of VSATs to serve China's expanding
communication needs in remote areas.
HNS Provides AFSAT Communications with Broadband Satellite
Technology
(6
August 2002) Hughes Network Systems (HNS) has signed a contract with AFSAT
Communications to provide a comprehensive satellite broadband network,
including a network operations centre (NOC) and both one-way and two-way
terminals.
AFSAT will employ the network to provide
high-speed broadband and Internet access services to small and medium-sized
businesses and consumers throughout Africa. The AFSAT offering marks the first
time two-way Internet access via satellite will be offered in many African
states.
AFSAT is marketing its service under the brand name, iWay. The
service is available to enterprise and consumer customers and will be
immediately offered in sub-Saharan African countries including Uganda,
Tanzania, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Angola.
AFSAT will
now be able to provide complete broadband access solutions to their customers
throughout the region, including the creation of virtual private networks. The
iWay service will have scalable grades of service to satisfy consumer through
enterprise-wide requirements and will be hosted through HNS Europe's advanced
network management centre in Griesheim, Germany. Both single user and LAN
terminal configurations are available, allowing single hop, instant access to
the Internet backbone using the HNS DW series of broadband satellite
terminals.
AFSAT was incorporated in 1996 when it received its VSAT
licenses in two East African countries to offer advanced satellite
communication solutions throughout the region.
Hughes
Global Services to
Provide Satellite to Pakistan
(6 August 2002) Hughes Global Services Inc (HGS) and
the Government of Pakistan have announced an agreement to place the HGS-3
satellite at 38° E and begin offering commercial services by early next
year. The satellite has been renamed Paksat 1 and represents the first
geostationary satellite put into service by Pakistan.
Paksat 1 was originally launched in 1996 as Palapa C1. Hughes Global Services
took title to the satellite after a battery-charging anomaly made it unusable
for its intended application. It is fully geo-stationary, and contains more
than 30 C band and Ku band transponders.
HGS will assist Pakistan to
fully develop the potential of their orbital slot, as well as moving the
satellite and operating it. Paksat 1 will provide commercial services such as
Internet backbone, remote Internet access, business communications, broadcast
services (video, audio and data), and thin route telephony.
The
contract value is nearly US $30M over its five-year term.
For the last
few years the satellite has been located at 50.0° E and has been called
Anatolia 1.
Trimble Wins New Japanese GSI Contract
(8 August 2002) The Japanese Geographical
Survey Institute (GSI) has awarded Trimble a contract for the purchase of 381
additional 5700 Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) receivers and
346 International GPS Service (IGS) standard choke ring antennae to expand its
GPS-based network. The network is used to monitor the movement of the earth's
crust and ultimately aid in the prediction of earthquake activity in Japan.
The purchase is part of an ongoing program to upgrade the
GSI nation-wide network. The contract award follows an earlier purchase in
September of 2001 for 360 Trimble 5700 CORS receivers for use in the same
program.
Trimble, in co-operation with Hitachi Zosen Information
Systems (HZS), Japan, has supplied more than 1,190 GPS reference stations since
1992. GPS data from the 5700 CORS reference stations will support the existing
monitoring system, which uses the Bernese processing software, and also
provides the real-time information necessary to produce the network corrected
Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) data created by the Virtual Reference Station
(VRS(TM)) system.
Not only does the network of reference stations
collect GPS information to monitor the movements of the earth's crust to
millimetre accuracy, it also provides accurate survey control points to
Japanese surveyors, who will be able to access surveying data through an online
bulletin board service.
The standard 5700 CORS system provides
reference station data, in both real-time as well as logged internal memory for
post-processing. Applications include deformation monitoring, engineering and
construction projects, surveying, geodetic and atmospheric research, mapping
and Geographic Information System (GIS) data collection. In addition, the
reference station can be used to establish RTK infrastructure including the
Trimble VRS.
At the heart of the system is an all-new, low-power GPS
receiver built around Trimble's latest generation Maxwell 4 ASIC technology
which also incorporates WAAS/EGNOS capability. The new chip provides higher
speed, longer battery life, better satellite tracking and higher precision in
extreme environments and is housed in an extremely rugged, fully-sealed,
waterproof, magnesium alloy housing. The receiver is ideal for permanent or
temporary installation in all types of conditions.
Stardust Spacecraft Begins Cosmic Dust Collection
(6 August 2002) NASA's
Stardust spacecraft, on a mission to collect and return the first samples from
a comet, has begun to collect tiny specks of solid matter, called interstellar
dust grains, that permeate the galaxy.
This dust,
passing through the solar system like a wind, is made of particles smaller than
one-hundredth the width of a human hair. The particles are made of varying
amounts of most of the elements in the periodic table. The Stardust mission
will use its special formulation of aerogel, the world's lightest solid, to try
to capture these small solid particles as the spacecraft travels in the same
direction as the dust stream until December 9, 2002.
Stardust's
tennis-racket-shaped particle collector has shoulder and wrist joints that will
point one side of the aerogel collector material into the dust stream to
collect interstellar dust. When Stardust encounters comet Wild 2 in early 2004,
the reverse side of the collector will trap particles from the gas and dust
escaping from the inside of the comet. When the dust samples return to Earth in
2006, the particles will be extracted and analysed.
The Stardust
mission collects both ancient and young dust. Comets are made of interstellar
particles that clumped together with ices more than 4.5 billion years ago. When
the spacecraft flies past comet Wild 2, it will attempt to collect ancient dust
samples stored for billions of years in the comet.
The mission has
begun collecting a younger type of stardust: the free-flowing interstellar dust
that was produced by the current generation of stars. Comparing the ancient and
newer types of dust may provide clues to the evolutionary changes in the galaxy
and the composition of the early galaxy. This is the second and final time
Stardust will collect these dust particles. It previously collected samples
during a six-week period in 2000.
Comet Wild 2 is a particularly good
example of preserved interstellar dust because its path through space brings it
no closer to the Sun than Mars' orbit, about 228 million km from the Sun.
Before 1974, the closest Wild 2 came to the Sun was Jupiter.
NASA's
Galileo and Ulysses spacecraft both detected a stream of dust particles flowing
between stars and into the solar system. The particles did not come from the
Sun, but from another direction that showed their origin was outside the solar
system.
The interstellar dust stream differs from the solar wind in
that the solar wind is made of individual atoms, while the interstellar dust is
made of small particles of rocks with complex compositions.
Stardust,
a part of NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, highly focused science
missions, was built by Lockheed Martin Astronautics and Operations and is
managed by JPL for NASA's Office of Space Science.
Demonstrator 2 Update
(8 August 2002) The first meeting of the Investigation
Committee into the loss of the Demonstrator 2 inflatable re-entry vehicle (also
known as IRDT-2) has completed its initial analysis, and has published its
first findings.
Demonstrator 2 was launched from the
nuclear submarine Ryazan in the Barents Sea on a Volna rocket and was expected
to land some 30 minutes later in the remote Kamchatka peninsula in the far
north east of Siberia. Demonstrator-2 is an experimental inflatable spacecraft
which could be developed into a re-entry system to bring payloads or people
back from orbit. The project is a joint venture between the European Space
Agency, Astrium and the Babakin Space Centre.
In summary the initial
conclusions of the Investigation Committee are:
The Volna launcher
performed nominally throughout the flight.
Reconstruction of the 3rd
stage flight dynamics from available launcher telemetry data indicates that the
attached payload mass accounted only for 50 kg while the actual payload mass
including its container was 250 kg.
During the separation of the 2nd
and 3rd stage, the IRDT and a part of the protective payload capsule were
apparently prematurely detached from the 3rd stage. The capsule consists of an
upper and a lower part that are separated for the actual deployment of the
payload. It is not clear yet whether the problem is a mechanical failure at the
capsule separation plane or a premature commanding of the separation.
The 3rd stage flight phase was therefore characterised by only a small fraction
of its intended payload. Its acceleration was higher, and it reached the target
entry point earlier than nominally planned. It released the remaining payload
capsule part, as confirmed by the separation sensors.
Because of the
uncontrolled detachment of the actual IRDT part from the 3rd stage no
conclusions can be drawn on its further behaviour and on any performance
aspects.
The investigation process is continuing in terms of finally
confirming the explained scenario and determining the actual cause of the
failure.
Lockheed Martin Mississippi Space & Technology Center
Opens
(5 August
2002) Lockheed Martin has opened the new Lockheed Martin Mississippi Space
& Technology Center, an advanced propulsion, thermal, and metrology
facility located at the NASA's John C Stennis Space Center, Mississippi.
The facility represents a partnership between Lockheed
Martin's Space Systems and Technology Services companies, the State of
Mississippi, Hancock County and NASA. Lockheed Martin Space Systems will
operate a spacecraft propulsion and thermal system product centre. Lockheed
Martin Technology Services will establish a world-class Integrated Metrology
Center and provide engineering and manufacturing services. Both will be housed
in the same facility with operations expected to begin in the autumn of 2002.
Approximately 270 jobs will be created at the centre. These jobs reflect the
projected needs of the two Lockheed Martin companies and their potential
customers.
Activities performed in the approximate 220,000 square-foot
centre will include the integration of propulsion systems, used for satellites
and other spacecraft produced by Lockheed Martin Space Systems. The thermal
control systems produced at the facility will protect space vehicles from the
extreme temperatures of the space environment. These systems include
multi-layer insulation thermal blankets and engine heat shields. Metrology
refers to the science of measurement, and this centre will be responsible for
the highest level of "primary standards" in the extremely precise calibration
of test equipment and tools.
The State of Mississippi and Hancock
County will partner with Lockheed Martin in the specialised training required
for those hired to work at the centre.
Dyband Delivers Intelligent IP Traffic Management for Satellite
Access
(6 August
2002) Dyband, a supplier of IP traffic management solutions to service
providers and enterprises world-wide, has announced delivery of the first IP
traffic management solution that delivers effective quality-of-service for
satellite access.
Dyband monitors and controls bandwidth
usage and manages SLAs in broadband satellite access environments, including
residential Internet access; enterprise Internet access and Intranet/LAN/WAN
connectivity; air, land, and maritime mobile access; and ISP backbone access
(satellite connections between remote ISP POPs and the Internet backbone
primarily for service providers in developing countries and remote
regions).
Dyband intelligent IP traffic management software enables
satellite service providers to tightly control bandwidth consumption, by IP
address, for up to 50,000 individual satellite subscribers and/or groups (per
unit), define and manage a virtually unlimited number of SLAs at distinct price
points; and view and adjust network performance in real-time, while gathering
comprehensive historical statistics for later analysis.
Dyband meets
several key financial and technical challenges facing satellite service
providers today and provides a rapid return on investment.
First,
Dyband maximises throughput across the satellite link, allowing service
providers to add additional users yet provide more consistent, reliable access
service. Dyband also enhances the efficiency of the Internet connection by
reducing packet loss.
Second, it shapes traffic independently of the
latency of the medium. This is a significant benefit for satellite providers,
where the average propagation delay is considerable - 500 milliseconds per
round-trip.
Third, it offers complete flexibility in managing upstream
and downstream traffic by providing separate controls for each traffic
direction. For a satellite provider, this means that a single Dyband software
solution can manage its IP traffic even if the nature of its distribution
network (unidirectional vs. bi-directional) changes over time or from one
service area to another.
And lastly, Dyband delivers insight into both
the topology and performance of the satellite distribution network. It provides
real-time statistics that allow service providers to make immediate SLA
adjustments and creates extensive, customised historical reports for capacity
planning, timely provisioning, usage-based billing, and customer support.
Dyband is available today and operating in satellite access environments.
Dyband intelligent IP traffic management software is easy to install and runs
on industry-standard hardware platforms and operating systems. The software is
available in a broad range of configurations that scale to meet the needs of
satellite service providers as they grow-from 1 Mb/s to 100 Mb/s of managed
bandwidth per Dyband unit, easily handling a full transponder.
Dyband
Corporation is a provider of unique IP traffic management software and
solutions to multiple "last mile" narrowband and broadband access markets, such
as the satellite, fixed wireless, wireline, cable and corporate enterprise
markets. Dyband enables Internet service providers, educational institutions,
Government agencies and enterprise organisations to reduce operating costs and
improve profit margins by gaining absolute control of their bandwidth. Dyband
allows them to provide consistent, reliable access services while eliminating
the need to provision bandwidth to meet peak demand.
First 90% Efficient All-Hybrid Electronic Power Conditioner
Platform for Spacecraft Applications
(5 August 2002) International Rectifier (IR) and
Mitsubishi Electric Engineering Company Limited (MEE) have introduced the
industry's first 90% efficient all-hybrid space-level Electronic Power
Conditioner (EPC).
An EPC converts a satellite's primary
bus voltage into well-regulated secondary output rails for the host solid-state
power amplifier (SSPA), used in satellite communication systems. The new EPC
platform is 90% efficient, and will allow spacecraft system designers to reduce
power management circuit size and weight, while meeting electrical system
performance requirements, and improving overall spacecraft efficiency.
The EPC platform is a full bridge topology converter with secondary synchronous
rectifiers operating at 200 kHz. Input voltage range is from 26 V to 43 V, with
other ranges available. Typical output power is 56 W. The main output voltage
can be externally set between +6 V to +8 V at 8.5 A, with secondary output
voltages of +5 V at 0.4 A and -5 V at 0.4 A. The design configuration can be
easily modified for increased output power. Custom output voltages for unique
requirements are possible.
The new platform has bus current telemetry,
on/off telecommand and output sequencing circuits. It also has built-in
over-current protection and under-voltage lockout circuits, as well as an EMI
filter to enhance performance. All elements used within the EPC platform hybrid
are Class K rated. Performance is specified over an operating temperature range
of -40° C to +80° C.
The new devices are available unscreened
and screened to Class K per MIL-PRF-38534.
PanAmSat Introduces New Video Distribution Services
(7 August 2002)
PanAmSat Corporation has introduced two new digital services designed to
improve the way video content is delivered to customers around the world. Each
of these products increases the flexibility, improves the speed and reduces the
overall costs of the video distribution process.
Both
the Video on Demand and Digital Store & Forward services were developed in
partnership with PanAmSat's core video customers - who make up the majority of
PanAmSat's annual revenues.
Each of the new services provides a secure
turn-key solution for the delivery of video content to programmers, cable
operators, film production houses and other media outlets. The services upgrade
video content to a digital format, as well as provide an alternative to
analogue transportation of programming, anywhere, anytime.
PanAmSat's
Video on Demand (VOD) solution is a secure means for transmitting video content
from one source to many recipients throughout North America. This product
enables video-content providers to quickly and securely disseminate their
programming to cable operators on an as-needed basis. Video-on-demand is
becoming a reality for cable operators across North America. Movies, news,
educational programs and sports are among the programming now being viewed
on-demand by audiences throughout North America and around the world.
PanAmSat's VOD solution supports on-demand content, while saving content
providers time and money.
PanAmSat's Digital Store & Forward (DSF)
service enables the digital storage and delivery of video content around the
globe. It is specifically designed to support the needs of international video
content providers such as film and television production companies. Currently,
most video production companies use the dubbing and overnight shipping of tapes
as the basis for the distribution of their product. This new solution enhances
traditional means of video production and distribution, as it offers a
satellite-based digital alternative and significantly reduces the need for
traditional analogue tapes. Through the DSF service, customers can beam
programming content from North America to production facilities around the
world. It offers one of the fastest, efficient and most reliable means to
distribute video content on a global basis.
Com
Dev Changes CFO
(6 August 2002) Com
Dev's Chief Financial Officer, Tim Zahavich, left Com Dev this week to become
CFO of a Toronto-based semiconductor company. Gary Calhoun, who has held senior
finance positions with Com Dev International since July 2001, will replace
him.
Prior to joining Com Dev, Mr Calhoun spent twelve
years with Westinghouse Canada Inc in senior financial and operations roles and
most recently had been part of the founding team for Cutler Hammer Canada's
entrance into the Engineering Services market. Mr Calhoun is a 1982 graduate of
McMaster University in Hamilton and a Chartered Accountant.
