13 October 2002
Satcoms
Comtech AHA Partners with France Telecom R&D to Provide
Licensed Turbo Code Asics
Intelsat's
GlobalConnex Services Take Off on Three Continents
LiveTV Orders More Airborne Antenna
Systems from EMS Technologies
Tatanet Selects ViaSat LinkStar and Skylinx VSAT
Platforms
Military
Space
Arrowhead Wins
DoD Teleport Task Order
L-3 Communications
Selected as Team Member for FAB-T
Raytheon Receives GPS
Anti-Jam Development Contracts for Digital Antenna Electronics
Raytheon
to Provide VIIRS Sensors for NPOESS Environmental Satellite
Program
Science
Lift Off for Aurora: Europe's First Steps to Mars, the Moon and
Beyond
Manned
Space
Draper Lab
Brings Automation to the International Space Station
Technology
Ecliptic RocketCam to Provide Live, Colour Video From an
Unmanned Spacecraft
Launch
Services
Integral Systems to Provide an Interface to Intelsat TT&C
Network
Business
FCC Rejects EchoStar/Hughes Merger
Futron Releases New Space Tourism
Study
ND SatCom
Becomes Stock Corporation
Sirius Begins Recapitalisation
Products and Services
International
Rectifier Introduces "Off-the-Shelf" Radiation-Hardened, Hi-Rel DC-DC
Converters
People
NASA's Future Technology Architect
Selected
Comtech AHA Partners with France Telecom R&D to Provide
Licensed Turbo Code Asics
(8 October 2002) Comtech AHA has received a license to
use France Telecom’s Turbo Code technologies in Comtech AHA Turbo Product
Code Asics and IP cores. Comtech AHA (formerly known as Advanced Hardware
Architectures, Inc) is the industry’s leading provider of integrated
circuits incorporating Turbo Product Code (TPC) forward error correction
technology, with their products being used in a variety of applications from
satellite to wireless broadband.
Comtech AHA’s
products include the AHA4540, a single chip Turbo Product Code encoder/decoder
that achieves up to 155 Mb/s throughput and up to 2-4 dB improvement over
conventional FEC schemes, such as Reed-Solomon or convolutional codes. This
increase in coding gain allows a system developer the options of increasing
throughput, reducing transmitter power, increasing the range of transmission,
or reducing antenna size. Other products include the AHA4501, AHA4522, and
AHA4524 Turbo Product Code encoder/decoder devices supporting a range of data
rates up to 36 Mb/s for increased performance in satellite and wireless
applications.
Turbo Codes are a form of forward error correction, one
of the fundamental building blocks of digital communication, which enables
reliable communications with power efficiencies close to the theoretical
“Shannon limit.” In October 2001 France Telecom – acting on
behalf of France Telecom R&D, Telediffusion de France (TDF, a national
broadcasting subsidiary of France Telecom), and Groupe des Ecoles des
Telecommunications (GET), which own a number of patents and patented
applications related to Turbo Codes - began its Turbo Code Licensing Program
(TCLP), establishing a single licensing scheme for virtually all communication
applications. France Telecom designated Spectra Licensing Group LLC as its
North American licensing agent, and TurboConcept SAS is managing the program in
Europe.
Intelsat's GlobalConnex Services Take Off on Three Continents
(7 October 2002)
Intelsat's new GlobalConnex solutions are now operational on five continents.
GlobalConnex, currently serves customers in Asia, Africa and South America, is
Intelsat's portfolio of end-to-end Internet Trunking, International Private
Line and Video Solutions that was developed to support customer demand for
one-stop shopping.
Guyana Telegraph & Telephone
(GTT) recently signed a contract with Intelsat for its Internet Trunking
Service. GTT's solution, the first Intelsat Internet Trunking solution in the
Americas, uses the Intelsat 903 satellite and the Clarksburg Digital Teleport
in Maryland to connect Guyana to the Internet backbone in the US.
Corporate Access of India has also recently signed on for Intelsat's Internet
Trunking service. Corporate Access, a corporate network service provider to
developing countries, is delivering Internet Trunking solutions using the
Intelsat 804 satellite located at 64º E, and the teleport in Fuchsstadt,
Germany. Customers in Thailand, the Maldives, Bhutan and Sri Lanka have also
joined the ranks of Intelsat Internet Trunking customers located in Asia.
Internet Trunking has also made its way into Africa. Intelsat recently
signed a contract to provide service to 21st Century, an Internet service
provider (ISP) in Nigeria that provides corporate network services for banks,
multinationals, accounting firms and oil companies within the country. The
company will use Intelsat's Internet Trunking service to provide Internet
access, voice over IP (VoIP), data, ISDN, DSL and international leased circuits
to its customers. Intelsat consulted closely with 21st Century to advise the
company on how to maximise its network and meet specific requirements. The
initial solution provided to 21st Century has now been expanded five times
since the beginning of the agreement. Tanzania and Nigeria host additional
Intelsat Internet Trunking customers in Africa.
Intelsat's
International Private Line (IPL) service has also dialled into Africa, with
Development Ventures International, Inc (DVI), a US company with operations in
the Congo. Intelsat's IPL service is being used by DVI to support VoIP
applications from Africa to London, and is utilising the Intelsat 901 satellite
in combination with the Fuchsstadt teleport.
LiveTV Orders More Airborne Antenna Systems from EMS
Technologies
(7
October 2002) EMS Technologies Inc has announced an agreement with LiveTV on a
contract modification valued at US$ 9.1M for an increase in the quantity of
airborne Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) antenna systems to be supplied by
EMS. Under the modified agreement EMS will provide continuing Antenna
production and warranty service for the LiveTV antenna system.
LiveTV provides turnkey entertainment services to commercial
aircraft, including installation, maintenance, certification and programming
from DirecTV, Inc. EMS antennas have been installed on aircraft operated by
jetBlue Airways to provide free, live satellite television to passengers'
seats, with up to 24 channels of DirecTV programming. EMS' Space &
Technology Group/Atlanta provides the entire antenna system for the Ku band,
LiveTV system, including the advanced antenna control subsystem which was
developed by EMS' Ottawa-based, Satcom Group.
Tatanet Selects ViaSat LinkStar and Skylinx VSAT Platforms
(10 October 2002)
Tatanet India, a division of Nelco Ltd, has awarded a contract to ViaSat Inc's
Comsat Laboratories division for LinkStar and Skylinx communication networks.
The network will provide secure data communications for corporate customers
star configuration and also make direct connections between remotes for full
mesh voice, fax and data applications.
Tatanet, which
operates the largest private enterprise VSAT network owned by the TATA Group of
companies, has also entered into a broader Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
with ViaSat Inc for further network development.
Tatanet will launch
its Ku band broadband services in India soon, incorporating the ViaSat LinkStar
system.
LinkStar is a hub-based VSAT system that provides two-way,
bandwidth-on-demand broadband with more efficiency and higher data rates than
other TDMA systems. The forward channel provides a total capacity of 60 Mb/s,
and return channels to the hub can operate at speeds up to 1.15 Mb/s. Skylinx
is a hubless VSAT system that can integrate a variety of applications into one
network - in mesh, star, or multi-star hybrid topologies. On-demand bandwidth
and high performance voice compression algorithms engineered into Skylinx save
transponder costs and connect seamlessly to either data or voice
networks.
Arrowhead Wins DoD Teleport Task Order
(7 October 2002) The Defense Information
Technology Contracting Office (DITCO) announced the award of the Defense
Information Systems Agency (DISA) task order for the DoD Teleport Generation
One project to Arrowhead Global Solutions Inc.
The DoD
Teleport task order was issued under the government wide contract known as the
Defense Satellite Transmission Services - Global (DSTS-G) and has an initial
value of over US$ 16 Million.
The DoD Teleport project will facilitate
connectivity between the various military and commercial Satcom systems and the
DISN. These capabilities will enable the DoD to serve the warriors'
communication needs, to and from the battlefield, on a global basis.
Generation One of the Teleport Task order includes the design, civil works, and
installation of seven (7) C band 16.4 meter Standard A terminals and seven (7)
Ku band 8.3 meter terminals at multiple locations throughout the world.
The DSTS-G multiple award contract covers a wide range of commercial
satellite services that include: global fixed and mobile satellite services and
related satellite-based hardware, software, design, installation and
maintenance. Engineering support, licensing, and host nation approvals along
with other ancillary services are also covered under the DSTS-G contract an
estimated US$ 2.1 Billion 10-year contract.
L-3
Communications Selected
as Team Member for FAB-T
(9 October 2002) L-3 Communications' Communication
Systems - West division has been selected as a member of the Boeing Integrated
Defense Systems-led team for a transformational Department of Defense
initiative known as the Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals
(FAB-T).
The team will design and develop the first
increment of wideband satellite communication terminals that will provide the
military with critical protected communications.
The six-year system
design and development contract is valued at US$ 273 million for Boeing, which
will be managed by the MILSATCOM Terminals Office at Electronic Systems Center
(ESC), Hanscom Air Force Base.
L-3 will be responsible for the high
performance modem, baseband and networking interfaces, including the system
CPU, which will run the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) protocols. The
modem and baseband sections are fully programmable and will enable the users to
access all identified satellite systems, thus providing the capability to
interact with and manage command and control networks, intelligence
dissemination, mission data and target/threat updates. This will be achieved by
providing a multiple band capability with simultaneous operation over multiple
channels in a fully programmable environment for beyond line-of-sight
communications not available today.
FAB-T is intended to provide a
multi-mission capable family of terminals that will utilise a common design and
open system architecture, which operates with different satellites, and enable
information exchange between ground, air and space platforms. Once operational,
it will provide critical, protected beyond line-of-sight communications
capability for warfighters via the new AEHF System, a new class of secure
satellites that support military forces. In subsequent increments, FAB-T will
enable interchange with other national satellite communications systems such as
Wideband Gapfiller and Global Broadcast Service.
Raytheon
Receives GPS Anti-Jam
Development Contracts for Digital Antenna Electronics
(10 October 2002) Raytheon Company has been
awarded two contracts to develop the next-generation anti-jam technology for
militarised Global Positioning System (GPS), the first step in production of
the Digital Antenna Electronics (DAE) program for all Department of Defense
aircraft.
Raytheon's Precision Guidance Systems (PGS)
organisation was awarded a US$ 1.9 million option to its Digital Antenna
Electronics (DAE) contract with the US Navy's Space & Naval Warfare Systems
Center for GPS anti-jam research and development. The contract modification
authorises Raytheon to develop, produce, and test DAE prototypes that are
compatible with standard aircraft anti-jam antenna systems in preparation for
competitive procurement of production DAE units. The DAE production effort is
valued at US$ 25 million.
Raytheon Systems Limited, a Raytheon Company
located in the United Kingdom, has been awarded the other DAE contract option
to continue development of an alternative design.
The DAE will be
compatible with current military receivers and will be capable of functioning
with both the current and future modernised GPS signal structures, such as
M-code and spot beam modes.
Precision Guidance Systems, an
organisation within Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) business,
designs and develops GPS Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module receivers,
integrated navigation systems for weapons, hand held GPS products, airborne
multi-mode receivers, and specialised naval guidance products. PGS is the
industry leader in GPS anti-jam solutions, including analogue and digital
adaptive antenna systems and ultra-tight coupled GPS/INS systems.
GPS
is widely used as a source for position, velocity, and time information on US
military platforms. However, the GPS signal is of low power and vulnerable to
interference. Threats range from cheap, expendable, low-power jammers that can
be widely distributed across an area of conflict, to medium and high-power
ground and air-based jammers that can deny usage of GPS over hundreds of miles.
The GPS Joint Program Office established the Navigation Warfare (NAVWAR)
program in 1996 to address the electronic warfare threat to the GPS system. The
NAVWAR program was tasked with protecting DoD and allied use of GPS during
times of conflict, preventing its use by adversaries, and maintaining normal
availability to the civil user outside the area of conflict.
The
primary near-term solution to meet NAVWAR objectives involves fielding anti-jam
antenna systems on weapons platforms. The present anti-jam antenna system in
production, GPS Antenna System-1 (GAS-1), is an analogue system with anti-jam
capability limited to the formation of spatial nulls in the direction of
interference. Over 1,000 units of the GAS-1 have been produced by Raytheon
Systems Limited, in Harlow, UK. The GPS roadmap for user equipment anticipates
a fully digital receiver with nulling/multi-beam steering as a long term
solution. DAE offers a major near term improvement by using digital signal
processing to enhance jammer suppression by providing a limited beam steering
capability to assist in filtering out jammer noise, while preserving the
current GAS-1 AE form, fit, and interfaces.
Raytheon to Provide VIIRS Sensors for NPOESS Environmental Satellite
Program
(10 October
2002) Raytheon Company will provide prime contractor TRW up to seven Visible
Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instruments for the National
Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).
Under the contract, Raytheon will continue to design,
develop, test and deliver three VIIRS flight units. The contract includes
options for four additional units through 2014.
The first Raytheon
VIIRS instrument is scheduled for launch in 2006 on the NPOESS Preparatory
Project (NPP) spacecraft.
Current Raytheon VIIRS work is conducted
under an engineering, manufacturing, and development contract awarded in
November 2000 by the NPOESS Integrated Program Office.
Raytheon has
successfully completed the VIIRS Critical Design Review milestone and is well
on the way to meeting the NPP launch schedule.
NPOESS is the low-Earth
orbiting polar satellite system designed to meet the nation's future civilian
science and military needs for accurate weather forecasting. NPOESS will
replace the Department of Commerce's Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental
Satellites (POES) and the Department of Defense's Defense Meteorological
Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites. It will satisfy both civil and national
security requirements for remotely sensed meteorological, oceanographic,
climatic and space environmental data.
VIIRS will provide the
meteorological data required to produce Environmental Data Records that
includes imagery, sea surface temperature, low light imaging and ocean
colour.
Lift
Off for Aurora:
Europe's First Steps to Mars, the Moon and Beyond
(10 October 2002) Step by step, the European
Space Agency's new Aurora space exploration programme is beginning to take
shape. This ambitious programme, started by ESA in January 2002, sets out a
strategy over the next 30 years for Europe's robotic and human exploration of
Mars, the Moon, and even beyond to the asteroids.
On
Monday 7 October, the Aurora Board of Participants met at ESA Headquarters in
Paris and approved the start of assessment studies for the first four robotic
missions in the Programme.
These assessments involve studies of two
Flagship missions, which are major milestones to advance the scientific and
technical knowledge in preparation for a human mission; and two Arrow missions,
which are typically less complex and cheaper technology missions intended to
reduce the risk involved in the more complex Flagship flights.
The
approved Flagship mission studies are:
The Exo-Mars
mission. The Exo-Mars mission will characterise the Martian
biological environment before landings by other spacecraft or humans take
place. Data from the mission will provide invaluable input to broader studies
of Exobiology - the search for life beyond Earth.
A Mars Orbiter will
deliver a descent module from Martian orbit. The descent module will deliver a
rover to a specified location using an inflatable aerobraking device or a
parachute system. The rover, powered by conventional solar arrays, will be
capable of travelling a few kilometres across the Martian surface. Its payload
of about 40 kg will include a drilling system, as well as a sampling and
handling device integrated with the package of scientific instruments.
The Rover navigation system, including optical sensors, onboard software,
autonomous operation capability and the life-detecting payload, is a
significant technological challenge in which Europe and Canada can bring to
fruition years of technology development within ESA and at national level.
This mission will also be studied as a possible data relay system for the
Mars Netlander mission led by the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales
(CNES).
The Mars Sample Return mission. A
composite vehicle will carry into a Mars orbit both a descent module and an
Earth re-entry vehicle. The descent module will carry to the surface of Mars a
landing platform equipped with a sample collecting device and an ascent
vehicle. A modest landing accuracy is expected to be sufficient for a mission
bringing back the first ever sample of Martian soil.
The ascent
vehicle will carry a small canister containing the sample into a low altitude
circular Mars orbit (e.g. 150 km) for a rendezvous with the Earth re-entry
vehicle. This spacecraft will then deliver the re-entry capsule containing the
sample on a ballistic trajectory into the Earth's atmosphere. A parachute (or
inflatable device) landing system will ensure a safe landing.
A Mars
Sample Return mission requires a number of enabling technologies, which are not
yet (or not fully) available in Europe. This concerns mainly the landing
system, the ascent vehicle, the rendezvous system in Mars orbit and the Earth
re-entry vehicle/ capsule.
These technologies will be developed during
two precursor Arrow missions:
Earth re-entry
vehicle/capsule. The envisaged mission will use a small
spacecraft in a highly elliptical Earth orbit. The vehicle will be propelled
towards the Earth under conditions similar to those that would be experienced
by an interplanetary return capsule. This mission is a necessary preparatory
step for the first Mars Sample Return Mission.
Mars
Aerocapture demonstrator. A small mission with the specific goal
of validating technology that can slow a spacecraft and allow it to enter orbit
around Mars by using friction with the planet's upper atmosphere. This will
later be applied in a future Flagship mission, and eventually to the human
mission elements.
The robotic missions mentioned above constitute the
first stepping stones toward the end goals of the Aurora programme, and they
will allow a range of activities to start in earnest, from mission specific
technology work to scientific preparation.
Two main phases are
foreseen for the long-term programme. The first phase in 2005-2015 is aimed at
gathering the knowledge and developing and demonstrating technologies required
for a human mission on Mars and Moon, eventually leading to a decision about
whether to proceed with such a mission.
This initial phase will be
followed in 2015-2030 by a second phase dedicated to development, verification
and implementation of the European elements of the human mission, which is
expected to be an international endeavour.
As currently envisaged, the
main milestones of the Aurora programme are: two Mars Sample Return missions
(2011-2017); the decision to go ahead with a human mission (2015); a robotic
outpost on Mars and possible human mission to the Moon (2020 - 2025); and a
human mission to Mars (2025 - 2030).
The newly approved studies will
help clarify feasibility and mission requirements and open the way to the early
phase of the industrial work in 2003. These missions were identified by the
Exploration Programme Advisory Committee (EPAC) from a number of proposals
collected throughout Europe and Canada in 2001, and recommended to the Member
States for endorsement. The EPAC is constituted of independent scientific and
technical advisors to the ESA Director General.
The results will be
presented to the Member States in December 2002 for approval to proceed into
industrial Phase A studies.
Draper
Lab Brings Automation
to the International Space Station
(10 October 2002) Productivity for both crew and
ground controllers will improve when Timeliner automation software is used for
the first time on-board the International Space Station during the Space
Shuttle Atlantis' current ISS Assembly Flight 9A (STS-112) launched on October
7.
The software will automate a number of functions that
had been previously performed by space station crews and ground operators. For
the current mission, Timeliner will be used to autonomously activate and
control experiment payloads in the station's new Microgravity Science
Glovebox.
Developed by Draper Laboratory, Timeliner is the user
interface language and execution environment used on the station to automate
operations. It uses an English language syntax that does not require
specialised computer programming. As in its current use with the Microgravity
Science Glovebox, a primary function of Timeliner will be in the control and
sequencing of on-board experiments - a capability that will enhance the
scientific productivity of the astronauts by automating tasks that were
previously done manually. Its other potential uses on-board the station include
vehicle control, performance of pre-flight and post-flight subsystem checkouts,
and handling of failure detection and recovery.
Timeliner executes
programmed sequences of activities either autonomously or through interactive
control with the astronauts or ground operators. It can run pre-defined
"scripts" of procedures and allows intervention by system operators in real
time through commands to install, remove, start, stop, step ahead, or resume
scripts. The Timeliner scripts cause actions to be taken not only on the basis
of time, but also triggered by system events or complex dynamic conditions.
Timeliner can execute multiple simultaneous sequences of operations, running up
to 40 scripts in parallel.
Timeliner is a modular system; consisting
of a kernel and adapters. The kernel is the core functionality of Timeliner and
does not change across applications. Different adapters have been developed
that allow Timeliner to interface with a variety of operating systems,
including the operating system of the International Space Station.
Timeliner was originally developed by Draper in 1981 for use in simulating
tasks performed by astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle. In 1992, Timeliner was
selected by NASA as the User Interface Language for the space station, and was
installed on the space station's Command and Control Processor and Payload
Control Processor. A version of Timeliner has also been adapted for use on the
space station's Kibo Japanese Experiment Module, which is scheduled for launch
on the space shuttle on the ISS 1J flight in May 2004.
Draper received
a patent on Timeliner in 1998. It was licensed to Auspice Inc in 1997, allowing
Auspice exclusive use of Timeliner for commercial markets. Draper retained the
rights to sell or license the technology for research and development,
government and commercial space applications, and internal use.
Ecliptic RocketCam to Provide Live, Colour Video From an Unmanned
Spacecraft
(10
October 2002) In what is expected to be a growing trend in the space business,
a RocketCam Imaging System will provide live, colour video from an unmanned
spacecraft as part of the NASA-funded technology-demonstration mission planned
for 2004. During the brief yet pioneering DART mission, two unmanned spacecraft
will rendezvous in low Earth orbit with little if any human guidance, proving
out a new space-operations capability needed for several types of future
missions.
The imaging system to be used on DART will be
similar to the RocketCam system demonstrated on October 7th for NASA's Space
Shuttle fleet, when the first-ever onboard live video of a shuttle launch was
delivered to a world-wide audience as the orbiter Atlantis lifted off and
climbed to orbit for a rendezvous with the International Space Station.
The contract between RocketCam's exclusive supplier Ecliptic Enterprises
Corporation and DART prime contractor Orbital Sciences Corporation started this
week. This is Ecliptic's first order for a RocketCam system designed to be used
on a spacecraft. Orbital's customer for the DART project is NASA's Marshall
Space Flight Center.
Each Ecliptic RocketCam generates live,
full-colour video from onboard its host platform, which is then transmitted to
receiving equipment on the ground for subsequent distribution to launch control
centres, technical and management audiences, media outlets and the public.
The Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART) project is
part of NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI) to research and develop
technologies that will make space travel safer and more affordable. While NASA
has performed rendezvous and docking missions in the past, astronauts have
always piloted the spacecraft. The technologies to be demonstrated by DART
represent a critical step for establishing an autonomous rendezvous capability
for the United States and will lay the groundwork for reusable manned and
unmanned launch system operations. Future applications of this technology
include cargo delivery and space-taxi operations for the International Space
Station (ISS) and other on-orbit activities such as satellite retrieval and
servicing missions.
During mission operations in low Earth orbit, the
RocketCam system will capture and transmit live, colour video from the DART
spacecraft to mission controllers on the ground, who will use the video stream
to verify accomplishment of several mission objectives.
The DART
spacecraft will be launched in 2004 aboard an Orbital Pegasus winged rocket and
inserted into a circular parking orbit, and then will perform a series of orbit
transfers to arrive at a point near a target satellite using state-of-the-art
GPS-relative navigation techniques. Using the vehicle's main instrument, the
Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS), DART will then approach the target
satellite to within a distance of 5 meters and perform various station-keeping
manoeuvres. Finally, DART will demonstrate a collision avoidance manoeuvre,
then depart the vicinity and transition to its final orbit. The entire sequence
will be accomplished under autonomous control within a few days after launch,
and most key events will be covered and verified by the RocketCam video.
RocketCam Imaging Systems, which have been 100% successful on a total of
21 rocket launches to date, are employed regularly by The Boeing Company on its
Delta II and Delta III rockets and by Lockheed Martin Astronautics on its Atlas
2, Atlas 3, Atlas 5 and Titan IV rockets. The next scheduled use of RocketCam
will be on the early November inaugural launch of Boeing's large Delta IV
rocket, which will orbit a communications satellite for Paris-based
Eutelsat.
Integral
Systems to Provide an
Interface to Intelsat TT&C Network
(10 October 2002) Intelsat Global Service Corporation
has awarded a contract to Integral Systems Inc to create and incorporate an
interface from Integral's EPOCH satellite control system to the Intelsat
Tracking, Telemetry and Command (TT&C) ground network.
This interface will be a standard feature of the EPOCH
product provided to all Integral's Geosynchronous (GEO) satellite operator
customers in a future release of the product.
STS-112
Launched: 7 October 2002
Site: Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Launcher:
Shuttle Atlantis (STS-112)
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 393 km, perigee: 393 km:
inclination: 51.6°
International Number: 2002-047A
Name: ISS 9A/BA,
ITS S1 on the Shuttle Atlantis (STS-112)
Owner: NASA
This mission
carries the 13,600 kg S1 first starboard integrated truss segment to the
International Space Station (ISS). The 13.7 m truss structure adds to the
length of the space railroad and provides the necessary cooling and power
systems for future international expansion of the space laboratory. Attached to
the truss, the Crew and Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) Cart A is the first of
two human-powered carts that will ride along the railway, providing mobile work
platforms for future spacewalking astronauts. The S1 truss is the fourth of 11
truss segments which will form the structural backbone for the station and
provide the cooling and support for new solar arrays to be delivered to the
station next year.
Crew:
Jeffrey S Ashby, commander
Pamela A Melroy, pilot
David A Wolf, mission specialist
Piers J
Sellers, mission specialist
Sandra H Magnus, mission specialist
Fyodor
N Yurchikhin, mission specialist
FCC
Rejects EchoStar/Hughes
Merger
(11 October
2002) On Thursday the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rejected the
proposed US$ 20 billion merger between satellite TV operators EchoStar
Communications and Hughes Electronics. The merger is still under review by the
US Justice Department which is investigating antitrust issues.
The FCC voted unanimously against the deal on the basis that
the merger would create a monopoly in areas without cable TV and a duopoly in
areas with cable, to the detriment of consumer interests.
EchoStar and
Hughes now have 30 days to submit a new proposal to the FCC.
Futron Releases New Space Tourism Study
(7 October 2002)
Building on a comprehensive and detailed survey about public space travel among
affluent individuals, Futron Corporation has released 20-year forecasts for the
orbital and suborbital space tourism markets.
Both the
survey results and Futron's forecasts are reported in depth in Futron's newest
publication, Space Tourism Market Study. The bottom line: wealthy citizens
around the world could and would pay to take that trip into space.
The
study's interesting findings include:
ND
SatCom Becomes Stock
Corporation
(9
October 2002) In order to equip itself to meet the future growth challenges, ND
SatCom - Gesellschaft für Satellitenkommunikationssysteme mbH has changed
its legal frame in to a stock corporation. The change was entered in the
commercial register on 16th September 2002.
The members
of the Supervisory Board are, Mr Heinz-Josef Kraus as Chairman, Mr Jack
Schmuckli as deputy Chairman and Mr Martin Halliwell. The former managing
director, Dr Karl Classen, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, Dr
Gerhard Bommas as Chief Technology Officer and Dr Engelbert Quack as Chief
Commercial Officer.
ND SatCom is Europe's largest provider of
satellite network-and IP Broadband solutions and Ground Stations. With over 20
years of experience, ND SatCom offers innovative solutions, products and
services to customers in the telecom, internet, broadcast, enterprise,
government and military markets globally. The company, represented by regional
sales and service offices world-wide, is headquartered in Friedrichshafen,
Germany.
Currently ND SatCom counts more than 250 employees and is a
90%-subsidiary of Augusta Technologie AG and a 10% subsidiary of SES
Global.
Sirius Begins Recapitalisation
(11 October 2002) Over the past several days
Sirius Satellite Radio has been in final discussions with major stakeholders
regarding a substantial recapitalisation of the company. While there is no
assurance that a financing agreement will be achieved, the company is hopeful
that an announcement regarding a transaction can be made shortly.
As with many companies engaged in such discussions, the
company elected to utilise a grace period relating to the payment of interest
on its 83/4% Convertible Subordinated Notes due 2009 that was due on Monday,
September 30th. The aggregate interest payment was approximately US$ 720,000.
The company currently has approximately US$ 250 million in cash on hand,
sufficient to fund its operations into the second quarter of 2003.
The
failure to pay this interest will not constitute an "Event of Default" until
October 31, 2002, and will have no effect upon the company's other indebtedness
during this grace period. If an agreement is consummated prior to the
expiration of this grace period, Sirius expects the disposition of this
interest payment will be addressed as part of this arrangement.
The
Company retired a majority of these Convertible Notes during 2000 and 2001.
There is currently approximately US$ 16,000,000 in aggregate principal amount
of these Convertible Notes outstanding.
International Rectifier Introduces "Off-the-Shelf" Radiation-Hardened, Hi-Rel
DC-DC Converters
(October 2002) International Rectifier has introduced
the new M3G family of "off-the-shelf" radiation-hardened, high-reliability
(hi-rel) DC-DC converters that streamline costly space industry design
cycles.
The M3G converters are complete single-ended
forward buck converter "building blocks" for 28V-, 50V- and 70V-input power
buses, in single-, dual- or triple-output configurations. Each module is
assembled, tested and documented to reduce or eliminate cycle time needed for
analysis and documentation of "in-house" circuit designs.
The small
size, low mass and ruggedness makes the M3G converters ideal for geo-stationary
and deep space satellites, and communication systems.
The M3G family
is hardened to withstand total ionising dose (TID) of 200krads, with single
event effect (SEE) rating of greater than 82 MeV-square centimetres per
milligram. The new converters simplify integration since EMI filtering as well
as frequency and phase synchronisation, are built-in. In addition, the M3G
devices are made with hybrid technology, enabling a compact footprint of
approximately 43.75 cubic centimetres at less than 80 gm in flight-qualified
power systems.
All components are stress de-rated to meet the
requirements of MIL-STD-975, MIL-HDBK-1547 and GSFC PPL-21. Completed analyses
and documentation include radiation susceptibility, thermal, electrical stress,
worst case, failure mode and effect analyses, reliability as well as extensive
radiation test data, supporting the design documentation.
Key Minimum
Parametric Limits
Samples and flight units are available now. Pricing is US$ 7,950 each in 50-plus unit quantities. This product is subject to US export control laws and regulations.
NASA's
Future Technology
Architect Selected
(11 October 2002) Gary L Martin has been named to a
key new position within the agency designed to help make NASA's future
exploration and research goals possible. Martin, who has served as Assistant
Associate Administrator for Advanced Systems in NASA's Office of Space Flight,
will serve as the agency's Space Architect.
The Space
Architect reports to the Deputy Administrator. Martin will set NASA's future
technology requirements and monitor development programs, to ensure systems
will be ready when needed, to support next-generation science objectives.
Space Science, Earth Science, Biological and Physical Research,
Aeronautics, and Space Flight-as well as those working on interdisciplinary
efforts such as space exploration, will report to the newly established Joint
Strategic Assessment Team, through the Space Architect, about their activities
related to NASA's long term strategy for aerospace research.
Martin
began his career at NASA in 1990 as a program manager and branch chief in what
was then known as Microgravity Sciences and Applications at NASA Headquarters
in Washington. He then moved to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to serve
as the integration manager for the Space Science program focused on the
Structure and Evolution of the Universe. Martin was part of the initial
management team for the James Webb telescope, the successor to the Hubble Space
Telescope.
In 1997, Martin became the Chief of the NASA Technology
Planning and Integration Office, which managed technology development programs
for three of the agency's primary enterprises.
In 2000, Martin
returned to Headquarters to lead the Advanced Systems Office for Space Flight.
He chaired the NASA Exploration Team, also known as NEXT, a cross-enterprise
team of key technology and systems experts from NASA's centres, working to
develop a long-term strategy for human and robotic space exploration and
research.
