24 February 2002
Satcoms
Gilat to Supply Peruvian Rural Telephony Network
Kingston inmedia Helps JML Become
a Round The Clock Shop
Navajo Nation Gets Satellite Broadband
Net4India to Provide High Speed
Internet Using Loral Cyberstar
Spacenet Expands Goodyear's VSAT Network
Earth
Observation
Quikscat Data
Incorporated Into Weather Forecasting
Space Imaging Introduces
Online Purchasing of 5-m Resolution Imagery
Navigation
Yankee Gas Uses GPS Vehicle Tracking from Radio Satellite
Integrators
Launch
Services
Artemis Close to
Final Orbit
Launches
Echostar 7
Intelsat 904
Business
Boeing Space and Communications Restructures
Updated Schedule for
Acquisition of StarBand Latin America
Products and Services
TriQuint Semiconductor Introduces Ka Band VSAT HPA
Chip
Gilat to Supply Peruvian Rural Telephony Network
Gilat
Satellite Networks Ltd has signed a new contract with Fondo de Inversion en
Telecomunicaciones del Peru (FITEL) to provide a fixed rural satellite
telephony network.
The FITEL network will serve more
than 1,300 communities throughout Peru. The value of the project is
approximately US$ 9.7 million.
FITEL is Peru's national
telecommunications investment fund, which uses a percentage of the revenues of
the country's telecommunications companies to develop communications systems in
rural regions. FITEL is a department of the Peruvian national
telecommunications agency OSIPTEL.
The contract is the third awarded
by FITEL to Gilat over the past year, representing the provision of rural
satellite telephony service to more than 6,000 communities throughout Peru.
When completed, Peru's satellite telephony network will be one of the world's
largest. Deployment of the new 1,300-site network, based on Gilat's DialAw@y IP
VSAT product, has begun and is scheduled to reach completion by the end of
2002.
DialAw@y IP is the only VSAT product capable of providing
high-speed Internet connectivity and toll-quality telephony service at the same
time. Each unit supports a PC/LAN connection and up to six telephone lines. It
is a low-cost solution for the fulfilment of Universal Service/Access
Obligations, Public Call Office requirements and small office/home office
(SOHO) requirements for bundled telephony and Internet access.
Kingston inmedia Helps JML Become a Round The Clock Shop
Kingston
inmedia has won a contract to provide playout, uplinking services and space
segment on Astra 2B for a new shopping channel from JML.
To
be broadcast on the Sky digital platform, JML Direct will offer viewers 24-hour
access to JML's range of homeware, lifestyle, kitchen and DIY products. The
channel will complement the company's current selling mediums, which include
in-store video promotions supported by brand levels of advertising on
terrestrial television and a mail order operation.
Navajo Nation Gets Satellite Broadband
OnSat Network Communications
Inc has successfully installed STM Wireless' VSAT equipment in over 80 Native
American communities.
Two years ago, the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation started a grant program specifically designed to meet
the information needs of Native Americans living in New Mexico, Arizona,
Colorado and Utah (the Four Corners area). Three goals were established for the
program: (1) To empower Native communities by providing access to digital
information resources and the Internet, (2) To increase the usage of tools and
technology for creating and preserving local culture and language, and (3) To
increase the opportunity for digital skill acquisition.
One of the
biggest challenges in the initial stages of the program was the lack of
communications infrastructure available to the Native American communities in
the Four Corners area.
OnSat is currently installing over 115 sites on
Native American lands funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Some
of these communities do not have sufficient access to electricity. OnSat then
equips these sites with enough solar energy to power the communications system.
These solar systems are funded with grants from the Solar Electric Light
Fund.
STM's broadband VSAT terminals, which include full router
functionality, are designed for commercial applications involving multiple
concurrent users.
Net4India to Provide High Speed Internet Using Loral
Cyberstar
Net4India has become a value-added reseller (VAR) of
CyberStar's WorldCast Fast Internet service, a service that will allow
Net4India to deliver unparalleled, high-speed Internet access and other
Web-based solutions to corporate local area networks (LANs) throughout
India.
This agreement allows Net4India to provide
enterprise customers in India with an end-to-end service for high-speed
Internet access. Net4India will provide enterprises with complete support from
installation and ground services through regulatory requirements and licensing
to ongoing maintenance and service.
CyberStar's WorldCast Fast
Internet provides cost-effective, high-performance connectivity to enterprises
needing fast and reliable Internet access. Its single-hop satellite technology
avoids the quality problems and unpredictable performance introduced by the
many routers and network transfers necessary for terrestrial systems and its
multicast capabilities allow cost-efficient distribution to multiple points of
presence.
Using CyberStar's WorldCast backbone connectivity
infrastructure, WorldCast Fast Internet offers a number of services including
point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connections, a range of speeds from 64
kb/s to 45 Mb/s, symmetric or asymmetric satellite links and the flexibility of
configuring the network as satellite only or as a combination of satellite and
terrestrial links.
WorldCast Fast Internet gives Internet service
providers an instant infrastructure to efficiently deliver streaming media,
video-to-the desktop and large-data files.
Founded in 1999, Net4India,
is a leading Indian Internet and infrastructure services provider headquartered
in New Delhi, India with offices in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and
Hyderabad. Net4India provides services to the enterprise segment and offers
solutions in five sectors - web solutions, network and systems integration,
projects business, enterprise access solutions and E-commerce. In addition,
Net4India is India's largest domain registration company, the country's largest
Web hosting company and among the top three leaders in server
co-location.
Spacenet Expands Goodyear's VSAT Network
Spacenet Inc has been
selected by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company to expand Goodyear's
high-speed satellite communications network to an additional 1,000
independently owned Goodyear tyre outlets in the United States and Canada.
Spacenet successfully deployed more than 700 VSAT sites at Goodyear's
company-owned tyre outlets last year.
Under the terms of
its original agreement signed in December 2000, Spacenet is providing Goodyear
with a comprehensive Skystar Advantage VSAT network solution that includes
turnkey installation of all remote site equipment, as well as network
operations and field maintenance. Network implementation at the additional
1,000 independent dealer sites has begun and is expected to be completed later
this year.
Quikscat Data Incorporated Into Weather Forecasting
In a
move to improve global weather forecasts and ultimately save lives and
property, the United States and Europe have incorporated wind speed and
direction data from NASA's Quick Scatterometer spacecraft - also known as
Quikscat - into their operational global weather analysis and forecast
systems.
With data from Quikscat, forecasters can now
predict hazardous weather events over the oceans as much as 6 to 12 hours
earlier. Launched June 19, 1999, the Quikscat spacecraft operates in a
Sun-synchronous, 800-km near-polar orbit, circling Earth every 100 minutes,
taking approximately 400,000 measurements over 93% of the Earth's surface every
day.
In recent years data from the Quikscat scatterometer, developed
by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), have proven useful in improving
forecasts of extreme wind events, such as hurricanes, and in monitoring
longer-term climatic effects such as El Nino. Quikscat's SeaWinds scatterometer
instrument is a specialised microwave radar that continuously measures both the
speed and direction of winds near the ocean surface in all weather
conditions.
Participants in the Quikscat program include the National
Centers for Environmental Prediction, a branch of the National Weather Service,
Washington, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts,
Reading, England. These organisations' decision to assimilate and turn Quikscat
data into operational information culminates an intense inter-agency and
international co-operative effort among NASA, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and European countries to demonstrate and
validate Quikscat's potential impact on weather forecasting.
The
incorporation of Quikscat data was one of several recent upgrades made to the
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts' operational system.
Cumulatively, the upgrades have resulted in a robust improvement in forecasts
of atmospheric conditions over the Southern Hemisphere and in the upper
atmosphere. Their ability to forecast tropical cyclone tracks has also been
enhanced.
Space Imaging Introduces Online Purchasing of 5-m Resolution
Imagery
Space Imaging is now offering custom-area, 5-meter
resolution satellite imagery of the continental United States from the Indian
Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites through Space Imaging's new Carterra
Online.
Customers can order the 5-meter, cloud-free,
panchromatic, orthorectified imagery in three steps and have the order quickly
filled for an introductory price of US$ 1.50 per sq km.
By using
Carterra Online at carterraonline.spaceimaging.com, customers can view 5-meter
imagery of the entire continental US. Carterra Online has an HTML interface
which requires no plug-ins to download. Base-map layers and map symbols, in
addition to multiple image dates, can be turned on and off.
Customers
can define their own custom area and Carterra Online will then instantly
calculate the total square kilometres and cost. The footprint of the area can
be adjusted by the customer until the correct area and specifications are
defined.
Once a suitable area has been selected, customers can order
the imagery directly online using a secure credit card transaction. The custom
area will be automatically cut out and delivered to the customer
electronically. Customers may choose rapid off-line delivery for larger orders.
Most orders are typically fulfilled in less than 24 hours.
Other
features of Carterra Online include the ability to save searches, track orders
and customise online preferences. Users can create their own page at MyCarterra
Online for quick access to their previous saved areas and orders.
Yankee Gas Uses GPS Vehicle Tracking from Radio Satellite
Integrators
Radio Satellite Integrators Inc (RSI) has completed an
Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and mobile data system for the New England
natural gas utility Yankee Gas.
Yankee Gas is the
largest natural gas distributor in Connecticut, serving nearly 200,000
customers in over 60 metro areas. With 85 service vehicles equipped with the
RSI system, Yankee Gas dispatchers are able to locate their trucks accurate up
to a few meters, enabling the most efficient management, dispatching, and
operations for their mobile workforce. Specialising in the utilisation of a
wide variety of wireless communication, RSI's V-Track incorporates the CDPD
network for wireless data communications in this particular system.
Fully integrated with Axiom Corporation's Mobility mobile workforce solution,
RSI provides the vehicle tracking and wireless communication portions of the
system. The complete system allows for the operation of work order assignment
and computer aided dispatch systems to be interfaced with in-vehicle lap top
computers. The RSI system also provides a driver emergency panic button in the
vehicle.
Artemis Close to Final Orbit
Thanks to its ion propulsion
and the skill of the specialists at Alenia Spazio, Astrium, Telespazio and ESA,
the Artemis mission is near to being in its operational orbit, rescued after a
near disastrous launch failure in July left the satellite in the wrong orbit.
Nominal operations could start this summer.
On 12 July
2001, 30 minutes after lift-off from Kourou, French Guiana, it became apparent
that the Ariane 5 launcher had propelled the Artemis satellite into a transfer
orbit that was lower than expected, with the apogee at only 17,000 km rather
than the nominal 36,000 km.
Fortunately, the Artemis satellite carried
an ion propulsion system and the mission was not a write off.
The
initial raising of the orbit, by means of the limited chemical propulsion
available, was carried out in less than 10 days by a team of Alenia Spazio,
Astrium and Telespazio experts supported by ESA engineers. This speed of
response was vital to prevent substantial spacecraft degradation by prolonged
exposure to the radiation levels of the Van Allen belt. The duration of the
firings was calculated to reach a safe parking orbit while retaining some 70 kg
of fuel in the tanks, in order to eventually sustain a nominal on-station
lifetime of 5 to 7 years.
All operations turned out to be extremely
successful: with 5 perigee firings the apogee was lifted to 31,000 km.
Subsequently, with 3 nominal apogee firings, Artemis was able to reach a
circular parking orbit at 31,000 km. Considering the exceptional conditions
encountered and due to the perfect performances provided by the spacecraft,
both perigee and apogee firings were performed with high efficiency, consuming
about 95% of the chemical propellant on board.
Preparations for the
remaining orbit-raising manoeuvre, using the ion engines, required a
considerable amount of work, mainly due to the need to shift the spacecraft
from its nominal Earth-pointing to an in-flight pointing orientation. New
onboard flight control laws had to be defined and corresponding new software
written, tested and implemented under pressure of time. New operational
procedures had to be established and hardware configured in a way for which it
was not initially conceived. This had never attempted before by Europe on a
communication spacecraft.
In January 2002 all new software modules
were completed and fully tested by Alenia Spazio and Astrium. Artemis has now
started spiralling out of its safe parking orbit to bridge the gap of some 5000
km at a rate of roughly 1 km per hour.
Whereas the initial part of the
orbit-raising process, using chemical thrusters, was completed within a few
days, the remaining part is expected to last more than 200 days, requiring two
ion engines to fire almost continuously. Artemis is expected to arrive this
summer at its nominal altitude of 36 000 km.
In parallel with
orbit-raising preparations, in-orbit verification of the communication payloads
was performed. The most spectacular events were communication tests with the
CNES SPOT-4 Earth observation satellite, during which image data from SPOT 4
were transmitted by laser light to Artemis and from there by radio waves to the
Spot Image processing centre in Toulouse. All tests confirmed that Artemis'
payloads are healthy and ready to support the technological and operational
communication programme.
Echostar 7
Launched: 21 February 2002
Site: Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station, Florida
Launcher: Atlas 3B
Orbit: GEO, 119°
W
International Number: 2002-006A
Name: EchoStar 7
Owner: Echostar
Communications Corp
Contractor: Lockheed Martin Commercial Space
Systems
Echostar 7 is a commercial communications satellite and is
intended to be a replacement for Echostar 4 and will be used as a high power
direct broadcast satellite for Echostar's Dish Network..
Echostar 7 is
based on Lockheed's A2100AX platform and has a design lifetime of 14 years. It
carries 32 high power, full continental United States (CONUS) transponders
capable of operating at 120 watts per channel, which are switchable to 16 super
high-power, full-CONUS transponders capable of operating at 240 watts per
channel. Five transponder frequencies may also be used in a spot beam mode for
a potential total of 15 spot beams. Mass at lift off was 4026 kg.
Intelsat 904
Launched: 23 February 2002
Site: CSG Kourou,
French Guiana
Launcher: Ariane 44L
Orbit: GEO, 60° E
International Number: 2002-007A
Name: Intelsat 904
Owner: Intelsat
Contractor: Space Systems/Loral
Intelsat 904 is a commercial
communications satellite. It will be deployed over the Indian Ocean Region and
will offer Internet, broadcast, telephony and corporate network solutions.
Intelsat 904 carries 76 C band and 22 Ku band transponders (measured in 36
MHz equivalent units). It will provide high power Ku band spot beam coverage
for Europe and the Middle East and additional C band capacity to customers in
Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The satellite is based on SS/L's 1300
platform and weighted 4,680 kg at lift-off. It has a design life of 13
years.
Intelsat 604, which currently occupies the 60° E slot will
be moved to 157º E in the Pacific Ocean Region once Intelsat 904 is
operational.
Boeing Space and Communications Restructures
The
Boeing Company has announced it is to restructure its Boeing Space and
Communications (S&C) unit to allow it to compete more aggressively in a
highly competitive market.
The satellite operations'
restructuring will include consolidation of facilities, job reductions, and the
streamlining of design and production. The affected operations, BSS of El
Segundo, California, and its subsidiary, Boeing Electronic Dynamic Devices of
Torrance, California, currently employ more than 9,000 combined. Approximately
11 percent of jobs will be reduced, including 900 in El Segundo and 150 in
Torrance.
To reduce the actual number of layoffs, the company is
making a major effort to match the skills of as many of the affected employees
as possible with the 350 current job openings at other Boeing Southern
California locations. Boeing is implementing its internal employee redeployment
program, "Operation Resume," which includes internal job fairs and personal
assistance to match employee skills with these openings.
While there
remains the potential for additional reductions by year-end depending on
business conditions, major new business pursuits by other Boeing Southern
California sites could reduce the impact of any such cuts by providing BSS
employees new employment opportunities. Approximately 1,000 new openings are
projected for major program pursuits in Seal Beach and Anaheim, California, in
the next nine months.
Boeing is increasing its capital spending in El
Segundo to add 30,000 square feet of integration and test capabilities, while
reconfiguring the BSS factory along Lean Manufacturing Practices. In addition,
the company remains on track to begin production in El Segundo of 12 of the
U.S. Air Force's next-generation Global Positioning Satellites (GPS IIF) in the
fourth quarter 2002.
The company is also pursuing other major new
military satellite business that, if successful, could require new employment
totalling 300 in 2003, 300 in 2004 and 700 in 2005.
Updated Schedule for Acquisition of StarBand Latin America
rStar
Corporation and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd have announced their updated
schedule for the commencement of their previously announced tender offer for
shares of rStar common stock and rStar's acquisition of the StarBand Latin
America business.
The offer will be commenced as soon as
the necessary disclosure documents and financial statements have been prepared,
and the Securities and Exchange Commission has completed its review of the
filed materials. While there can be no assurance, Gilat and rStar believe that
they will be in a position to commence the tender offer and mail the proxy
statement within the next several weeks.
TriQuint Semiconductor Introduces Ka Band VSAT HPA Chip
TriQuint Semiconductor Inc has announced the
introduction of a new high power transmit amplifier for Satellite Ground
Terminal and Millimetre Wave Digital Radio applications.
Emerging broadband satellite networks will provide wide-band, high-speed
communications for Internet and multimedia applications in North America and
Europe in 2003 and beyond. High power ground terminals are required at each
customer site to communicate with the satellite network. This high performance
device is ideally suited for use as a transmit High Power Amplifier (HPA) in
broadband satellite ground terminal applications and digital radio applications
requiring high linear power. Due to the power and linearity performance
available from this single chip solution, subsystem integrators can replace
multi-chip modules thereby decreasing product complexity and cost.
The
TGA4501 is fabricated using TriQuint's 0.25-micron gate length, power pHEMT
process. TriQuint's power pHEMT process produces high frequency device
performance comparable to that normally associated with 0.15-micron gate length
devices while providing high device yields of a mature production process.
The TriQuint TGA4501 has been designed into several Ka-Band VSAT ground
terminal and millimetre wave radio products by leading systems and subsystems
manufacturers. The TGA4501 is currently shipping in pre-production volumes,
with expected ramp to full volume production in the second half of 2002.
This new HPA is part of a series of TriQuint Standard Product
introductions specifically targeting the VSAT and Millimetre Wave Radio
markets.
The TGA4501 is offered in chip form. Bond pad and backside
metalisation is gold plated for compatibility with eutectic alloy attachment
methods as well as with thermocompression and thermosonic wire bonding. Each
chip is 100% DC and RF tested on-wafer to ensure performance compliance.
Production pricing for 10,000 piece quantities is US$ 99.00 each. Delivery
is available from stock to 12 weeks for higher volume orders.
