30 June 2002
Satcoms
Coming to a Cinema Near You - Courtesy of ESA
Iridium Satellite
Signs Asia Pacific Distribution Deals
Kingston inmedia - Nigeria’s UK VSAT Gateway
Norsat Announces Order
From Dynamic Engineers
Earth
Observation
Canadian Space
Agency Investing in Earth Application Programs
Navigation
Orbital Wins US$ 3.6 Million Transit Management System Contract in
Lake Tahoe
Technology
NASA Selects Teams for Development of Next-Generation Ion
Engine and Advanced Technology
XCOR EZ-Rocket Performs Touch-and-Go
Launch
Services
Shuttle Cracks
Delay Launches
Launches
NOAA-M Polar Orbiter
Progress-46 (8P)
Products and Services
Infineon Introduces Highest Integrated Silicon Tuner for Digital
Satellite Broadcasting
Integral Systems' Skylight Ground Station Generates NASA Earth
Science Products
People
XM Names Joseph Euteneuer as CFO
Coming to a Cinema Near You - Courtesy of ESA
(25
June 2002) As part of an ESA-funded project, ten cinemas in Austria, Germany,
Italy, Spain and the UK will be screening movies transmitted and played
digitally rather than by the conventional analogue method.
The advantage to the cinema-goer should be no blemishes on
the moving image and greater and consistent clarity. Conventional film suffers
from degradation, which increases with the number of times it is played. Movies
stored digitally on the cinema's computer hard disc can be played indefinitely
with no loss of quality.
When digital cinema really takes off, film
and distribution companies will also see a big advantage, as they will no
longer need to make and deliver thousands of bulky reels of film to cinemas
world-wide. Distribution will involve no more than relaying the movie via
satellite from the distributor's to individual cinema's computers.
Digital cinema is now becoming a reality, thanks to technological advances in
digital compression, storage, delivery and digital projectors. ESA is
supporting the take up of this new technology under its ARTES programme, which
aims to encourage European and Canadian industry to exploit new ways of using
satellite communications. The Agency is collaborating with two project teams
which are working on different aspects of producing and transmitting files
containing about 60 Gbytes or about 100 CDs-worth of information, enough for
one feature length movie.
Cast4All, a Belgian company, has developed a
"multicast management platform" which allows the distributor to select and send
a film digitally via satellite to specified receivers and to monitor the
reception status of each site to ensure reliable delivery. Elsacom, an Italian
company, is leading a team including UCI, Screen-Digest and Cinecittà,
which is preparing and will be running the pilot service for five months in10
European cinemas this summer. As well as showing feature movies, the pilot will
also demonstrate other possible uses of the digital cinema. These include being
able to tailor adverts to local audiences and show alternative content such as
live events which can be transmitted directly to cinemas via satellite, just
like live TV. The advent of digital cinema opens up new and varied uses for our
movie theatres.
Iridium Satellite Signs Asia Pacific Distribution Deals
(25
June 2002) Iridium Satellite LLC has added three major Asia-Pacific Telcos to
its global distribution network. The contracts with Singapore
Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel), Telstra Corporation Limited (Telstra) and
Telikom Papua New Guinea (Telikom PNG) significantly enhance the availability
of Iridium's global voice and data services to government, industrial and
individual users in the Asia Pacific region.
The service
partners, which will market and sell Iridium services through their global
dealer networks, offer specific market expertise and expect the new remote
capabilities afforded by Iridium to complement their existing portfolios of
satellite-based services.
Kingston inmedia - Nigeria’s UK VSAT Gateway
(24
June 2002) Kingston inmedia has been chosen by international VSAT service
provider Virgin Technologies Limited (VTL) as its UK gateway for VSAT
services.
Kingston inmedia's role is to provide UK
gateway services using its C band platform on PanAmSat's PAS 1R satellite.
Using Kingston as a gateway to the internet backbone and to carrier hotels like
London Telehouse, Virgin Technologies Ltd are able to offer services to
companies such as Gateway IP - a UK based communications company focused on the
provision of wholesale communications services in Africa and the Middle
East.
Virgin Technologies VSAT network is boosting the Nigerian
telecommunications infrastructure. This is important for ensuring
communications access for Nigerian users in both urban and rural areas.
Gateway IP is a leading independent international communications company
in the emerging markets of Africa and the Middle East. Gateway IP's
multi-purpose communications network connects major centres in Africa with
communications hubs in the United States and Western Europe, enabling the
company to provide low cost international voice and data services to major
international telecommunications carriers, African PTT's, cellular operators
and competitive fixed-line carriers. Gateway IP serves the needs of PTT's,
Cellular providers and CLEC's throughout the continent. Through its South
African subsidiary, FirstNet, Gateway IP also delivers electronic commerce and
value-added network services to many of Africa's leading corporations.
Virgin Technologies Limited (VTL) is a private limited liability Company
incorporated in Nigeria, and has been issued a license to operate private VSAT
links by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). VTL has considerable
experience in the deployment, start-up, operation, management, and maintenance
of communication satellite networks to various countries in Africa.
Norsat Announces Order From Dynamic Engineers
(25
June 2002) Norsat International Inc has received an order from Dynamic
Engineers Inc for up to 500 of its VSAT Ku band ODUs.
Dynamic Engineers is a privately owned international electronic component
distributor specialising in RF communication packages.
Delivery of the
Norsat ODUs, which will be used for broadband communication to remote
locations, has begun and will continue over the next several months.
Canadian Space Agency Investing in Earth Application Programs
(25
June 2002) The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has awarded twelve contracts, worth
close to Cdn$ 2 million, to Canadian companies for developing leading-edge uses
of space-based Earth Observation data and applications.
These contracts have been awarded to Atlantis Scientific, AUG Signals Ltd,
Dendron Resource Surveys, Hatfield Consultants, MIR Teledetection, Noetix
Research, Paterson, Grant and Watson, EarthScan Ltd, PCI Geomatics, Tecsult,
Vantage Point International and Viasat Geotechnologies.
The projects,
awarded through the Earth Observation Applications Development Program (EOADP),
support leading-edge Canadian space companies that are also bearing their share
of risks in developing and commercialising innovative processing systems and
applications. These innovations will have a major impact in remote sensing,
geospatial data, resource management, rural applications and mineral
exploration.
Orbital Wins US$ 3.6 Million Transit Management System Contract
in Lake Tahoe
(27 June 2002) Orbital Sciences Corporation’s
Transportation Management Systems (TMS) division has been awarded a US$ 3.6
million contract by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) to supply a
public transit vehicle management system (VMS). Under the contract, Orbital
will install in-vehicle components and control centre software for the South
Lake Tahoe area's Coordinated Transit System that will assist in the vehicle
fleet's on-time performance.
Orbital's VMS will allow
transit providers to track and co-ordinate buses, on-demand vehicles, ski and
casino shuttles, and other mass transit vehicles, allowing riders to book rides
from one of the many dedicated telephones or kiosks to be placed around South
Lake Tahoe. The system will also enable passengers to know exactly when the
next vehicle will arrive, helping to improve customer satisfaction and vehicle
reliability. The TRPA partners, City of South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County,
Douglas County, Heavenly, Harvey's/Harrah's, Caesars Tahoe, Horizon Hotel and
Casino, and Lakeside Inn and Casino, and the Tahoe Transportation District,
will be able to offer convenient private and public transportation options
under one seamless system.
Orbital's Mobile Data Terminal (SmartMDT)
will be installed in each transit vehicle to transmit the vehicle's location
and relay text messages between the driver and dispatch. Orbital TMS will also
install its ORBCAD-NT Computer Aided Dispatch and Automatic Vehicle Location
(CAD/AVL) software system, integrated with a sophisticated scheduling system
and traveller information system, to provide dynamic real-time service to the
riding public.
NASA Selects Teams for Development of
Next-Generation Ion Engine and Advanced Technology
(26 June 2002) NASA's Office
of Space Science has announced the selection of a team for the development of
an advanced ion propulsion system - an alternative to conventional chemical
propulsion that could revolutionise the way we send science missions into the
solar system. A second team was selected to develop advanced ion optics, which
are critical components of ion engines.
The agency's
Glenn Research Center in Cleveland was selected to lead development of the NASA
Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) system, which will use xenon gas and
electrical power to drive future spacecraft. Additionally, a team led by Boeing
Electron Dynamic Devices Inc of Torrance, California was selected to pursue
development, fabrication and testing of carbon-based ion optics, critical
components of high-power ion thrusters that have traditionally limited thruster
lifetime.
The NEXT Project is a proposed two-part endeavour. The first
phase is a one-year effort to design, build and test initial versions of ion
thrusters, propellant feed systems and power processing units, which convert
solar array power into forms useful for the ion engine. At the end of Phase 1,
NASA may exercise a Phase 2 option to complete hardware development and
integrate components into a full-scale system.
The total potential
value of the Glenn award over the next three and one-half years is
approximately US$ 21 million. The total value of the Boeing team award is
approximately US$ 4 million. Total NASA funding for NEXT system development
activities is approximately US$ 27 million.
An ion thruster converts
electrical power and xenon gas into a high-velocity flow of positively charged
ions. Metal grids that exert an electrostatic force accelerate these ions, much
the same way bits of lint are pulled to a statically charged comb, but with a
dramatically different effect. The accelerated ions leave the thruster at
speeds of up to 143,000 km/hr, propelling the spacecraft forward. The result:
fuel efficiency that exceeds conventional chemical engines by as much as a
factor of 10.
The new ion thruster development program builds on the
success of the Deep Space 1 mission, a NASA probe launched in 1998 to validate
advanced flight technologies. Deep Space 1 was powered by an ion thruster just
30 cm in diameter, which accelerated the spacecraft to a velocity of 12,700
km/hr over a 20-month period.
Deep Space 1 made history during its
close fly-by of Comet Borrelly in September 2001, when it returned the clearest
images and best scientific data ever gathered about a comet. The success of
Deep Space 1 was a first step in the exploitation of high-power ion propulsion
for a broad class of future space missions, including possible planetary
visits. The NEXT ion engine will be capable of carrying significantly more
payload and have a longer lifetime than the Deep Space 1 ion engine.
The In-Space Propulsion Program seeks to develop advanced propulsion
technologies that can enable or greatly enhance near and mid-term NASA science
missions by significantly reducing cost, mass, and/or travel times.
XCOR EZ-Rocket Performs Touch-and-Go
(25 June 2002) XCOR
Aerospace’s rocket engine test-bed, the XCOR EZ-Rocket, has successfully
performed a "touch-and-go" manoeuvre at XCOR’s test facility at the Mojave
Airport in Mojave, California. The "touch-and-go" manoeuvre was the first time
ever for a rocket-powered aeroplane.
The EZ-Rocket took
off at 7:40 am and as XCOR test pilot Dick Rutan flew over the Mojave Airport
he shut down both engines in flight. Rutan then brought the plane in to a
power-off landing on runway 30, touched down and rolled along the runway for
several hundred feet. Rutan reignited the engines and took off, completing the
"touch-and-go". The tenth flight of the EZ-Rocket lasted 7 minutes 47 seconds
and reached an altitude of 5,850 ft.
Shuttle Cracks Delay Launches
(24 June 2002) Shuttle
launches are temporarily on hold following the discovery of small cracks in
metal liners which direct fuel flow in the main engine propellant lines on the
space shuttles Atlantis and Discovery. The metal liners fit inside flexible
cryogenic propellant pipes and are designed to help the propellant flow
efficiently past ridged areas in the pipes which make the pipes easily
bendable.
The next shuttle launch, the shuttle Columbia
(STS-107) was scheduled for July 19, but this will now be delayed a few weeks
until a detailed inspection has been carried out. The inspection will require
the removal of the orbiter’s three main engines. So far no cracks have
been reported on Columbia.
Three cracks were discovered in one flow
liner each on Atlantis and Discovery. The cracks measured a few millimetres in
length. No cause has yet been reported.
Endeavour has yet to be
inspected, having only just returned from a trip to the International Space
Station.
The liners themselves are not pressurised and only help
direct the flow of cryogenic propellant. NASA is concerned that debris from the
cracked liners may enter an engine while operational, leading to catastrophic
failure.
NOAA-M Polar Orbiter
Launched: 24 June 2002
Site: Vandenberg Air
Force Base, California
Launcher: Titan 2
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 833 km,
perigee: 833 km: inclination: 98.7° (sun synchronous)
International
Number: 2002-032A
Name: NOAA-M
Owner: NASA and NOAA
Contractor:
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
NOAA-M is a meteorological
satellite and is the latest in the Advanced TIROS-N (ATN) satellite series. It
is the third Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES). A constellation
consists of two POES satellites circling the Earth in nearly north-south
orbits. As the Earth rotates, the entire globe, one swath at a time rolls into
view of the satellites' instruments. The instruments are continually sensing
the entire depth of the atmosphere and report on the following weather
generating factors:
Together these data comprise
irreplaceable inputs to the numerical weather forecast model and are vital to
medium and long-range forecasting. Separately or in combination, the data are
utilised to produce sea-surface temperature maps, ice condition charts, snow
cover analysis, vegetation maps and other forecasting and management tools.
Additionally, NOAA-M carries an enhanced complement of microwave
instruments for the generation of temperature, moisture, surface, and
hydrological products in cloudy regions where visible and infrared instruments
have decreased capability. NOAA-M also carries search and rescue instruments
that are used internationally for locating ships, aircraft, and people in
distress.
Following the launch and a comprehensive on-orbit
verification period that lasts 45 days, NASA will turn operational control of
the satellites over to NOAA. NOAA will operate the satellites from the
Satellite Operations Control Center in Suitland, Maryland, along with the other
environmental satellites that it operates.
Progress-46 (8P)
Launched: 26 June 2002
Site: Baikonur
Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Launcher: Soyuz-U
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 226 km,
perigee: 226 km: inclination: 51.6°
International Number: 2002-033A
Name: Progress M-46 (8P)
Unmanned supply vessel for the International
Space Station, carrying several tons of fuel, equipment and supplies to the
space station. It is scheduled to dock with the ISS early Saturday.
Infineon Introduces Highest Integrated Silicon Tuner for Digital
Satellite Broadcasting
(25 June 2002) Infineon Technologies has introduced
TUA6120, the highest integrated Silicon Tuner for all global satellite
broadcast standards. The chip reduces the number of active external components
to zero and simplifies the design of RF front-end systems to a "plug and play"
solution. TUA6120 further expands Infineon's multimedia portfolio targeted for
set-top-boxes, integrated digital TVs, PC card receivers and other portable
devices.
The Silicon Tuner TUA6120, single-chip
RF-to-Baseband satellite receiver, uses Direct Conversion Architecture and
eliminates the need for image-reject filtering as well as Surface Acoustic Wave
(SAW) filters. Benefits of the single chip Silicon Tuner are the reduced
Bill-of-Material, reduced board space required due to small package size,
suitability for 8-PSK and QPSK modulation, as well as low power consumption
(less than 0.8 W).
The TUA6120 will be available in the very small
leadless package (P-VQFN-48) for tuner module, dual-tuner, on-board, as well as
portable/mobile receiver applications for one-way or two-way satellite systems.
The chip can be used for all applications, such as DVB-S (Digital Video
Broadcasting - Satellite), ISDB (Integrated Services Video Broadcasting, Japan)
and DSS (Direct Satellite Systems, US). The chip also simplifies the equipment
manufacturing process in that a single-chip solution may be purchased and
easily plugged into a module, NIM (Network Interface Module) or on-board
solution.
First silicon of the TUA6120 has been sampled and
engineering samples plus evaluation board will be available by July 2002.
Volume production for the chip is planned for Q4/2002. An Infineon reference
design will be available by September 2002.
Pricing for the TUA6120
will be below Euro 1.8 / US$ 1.65 per unit for high volume
production.
Integral Systems' Skylight Ground Station Generates NASA Earth
Science Products
(24 June 2002) Integral Systems Inc’s Skylight
Direct Broadcast Ground Terminal now automatically produces NASA science
products such as fire detection maps, atmospheric profiles, and volcano
alerts.
Skylight is an end-to-end system that includes
an antenna, data capture hardware and software, data processing to create and
analyse calibrated Earth images, and archiving and distribution of the images
for users. It now incorporates the most recently released NASA science
algorithms for a variety of "Level 2" science data products. The highly
automated system tracks, downlinks, and processes data from numerous remote
sensing spacecraft including the two NASA Earth Observation System (EOS)
satellites, Terra and Aqua. Skylight has always produced and archived
calibrated and geo- corrected images; now, with the very recent release of the
more advanced science algorithms, it also automatically produces fire detection
maps, volcano eruption alerts, atmospheric profiles, and a variety of other
data products. As with all of its data products, Skylight's Level 2 data sets
can be searched for, distributed, and analysed entirely through a sophisticated
web interface. The complete system can be delivered in 60 days from receipt of
order.
Skylight incorporates the powerful and very widely used ERDAS
analysis package so that users can create their own added-value data products.
The product enjoys a multimission capability, so that support for satellites
such as Landsat and Radarsat can be included as options. Archive access is via
a web interface, so that Skylight nodes all over the world can see each others'
archives and share data.
XM Names Joseph Euteneuer as CFO
(27 June 2002) XM Satellite
Radio has named Joseph J Euteneuer, a seasoned telecommunications corporate
financial executive, as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President.
Euteneuer comes to XM after 15 years as a top executive at Comcast, a leading
cable TV operator, where he held a number of financial and operating executive
roles. Euteneuer will oversee all of XM's financial operations as the company
continues to expand its service.
Euteneuer was a top
executive at Comcast, a leading cable operator with more than 8.5 million
subscribers and majority owner of such content providers as QVC and E!
Entertainment TV. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer of a majority-controlled subsidiary of Comcast,
Broadnet Europe, and prior to that assignment served as Comcast Corporation's
Corporate Controller. During his tenure, Comcast subscribers grew from 1.3
million in 1988 to 8.5 million in 2001 and revenue grew from US$ 500 million in
1988 to US$ 9.7 billion in 2001.
