5 May 2002
Satcoms
American Tower Corporation Chooses DirecWay for Network Monitoring
and Control
Nera to
Develop Next Generation Inmarsat Satellite Terminals
Earth
Observation
RSI Awarded Cdn$
738,500 in Agriculture-Related Projects
Navigation
Orbital Wins US$ 28 Million Transportation Management
Contract
Military
Space
Teledyne
Solutions Wins Space and Missile Defense Command Contract
Launch
Services
ESA and CNES Sign
Contract on CSG
NASA Awards Shuttle Main Engine Contract To Boeing Rocketdyne
NASA Completes First
Milestone Review for SLI
SpaceDev Awarded USAF Contract for Space Vehicle
Propulsion Module
Launches
Spot 5, Idéfix
Aqua EOS-PM (Earth Observing System Aqua
Observatory)
Business
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Cuts Workforce
Products and Services
T-DSL High Speed Internet Launched in Germany
People
Craig Jorgens Appointed President of ICO Global
Communications
American Tower Corporation Chooses DirecWay for Network Monitoring
and Control
Hughes Network Systems Inc (HNS) has announced a
contract with Boston-based tower operator American Tower Corporation to provide
DirecWay satellite services. The initial phase of the service contract will
equip 500 US-based towers with satellite communications access to be used for
priority monitoring and control (M&C).
Much of
American Tower's existing M&C network was created over time by applying
various solutions ranging from high cost dial-up circuits to cellular phones.
From a cost and security standpoint, this arrangement didn't have the
reliability ATC wanted for its monitoring systems. American Tower will use
DirecWay to get real-time connectivity that is cost-effective, reliable, and
available everywhere throughout the US.
With the DirecWay
infrastructure in place, network expansion to additional sites can be
accomplished in one easy step. Furthermore, the DirecWay overlay readily
supports the delivery of value-added broadband services that may be offered in
the future by American Tower's service provider tenants, such as high-speed
2.5G/3G wireless data applications.
The initial phase of the American
Tower rollout will be completed by autumn of this year.
Nera to Develop Next Generation Inmarsat Satellite
Terminals
Inmarsat has awarded Nera ASA a contract to develop
user terminals for the next generation Inmarsat service for mobile satellite
communication (Broadband Global Area Network, BGAN). The contract value is
approx. US$ 15 million.
The Inmarsat contract comprises
design, development and production of advanced high data rate terminals
weighing 800-900 grams, for the new Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network
(BGAN) service planned for 2004. The new terminals will meet customers' demands
for increased data capacity at speeds of up to 422/110 kb/s and ease of
use.
The Inmarsat-4 satellites are planned for launch in 2003/2004 and
the BGAN network will be compatible with terrestrial UMTS/IMT-2000 (3G)
networks. In the first round, Nera will focus on developing the smallest type
of terminals for the BGAN system, known as the pocket solution. The terminal
will support high speed communication (voice, data and images) over satellite
with an asymmetrical transfer capacity of up to 422/110 kb/s.
RSI Awarded Cdn$ 738,500 in Agriculture-Related
Projects
Radarsat International (RSI) has been awarded two
agriculture-related contracts - the first by the World Bank, and the second by
the European Space Agency (ESA) - totalling Cdn$ 738,500.
The World Bank contract requires RSI to assess the
advantages of Earth-observation satellite data as a tool for verifying the
occurrence of extreme weather events. The project focuses on the capabilities
of Radarsat-1 and optical satellite data for use as effective tools for
detecting drought, flood and frost events in Mexico, Nicaragua, Morocco,
Tunisia, Ethiopia and Cambodia.
This information will be used by
re-insurance and risk management companies who require unbiased information for
measuring weather-related damage claims. This project supports the World Bank's
efforts to assess and develop index-based weather insurance programs to
mitigate the socio-economic and food-source effects of natural disasters.
The European Space Agency (ESA) award is a two-year business development
contract that funds the design and development of a crop information system.
This system will use Radarsat-1 and Envisat data, related agronomy information,
and modelling to provide timely and unbiased crop production figures. This
information is used by insurance and re-insurance companies, as well as by
governments and aid organisations, for food supply and security management.
The ESA project will be carried out by a consortium led by Sarmap (of
Switzerland), and in collaboration with RSI (of Canada), Synoptics (of the
Netherlands), and Bolton Associates (of Malaysia).
Orbital Wins US$ 28 Million Transportation Management
Contract
Orbital Sciences Corporation has been selected by
Motorola's Commercial, Government and Industrial Solutions Sector to supply
in-vehicle components and control centre software solutions for the Los Angeles
County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (LACMTA) new Advanced
Transportation Management System (ATMS).
Motorola will
oversee the installation and start-up of an integrated wireless communications
system that will provide real-time information to LACMTA's dispatchers and
system planners. The fleet of "Smart Buses" is expected to begin entering
service in the summer of 2003.
Orbital's Transportation Management
Systems (TMS) division will supply its Mobile Data Terminal (SmartMDT) control
unit for more than 2,400 fixed-route buses and service vehicles. Orbital will
also install its ORBCAD-NT communications and dispatch software system in
LACMTA's Operations Control Center. The ORBCAD-NT system is designed to improve
LACMTA's efficiency in managing and controlling its bus and service vehicle
fleet.
Orbital TMS is the USA's leading supplier of satellite-based
Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) systems for the Intelligent Transportation
Systems (ITS) market. Orbital's AVL systems are used by 55 public transit and
state agency customers in the US and abroad, with units installed, or scheduled
for installation, on approximately 25,000 vehicles.
Teledyne Solutions Wins Space and Missile Defense Command
Contract
Teledyne Solutions Inc has been awarded a multimillion-dollar
contract from the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC). Teledyne
Solutions will provide a broad array of technical services in support of the
Command contract including expertise relating to missiles, optical and radar
sensors, targets, command communications, test and evaluation, lethality,
systems integration, information technology, simulation, and other areas.
Teledyne Solutions will direct a team of more than 40 contractors that
will support missile-defense programs for SMDC, the Army Program Executive
Office for Air and Missile Defense, and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). These
services will be performed under the SMDC Systems Engineering and Technical
Assistance Contract, known as SETAC. The contract performance period is for
three years with two one-year options. It is anticipated that the SMDC will
award approximately US$ 500 million in task orders to the seven SETAC
contractors awarded contracts under this acquisition.
ESA and CNES Sign Contract on CSG
ESA and
CNES have signed a contract on funding to cover the fixed costs of CNES/CGS
facilities at Arianespace’s spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana.
The total amount of these fixed costs over the five years
from 2002 to 2006 is put at 617.4 million Euro.
This contract follows
on from the decision on Guiana Space Centre (CSG) funding taken on 15 November
last year in Edinburgh by the ESA Council meeting at ministerial level, under
which the Agency will cover two-thirds of the fixed costs, 411.6 million Euro.
The other third is being met by CNES out of its budget for national activities,
bringing the overall French contribution to 56% of the total.
Europe's
spaceport at the CSG is a key component of the sector, ensuring that Europe
enjoys independent access to space and helping to optimise the Ariane system's
overall competitiveness, which has been sustained by the efforts of all
partners at Kourou to drive costs down while consolidating the quality of
technical services.
The contract sets out the technical and financial
arrangements for the use of CNES/CSG facilities as defined in the agreement
between the French Government and ESA signed on Thursday 11 April in Paris.
Under the contract, the term "CNES/CSG facilities" means the CNES
facilities at the CSG and those belonging to ESA made available to CNES for the
purposes of carrying out the contract (the downrange stations and the payload
preparation complexes operated by CNES). The contract does not however cover
the Ariane launch sites in French Guiana made available by ESA to
Arianespace.
Arianespace is responsible for meeting the variable
costs, which depend on the number of launches carried out.
NASA Awards Shuttle Main Engine Contract To Boeing
Rocketdyne
NASA has awarded a US$ 1.14 billion contract to the
Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power unit of the Boeing Company for maintenance
and support of the Space Shuttle Main Engine for the next five years.
The contract calls for Rocketdyne to support the Space
Shuttle flight manifest. Support includes on-going flight and test engineering,
as well as engine refurbishment. In addition, the contract requires the
manufacture, assembly, test and delivery of three additional Space Shuttle Main
Engines.
The contract also provides engineering support to both Main
Engine processing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and
Main Engine test
firing at NASA's John C Stennis Space Center, as well as engine design,
manufacturing and engineering management at the Rocketdyne facility.
A
cluster of three Main Engines on each Shuttle provides much of the power needed
to launch into low-Earth orbit. They are the world's only large reusable liquid
rocket engines. After the Shuttle orbiter lands, the engines are checked and
prepared for the next flight. Some components are returned to Rocketdyne for
refurbishment.
NASA Completes First Milestone Review for SLI
The
Space Launch Initiative (SLI), a NASA-wide effort defining the future of human
space flight, has completed its first milestone review - resulting in a
narrower field of potential candidates for the USA's second-generation reusable
space transportation system.
The recent review, called
the Initial Architecture Technology Review, analysed and evaluated competing
second-generation reusable space transportation architectures and technologies
against NASA and commercial mission requirements, as well as safety and cost
goals.
Architecture refers to the complete transportation system
design - that is, the vehicles and their components that fly into space, as
well as the ground operations needed for launch. The transportation system
design includes an Earth-to-orbit reusable launch vehicle (the Space Shuttle is
the first-generation reusable launch vehicle); on-orbit transfer vehicles and
upper stages to put satellites into orbits; mission planning; ground and flight
operations; and support infrastructure, both on orbit and on the ground.
Three contractor architecture teams - The Boeing Company; Lockheed Martin
Corp; and a team including Orbital Sciences Corp and Northrop Grumman -
presented dozens of potential architectures for review. Following the review,
each retained a handful of possible candidates for the USA's next-generation
reusable space launch system.
Another review will be held in November
to further narrow potential space transportation architectures to two or three
choices.
Since propulsion systems require a long lead-time to design,
develop, test and evaluate, propulsion analysis was a chief driver through the
recently completed review activity. Studies indicated that kerosene main
engines have excellent potential to meet government and commercial needs. The
second-generation vehicle will have a two-stage-to-orbit propulsion system
based on engines fuelled by all kerosene, all hydrogen or a combination of
kerosene and hydrogen.
Dependable, long-life engines, along with crew
escape and survival systems, and long-life, lightweight integrated airframes
are among the Space Launch Initiative's highest priorities. Each greatly
impacts the program's bottom line of increased safety, reliability and cost
effectiveness.
SpaceDev Awarded USAF Contract for Space Vehicle Propulsion
Module
SpaceDev
has been awarded Phase I of a contract to develop a Shuttle-compatible
propulsion module for the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL). SpaceDev also expects
to receive an award for Phase II of the contract and will use the project to
further expand the company's product line to satisfy commercial and government
space transportation requirements. The first two phases of the contract are
worth up to US$ 1.6 Million. Total contract value is open-ended.
The
contract was a result of the critical need to develop an innovative, low-cost
propulsion capability that simultaneously addresses NASA Shuttle Hitchhiker
Experiment Launch System (SHELS) safety requirements and the Air Force Space
Test Program (STP) orbit transfer propulsion performance requirements.
SpaceDev's previous work for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) on
SpaceDev's Secondary Payload Orbital Transfer Vehicle (SPOTV) and its orbital
Maneuver and Transfer Vehicle (MTV), combined with this new project for the
AFRL, will give SpaceDev important and unique capabilities in the area of
placing, inspecting and protecting space-based assets.
The SpaceDev
MTV was designed to provide on-orbit manoeuvring and orbit transfers of
customer microsatellites and payloads launched from expendable launch
vehicles.
Spot 5, Idéfix
Launched: 3 May 2002
Site: CSG
Kourou, French Guiana
Launcher: Ariane 42P
International Number:
2002-021A
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 793 km, perigee: 791 km: inclination:
98.7° (sun synchronous)
Name: Spot 5
Owner: CNES
Contractor:
Astrium
International Number: 2002-021B
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 792
km, perigee: 780 km: inclination: 98.7°
Name: Idéfix
Owner:
French AMSAT amateur radio and satellite association
Contractor: French
AMSAT amateur radio and satellite association
Spot 5 is an Earth
observation satellite that was developed jointly by Astrium and CNES at a cost
of 26 millions Euros.
Spot 5 is equipped with two High Geometrical
Resolution cameras enabling it to provide a 2.5-meter resolution across wide
spectral band images. Spot 5 images will cover 60 x 60 km. Spot-5 also carries
a third instrument, a stereoscopic high-resolution camera.
Spot 5 also
carries two payloads: Vegetation 2 for wide-area monitoring of the Earth’s
plant cover, and Doris, an orbital position-determination and location
system.
Ariane Flight 151 also carried the amateur satellite
Idéfix as an auxiliary payload for the French AMSAT amateur radio and
satellite association. Idéfix was installed on the Ariane’s third
stage, where it will remain attached during its orbital life of 25 to 60 days.
Idéfix is an educational payload involving the transmission of digital
telemetry and recorded voice messages. The payload will be activated about 15
days after launch.
Aqua EOS-PM (Earth Observing System Aqua Observatory)
Launched: 4
May 2002
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Launcher: Delta
2
Orbit: LEO, apogee: 669 km, perigee: 660 km: inclination: 98.2°
International Number: 2002-022A
Name: Aqua EOS-PM
Owner: NASA
Contractor: TRW
Aqua is an Earth observation satellite and carries six
instruments to monitor rainfall, snow, sea ice, soil moisture and clouds. It is
based on TRW’s T-300 platform which is designed to provide low-jitter,
precision pointing and longevity for scientific and remote sensing payloads.
Aqua has a design life of 6 years.
Aqua is a joint project between the
United States, Japan and Brazil. The United States provided the spacecraft and
four of Aqua's six scientific instruments. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
provided the Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer and the
Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory provided
the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, and NASA's Langley Research Center
provided the Clouds and the Earth's
Radiant Energy System instrument.
Japan's National Space Development Agency provided the Advanced Microwave
Scanning Radiometer. The Instituto
Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (the
Brazilian Institute for Space Research) provided the Humidity Sounder for
Brazil.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Cuts Workforce
Lockheed Martin Space Systems (LMT), Missiles &
Space Operations, based in Sunnyvale, California has announced that it will cut
its workforce to improve its competitiveness.
Missiles
& Space will implement a workforce reduction of approximately 400 employees
by year-end. The reductions will impact both technical and administrative
positions primarily at the Sunnyvale facilities. The company expects additional
reductions to occur through normal attrition.
T-DSL High Speed Internet Launched in Germany
Deutsche Telekom AG and SES Astra have announced the
commercial launch of the T-DSL via satellite as of May 1st 2002.
The ubiquitous availability of high-speed satellite Internet
throughout Germany via Astra’s satellites at 19.2° E follows the
successful completion of a 6-month pilot phase involving 500 users.
T-DSL via satellite can reach users everywhere in Germany, complementing and
extending the reach of the terrestrial T-DSL offer of Deutsche Telekom AG.
Using an existing Astra satellite dish, equipped with a Universal LNB and a
DVB-compatible PC-Card, users can now enjoy DSL download speeds of up to 768
kb/s via the Astra satellite system. At the same time, consumers can use their
PC to access the entire choice of digital free-to-air channels on Astra
19.2° E.
Deutsche Telekom is offering two different packages for
T-DSL via satellite: The basic package of up to 500 MB download is priced at
19.90 Euro per month. Unlimited downloads are offered at 39.90 Euro per
month.
Craig Jorgens Appointed President of ICO Global
Communications
Former Vodafone-AirTouch executive Craig Jorgens has
been appointed president of ICO Global Communications.
Most recently Craig Jorgens was responsible for wireless investments for the
private equity firm Texas Pacific Group in its San Francisco office. He joined
Texas Pacific from Vodafone-AirTouch where he was Executive Director of Global
Corporate Development. His responsibilities there included the negotiation of
the joint venture with Bell Atlantic and GTE to form Verizon Wireless, and the
representation of AirTouch in its acquisition by Vodafone.
Greg
Clarke, former chief executive officer of ICO, will continue as a Vice
Chairman.
