6 January 2002
Satcoms
Astrium to Build Amazonas 1
Military
Space
Boeing Satellite
Systems to Procure Launch for UFO F-11 Satellite
EMS
Technologies to Develop AEHF Antenna Subsystems
Science
Orbital to Build Dawn Asteroid Probe
Yohkoh Solar Observatory Probably Lost
Business
Spectrum Astro Opens Tucson Office to Support Electro-Optical
Space Payloads
Products and Services
Quake Global Introduces Low Cost Fixed Site Satellite
Communications Modem
Astrium to Build Amazonas 1
Astrium has been chosen by
Hispasat to build the Amazonas 1 communications satellite for South America.
The satellite, including launch, will cost 240.4 million Euros.
Amazonas 1 will carry 36 Ku band and 27 C band transponders
and will have a lifetime of at least 15 years. It will be located at 61° W
over South America and will provide coverage of the Americas as well of part of
Europe and North Africa.
A control station, at an additional cost of
60 million Euros, will be built in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Boeing Satellite Systems to Procure Launch for UFO F-11
Satellite
Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) has received a contract
modification authorising the procurement of launch services for UFO F-11. The
satellite currently under construction is the 11th in a series of US Navy UHF
Follow-On (UFO) satellites the company has built under a contract originally
awarded in July 1988 and now valued at approximately US$ 2.1 billion.
Following its receipt of the contract modification, BSS has
exercised an option to award the launch of UFO F-11 to International Launch
Services (ILS), the selection of which was announced last year. ILS previously
launched the first 10 UFO spacecraft. UFO F-11 is scheduled to launch in late
2003 aboard an Atlas IIIB launch vehicle.
Boeing's UFO customer is the
Communications Satellite Program Office at the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare
Systems Command (SPAWAR) in San Diego. The UFO satellites replace the Fleet
Satellite Communications and BSS-built Leasat satellites that support the
Navy's global communications network, Navy ships at sea, and a variety of other
US military fixed and mobile terminals.
UFO F-11 will provide
ultra-high frequency (UHF) and enhanced extremely high frequency (EHF)
communications.
EMS Technologies to Develop AEHF Antenna
Subsystems
TRW Inc has selected EMS Technologies Inc for a
contract valued at approximately US$ 22 million over approximately three years
to deliver the Beam Forming Network (BFN) for the first two satellites of the
AEHF (Advanced Extremely High Frequency) Project, the US Department of Defense
next-generation secure communications satellite constellation.
The BFN is a major component of the nuller subsystem, which
provides anti-jam capabilities, a key function of the AEHF network that enables
all branches of the US military to communicate in real time around the globe.
The Air Force has expressed interest in purchasing three or more payloads to
complete the constellation.
Orbital to Build Dawn Asteroid Probe
Orbital Sciences Corporation
has been selected to develop and build the Dawn probe, a lower-cost
interplanetary probes is scheduled for launch in 2006 on a nine-year voyage to
orbit the solar system's two largest asteroids, Ceres and Vesta as part of
NASA's Discovery program.
Under an US$ 80 million
contract to JPL, Orbital will design, manufacture, integrate and test the Dawn
spacecraft and support its launch and flight operations.
The Dawn
spacecraft will draw on the design heritage and operational experience from
Orbital's LEOStar low-orbit satellites and the company's StarBus
geosynchronous-orbit platforms. It also will incorporate JPL's solar-electric
(ion) propulsion system and deep-space communications link. The spacecraft will
weigh about 1,245 kg at launch and will generate approximately 8 kW of solar
power at Earth's distance from the Sun. The Dawn spacecraft's core structure
will measure about 2 m high, while its solar arrays will span almost 21 m in
length.
Dawn is scheduled for a mid-2006 launch by a Boeing Delta
rocket, beginning its nine-year journey through the asteroid belt during which
it will rendezvous with Vesta (in 2010) and Ceres (in 2014), orbiting from as
high as 800 km to as low as 100 km above their surfaces.
Dawn's
principal investigator, Dr Russell of UCLA, will lead a government/industry
team consisting of JPL, Orbital, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Germany's
DLR space agency, the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory and
the Institute for Space Astrophysics in Rome in carrying out the
mission.
Yohkoh Solar Observatory Probably Lost
Japan's Yohkoh solar
observatory satellite has been spinning out of control since December 14 when a
freak set of circumstances during an eclipse when the spacecraft lost sun lock.
The situation may well not be recoverable.
During a
solar eclipse on 14 December, Yohkoh lost its lock with the sun, placed itself
in safe mode and began to slowly rotate. Unfortunately, this happened when the
spacecraft was out of contact with its ground controllers who were consequently
unable to assess the rate of roll and to take remedial action. As the
spacecraft rolled its solar arrays were no longer able to top up its batteries
which discharged. At this point the spacecraft lost attitude control.
Ground controllers have now re-established contact with the satellite and have
closed down all of the observatory's instruments to conserve power. As the
spacecraft rotates, currently at about one revolution per minute, its solar
arrays periodically receive illumination from the sun and the ground
controllers are hoping that this will generate enough electrical power to
slowly recharge the on-board batteries. Once this has been achieved the
controllers will attempt to stop the spacecraft tumbling and will then try to
re-acquire sun lock, but it is far from clear whether this will be
achievable.
Spectrum Astro Opens Tucson Office to Support Electro-Optical
Space Payloads
Spectrum Astro has opened a new office in Tucson,
Arizona called the Electro-Optical Payload and Laser Center of Excellence
(EOPLACE). The office directly supports Spectrum Astro's prime contracting
efforts in programs like the Space Based Infrared System Low (SBIRS Low) and
other complex electro-optical payload programs with additional emphasis on
missile defence scenarios. Devon Crowe, a veteran of ballistic missile defence
technology research, will run the new office.
Located
near the University of Arizona's Optical Sciences Center, the office provides
Spectrum Astro with Domain Knowledge in EO Systems, Optics, Gimbals, Focal
Planes, Signal Processing, Backgrounds, Image Processing and Cryogenics
necessary for the company to lead, design, analyse, manage and direct all
aspects of large multi-company teams working on complex electro-optical payload
programs.
Mr Crowe brings 30 years of experience to Spectrum Astro.
Previously he was Director of Technology for Ballistic Missile Defense at
Raytheon Missile Systems. At Raytheon, he was also the Integrated Product Team
Leader for the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle Sensor. Previous to his work at
Raytheon, Mr Crowe was a Research Professor at the University of Arizona's
Optical Sciences Center where he was Principal Investigator on numerous
programs including the Naval Research Laboratory Revolutionary Imaging
Technology project. Formerly, he was Associate Director of the Georgia Tech
Research Institute and also held several prior positions in industry. He is a
Fellow of the Optical Society of America and has authored over 150 works
including two books.
Quake Global Introduces Low Cost Fixed Site Satellite
Communications Modem
Quake Global Inc has introduced the Q1200 compact
Orbcomm modem for remote monitoring and control of fixed site applications. The
Q1200 is priced under US$ 200.
The Q1200 modem operates
over the Orbcomm two-way satellite communications network. Low power
consumption modes offer additional flexibility for remote applications.
The Q1200 provides two serial ports for communication with the host
application. One serial port fully supports the Orbcomm Serial Interface
Specification, and the second port can be custom programmed to support
application specific serial communications and used as a monitoring port.
The Q1200 was developed to address frequent industry requests for a low
cost, fixed site modem for applications such as pipeline monitoring, tank level
reporting, environmental reporting, utility usage, and other sensor monitoring.
The product's features include: a small, low profile footprint, PC-based
configuration tools, over-the-air programming, global two-way communications,
and low power mode availability.
