13 July 2003
Satcoms
BySky to Provide Two-Way Broadband Services in Belgium and
Netherlands
Netsystem Signs Additional
Transponder On Astra 19.2° East
Earth
Observation
Imaging Vineyards from Space Will Benefit Europe's
Wines
Navigation
Galileo: Contracts for the First Satellites
Manned
Space
Space Station Replacement Battery Contract Awarded
Launches
Mars Exploration Rover B (Opportunity)
Launch Schedule
Business
EMS Technologies to Sell Montreal Commercial Space Division
Orbital Closes
Two Major Financing Transactions
Products and Services
Motorola Unveils Accurate GPS Timing Module to Offer Precision
Timing
Stratos
Adds 5th Satellite for Leased Inmarsat Services in Asia-Pacific
Region
People
EMS Technologies Appoints Alan L Haase as Senior VP for
Space & Technology
BySky to Provide Two-Way Broadband Services in Belgium and
Netherlands
(7 July
2003) BySky, a satellite service provider based in Ruinen, The Netherlands, has
signed a volume reseller agreement with Satlynx to deliver two-way broadband
satellite services to SMEs, Public and Educational Sectors in Belgium and The
Netherlands.
BySky already provides two-way Internet
high-speed connections across The Netherlands. The service is independent of
any terrestrial infrastructure. It is also very easy to install and deploy even
in the most remote locations.
The contract with Satlynx enables BySky
to provide high quality, two-way broadband services, such as broadband internet
connectivity, to SMEs and public entities located in geographically dispersed
environments.
(source: Satlynx)
Netsystem Signs Additional Transponder On Astra 19.2° East
(10 July 2003) Italy's
leading Internet via Satellite provider to expand service following contract
with Telecom Italia
Netsystem and SES Astra have entered
into a new long-term agreement for the use of a second transponder on the
Astra
satellite system at 19.2° E. This follows a separate agreement
between Netsystem and Telecom Italia to offer residential satellite Internet
services in Italy under the Telecom Italia brandname "AliceSat".
According to the latest Astra Satellite Monitor, some 1.4 million households in
Italy already receive services from Astra. At the same time, the overall
Italian Internet audience grew by 47% to reach 9 million households. This
represents an Internet growth rate double that of the European average.
Netsystem is Italy's leading Internet via Satellite provider. Founded in
2000 by Arturo Artom, Netsystem successfully introduced ADSL via satellite into
the Italian market, a simple and user-friendly technology that allows customers
to enjoy high speed Internet even in those areas non-reached by the terrestrial
connections. Netsystem's industrial and strategic partner is SES Astra,
Europe's leading Direct-to Home satellite service provider. Having gained tens
of thousands of retail customers all over Italy and across Europe in a few
months, Netsystem launched in mid-2002 its wholesale offer, which consists in a
turn-key solution that allows the local Telco operator to reach all the
customers in its market area: in December 2002, Telecom Italia, the former
Italian monopolist, announced a wholesale contract with Netsystem, that allows
Telecom to override the digital divide in Italy by covering 100% of the
country. In May 2003, following the Netsystem contract, Telecom Italia launched
its new "Alice SAT" offer.
(source: SES Astra)
Imaging
Vineyards from Space
Will Benefit Europe's Wines
(7 July 2003) Space data are set to become an added
ingredient in future European wines. ESA is contributing Earth observation data
and expertise to a European Commission-backed project called Bacchus.
The aim is to chart the continent's vineyards in
unprecedented detail, and provide vine growers with information tools to
improve production management and guarantee grape quality.
From
Bordeaux to Frascati, there is good reason why wines are always known for their
home region. As any connoisseur will explain, a grape's distinctive flavour is
derived from localised characteristics such as soil type, microclimate,
altitude and the slope of the ground. So wine-growing regions (and sub-regions
within them) are legally demarcated as an assurance of quality - known as
Controlled Origin Denominations (Appellation d'Origine in France, Denominazione
d'Origine Controllata in Italy).
Europe is the most important wine
producer in the world, and the Common Market Organisation for Wine (CMO)
requires all wine-producing EU states to keep a register of vine production.
However there is no standardised way of doing this: it is variously - and
painstakingly - done by a combination of fieldwork, vine producer interviews
and photo-interpretation of aerial photography.
In an attempt to
create a more standardised alternative, the part-EC-funded Bacchus consortium
has been started by some 14 public and private bodies from four wine-producing
countries: Italy, France, Spain and Portugal.
In Spain and Portugal
the users are governmental organisations involved in applying EC policy, while
in France and Italy users belong to the wine production sector. The French
GeoDASEA offers technical support to grape producers at a regional level. The
Italian users are consortia of the Controlled Origin Denomination areas for
Prosecco and Frascati, and the last user is a private French organisation which
federates 2200 wine co-operatives.
The intention behind Bacchus is to
use georeferenced aerial and satellite images to create a specialised
geographical information system (GIS) tool for use in vine production. As well
as enabling improved record keeping and statistics, this GIS tool will also
help with land management. All relevant data on any given wine-growing region -
vine inventories, administrative boundaries, slope angle relative to the Sun -
can be made integrated into GIS and made easily accessible to vineyard
managers. Meteorological data can also be added to the system.
For
improved vineyard management, all these distinct data sets can be digitally
combined together - a process like overlaying maps on top of one another - to
obtain new and useful information, such as locating optimal areas for
particular vine types, or where best to expand a given Controlled Origin
Denomination's boundaries, or conversely identifying the least productive land
so it can be grubbed up.
French research institute Cemagref has the
demanding role of developing pattern recognition technology for the automatic
recognition of vineyards within satellite or aerial images.
The
Bacchus project began earlier this year with a survey of pilot sites, including
Italy's Frascati vineyards, where vines have been cultivated since Roman times
- now home to ESA's Earth Observation centre ESRIN. The sites are being
regularly re-imaged to acquire data on how vineyards develop through the
growing season.
High-resolution multispectral satellite images of up
to 0.65 m resolution are being acquired, as well as aerial photographs at
higher resolution still - simulating next generation Earth Observation
satellite data soon to become available. The aerial cameras are fitted with GPS
so their photos can be precisely geo-referenced for integration within GIS
systems.
The Frascati Controlled Origin Denomination consortium
represents some 700 grape producers and 30 wine makers in the area.
For ESA the Bacchus project represents the agency's first involvement in the
emerging precision farming area, using Earth Observation data to improve
agricultural efficiency.
(source: ESA)
Galileo: Contracts for the First Satellites
(11 July 2003) The
contracts for the first Galileo satellites were signed on Friday 11 July at
ESTEC, the European Space Agency’s research and technology centre.
The contracts are for two experimental satellites,
forerunners of the system’s in-orbit validation phase with one to be
launched during the second quarter of 2005, to secure the frequencies reserved
for the Galileo system with the International Telecommunications Union; the
signals have to be sent by June 2006 at the latest in order to retain the
priority allocated when the frequencies were applied for.
One
contract, worth Euro 27.9 million, has been awarded to Surrey Space Technology
Limited (SSTL). The main task of this test satellite, which will have a mass on
lift-off of 400 kg, is to transmit the Galileo signals from one of the orbits
to be used by the constellation.
This demonstrator satellite, called
the "Galileo System Test Bed v2A (GSTB-v2A)", will provide the first Galileo
navigation signal from space, measure the radiation environment in the proposed
Galileo orbit and assist with international radio regulation issues. Using
GSTB-v2A, to be launched into a 23,616 km circular 56° inclination medium
Earth orbit, ESA will be able to obtain an early experimental signal for the
demonstration of Galileo technology and have an opportunity to test key
European technologies in the harsh space environment that the operational
Galileo satellites will encounter. The results from the GSTB-v2A mission will
be taken into account in the follow-on projects that will develop the full
Galileo constellation of 30 satellites. Having an in-orbit test bed satellite
will greatly reduce the technical risks in the development of the full
constellation.
In order to minimise risks of delays, launch failure,
etc. a contract to build another test satellite has also been placed with the
consortium Galileo Industries. This contract is worth Euro 72.3 million.
This satellite, which will have a mass of 525 kg on lift-off, will be more
representative of the four to be used to validate the Galileo system in orbit.
With a payload very similar to that of the satellites that will form the
complete constellation, it will serve to validate all the technologies to be
flown. It might also be used in the system validation phase itself.
Both satellites are expected to be launched by Starsem, the company which
markets the Soyuz launcher from Baikonur.
The Galileo system will be
built around 30 satellites (27 operational and three in reserve) stationed on
three circular medium-Earth orbits at an altitude of 23,616 km and inclined at
56° to the equator. This configuration will provide excellent coverage of
the entire planet. Two Galileo centres will be set up in Europe to control
satellite operations and manage the navigation system.
(source: ESA,
Surrey Satellite Technology)
Space
Station Replacement
Battery Contract Awarded
(11 July 2003) NASA has awarded a contract to The
Boeing Company, Houston, for the procurement of 40 International Space Station
replacement battery units. The contract facilitates the fabrication, assembly,
testing and delivery of these battery units in advance for the replacement of
on-orbit batteries.
Each of four power element truss
structures on the Space Station, P6, P4, S4, and S6, is designed with 12
batteries that store power generated by solar arrays and provide 22 kilowatts
of power. The batteries, which are one meter wide, 94 cm long and 48 cm high,
are designed to last for about six-and-a-half years and can be replaced while
in orbit. Boeing is presently under contract to deliver replacement batteries
for the P6 truss. This new contract requires the purchase of replacement
batteries for the P4, S4 and S6 elements, with an additional four batteries as
spares.
Based on the current life of the batteries and baseline launch
dates, the batteries on P4, S4 and S6 will need to be replaced between 2009 and
2011. P6's first replacement set of batteries is currently in production. A
second set of replacement batteries will not be required before 2013.
The firm-fixed-price contract, valued at US$ 145 million, covers work from
February 20, 2003, through September 30, 2010. A Boeing subcontractor, Space
Systems/Loral (SS/L), will perform the fabrication and assembly work under a
US$ 103 million contract.
SS/L's seven-year contract with Boeing NASA
Systems calls for the delivery of 40 battery Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs),
in addition to the 21 ISS battery ORUs that SS/L is currently on contract to
deliver to Boeing over the next two years. The initial delivery of production
units for this contract will be early 2006 with required lead-time for
manufacture, assembly and test.
SS/L's advanced nickel-hydrogen
batteries are used to store electrical energy for use during the 16 solar
eclipse periods that the ISS encounters during its daily orbits around the
earth. The eclipses, which occur about every 90 minutes, can require the ISS to
run on battery power for upwards of 35 minutes continuously.
Since
1994, SS/L has manufactured more than 50 batteries for the final on-orbit
configuration of the Space Station. SS/L's first batteries were carried to the
Space Station on November 30, 2000, aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor.
As the prime contractor for the ISS, Boeing is responsible for design,
development, construction and integration of the ISS and assisting NASA in
operating the orbital outpost. Boeing built all of the major US elements. In
addition, Boeing oversees thousands of subcontractors around the globe and
works with NASA and 16 international partners on the project.
(source:
NASA, Loral Space and Communications, Boeing)
Mars Exploration Rover B (Opportunity)
Launched: 8 July 2003
Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Launcher: Delta 2
Orbit: interplanetary trajectory to Mars
International Number:
2003-032A
Name: Mars Explorer Rover B (Opportunity)
Owner: NASA
Contractor: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
This is the second of two
identical Martian rovers that NASA has sent to Mars over the last month. It is
scheduled to reach Mars on 25 January 2004 when it will touch down on Meridiani
Planum, 2 degrees south of the Martian equator. This region of Mars has a high
concentration of grey haematite, a mineral which normally forms in the presence
of liquid water on Earth.
Following re-entry through the Martian
atmosphere, the lander will be slowed by a parachute and will be protected
during landing by a giant air bag. After coming to rest the air bag will
deflate, the lander will right itself and protective panels will deploy,
releasing the rover.
The rover will have a primary mission lasting at
least three months on the Martian surface during which time it will travel
several hundred metres across the surface.
Remote sensing instruments
will be mounted on a rover mast including high-resolution colour stereo
panoramic cameras and an infrared spectrometer for determining the mineralogy
of rocks and soils. When interesting scientific targets are identified, the
rover will drive over to them and perform detailed investigations with
instruments mounted on its robotic arm.
Rover instruments include a
microscopic imager, to see micron-size particles and textures; an
alpha-particle/x-ray spectrometer, for measuring elemental composition; and a
Moessbauer spectrometer for determining the mineralogy of iron bearing rocks.
Each rover will carry a rock abrasion tool, the equivalent of a geologist's
rock hammer, to remove the weathered surfaces from rocks and analyse their
interior.
EMS Technologies to Sell Montreal Commercial Space
Division
(11 July
2003) EMS Technologies Inc has announced that its board of directors has
approved a formal plan to sell the Company's commercial space division, based
in Montreal.
Alfred G Hansen, president and chief
executive officer, commented, "With world-class facilities, and outstanding
technical ability in antennas and power components, our Space &
Technology/Montreal division has long been established as a leading supplier to
the commercial space industry. This division has played a key role in a long
list of successful programs, including Intelsat, Radarsat, ANIK, and
International Space Station.
"However like all competitors in the
space industry, the financial performance of our Montreal division has been
volatile, and has been significantly affected by the current period of slow
orders activity. While it is inevitable that current satellites will someday
need to be replaced and new services will spur demand for more satellites, the
timing of this future business is uncertain.
"Running the Montreal
division during this period has required considerable investment of
management's time and energy, as well as the Company's capital. At the same
time, our four other main divisions - Space and Technology/Atlanta, LXE, EMS
Wireless and Satcom - have experienced a period of vigorous, profitable
activity, with new opportunities presenting themselves practically everyday. We
have concluded that selling our commercial space division would allow the
Company to focus its resources and energies, both now and in the future, toward
capitalising on the considerable momentum that we have in our other
businesses.
"As for the future of the Montreal division, we believe
that its impressive engineering capabilities and superb facilities, its strong
base of annual revenues ($70 million in 2002), and its unique role in Canada's
international space activities should make the division attractive to a larger
participant in the commercial space business.
"To support our sales
efforts and to manage the transition process, we have assembled strong teams
both at Montreal and at EMS corporate. We will be working diligently to
conclude the sales process within a year, and we have retained Needham &
Company to serve as investment banker on this transaction.
"The only
part of our Montreal operations that we expect to retain rather than sell is
the Satellite Networks (SatNet) division. This startup operation is not yet
material to the Company's financial statements, but we believe it could make a
major contribution in the future. SatNet's hubs and terminals are based on the
industry-standard DVB-RCS architecture that EMS helped develop. The SatNet
initiative will also support the development of broadband capabilities in our
other businesses."
As a result of this decision, the Company expects
that in the third quarter of 2003 it will recognise a charge to discontinued
operations of approximately US$ 20 million for the loss anticipated upon
disposal of the Space and Technology/Montreal division. This charge is based on
management's preliminary estimate of the fair value of the assets held for
sale, as well as the opinion of management and its advisors concerning a
reasonable price under current market conditions. The actual charge to be
recognised may vary from this estimate depending upon the results of further
analysis. After recording this charge, the net assets held for sale would be
approximately US$ 34 million. There could be additional charges in the future
if it became clear that the Company would not be able to realise at least US$
34 million in net proceeds from the sale of the Space and Technology/Montreal
division.
(source: EMS Technologies)
Orbital
Closes Two Major
Financing Transactions
(10 July 2003) Orbital Sciences Corporation has closed
two financing transactions to replace the company's existing debt structure.
The new arrangements provide Orbital with lower interest rates, longer-term
maturities, improved terms and increased borrowing availability.
In the first transaction, Orbital issued US$ 135 million of
new 9% Senior Notes due 2011, the net proceeds of which will be used, together
with cash on hand, to repurchase and redeem Orbital's existing US$ 135 million
12% of second priority secured notes due 2006.
Orbital also closed a
new four-year, US$ 50 million revolving credit facility with Bank of America
serving as the Lead Arranger in the syndicated line of credit. The Bank of
America credit facility replaces the company's former US$ 35 million revolving
line of credit with Wells Fargo/Foothill Capital Corporation.
The
company estimates that annual interest expense, including amortisation of debt
discount and deferred financing costs, will be reduced by over 40%, or more
than US$ 10 million per year, as a result of the new debt structure.
Following the retirement of Orbital's 12% second priority secured notes and
replacement of the company's former revolving line of credit, during the third
quarter of 2003 the company expects to record a debt extinguishment charge of
approximately US$ 39 million, including approximately US$ 32 million of
non-cash charges to write off unamortised debt discount and deferred financing
costs.
(source: Orbital Sciences)
Motorola Unveils Accurate GPS Timing Module to Offer Precision
Timing
(9 July
2003) Motorola Inc, the inventor of the low-cost, high performance Global
Positioning System (GPS) timing module has announced the availability of the
M12+ Timing Oncore. The new GPS timing module surpasses industry Six Sigma
averages in accuracy by utilising the latest timing algorithms developed by
Motorola.
Banks, cellular network operators and airports
are a few examples of the businesses that rely on accurate GPS timing for a
variety of applications. Accurate GPS timing provides a fundamental building
block needed to co-ordinate data and information flow securely through various
systems, on a daily basis. By tagging data packets with a time and date stamp,
it's transmission time and hence integrity can be monitored.
Motorola's M12+ Timing Oncore enables industries that rely on GPS disciplined
timing to have increased confidence in the accuracy and stability of their
application. The product can be used in a system to monitor the accuracy of a
clock over a certain length of time to become familiar with its patterns. By
doing so, the customers' application can then readjust, reset and compensate
for any potential timing errors that may occur within the clock. This is known
as "disciplining" and Motorola's M12+ Oncore's low noise performance enables
fast and accurate disciplining to occur.
The low noise performance of
2 NanoSeconds (2nS) One Sigma holds tangible benefits in a clock disciplining
application. The time taken to reach accuracy is substantially reduced, and
'held over' time extended, which allows the clock to 'free run' without support
or maintenance which can provide better system performance while reducing
costs.
Motorola's M12+ Timing Oncore can be easily integrated into a
variety of applications to improve performance. For example, within Global
System for Mobile Communication (GSM), the M12+ Timing Oncore enables higher
accuracy position measurements from the LMU (Location Measurement Unit)
overlay. Within any cellular system, real time synchronisation establishes
faster handovers for speech and data services.
Features and Benefits
of Motorola's M12+ Timing Oncore
Exceptional stability: The low noise
performance of 2 NanoSeconds (2nS) represents advancement in GPS technology,
offering our customers the ability to reduce timing jitter to less than two
thousandths of a millionth of a second. Specifically, the product offers 1
Pulse per Second (PPS) performance of 2nS One Sigma noise average and 12nS Six
Sigma while in position hold mode. The product is ideal for quickly
disciplining quartz, rubidium and caesium clocks in a variety of
applications.
Fault Detection: Motorola's Timing Receiver Autonomous
Integrity Monitoring (T-RAIM) software can detect and isolate faulty satellites
providing base stations with an enhanced level of timing solution
confidence.
Low Power Consumption: Consuming only 185mW at 3v while
simultaneously tracking up to 12 satellites, the M12+ Timing Oncore also
features software controlled 1 or 100 PPS output.
Reduced Installation
Costs: The low noise performance, made possible by an Advanced Clock
Granularity message, enables the M12+ Timing Oncore to significantly reduce the
time required for clock disciplining. The automatic site survey feature also
eliminates the need for expensive and time-consuming land surveying.
Available for production now, the M12+ Timing Oncore is fully supported with
Windows driver software, hardware evaluation kits and antennas.
The
Motorola's M12+ Oncore measures 40 mm x 60 mm x 10 mm and is capable of
supporting 3v and 5v antennas. Overall system level performance is maximised
when used with the Motorola Timing 2000 antenna.
(source:
Motorola)
Stratos Adds 5th Satellite for Leased Inmarsat Services in
Asia-Pacific Region
(8 July 2003) Stratos will provide Inmarsat leased
services through a 5th satellite located at 143.5° E with immediate effect.
This satellite will enable global voice and data communication services to all
of Asia-Pacific, extending as far east as India and as far west as the tip of
Alaska. The addition of this satellite now means that Stratos is the only Land
Earth Station Operator (LESO) with access to the complete Inmarsat lease
satellite constellation.
Stratos will make available on
143.5° E its suite of Inmarsat-B leased services and value-added
technologies. 143.5° E is a Generation 2 satellite and will provide
approximately 50 dedicated channels that can be used for Inmarsat-B CN-17,
128K, and point-to-multipoint services. The satellite will be down linked to
Stratos' Auckland Land Earth Station (LES) in New Zealand.
In a time
of increased satellite communications traffic globally, leased channels, which
provide guaranteed bandwidth availability, are becoming increasingly important,
particularly to the military. Stratos anticipates 143.5° E will be of
significant importance to satellite users in the covered region, including but
not limited to government and military organisations.
Stratos is
currently the number one provider of leased services globally, and major
customers of these services include the US Navy and Coast Guard, the Canadian
Navy and Department of National Defence, the UK Ministry of Defence, the
Australian Defence Force, and the New Zealand Defence Force.
(source:
Stratos Global Corporation)
EMS
Technologies Appoints
Alan L Haase as Senior VP for Space & Technology
(8 July 2003) EMS Technologies Inc has
announced the appointment of Alan L Haase as senior vice president and general
manager for EMS Space and Technology/Montreal Division, effective July 28,
2003.
Haase will report directly to Al Hansen, president
and CEO, and will be responsible for leading the operations of the Montreal
space organisation, which supplies advanced products and systems for commercial
space applications.
EMS also is announcing that Gerald S Bush,
formerly president and general manager, Space and Technology Group, will now
assume a new executive position as special assistant to the CEO. More details
on Mr Bush's responsibilities will be announced at a later date.
Donald F Osborne, senior vice president and general manager, Satellite
Networks, is also reporting directly to Al Hansen, and will continue to lead
EMS Satellite Networks, a division formed from Space and Technology/Montreal in
September 2002 to leverage EMS's leadership role in developing the DVB-RCS hub
and terminal product line.
Haase joins EMS as a senior executive with
more than 20 years experience in business development, sales and operations for
both domestic and international technology companies. Most recently, he served
as president and CEO as well as chief strategy officer for SkyCross Inc, a
Melbourne, Florida-based wireless RF supplier for the wireless handset,
wireless data and telematics markets. At SkyCross, Mr Haase led the company's
strategy development and venture capital funding efforts.
Prior to
SkyCross, Haase was group president of Communication Products at Andrew Corp,
where he led seven global business units and manufacturing operation in five
countries representing annual sales of more than US$ 300 million. Haase spent
10 years at Ericsson Inc, where he served in key positions such as vice
president of Wireless Professional Services and director of GSM Strategic
Sales, Marketing and Technical Support. He also directed Ericsson's then-new
PCS business in Canada. Haase has an MBA from the University of Texas at
Dallas, and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist
University.
(source: EMS Technologies)
