22 June 2003
Satcoms
Alcatel Space Signs Contract for Star One C1
Satellite
Alcatel
Space to Supply First RASCOM Comsat
Demonstrating DVB-RCS
Interoperability
EMS Satellite Networks and Alcatel Partner to Deliver
"DSL in the Sky"
EMS Technologies Delivers Last of Three Antennas for
Inmarsat-4
HNS Supplies GiTy with Broadband Equipment
HNS to Supply Thuraya Gateway
to TM SAT
Remote Alaskan Community 'Plugged In' to the Internet
SES Astra Procures
Two Satellites from Lockheed Martin
TM SAT Orders DirecWay
Network
Earth
Observation
Alaska Uses QuickBird Satellite Imagery for Fire Response
Canadian Emergency
Preparedness Agency Purchases Ikonos Imagery
Navigation
Galileo Sistemas y Servicios Becomes Full Equity Partner in
Galileo Industries
Science
Webb Spacecraft Science and Operations Centre Contract
Awarded
Manned
Space
Analex Receives New NASA Tasks On Orbital Space Plane
ATV Gets
Go-Ahead
Technology
Aerojet
Successfully Tests RBCC Single Thruster
Alcatel and EADS
Astrium Sign AlphaBus Agreement
Launch
Services
30 Ariane 5
Launchers Ordered
Arianespace and ELV Sign Vega Agreement
Launches
Molniya 3-53
Launch Schedule
Business
Alcatel joins SES
Global and Gilat Satellite Networks in Satlynx
ND SatCom Opens Middle Eastern
Branch
Orbital
Announces Cash Tender Offer
SpaceDev Closes on US$ 1 Million Revolving Credit Facility
Trimble Acquires
Applanix
Products and Services
Envisat Now Available from Radarsat International
People
Galileo Joint
Undertaking Appoints Director
Alcatel Space Signs Contract for Star One C1 Satellite
(17 June 2003) Alcatel
Space has announced the signature of a new US$ 190 million contract with the
Brazilian satellite operator Star One for the construction and the in-orbit
delivery of the telecommunications satellite Star One C1 for Latin America.
The Star One C1 mission and in-orbit positioning has been
modified since the first contract signed last year.
Based on Alcatel
Space Spacebus 3000B3 platform, Star One C1 will be launched by the end of 2005
by Ariane 5 and will be positioned at 65° West. The first satellite in the
C series and fitted with 37 transponders in C and Ku bands, Star One C1 will
replace the Brasilsat B2 satellite in the C band and will provide South America
with high speed Internet and multimedia capacity.
The satellite
financing is in its final negotiation phase.
(source: Alcatel
Space)
Alcatel
Space to Supply First
RASCOM Comsat
(16
June 2003) Alcatel Space has signed a US$ 150 million contract with
RascomStar-QAF, the pan-African satellite service operator, to build and
deliver in orbit the first RASCOM telecommunication satellite dedicated to the
African continent. Alcatel Space will supply both the in-orbit delivered
satellite and its associated ground infrastructure including the mission,
business, and ground control segments.
Under an
agreement with RASCOM, the Regional African Satellite Communication
Organisation, representing the interests of 44 African telecommunications
operators, RascomStar-QAF has the responsibility to implement by 2006 the first
African satellite telecommunication system covering the whole continent. This
satellite will offer RascomStar-QAF the capability to provide fixed voice, data
telecommunications and Internet access as well as broadcasting satellite
services to the whole African continent, although its footprint extends beyond
Africa to include part of Europe and of the Middle East.
Based on the
flight proven Spacebus 3000B3 platform, this high performance, high capacity
satellite will provide a pan-African coverage with multiple spot beams based on
12 Ku and 8 C bands transponders. The system's ground networks will include
gateway Earth stations and low-cost, solar powered rural terminals.
In
1999 Alcatel Space was awarded the RASCOM international bid to establish a
strategic partnership with RASCOM and create a Project company to develop,
finance, build, launch and operate, under an Execution Agreement, a satellite
system located at 2.9° East.
RASCOM, a pan-African
intergovernmental, commercial satellite organisation, has a membership of 44
African countries. To achieve its mission, RASCOM has entered into a strategic
partnership with RascomStar-QAF which has, under an Execution Agreement, the
responsibility to implement the RASCOM telecommunications satellite system
dedicated to the African continent.
RascomStar-QAF is a private
Company registered in Port-Louis Mauritius which through a strategic
partnership with RASCOM is in charge the RASCOM dedicated Telecommunication
satellite System for Africa, offering a wide range of services to the whole
telecommunication community, from public to private operators to TV
Broadcasting Companies and Internet Service Providers.
(source:
Alcatel Space)
Demonstrating DVB-RCS Interoperability
(20 June 2003) EMS Satellite Networks, Nera
Broadband Satellite AS and the Newtec Group have successfully demonstrated
DVB-RCS open standard interoperability of their broadband satellite products.
Each company has completed initial validation of the interoperability of its
DVB-RCS terminal with the other two companies' DVB-RCS hubs.
This is a major milestone for ESA's SatLabs initiative,
establishing the first basis for certification of interoperability for the
DVB-RCS open standard. SatLabs will now work with test-houses to formalise
DVB-RCS interoperability certification based on this work and make it available
to all DVB-RCS manufacturers world-wide.
The European Space Agency's
SatLabs Group is an open industry organisation working for compliance and
interoperability of DVB-RCS systems. The mission of SatLabs is to complement
the DVB-RCS standard with recommendations and guidelines to facilitate DVB-RCS
terminal interoperability, and to provide a mechanism for formal DVB-RCS
interoperability certification.
Interoperability is one of the core
benefits of the DVB-RCS open standard. Until the advent of DVB-RCS, satellite
communications and very small aperture terminal (VSAT) customers had no choice
but to make significant, and often long-term commitments to proprietary systems
for two-way broadband access via satellite. Interoperability will give
customers the choice of purchasing from one or several vendors throughout the
lifetime of their systems, thereby fostering competition among vendors and
accelerating cost efficiencies and performance improvements in DVB-RCS
equipment.
(source: EMS Technologies)
EMS
Satellite Networks and
Alcatel Partner to Deliver "DSL in the Sky"
(19 June 2003) Alcatel Space and EMS Satellite
Networks have signed an agreement supporting the "DSL in the Sky" DVB-RCS
solution proposed by Alcatel Space. This solution provides satellite operators,
telcos and ISPs with DSL-like capabilities enabling the providers to offer
broadband services to consumers and/or SMEs over satellite communication
networks. This agreement expands on the DVB-RCS preliminary co-operation
agreement signed in June 2002.
As a result of this
agreement, EMS Satellite Networks will provide Alcatel Space with its Return
Link Sub-System (RLSS), and its end-user terminals. Alcatel integrates this EMS
equipment into its "DSL in the Sky" solution. Among other key features, the
"DSL in the Sky" solution supports a complete service management suite enabling
service providers to offer broadband access services to end users located
outside landline DSL areas. Alcatel markets this solution through its
world-wide commercial network.
Alcatel has concluded several contracts
with satellite and broadband service providers concurrently with the signing of
this agreement, and deliveries from EMS Satellite Networks to Alcatel under
this agreement that are due over the next few months will help Alcatel fulfil
those contracts.
(source: Alcatel Space)
EMS
Technologies Delivers
Last of Three Antennas for Inmarsat-4
(20 June 2003) EMS Technologies Inc has delivered the
last of three Inmarsat-4 L band Antenna Feeds to Astrium Limited in Portsmouth,
England.
These antenna feed arrays are designed,
manufactured and tested by EMS Technologies for the Inmarsat-4 program. The
Inmarsat-4 antennas are highly complex, Passive Intermodulation (PIM)-free, 120
element, combined transmit/receive L-Band arrays. PIM is a significant
technical issue on any high-power satellite, particularly those that provide
mobile satellite services, and the reduction and elimination of PIM is among
EMS' core competencies.
The Inmarsat-4 Antennas have been designed to
support high-speed (up to 432 kb/s) mobile Internet access, video-on-demand,
video-conferencing, fax and e-mail for companies across the Americas, Europe,
Africa and Asia through the Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN)
program.
EMS' multi-element cup-helix L band antenna feeds are
considered to be one of the most challenging subsystems of the Inmarsat BGAN
program.
(source: EMS Technologies)
HNS
Supplies GiTy with
Broadband Equipment
(19 June 2003) Hughes Network Systems Inc (HNS) has
provided leading Czech telecommunications provider, GiTy, with a DirecWay
broadband satellite network, including a central operations centre (NOC) and
hub.
Currently offering satellite services using HNS'
PES VSAT network hub and remote terminals, GiTy is now able to offer new
DirecWay broadband services to customers throughout the Czech Republic,
Slovakia, and Bulgaria. GiTy will be providing high-speed Internet access and
business video applications such as distance learning and business television
utilising HNS' DW1000 remote satellite terminals. The new NOC enables GiTy to
meet the demands of customers in numerous industries, from government agencies
to healthcare, banking and energy.
HNS has been providing GiTy with
VSAT networking equipment since 1995.
GiTy is the Czech Republic's
leading corporation in the field of telecommunications technologies and
maintains an extensive portfolio of products and highly specialised services.
GiTy provides LAN solutions, data services including satellite-based VSAT
networks, frame relay, fixed wireless access, and Voice over IP (VoIP),
services and operational support, and a variety of network services such as
analysis, testing, monitoring and network control and management.
(source: Hughes Network Systems)
HNS to
Supply Thuraya Gateway
to TM SAT
(18 June
2003) Hughes Network Systems Inc (HNS) has signed an agreement valued at US$ 25
million with TM SAT for the provision of a Thuraya gateway earth station. TM
SAT, a privately owned Russian telecom service provider, holds the sole rights
to distribute and market Thuraya services and products throughout Russia.
This is the first contract resulting from the Letter of
Intent (LOI) entered into last month between satellite-based service provider,
Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company; Russian Satellite Communications
Company (RSCC), the Russian Federation's largest satellite operator; TM SAT;
and HNS.
With a huge satellite footprint over Europe, North and
Central Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, Thuraya's reach covers more
than two billion people, including most of the territory of the Russian
Republic. In a little more than one year of service, Thuraya has won more than
150,000 subscribers, all utilising the small, cellphone-sized Thuraya handset
that combines satellite, GSM cellular and GPS functionality, developed and
manufactured by HNS. Boeing is the prime contractor for the satellite platform,
while HNS supplies the Thuraya Communications Gateway and Network Management
System, in addition to manufacturing Thuraya phones.
Under the terms
of the contract, the Thuraya Communications gateway and satellite earth station
will be installed in Dubna, Russia and will be operated by RSCC on TM SAT's
behalf.
(source: Hughes Network Systems)
Remote
Alaskan Community
'Plugged In' to the Internet
(19 June 2003) SkyFrames Inc has completed the
infrastructure installation of its integrated satellite wireless Internet
solution in the rural community of Coffman Cove, Alaska. Coffman Cove is a
community of 200 residents located 250 miles south of Juneau on Prince of Wales
Island. Deployment of the SkyFrames' Satellite system infrastructure from
inception to "plug in" was completed in 7 days. SkyFrames' solution now
provides the citizens, businesses and city government entities; including the
public library, administration building, and business training centre, with a
broadband pipe to the world-wide web.
Prior to the
installation of SkyFrames' Wireless Satellite System, citizens of Coffman Cove
wanting access to the Internet had to call long distance via a slow dial-up
connection. Under this scenario, a single email could take up to 10 minutes to
download. This method was very costly, frustrating and limited. In April 2003,
citizens of Coffman Cove voted overwhelmingly to utilise municipal funds to
create their own Municipal ISP. As a result of the installation, Coffman Cove
now has access to T1 equivalent broadcast speeds across the SkyFrames'
Satellite System.
The SkyFrames Satellite Broadband Service is a
combination of wireless connectivity solutions that includes 802.11 and
omni-directional radio frequency antennas. In the Coffman Cove ISP, each
subscriber will receive their own IP address and will be responsible for paying
monthly broadband charges. Additional network subscribers have already
expressed interest and will be signing up during the next few weeks. Other
potential subscribers include ferryboats and fishing vessels that pass Coffman
Cove. The wireless broadband signal is projected from Prince of Wales Island
into a popular commercial waterway.
(source: SkyFrames)
SES
Astra Procures Two
Satellites from Lockheed Martin
(17 June 2003) SES Astra has awarded a contract to
Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) to design and manufacture two
high-powered communications satellites to be deployed at Astra's prime
continental European orbital position of 19.2° East. Terms of the contract
remain confidential.
The spacecraft are due to be
launched in the second half of 2005 and in 2006 respectively and will have
minimum service lives of 15 years. The satellites will be built on Lockheed's
reliable A2100 platform, and designed to be compatible with all flight-proven
commercial launch vehicles. SES Astra intends to select the respective launch
service providers later on in the year.
The first satellite, Astra
1KR, will feature 32 active Ku band transponders in the FSS band, with a TWTA
output power of 140 watts and a pan-European footprint. With an expected launch
weight of approximately 4200 kilograms the spacecraft's primary mission,
following the lost Astra 1K mission of November 2002, will be to replace Astra
1B and 1C launched in 1991 and 1993 respectively.
The second satellite
will be built in parallel and serves two missions: In case of an Astra 1KR
launch failure, it will replace that spacecraft. If the Astra 1KR launch is a
success, the second satellite will be reconfigured to include a Ka Band payload
and become Astra 1L. It will be designed to replace Astra 1E and to reinforce
SES Astra's inter satellite back-up concept at a single orbital position, by
providing satellite protection in the Ku (FSS & BSS) and Ka bands. In
addition, Astra 1L will ensure further fleet optimisation by allowing the
release of Astra 2C from its current location of 19.2° E. The spacecraft
will feature 29 active Ku band transponders as well as a 2 transponder Ka band
payload for such interactive applications as Astra BBI (Broadband Interactive)
and Satmode services (Astra's proposed low-cost satellite return channel for
digital set-top boxes). Astra 1L will weight approximately 4300 kilograms upon
launch, and also offers a pan-European footprint with a TWTA output of 140
watts.
(source: SES Astra)
TM
SAT Orders DirecWay
Network
(18 June
2003) Hughes Network Systems Inc has signed an agreement to supply TM SAT, a
privately owned Russian service provider, with a DirecWay broadband satellite
network, including a central Network Operations Center (NOC) and remote
terminals.
TM SAT will offer the full range of DirecWay
broadband services to customers throughout Russia, including high-speed
Internet access and a variety of broadband business applications, such as
distance learning, business television and video conferencing, utilising the
comprehensive family of HNS broadband remote satellite terminals. The new NOC
will be operated on TM SAT's behalf by the Russian Satellite Communications
Company (RSCC) at its sophisticated operations centre in Dubna, north of
Moscow, and has been designed to meet the demands of customers in many sectors,
from government agencies, to healthcare, banking, education and energy.
TM SAT is a privately owned Russian company set up in 1999 for the
development of satellite mobile communications projects. TM SAT is the licensed
Russian operator of the Thuraya mobile satellite communications network. The
commercial service of Thuraya network in Russia started in May 2003. In
parallel, TM SAT has started work on the development of the DirecWay broadband
satellite program in Russia in partnership with HNS and RSCC.
(source:
Hughes Network Systems)
Alaska Uses QuickBird Satellite Imagery for Fire Response
(18 June 2003)
DigitalGlobe's QuickBird satellite images were recently used by the State of
Alaska's Forestry Division to help fire-fighters navigate wildfires. Fires
began blazing through forested areas about 80 miles south of Fairbanks on May
26 and have since been contained.
The 60-centimeter
resolution black-and-white QuickBird images, collected in August 2002, show
trails and roads, building structures and fire prone vegetation. Fire-fighters
used the images for locational mapping to determine where endangered structures
existed, which residents should be evacuated, where emergency personnel should
be dispatched and where firelines should be constructed.
Large
print-outs of the QuickBird images were posted on fire department dispatch
walls so fire dispatches could quickly map out response routes, while smaller
copies were distributed to division supervisors for key emergency personnel as
they were dispatched to fight fires.
Wildfires are a common occurrence
in the interior of Alaska, where black spruce trees, an extremely fire prone
species, are abundant. The 2.44-meter resolution, multispectral QuickBird
images were used to identify black spruce as well as trails and ponds. In the
past, Alaska fire-fighters had relied on one-inch-to-the-mile quadrangle maps
to help them navigate their way around an area during a fire. The quad maps do
not indicate trails, roads, structures, vegetation such as black spruce, and
many other features important to fire-fighters. QuickBird imagery, by contrast,
depicts these details.
The Alaska DNR started acquiring QuickBird data
in May 2002 to provide basic mapping services for several of the state's local
communities. The image products of the Fairbanks area provide a critical
resource for emergency service organisations in support of a project called
"Community Fire Planning Using GIS," funded by the National Fire Planning
Initiative.
In addition, QuickBird imagery covering an 11,475
square-mile area in Alaska's Tanana Valley supports a NASA grant the state won
in 2001. A long-term goal of the NASA proposal is the development of base data
necessary to support fire behaviour software that predicts wildfire spread. The
project will include the creation of a database of fuel models based on
vegetation mapping to help the Division of Forestry identify fire prone areas,
calculate rates of spread and demonstrate parameters associated with fire
spread such as fuel types, weather and wind speed.
(source:
DigitalGlobe)
Canadian Emergency Preparedness Agency Purchases Ikonos
Imagery
(18 June
2003) Canada's Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency
Preparedness (OCIPEP) has purchased 8,800 square km of one-meter Ikonos
satellite imagery to be used for routine disaster risk assessment and emergency
preparedness along the Canada-United States border.
The
contract, which was negotiated by Space Imaging reseller PhotoSat Information
Ltd, will provide imagery and data for eight border areas and towns including
the Yukon-Alaska border, the Quebec-Vermont border, Sault Ste Marie, Sarnia,
Windsor and Niagara Falls. The mapping initiative is part of an overall border
security effort spearheaded by the Canada/United States Critical Infrastructure
Protection Steering Committee, formed after the signing of the 2001 Smart
Border Agreement by Canada and the United States. OCIPEP is a member of the
committee's mapping subgroup. The value of the contract was not disclosed.
PhotoSat is a team of geophysicists and associated geoscientists
specialising in the computer processing of satellite image data for the
identification, evaluation, monitoring and regulation of natural resources and
the mapping of related infrastructure. Their goal is to provide satellite
imagery and derived information sets that enable decision makers in the
resource industries to make better decisions in less time. Their principal
clients are mining, oil and gas, forestry and environmental companies and
government agencies.
PhotoSat distributes Landsat 7 images and imagery
products under sublicense from Natural Resources Canada, the Canada Centre for
Remote Sensing (CCRS). Landsat 7 data acquired by CCRS covers all of Canada,
Eastern Alaska and most of the continental USA. PhotoSat recently changed its
name from Resource GIS and Imaging to reflect the company's increased focus on
providing satellite imagery and derived data products. PhotoSat was Space
Imaging's largest-volume North American distributor in Q1 2003.
(source: Space Imaging)
Galileo Sistemas y Servicios Becomes Full Equity Partner in
Galileo Industries
(16 June 2003) Galileo Sistemas y Servicios and
Galileo Industries SA have signed a Shareholders Agreement whereby GSS becomes
a major (14%) equity partner of Galileo Industries SA. Galileo Sistemas y
Servicios (GSS)is the Spanish industrial consortium representing the major
Spanish participants in satellite navigation, (AENA, Alcatel Espacio,
EADS-CASA, GMV, Hispasat, Indra and Sener).
GSS joining
Galileo Industries SA equity reinforces the role of the Spanish industries in
the European Galileo programmes. Galileo Industries SA was established to
respond as the primary (Prime Contractor) roles for the construction of the
Galileo System (space and terrestrial networks).
GSS major
contributions to the Galileo programme will be at system, subsystem and
equipment levels, in the Galileo satellites themselves as well as in the Ground
Control Segment and Mission Control Segment.
(source: Alcatel
Space)
Webb Spacecraft Science and Operations Centre Contract
Awarded
(6 June
2003) NASA has awarded the Association of Universities for Research in
Astronomy (AURA) the contract to manage the James Webb Space Telescope Science
and Operations Control Center.
AURA is a non-profit
consortium of educational institutions formed to operate astronomical
observatories.
The contract is for products and services required to
prepare the science program; develop ground systems; provide science and
engineering support; provide integration and test support; perform educational
and public outreach; perform flight and science operations during the launch
and commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
AURA will
manage the Science & Operations Control Center at the Space Telescope
Science Institute in Baltimore. The total estimated contract value is US$ 162.2
million. This procurement will result in a cost-plus-fixed-fee type contract.
The period of the contract is from now through launch, plus one year.
The JWST is scheduled for launch in 2011 aboard an expendable launch vehicle.
It will take about three months for the spacecraft to reach its destination.
The JWST will reach an orbit approximately 1.5 million km in space, called the
second Lagrange Point (L2), where the spacecraft is balanced between the
gravity of the sun and the Earth.
To see deep into space, the JWST
will carry instruments sensitive to the infrared wavelengths of the
electromagnetic spectrum. The new telescope will carry a near-infrared camera,
a multi-object spectrometer and a mid-infrared camera/spectrometer. Infrared
capabilities are required to help astronomers understand how galaxies first
emerged after the rapid expansion and cooling of the universe, a few hundred
million years after the big bang.
(source: NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center)
Analex Receives New NASA Tasks On Orbital Space Plane
(17 June 2003) Analex
Corporation has received new tasks to provide professional and engineering
services to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the
Orbital Space Plane (OSP) project. These tasks will total approximately US$ 2
million in additional funding under the Company's Expendable Launch Vehicle
Integrated Services (ELVIS) Contract, in support of the NASA's Launch Services
Program Office.
The Orbital Space Plane project
represents a next generation system of space vehicles being designed to provide
crew rescue and crew transport to and from the International Space Station, and
to transport crews to and from orbit.
The new tasks under this award
include mission analysis, systems engineering, and special studies aimed at
assessing the acceptability of launching the OSP onboard current Evolved
Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV's). Also included are engineering support to
specific OSP working groups; in-house independent model development for basic
launch vehicles; and general engineering / mission analysis support for
reliability enhancement and human rating aspects of EELV's as a launch service
for OSP. There is a fifteen month period of performance for these tasks.
(source: Analex)
ATV Gets Go-Ahead
(17 June 2003) The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)
programme has reached a milestone in successfully passing the Critical Design
Review (CDR) during which some 140 international space experts expressed their
full confidence in the design of the vehicle after analysing 55,000 pages of
technical documentation.
Over the past three and a half
months, around 40 engineers from the RSC Energia, 25 from NASA and over 50 from
ESA, CNES and Arianespace conducted a full review of the ATV programme through
its extensive documentation (presented in electronic format) and did not find
anything wrong which would require a change in the design. Seven panels, each
consisting of 15 to 20 people, were charged with thoroughly reviewing the
various aspects of the programme, such as avionics, systems, software,
structure, thermics, as well as quality and operations. Teams from ESA and
prime contractor EADS-LV answered their questions and clarification
requests.
The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) will enable ESA to
transport payloads to the International Space Station. Its flight planned for
September 2004.
The purpose of the review was to assess and certify
that the ATV design and operations concept meets the requirements for
performance, reliability, and safety.
In 2000, the Preliminary Design
Review (PDR) had to be extended by six months to rethink the overall concept of
navigation and guidance, rewrite some specifications and make a few hardware
changes. For example, another set of optical sensors (Videometre) was added for
rendezvous and docking, and a set of Variable Conductance Heat Pipes (VCHP) was
added to cope with large changes in power dissipation in the avionics bay of
the spacecraft during orbit.
The successful conclusion of the review
is important for the ATV programme since 90% of the flight hardware is already
built and the final assembly process started. Any design change would have
significantly impacted the scheduled launch of Jules Verne set for September
2004.
(source: ESA)
Aerojet Successfully Tests RBCC Single Thruster
(19 June 2003) Aerojet
has completed hot fire test evaluations of a full-scale Rocket Based Combined
Cycle (RBCC) single thruster, demonstrating the viability of the hydrogen
peroxide/JP-7 tri-fluid injector concept. The test, conducted at Aerojet
facilities in Sacramento, California, marked a key milestone in NASA's
Integrated System Test of an Air-breathing Rocket (ISTAR) program.
The Aerojet tri-fluid injector concept uses HTP (decomposed
peroxide) - created by a compact, Aerojet-patented, catalyst bed - injected
into the main combustion chamber through veins in the main injector for an
ignition source. Then, JP-7 fuel and liquid HTP (90 percent liquid peroxide)
are introduced and "tri-fluid" combustion is sustained. The hot fire test used
HTP and JP-7 fuel in the thruster, which culminated in nearly 300 seconds of
duration at chamber pressures that exceeded 1500 psia.
Aerojet is a
member of the Rocket Based Combined Cycle Consortium (RBC3), which has
successfully completed several steps in a series of tests of a full-scale
rocket thruster - a crucial element of an RBCC engine system. A total of 72
thrusters will provide rocket propulsion for an RBCC-powered version of a
Reusable, Combined Cycle Flight Demonstrator (RCCFD), accelerating the craft to
Mach 3.5 and flying to Mach 7 with pure air-breathing ramjet and scramjet modes
of operation.
The ISTAR program is developing RBCC engine technologies
that could, by the end of the decade, enable NASA to flight-test a self-powered
hypersonic flight vehicle to more than seven times the speed of sound,
demonstrating all modes of engine operation. The ISTAR program is funded by
NASA's Next Generation Launch Technologies Program.
RBC3 combines the
propulsion development skills of the Aerojet missile and space propulsion
business unit of GenCorp; the Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power business of the
Integrated Defense Systems Unit of The Boeing Company; and the Pratt and
Whitney Space Propulsion business unit of United Technologies.
(source: Aerojet)
Alcatel and EADS Astrium Sign AlphaBus Agreement
(20 June 2003) Alcatel and EADS Astrium have
reached an agreement for the development and joint marketing of satellites that
will use European platform AlphaBus to address the high power satellites
market.
A joint Alcatel Space - EADS Astrium team has
been working for two years now, with support from the European Space Agency
(ESA) and CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales), to define a new
platform, AlphaBus. It is an innovative, reliable and internationally
competitive platform line designed to carry payloads featuring power in excess
of 12 kW.
The first step of the AlphaBus project provides for the
possibility to carry payloads between 12 kW and 18 kW, with a high growth
potential. This will greatly reduce the service cost for the user and will
allow for new multimedia or mobile, new-generation missions.
AlphaBus
will include high-technology equipment from European manufacturers, under the
joint prime contractorship of Alcatel Space and EADS Astrium.
(source:
Alcatel Space)
30 Ariane
5 Launchers Ordered
(20 June 2003)
Arianespace and EADS Space Transportation have signed an "order letter" to
initiate production of the "PA batch" of 30 Ariane 5 launchers. This new
commitment will allow Arianespace to ensure its launch service continuity.
This agreement formalises the new industrial tasking between
the two companies, which was approved at the ESA ministerial-level meeting on
May 27.
EADS Space Transportation is now the sole prime contractor for
the Ariane 5 launcher. As a result, the company will manage the totality of
contracts covering launch vehicle production, and is to deliver a standardised
launcher to Arianespace in French Guiana.
Arianespace is in charge of
the commercial launch service operation, and manages the production. The
company will source the launcher from the prime contractor, adapt it to
customer mission requirements, and carry out launch operations at Europe's
Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
(source: Arianespace)
Arianespace and ELV Sign Vega Agreement
(19 June 2003) ELV and Arianespace have
signed a collaboration agreement concerning Vega launcher production and
operation at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
ELV, as industrial prime contractor, will be in charge of
production of the launcher's components and integration in French Guiana. As
the launcher design authority, it will also participate in final preparations
and launch operations.
Arianespace is the Vega operator, and is in
charge of the launch services contract. At the Guiana Space Center, it will be
responsible for Vega launch facilities and integration of the upper segment and
satellite. It will also carry out final preparation and launch operations.
The organisation for Vega launches is similar to that used for the Ariane
and Soyuz programs, to maximise the synergies between these programs.
Vega comprises three solid-propellant stages and a fourth stage with a re-
ignitable liquid-propellant engine. It is scheduled to start operations in
mid-2006. Primarily used for scientific and Earth observation satellites, Vega
will be able to boost 1,500 kg into polar orbit at 700 km.
Based in
Colleferro, Italy, ELV is the industrial prime contractor for the Vega program.
Vega is a European Space Agency (ESA) program, financed by Italy, France,
Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. Shareholders are
FiatAvio (with 70%) and the Italian space agency (30%).
(source:
Arianespace)
Molniya
3-53
Launched: 19 June 2003
Site: Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia
Launcher: Molniya M
Orbit: MEO,
apogee: 40,493 km, perigee: 592 km: inclination: 62.7°
International
Number: 2003-029A
Name: Molniya 3-53
Molniya 3-53 is a Russian
military communications satellite.
Alcatel joins SES Global and Gilat Satellite Networks in Satlynx
(19 June 2003) SES
Global and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd, the joint founding shareholders of
European 2-way satellite broadband services provider Satlynx, have announced
that Alcatel Space and SkyBridge LP, subsidiaries of Alcatel, have joined the
company and made an investment which will yield up to a 17.9% stake in the
venture.
In related agreements, Alcatel, under contract
to SES, will expand and provide Satlynx's product line to include a DVB-RCS
platform (Digital Video Broadcasting - Return Channel by Satellite), enabling
highly efficient two-way broadband Internet access via satellite. Alcatel
technological expertise in DVB-RCS open standard solutions will reinforce the
Satlynx offering in all market segments and allow the deployment on a large
scale of cost effective standard solutions to support the Satlynx services. SES
and Gilat have also executed an agreement to fund the development of a low
cost, Ka band version of Gilat's popular Skystar 360E family product line.
Satlynx was established in May 2002 by SES and Gilat and offers two way
satellite broadband access services to telecommunication operators and ISP's on
a wholesale basis as well as corporate VSAT services to enterprises.
(source: Alcatel)
ND
SatCom Opens Middle
Eastern Branch
(16
June 2003) ND SatCom AG of Germany has opened its Middle Eastern Branch in Abu
Dhabi.
Mr Ulrich Kiebler, President Middle East will
head the new ND SatCom subsidiary in Abu Dhabi, that includes highly
experienced sales and engineering support. ND SatCom decided to increase its
presence in the Middle East due to the area's huge potential for satellite
communications solutions especially in the field of broadcast and in vertical
markets such as the oil and gas industry and also governmental networks. The
geography as well as the strong business orientation require flexible, reliable
and innovative solutions.
Contact details for the new office are:
ND SatCom Abu Dhabi
Al Karamah Street 279
Villa No 2
P.O. Box
70425
Abu Dhabi, U.A.E
tel: +971 2 443 6531
fax: +971 2 443
6650
e-mail: [email protected]
(source: ND
Satcom)
Orbital Announces Cash Tender Offer
(20 June 2003) Orbital Sciences Corporation
has commenced a cash tender offer and consent solicitation for any and all of
its US$ 135 million outstanding principal amount of 12% Second Priority Secured
Notes due 2006.
The Offer is scheduled to expire at
12:00 midnight (EDT), on Friday, July 18, 2003, unless extended or earlier
terminated. Holders of the Notes who tender their Notes and deliver consents on
or prior to 5:00 pm, (EDT), on Tuesday, July 1, 2003, will receive 105.025% of
the principal amount of the Notes validly tendered. Holders who tender their
Notes after the Consent Date but prior to the Expiration Date will receive 104%
of the principal amount of the Notes validly tendered. In each case, holders
who validly tender their Notes shall receive accrued and unpaid interest and
liquidated damages on such principal amount of Notes up to, but not including,
the applicable payment date.
The Offer is subject to the satisfaction
of certain conditions, including the Company's receipt of valid tenders from
holders of at least a majority of the outstanding principal amount of the Notes
and debt financing sufficient to consummate the Offer on terms acceptable to
the Company.
(source: Orbital Sciences)
SpaceDev Closes on US$ 1 Million Revolving Credit Facility
(18 June 2003) SpaceDev
has entered into a US$ 1 million revolving credit facility in the form of a
three-year Convertible Note with the Laurus Master Fund Ltd.
The net proceeds from the Convertible Note, secured by the
assets of SpaceDev, will be used for general working capital purposes. Advances
on the Convertible Note may be repaid in cash or through the issuance of the
Company's common stock. The Convertible Note also includes a right of
conversion in favour of Laurus at a fixed conversion price of US$ 0.55 per
share, which will be adjusted if and when the first US$ 1 million is converted.
In conjunction with this transaction, Laurus received a five-year warrant to
purchase up to 200,000 shares of SpaceDev's common stock. SpaceDev will also
issue up to an additional 100,000 shares of SpaceDev's common stock with
respect to conversion amounts. The note and the warrant(s) contain
anti-dilution provisions.
Laurus is a private institutional equity
fund, based in New York City, which specialises in providing financing to
growing, small and mid- capitalisation companies.
(source:
SpaceDev)
Trimble Acquires Applanix
(20 June 2003) Trimble has entered into a
definitive agreement to acquire privately held Applanix Corporation of Ontario,
Canada in a stock transaction valued at Cdn$ 25 million (approximately US$ 18.6
million). Applanix is a leading developer of systems that integrate Inertial
Navigation System (INS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies.
Closing of the transaction, anticipated in the next three weeks, is subject to
usual and customary closing conditions.
Trimble expects
the Applanix acquisition to extend its technology portfolio and enable
increased robustness and capabilities in its future positioning products. An
early focus will be in the survey and construction product lines where GPS,
augmented with INS technology, offers the potential of improved satellite
tracking and faster reacquisition times for precision Real-time Kinematic (RTK)
positioning. This is particularly important in cases where GPS satellite
signals are obstructed in difficult environments such as high-rise urban or
heavily forested areas.
Applanix has three core business areas. The
company develops land-based products for survey and vehicle positioning; marine
products for survey and construction; and airborne products that enable
trajectory measurements of airborne sensor data for photogrammetry and laser
scanning. Applanix's Position and Orientation Systems (POS) were developed
specifically for robust positioning in challenging and dynamic environments.
POS integrates precision GPS with advanced inertial technology to provide
uninterrupted measurements of the position, roll, pitch and true heading.
Applanix will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary and Trimble intends to
recognise its revenues under the company's Portfolio Technologies business
segment. Trimble expects the acquisition to be neutral to earnings in 2003 and
accretive in 2004.
Applanix Corporation develops, manufactures, sells
and supports precision products that accurately and robustly measure the
position and orientation of vehicles in dynamic environments. Applanix's
Position and Orientation Systems (POS) are used in a variety of applications
including road profiling, GIS data acquisition, aerial survey and mapping,
railroad track maintenance and seafloor mapping.
(source:
Trimble)
Envisat Now Available from Radarsat International
(18 June 2003) Radarsat
International (RSI) has announced that it is open for Envisat business. As a
member of the SARCOM consortium, RSI distributes world-wide data and downlinks
from the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument on board the
Envisat satellite to clients in North and South America. In addition, RSI
produces and provides value-added Envisat products for clients and projects
world-wide.
The ASAR instrument offers various modes of
data collection as well as multi-polarisation. The new options afforded by this
radar data - such as multi-polarisation - will be especially useful in
applications requiring land classification or discrimination such as wetlands,
agriculture and forestry.
RSI is currently upgrading its data
processor located in Quebec, Canada, using European Space Agency (ESA)
-endorsed procedures and software. By investing in an ESA certified processor,
RSI will be able to offer fully calibrated and consistent high-quality
data.
(source: Radarsat International)
Galileo Joint Undertaking Appoints Director
(17 June 2003) The appointment of Rainer
Grohe as Director of the Galileo Joint Undertaking marks a further key step
forward for Galileo, the first civil global satellite navigation programme.
The Administrative Board of the Galileo Joint Undertaking
endorsed the appointment on Monday 16 June in Brussels. The JU can now proceed
with the various steps towards setting up the Galileo network, which will give
users in Europe - and throughout the world - a precise and secure satellite
positioning and navigation system.
The Joint Undertaking's main task
is to prepare for the Galileo programme deployment and operational phase, which
should culminate in the selection of a concession holder to take charge of
running the future Galileo operating company. That private entity will take
over to finish deployment of the constellation in orbit and finalise
installation of the ground segment necessary to complete the system. It will
then manage the operational phase.
In the near term, under the
development and in-orbit validation phase, ESA is responsible for the launch of
a first experimental satellite scheduled for September 2005. This will serve
the dual purpose of securing the frequencies reserved for Galileo until June
2006 by the International Telecommunications Union and testing of the new
technologies. To minimise the risks, two contracts will be awarded to industry
by early July to build two separate satellites. Three or four test satellites
will subsequently be launched for validation of the system around
2006/2007.
The core of the Galileo system is its constellation of 30
satellites (27 operational, 3 spare) circling in medium earth orbit in three
planes inclined at 56° to the equator at 23616 km altitude. This will
provide excellent global coverage. Two centres will be set up in Europe to
control satellite operations and manage the navigation system.
(source: ESA)
