22 January 2006
Satcoms
Demand for Meshed
Networks Boosts ND SatCom's VSAT Systems
Globecomm Systems
Awarded Multiple Contracts
ViaSat Satellite System Selected for Broadband Services
in New Zealand
ViaSat Supplies LinkStar Network for Malaysia
Broadcast
DirecTV to Offer
Family Programming Package
DISH Network Introduces `DishFamily' Programming Tier
DISH
Network Launches Oxygen Network
SES Astra Signs
Capacity Agreement With Top TV From Czech Republic
Earth Observation
Indian Remote
Sensing Satellite, IRS-1C, Completes Ten Years
TIGER Innovators
Enhance North-South Collaboration
Navigation
Contract for
In-Orbit Validation of Galileo System
Galileo Sends First
Signals To Earth Based On Alcatel Alenia Space’s Technology
Korea-EU
Galileo Co-operation Agreement
Military Space
Boeing Awarded Air
Force Contract for Directed Energy and Space Surveillance R&D
Major
Milestone Achieved on New Missile Warning System Built by Lockheed Martin
XTAR to
Provide Communications Services to Danish Armed Forces
Science
NASA Satellite
Magnetic Field Mission Ends
Stardust Lands
Safely
Manned Space
NASA Seeks
Proposals for Crew and Cargo Transportation to Orbit
Spacehab Enters Race
for Commercial Space Station Supply Work
Spacehab Tasked to
Support NASA in New Space Station Activities
Technology
ISRO Achieves
Breakthrough in Supersonic Combustion Technology
ISRO and Kerala
Minerals and Metals Limited Sign MOU on Titanium Sponge Plant
New Solid Propellant
Motor to Increase PSLV Capability
Spacecraft, Heal
Thyself
XCOR Completes Methane Engine Pulse Fire Tests
Launch Services
Telesat Chooses ILS
to Launch Nimiq 4 on Proton Vehicle
Launches
New Horizons
Launch Schedule
Business
Sciemus and Liberty
Syndicates Revolutionise Satellite Insurance
SpaceDev Closes US$
5.2 Million Financing
Vocality Announces New
Broadcast Division
Products and Services
Hughes Network
Systems to Deliver Comprehensive Digital Signage Service for Retailers
iDirect
and Globecomm Deploy GSM Capable VSAT Hub
Stratos Introduces
StratosGateway Online Tools for Mobile Satellite Users
WCC Adds Inmarsat
Including BGAN to Satellite Voice and Data Communication Product
Portfolio
Events
Science Community
Invited to ESA's Living Planet Programme Strategy Workshop
People
David Currie
Re-appointed as Chair of Ofcom
Radyne Appoints Myron
Wagner as COO
Richard Covey Named Chief Operating Officer of United Space
Alliance
Satcoms
Demand for Meshed Networks Boosts ND
SatCom's VSAT Systems
(19
January 2006) ND SatCom, a leading global supplier of satellite-based broadband
VSAT, broadcast and defence communication network solutions, has sold its
5,000th SkyWAN system.
more . . . .
Globecomm Systems Awarded Multiple
Contracts
(19 January 2006)
Globecomm Systems Inc., a global provider of end-to-end satellite-based
communications solutions, has been awarded multiple contracts from an existing
customer valued at approximately US$ 3.1 million.
more . . .
.
ViaSat Satellite System Selected for
Broadband Services in New Zealand
(16 January 2006) ViaSat Inc. is providing a turnkey satellite
communication network, including a complete hub antenna system, to Tuaropaki
Communications Ltd. for its Inzonecorp satellite broadband Internet
service.
more . . . .
ViaSat Supplies LinkStar Network for
Malaysia
(15 January 2006)
ViaSat Inc. is supplying a LinkStar broadband network to CELCOM, through
network integrator Digisky Sdn Berhad, for shared-hub satellite network
services in Malaysia.
more . . .
.
Broadcast
DirecTV to Offer Family Programming
Package
(18 January 2006)
DirecTV, Inc., the nation's leading digital television service provider, will
offer a new family-friendly programming package in mid-April.
more
. . . .
DISH Network Introduces `DishFamily'
Programming Tier
(19 January
2006) EchoStar Communications Corporation’s DISH Network satellite TV
service will offer "DishFamily," a new "family-friendly" programming package
with approximately 40 channels.
more . . .
.
DISH Network Launches Oxygen
Network
(16 January 2006)
EchoStar Communications Corporation has announced that Oxygen Media, the
nation's only woman-owned and -operated TV network, is now available to DISH
Network satellite TV customers.
more . . .
.
SES Astra Signs Capacity Agreement
With Top TV From Czech Republic
(19 January 2006) SES Astra, an SES Global company, has signed an
agreement with the Czech free-to-air leisure and shopping channel Top TV for
digital capacity on Astra at the orbital position 19.2° East.
more
. . . .
Earth Observation
Indian Remote Sensing Satellite,
IRS-1C, Completes Ten Years
(15
January 2006) The Indian Remote Sensing satellite, IRS-1C, which was launched
on December 28, 1995, has completed ten years of operation.
more . . .
.
TIGER Innovators Enhance North-South
Collaboration
(18 January 2006)
Five international partnerships have recently been awarded funding through
ESA’s TIGER Innovators project to develop new ways of applying Earth
Observation data as a tool for water resource management in Africa.
more
. . . .
Navigation
Contract for In-Orbit Validation of
Galileo System
(13 January
2006) After the successful launch of the GIOVE-A satellite on 28 December 2005
and the acquisition of the first 'Galileo' signal on 12 January 2006, Galileo
is now well on its way with the signing of the contract for the development and
in-orbit validation of the constellation's first four satellites.
more
. . . .
Galileo Sends First Signals To Earth
Based On Alcatel Alenia Space’s Technology
(17 January 2006) GIOVE-A, the first Galileo pilot
satellite launched on December 28th, has transmitted its signals to the Earth
stations using the Navigation Signal Generation Unit (NSGU) and the wide-band
Navigation Antenna developed by Alcatel Alenia Space.
more . . .
.
Korea-EU Galileo Co-operation
Agreement
(16 January 2006) As
a result of the government of the Republic of Korea’s active efforts to
participate in the “Galileo” Project, a new satellite system
currently being pursued by the EU with a goal of commencing services in 2008,
for the past six months, the two sides agreed on and initialled the draft of
the “Korea-EC Co-operation Agreement on a Civil Global Navigation
Satellite System” on January 12, 2006.
more . . .
.
Military Space
Boeing Awarded Air Force Contract
for Directed Energy and Space Surveillance R&D
(16 January 2006) The Laser & Electro Optical Systems
(L&EOS) unit of Boeing Missile Defense Systems (MDS) has received a
contract worth up to US$ 413 million to continue supporting two U.S. Air Force
laboratories engaged in cutting-edge research on high energy laser and
satellite tracking technologies.
more . . .
.
Major Milestone Achieved on New
Missile Warning System Built by Lockheed Martin
(18 January 2006) The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS)
team led by Lockheed Martin has successfully completed engineering thermal
vacuum testing of the payload for the first geosynchronous orbit (GEO)
satellite.
more . . . .
XTAR to Provide Communications
Services to Danish Armed Forces
(17 January 2006) XTAR, LLC has been awarded a multi-year contract
from Hisdesat Servicios Estrategicos, S.A. (Hisdesat) to provide the Royal
Danish Navy (RDN) with X-band communications services throughout Europe, Africa
and the Middle East.
more . . .
.
Science
NASA Satellite Magnetic Field
Mission Ends
(20 January 2006)
NASA's Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite
recently ceased operations, bringing to a close a successful six-year
mission.
more . . . .
Stardust Lands Safely
(15 January 2006) NASA's Stardust
sample return mission returned safely to Earth when the capsule carrying
cometary and interstellar particles successfully touched down last Sunday
morning in the desert salt flats of the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training
Range.
more . . . .
Manned Space
NASA Seeks Proposals for Crew and
Cargo Transportation to Orbit
(19 January 2006) NASA is challenging United States' industry to
establish capabilities and services that can open new space markets and support
the crew and cargo transportation needs of the International Space Station.
more . . . .
Spacehab Enters Race for Commercial
Space Station Supply Work
(19
January 2006) Spacehab, Incorporated, a leading provider of commercial space
services, will be competing for the opportunity to serve as NASA's supplier of
commercial International Space Station logistics services.
more . . .
.
Spacehab Tasked to Support NASA in
New Space Station Activities
(17 January 2006) NASA has awarded new work to Spacehab in support
of International Space Station assembly and operations activities.
more
. . . .
Technology
ISRO Achieves Breakthrough in
Supersonic Combustion Technology
(15 January 2006) As part of the Advanced technology initiative in
the area of Air- Breathing propulsion, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre of ISRO
at Thiruvananthapuram, has successfully carried out the design, development,
characterisation and realisation of a Supersonic Combustion Ramjet
(scramjet).
more . . . .
ISRO and Kerala Minerals and Metals
Limited Sign MOU on Titanium Sponge Plant
(15 January 2006) As part of efforts to indigenously produce
strategic materials for its space programme, ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space
Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) with Government of Kerala Undertaking, Kerala Minerals and Metals Limited
(KMML), Chavara to establish a 500 Tonne per annum Titanium Sponge Plant.
more . . . .
New Solid Propellant Motor to
Increase PSLV Capability
(15
January 2006) ISRO has successfully ground tested an improved version of the
solid propellant strap on motor for PSLV.
more . . .
.
Spacecraft, Heal Thyself
(20 January 2006) Building
spacecraft is a tough job. They are precision pieces of engineering that have
to survive in the airless environment of space, where temperatures can swing
from hundreds of degrees Celsius to hundreds of degree below zero in
moments.
more . . . .
XCOR Completes Methane Engine Pulse
Fire Tests
(19 January 2006)
XCOR Aerospace, Inc. has successfully fired its 3M9 LOX/methane engine in
short, rapid bursts. These tests are part of a contract with the Air Force
Research Lab (AFRL).
more . . .
.
Launch Services
Telesat Chooses ILS to Launch Nimiq
4 on Proton Vehicle
(17 January
2006) International Launch Services (ILS) and Telesat, one of the world's
leading satellite operators, announced today they are teaming up for the fifth
time, to launch the Nimiq 4 satellite on a Proton Breeze M vehicle. Financial
terms were not disclosed.
more . . . .
Launches
New Horizons
more . . .
.
Business
Sciemus and Liberty Syndicates
Revolutionise Satellite Insurance
(16 January 2006) Sciemus has announced a partnership with Liberty
Syndicates in the creation of a new offering for the satellite insurance
market.
more . . . .
SpaceDev Closes US$ 5.2 Million
Financing
(17 January 2006)
SpaceDev raised gross proceeds of approximately US$ 5.2 million through the
sale of convertible preferred stock and warrants to a small syndicate of new
and existing institutional investors.
more . . .
.
Vocality Announces New Broadcast
Division
(20 January 2006)
Vocality International has announced the opening of a new Broadcast business
division to operate from its facility in Herndon, VA.
more . . .
.
Products and Services
Hughes Network Systems to Deliver
Comprehensive Digital Signage Service for Retailers
(16 January 2006) Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes)
has announced its Managed Digital Signage Service, the first of several new
services planned in 2006 under the company's Digital Media Services
umbrella.
more . . . .
iDirect and Globecomm Deploy GSM
Capable VSAT Hub
(16 January
2006) iDirect Technologies (iDirect), a division of Vision Technologies Systems
Inc., and Globecomm Systems Inc. (Globecomm), have announced their first hub
intended specifically to support GSM networks over satellite.
more
. . . .
Stratos Introduces StratosGateway
Online Tools for Mobile Satellite Users
(17 January 2006) Stratos Global Corp., a leading global
communications provider and the world's leading distributor of Inmarsat
satellite services, has announced the launch of StratosGateway, a sophisticated
web-based portal that provides easier and more efficient access to account
management and product and service information for Inmarsat and Iridium mobile
satellite users.
more . . . .
WCC Adds Inmarsat Including BGAN to
Satellite Voice and Data Communication Product Portfolio
(18 January 2006) World
Communication Center (WCC), a leading provider of global satellite voice and
data communications, has announced the addition of Inmarsat to WCC's existing
satellite Internet and Iridium product lines.
more . . .
.
Events
Science Community Invited to ESA's
Living Planet Programme Strategy Workshop
(13 January 2006) Since the 1990's, ESA's approach to observing
the Earth from space has been dedicated to furthering our understanding of how
Earth processes work, monitoring climate change indicators, testing new
observational techniques and making contributions to operational
meteorology.
more . . . .
People
David Currie Re-appointed as Chair
of Ofcom
(20 January 2006) Lord
(David) Currie of Marylebone has been re-appointed as Chairman of the Office of
Communications (Ofcom) by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport,
Tessa Jowell and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Alan
Johnson.
more . . . .
Radyne Appoints Myron Wagner as
COO
(17 January 2006) Radyne
Corporation has announced that Carl Myron Wagner will join the company as
President and Chief Operating Officer.
more . . .
.
Richard Covey Named Chief Operating
Officer of United Space Alliance
(16 January 2006) Veteran Shuttle astronaut and space industry
executive Richard O. "Dick" Covey has been named to replace Brewster Shaw as
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
more . . .
.
