22 October 2006


Satcoms
CapRock Wins Tiburon Divers Contract
Eutelsat Awards Contract to Deliver Hot Bird 10 Broadcast Satellite to Astrium
Hughes Providing CSK Auto With Managed Network Services Solution
Orbital-Built Optus D1 Communications Satellite Successfully Launched Aboard Ariane Rocket
Phoenicia Group Wins VSAT Contract in Libya from Occidental Petroleum Corporation
RAD and Shiron Announce Strategic Co-operation to Optimise Bandwidth on Satellite Links


Earth Observation
Europe's First Polar-Orbiting Weather Satellite Ready For Launch
Europe's New MetOp Weather Satellite Reaches Polar Orbit
Greenland Ice Sheet on a Downward Slide
ITT Sensors Aboard First European Polar-orbiting Weather Satellite
NASA and NOAA Announce Antarctic Ozone Hole Is a Record Breaker
USGS and NASA Select Landsat Science Team


Military Space
Boeing Completes Successful FAB-T Preliminary Design Review
Boeing to Build More Wideband Gapfiller Satellites
Globecomm Systems Awarded Contract for Fifty Auto-Explorer Satellite Terminals from US Navy
Harris Corporation Achieves Uplink to Milstar Satellite Via Advanced EHF Navy Multiband Communications Terminal
TCS SwiftLink Systems and Global Satellite Services Pass Stringent DoD Network Testing


Stars
First Directly Imaged Brown Dwarf Companion to an Exoplanet Host Star

Galaxies
Super Star Clusters In The Antennae Galaxies

Sun
Lockheed Martin Instrument to Monitor Solar Eruptions on Latest NASA Sun Mission

Moon
The Moon's South Pole: Very High Resolution, Radar Images Find Rocks Abundant, But No Ice Sheets

Earth
Expect a Warmer, Wetter World this Century, Computer Models Agree
More Than a Meteor Likely Killed Dinosaurs 65 Million Years Ago


Mars
Decoding Mars's Cryptic Region
Mars Express and the Story of Water on Mars
Mars May Be Cosy Place for Hardy Microbes
NASA Orbiter Reveals New Details of Mars, Young and Old


Extra-Solar Planets
Planet-Finding by Numbers

Manned Space
International Space Station Status Report
NASA Announces New International Space Station Crew


Technology
Deployment Experiment Result of Large Deployable Reflector Small-sized Partial Model 2 (LDREX-2)
First Photos of Japanese LDREX-2 Antenna Deployment Released by JAXA


Launch Services
Fourth Ariane 5 Launch of 2006
Sea Launch Prepares for Launch of XM-4


In Orbit
Integral Systems to Provide Satellite Control Systems for VINASAT-1 Satellite

Launches
MetOp-A
Launch Schedule


Reports
Satellite Launches Are Just One of the Topics Explored Inside 'Satellite Transponders - Global Strategic Business Report'

Products and Services
EchoStar Rolls Out High-Speed Internet Service
MobiApps Announces Release of Next Generation Orbcomm Modem
RAMTelecom Simplifies Satellite Broadband Connections for Oil and Gas Sector with New Auto-mount Antenna


Events
Dragon Training in China Focuses on Atmosphere

People
New Appointments Within Alcatel Alenia Space

Previous News


Satcoms
CapRock Wins Tiburon Divers Contract
(17 October 2006) Success in the commercial diving industry is driven by a record of strong safety performance and unmatched customer satisfaction.
Eutelsat Awards Contract to Deliver Hot Bird 10 Broadcast Satellite to Astrium
(19 October 2006) Eutelsat Communications today announced that Astrium will build the Hot Bird 10 broadcast satellite which will be launched in first quarter 2009 and positioned at the Group's 13 degrees East location.
Hughes Providing CSK Auto With Managed Network Services Solution
(18 October 2006) Hughes Network Systems, LLC, a leader in the top-tier managed network services market, today announced that it has completed the rollout of HughesNet(TM) Managed Network Services at 1,175 CSK Auto retail locations.
Orbital-Built Optus D1 Communications Satellite Successfully Launched Aboard Ariane Rocket
(16 October 2006) Orbital Sciences Corporation announced today that the Optus D1 commercial communications satellite, built by Orbital for Optus Networks Pty Limited (Optus) of Australia, was successfully launched into its targeted orbit aboard an Ariane 5 rocket on Friday, October 13.
Phoenicia Group Wins VSAT Contract in Libya from Occidental Petroleum Corporation
(18 October 2006) Phoenicia Group Libya LLC, a leading U.S.-Libyan integrated business advisory and consultancy firm, announced today a one-year turn-key VSAT contract with Oxy Libya LLC, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation.
RAD and Shiron Announce Strategic Co-operation to Optimise Bandwidth on Satellite Links
(19 October 2006) RAD Data Communications and Shiron Satellite Communications have announced an agreement on strategic co-operation between their two companies that will allow both providers and users of satellite services to maximise bandwidth efficiencies.


Earth Observation
Europe's First Polar-Orbiting Weather Satellite Ready For Launch
(16 October 2006) Following the roll out to the launch pad and erection at the launch tower at the weekend, MetOp is ready for launch at 18:28 CEST tomorrow from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Europe's New MetOp Weather Satellite Reaches Polar Orbit
(19 October 2006) For 28 years, Europe has been operating its famous Meteosat weather satellites in geostationary orbit. Today, they were joined by the first of a brand new generation of meteorological satellites.
Greenland Ice Sheet on a Downward Slide
(19 October 2006) For the first time NASA scientists have analysed data from direct, detailed satellite measurements to show that ice losses now far surpass ice gains in the shrinking Greenland ice sheet.
ITT Sensors Aboard First European Polar-orbiting Weather Satellite
(19 October 2006) ITT Corporation today announced two sensors manufactured by ITT are aboard the first of three European MetOp weather satellites launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on October 19.
NASA and NOAA Announce Antarctic Ozone Hole Is a Record Breaker
(19 October 2006) NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists report this year's ozone hole in the polar region of the Southern Hemisphere has broken records for area and depth.
USGS and NASA Select Landsat Science Team
(13 October 2006) The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in co-operation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), announces the selection of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Science Team.


Military Space
Boeing Completes Successful FAB-T Preliminary Design Review
(17 October 2006) The Boeing Family of Advanced Beyond-line-of-sight Terminals (FAB-T) program has successfully completed a Preliminary Design Review, a key milestone as the program moves forward.
Boeing to Build More Wideband Gapfiller Satellites
(18 October 2006) Boeing and the U.S. Air Force MILSATCOM Systems Wing have signed a US$ 1.067 billion contract for up to three more Wideband Gapfiller Satellites (WGS), if all options are exercised.
Globecomm Systems Awarded Contract for Fifty Auto-Explorer Satellite Terminals from US Navy
(20 October 2006) Globecomm Systems Inc., a global provider of end-to-end satellite-based communications solutions, today announced that the company has been awarded a contract for fifty Auto-Explorer satellite terminals to support the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division valued at US$ 5.3 million.
Harris Corporation Achieves Uplink to Milstar Satellite Via Advanced EHF Navy Multiband Communications Terminal
(16 October 2006) Harris Corporation today announced that it is the first company to successfully uplink to a Milstar satellite using an Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) Navy Multiband Terminal prototype system.
TCS SwiftLink Systems and Global Satellite Services Pass Stringent DoD Network Testing
(17 October 2006) TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS), a global leader in mission-critical wireless data solutions, today announced its SwiftLink DVM-90 and SwiftLink 2410 deployable satellite communications systems, along with its SwiftLink Global Satellite Services (GSS), have been successfully assessed for use in the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Boarding Team Communications (BTC) network.


Stars
First Directly Imaged Brown Dwarf Companion to an Exoplanet Host Star
(19 October 2006) Astronomers have detected a new faint companion to the star HD 3651, already known to host a planet.


Galaxies
Super Star Clusters In The Antennae Galaxies
(17 October 2006) This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the Antennae galaxies is the sharpest yet of this merging pair of galaxies.


Sun
Lockheed Martin Instrument to Monitor Solar Eruptions on Latest NASA Sun Mission
(19 October 2006) The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) instrument - designed and built at the Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory of the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in Palo Alto - will soon begin returning stereo images of the Sun's corona as part of NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO).


Moon
The Moon's South Pole: Very High Resolution, Radar Images Find Rocks Abundant, But No Ice Sheets
(18 October 2006) Using the highest resolution radar-signal images ever made of the moon - images from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Arecibo Telescope in Arecibo, P.R., and the NSF's Robert C. Byrd Telescope in Green Bank, W.Va. - planetary astronomers have found no evidence for ice in craters at the lunar south pole.


Earth
Expect a Warmer, Wetter World this Century, Computer Models Agree
(19 October 2006) Recent episodes of deadly heat in the United States and Europe, long dry spells across the U.S. West, and heavy bursts of rain and snow across much of North America and Eurasia hint at longer-term changes to come, according to a new study based on several of the world's most advanced climate models.
More Than a Meteor Likely Killed Dinosaurs 65 Million Years Ago
(18 October 2006) Growing evidence shows that the dinosaurs and their contemporaries were not wiped out by the famed Chicxulub meteor impact alone, according to a palaeontologist who says multiple meteor impacts, massive volcanism in India and climate changes culminated in the end of the Cretaceous Period.


Mars
Decoding Mars's Cryptic Region
(19 October 2006) Mars Express's OMEGA instrument has given planetary scientists outstanding new clues to help solve the mystery of Mars's so-called 'cryptic region'.
Mars Express and the Story of Water on Mars
(16 October 2006) For a number of decades now, astronomers have wondered about water on Mars. Thanks to ESA's Mars Express, much of the speculation has been replaced with facts.
Mars May Be Cosy Place for Hardy Microbes
(19 October 2006) A class of especially hardy microbes that live in some of the harshest Earthly environments could flourish on cold Mars and other chilly planets, according to a research team of astronomers and microbiologists.
NASA Orbiter Reveals New Details of Mars, Young and Old
(16 October 2006) During its first week of observations from low orbit, NASA's newest Mars spacecraft is already revealing new clues about both recent and ancient environments on the red planet.


Extra-Solar Planets
Planet-Finding by Numbers
(18 October 2006) More than a decade after the first planets beyond our solar system were found, astronomers have discovered about 200 of these "extrasolar planets," as they're called.


Manned Space
International Space Station Status Report
(20 October 2006) The three residents of the International Space Station spent a busy week with varied science and technical tasks as they began their second month in orbit.
NASA Announces New International Space Station Crew
(18 October 2006) NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency have named two astronauts and two cosmonauts to the next International Space Station crew, known as Expedition 15.


Technology
Deployment Experiment Result of Large Deployable Reflector Small-sized Partial Model 2 (LDREX-2)
(16 October 2006) Concerning the deployment experiment of the Large Deployable Reflector Small-sized Partial Model 2 (LDREX-2) launched by the Ariane 5 launch vehicle at 5:56 a.m. on Oct. 14, 2006 (Japan Standard Time, JST,) the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed the antenna deployment by images acquired at the Malindi Station in the Republic of Kenya.
First Photos of Japanese LDREX-2 Antenna Deployment Released by JAXA
(16 October 2006) The piggyback antenna demonstrator carried on Arianespace's successful October 13 mission is shown in photos taken after its deployment on Ariane 5's upper stage.


Launch Services
Fourth Ariane 5 Launch of 2006
(16 October 2006) On 13 October 2006, an Ariane 5 ECA launcher lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two satellites into geostationary transfer orbits and deploy a demonstration antenna.
Sea Launch Prepares for Launch of XM-4
(16 October 2006) The Sea Launch team is preparing for its fifth mission of 2006, the launch of the XM-4 satellite.


In Orbit
Integral Systems to Provide Satellite Control Systems for VINASAT-1 Satellite
(16 October 2006) Integral Systems, Inc. today announced that it has been selected by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) to provide primary and backup satellite control systems for the VINASAT-1 satellite.


Launches
MetOp-A
Launch Schedule


Reports
Satellite Launches Are Just One of the Topics Explored Inside 'Satellite Transponders - Global Strategic Business Report'
(18 October 2006) Research and Markets has announced the addition of Satellite Transponders - Global Strategic Business Report to their offering.


Products and Services
EchoStar Rolls Out High-Speed Internet Service
(19 October 2006) EchoStar Communications Corporation today launched "DISH Network High-Speed Internet powered by WildBlue," a satellite-delivered broadband Internet service.
MobiApps Announces Release of Next Generation Orbcomm Modem
(16 October 2006) MobiApps, Inc. is pleased to announce the introduction of the m100, the next generation, high-performance Orbcomm satellite smart modem designed for global management and monitoring of remote and mobile assets.
RAMTelecom Simplifies Satellite Broadband Connections for Oil and Gas Sector with New Auto-mount Antenna
(16 October 2006) RAMTelecom Inc., a satellite service provider delivering flexible, scalable solutions for broadband data and voice business communications, today introduced a new auto-mount antenna system that simplifies the process of establishing instant satellite broadband communications anywhere in North America.


Events
Dragon Training in China Focuses on Atmosphere
(20 October 2006) Over 50 doctoral level Chinese scientists from 30 institutes have gathered at the prestigious Peking University in Beijing in the People's Republic of China to attend a six-day advanced training course devoted to atmosphere monitoring over China using ESA remote sensing instruments.


People
New Appointments Within Alcatel Alenia Space
(20 October 2006) Olivier Badard is appointed Vice-President, Sales and Marketing for Alcatel Alenia Space's telecommunications activities, based in Cannes, France.

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