21 January 2007
Satcoms
Lockheed Martin Wins
Contract for Inmarsat Globalised Mobile Satellite Network
NOAA Satellites Help Save 272 People in
2006
Space Systems/Loral Wins
Contract to Build New Satellite for Intelsat Corporation
Telekom Serbia Selects Gilat's SkyEdge for
Public Telephony and Enterprise Applications
Broadcast
Eutelsat Hot Bird Video Neighbourhood
Consolidates Audience into 121 Million Homes and Breaks Barrier of 1,000
Channels
SES Astra Signs New
Long-Term Contract with Canal+
WorldSpace Italia and Telecom Italia Sign
Deal to Design / Deploy Terrestrial Repeater Network in
Italy
Earth
Observation
GeoEye's Next-Generation Satellite Reaches
Major Milestone
Japanese Government
Initiates Space-Borne Hyperspectral Payload Program
Military Space
DARPA Awards Novel Satellite
Communications Contract to BAE Systems
Merrimac Awarded US$ 430,000 Multi-Mix Order
For Military Satellite
SkyPort
International Announces a Partnership with Comdex for Secure Communications
Services
Astrophysics
Dark Energy May Be
Vacuum
Astronomy
A New Telescope for the University of Moscow's
Sternberg Astronomical Institute
James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Backplane
Prototype Passes Critical NASA Space Readiness Tests
VISTA Camera Takes to the
Air
Black
Holes
Integral Sees the Galactic Centre Playing
Hide And Seek
Earth
THEMIS Mission Fields 5 Probes to Solve
Mystery of Auroral Substorms
THEMIS
Mission to Provide New Understanding of Substorm Life
Cycle
Jupiter
NASA Spacecraft En Route to Pluto Prepares
for Jupiter Encounter
Zooming To
Pluto, APL-Built New Horizons Spacecraft Approaches
Jupiter
Manned
Space
International Space Station Status Report:
SS07-03
Technology
Delft Nano-Detector Very Promising For Remote
Cosmic Realms
NASA Eyes Open
Standard Software for Next-Generation James Webb Space Telescope
NASA
GeneSat Shows Small Satellites Can Deliver Big Science
NIST Math Technique Opens Clearer Window on
UniverseNIST Math Technique Opens Clearer Window on Universe
Northrop Grumman, National Center for
Advanced Manufacturing Test New Approaches for Producing Large Composite
Structures
Researchers Create New
Class Of Compounds
XCOR Aerospace
Begins Test Firing of Methane Rocket Engine
Launch Services
NSS-8 Launch Slated for January 25th
Sea Launch Prepares for NSS-8
Mission
In
Orbit
Integral Systems Awarded Upgrade Contract for
the GOES N-P Ground System
Launches
Progress M-59 (ISS 24P)
Launch
Schedule
Reports
Suggestions for the Development and
Improvement of Space Law
Business
Arris and Tandberg Television Announce
Intention to Combine
Impsat
Shareholders Approve Acquisition by Global Crossing
Spacehab Unveils Initiative to Streamline
Company, Reduce Costs
Products
and Services
Navman Announces a Smarter GPS Smart
Sensor
Events
Heads of Space Agencies Meet in
Paris
Leading Physicists Convene
for Jan. 22-24 Conference on Gravity
People
Swedish Space Corporation Appoints New
CEO
Tim de Zeeuw to Become the Next
Director General of ESO
Satcoms
Lockheed Martin
Wins Contract for Inmarsat Globalised Mobile Satellite Network
(15
January 2007) Lockheed Martin has received a US$ 36.5 million contract from
Inmarsat to develop technology that will enable Inmarsat to expand its market
reach into the commercial handheld mobile satellite service market.
NOAA Satellites Help Save 272 People in
2006
(15 January 2007) NOAA satellites helped save 272 people from
potentially life-jeopardising emergencies throughout the United States and its
surrounding waters in 2006 - up from 222 the previous year.
Space Systems/Loral Wins Contract to Build
New Satellite for Intelsat Corporation
(19 January 2007) Space
Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications and the
world's leading provider of high-power commercial satellites, today announced
that Intelsat Corporation has awarded SS/L a contract to manufacture Intelsat
14, a new, high-power C- and Ku-band fixed satellite service (FSS)
satellite.
Telekom Serbia Selects
Gilat's SkyEdge for Public Telephony and Enterprise Applications
(8
January 2007) Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. today announced that Telekom
Serbia, the incumbent telecom carrier in Serbia, will deploy Gilat's SkyEdge
broadband satellite hub and several hundred VSATs to serve its residential and
corporate customers.
Broadcast
Eutelsat Hot Bird Video Neighbourhood
Consolidates Audience into 121 Million Homes and Breaks Barrier of 1,000
Channels
(19 January 2007) Eutelsat Communications today announced
headline results of its two-year survey of satellite and cable homes.
SES Astra Signs New Long-Term Contract with
Canal+
(19 January 2007) SES Astra, an SES company, has announced
today that it has signed a new long-term contract with the French Pay-TV
operator Canal+ Group for the satellite transmission of its programme bouquet
for the French market from Astra's prime orbital position 19.2°
East.
WorldSpace Italia and Telecom
Italia Sign Deal to Design / Deploy Terrestrial Repeater Network in
Italy
(16 January 2007) WorldSpace Italia, S.p.A., a subsidiary of
WorldSpace, Inc. today announced it has entered into an agreement with Telecom
Italia that brings digital satellite radio one step closer to European
consumers, starting with Italy.
Earth Observation
GeoEye's Next-Generation
Satellite Reaches Major Milestone
(19 January 2007) GeoEye, the
world's largest commercial satellite imaging company, announced today the
delivery of the camera for its next-generation commercial imaging satellite to
General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems in Gilbert, Arizona for
integration into the satellite.
Japanese Government Initiates Space-Borne
Hyperspectral Payload Program
(22 January 2007) Japan's Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) recently announced the initiation of a
5-year program for the research and development of a next-generation Earth
observation satellite payload with hyperspectral
capabilities.
Military
Space
DARPA Awards Novel Satellite Communications
Contract to BAE Systems
(16 January 2007) The Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected BAE Systems to lead a team of 10
companies in the next development phases of the Novel Satellite Communications
(NSC) program.
Merrimac Awarded US$
430,000 Multi-Mix Order For Military Satellite
(16 January 2007)
Merrimac Industries, Inc., today announced that it has received an order for
US$ 430,000 to supply several Multi-Mix Microtechnology products for a next
generation military communications satellite program.
SkyPort International Announces a Partnership
with Comdex for Secure Communications Services
(17 January 2007)
SkyPort International Inc. announced today that is has formed a strategic
partnership with Comdex Inc. in which the two companies will jointly provide
highly-secure satellite communications services to Comdex's world-wide
customers.
Astrophysics
Dark Energy May Be Vacuum
(17
January 2007) Researchers at the University of Copenhagen's Dark Cosmology
Centre at the Niels Bohr Institute have brought us one step closer to
understanding what the universe is made of.
Astronomy
A New Telescope for the University of Moscow's
Sternberg Astronomical Institute
(15 January 2007) Sagem Defense
Securite (SAFRAN Group) signed a contract in the beginning of December with
MAVEG Industrieausrustungen GmbH - the representative of the University of
Moscow's Sternberg Astronomical Institute - to develop an automated
astronomical telescope with a 2.5m aperture.
James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Backplane
Prototype Passes Critical NASA Space Readiness Tests
(17 January
2007) A prototype structure that holds the primary mirrors for the optical
element of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) passed a key readiness
milestone after undergoing a series of rigorous cryogenic tests at NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
VISTA Camera Takes to the Air
(17
January 2007) The world's biggest infrared camera for Europe's newest telescope
left the UK today (17th January 2007) for its flight to Santiago in
Chile.
Black
Holes
Integral Sees the Galactic Centre Playing
Hide And Seek
(18 January 2007) ESA's gamma ray observatory Integral
has caught the centre of our galaxy in a moment of rare
quiet.
Earth
THEMIS Mission
Fields 5 Probes to Solve Mystery of Auroral Substorms
(17 January
2007) NASA is poised to launch on Feb. 15 five identical space probes - the
largest number of spacecraft ever attempted by the agency on a single rocket -
to solve a decades-long mystery about the origin of magnetic storms that turn
the green, shimmering curtains of the Earth's Northern and Southern Lights into
colourful, dancing light shows.
THEMIS Mission to Provide New Understanding
of Substorm Life Cycle
(17 January 2007) NASA's THEMIS, the Time
History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms mission, is set
to venture into space and help resolve the mystery of what triggers geomagnetic
substorms.
Jupiter
NASA Spacecraft En Route to Pluto Prepares
for Jupiter Encounter
(18 January 2007) NASA's New Horizons
spacecraft is on the doorstep of the solar system's largest planet.
Zooming To Pluto, APL-Built New Horizons
Spacecraft Approaches Jupiter
(19 January 2007) Just a year after it
was dispatched on the first mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, the APL-built
New Horizons spacecraft is on the doorstep of the solar system's largest planet
- about to swing past Jupiter and pick up even more speed on its voyage toward
the unexplored regions of the planetary frontier.
Manned Space
International Space Station Status Report:
SS07-03
(19 January 2007) New supplies arrived at the International
Space Station Friday night as an unpiloted Russian cargo spacecraft docked to
the Pirs Docking Compartment.
Technology
Delft Nano-Detector Very
Promising For Remote Cosmic Realms
(17 January 2007) A minuscule but
super-sensitive sensor can help solve the mysteries of outer space.
NASA Eyes Open Standard Software for
Next-Generation James Webb Space Telescope
(19 January 2007) IBM
today announced the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is
using IBM software to develop the software and systems that will operate the
James Webb Space Telescope.
NASA
GeneSat Shows Small Satellites Can Deliver Big Science
(15 January
2007) A very small NASA satellite has proven that scientists can quickly design
and launch a new class of inexpensive spacecraft - and conduct significant
science.
NIST Math Technique Opens
Clearer Window on UniverseNIST Math Technique Opens Clearer Window on
Universe
(15 January 2007) A fast, efficient image enhancement
technique developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) and originally applied to improving monochrome microscope images has
proved itself equally effective at the other end of the scale - sharpening
details on colour images of distant galaxies produced by the Hubble Space
Telescope.
Northrop Grumman,
National Center for Advanced Manufacturing Test New Approaches for Producing
Large Composite Structures
(16 January 2007) Northrop Grumman
Corporation has teamed up with the University of New Orleans' National Center
for Advanced Manufacturing (NCAM) to develop and test new ways to produce large
composite structures that NASA could use to create future space transportation
systems.
Researchers Create New
Class Of Compounds
(19 January 2007) Researchers have synthesised a
new class of aluminium-hydrogen compounds with a unique chemistry that could
lead to the development of more powerful solid rocket fuel and may also, in
time, be useful for hydrogen-powered vehicles or other energy
applications.
XCOR Aerospace Begins
Test Firing of Methane Rocket Engine
(16 January 2007) Today XCOR
Aerospace announced a series of successful test firings of its new 7,500 pound
thrust rocket engine.
Launch
Services
NSS-8 Launch Slated for January
25th
(15 January 2007) SES New Skies, an SES company and Sea Launch
are initiating the final preparations for the launch of the NSS-8
communications satellite.
Sea Launch
Prepares for NSS-8 Mission
(15 January 2007) The Sea Launch team is
preparing for its first mission of the year on January 25, with the launch of
the NSS-8 communications satellite for SES New Skies.
In Orbit
Integral Systems Awarded
Upgrade Contract for the GOES N-P Ground System
(17 January 2007)
Integral Systems, Inc., today announced that it was awarded a contract
modification for the GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites)
N-P Program to upgrade a number of ground command and control
subsystems.
Launches
Progress M-59 (ISS 24P)
Launch
Schedule
Reports
Suggestions for the Development and
Improvement of Space Law
(15 January 2007) Research and Markets has
announced the addition of Space Law to their offering.
Business
Arris and Tandberg Television Announce
Intention to Combine
(15 January 2007) Arris, and Tandberg
Television, today announced that they have reached an agreement to combine the
two companies through an acquisition of all outstanding Tandberg Television
shares by Arris.
Impsat Shareholders
Approve Acquisition by Global Crossing
(17 January 2007) Global
Crossing Limited today announced that the shareholders of Impsat have voted to
approve its proposed acquisition for US$ 9.32 in cash for each share of Impsat
common stock.
Spacehab Unveils
Initiative to Streamline Company, Reduce Costs
(18 January 2007)
Spacehab, Incorporated, a leading provider of commercial space services, today
announced plans to restructure corporate functions and reduce staff to
streamline operations, improve efficiency, and lower overhead
costs.
Products and
Services
Navman Announces a Smarter GPS Smart
Sensor
(19 January 2007) Navman, a leading designer and manufacturer
of world-class global positioning system (GPS) technology, announced today a
tethered, ultra sensitive GPS receiver and antenna device, the Smart GPS
Sensor.
Events
Heads of Space
Agencies Meet in Paris
(17 January 2007) On 23 January, ESA's
Headquarters in Paris will host an 'ISS Heads of Agency meeting' at which Heads
of space agencies involved in the International Space Station programme (ESA
for Europe, NASA for the USA, CSA for Canada, JAXA for Japan and Roskosmos for
Russia) will take stock of the status of the ISS and look at the follow-on
activities.
Leading Physicists
Convene for Jan. 22-24 Conference on Gravity
(15 January 2007) More
than three dozen leading physicists and astrophysicists will convene in Tucson
for the conference, "Rethinking Gravity: from the Planck scale to the size of
the Universe," Jan. 22 - 24, 2007.
People
Swedish Space Corporation Appoints New
CEO
(17 January 2007) Lars Persson has been appointed as the new
President and CEO for Swedish Space Corporation as from February 16.
Tim de Zeeuw to Become the Next Director
General of ESO
(11 January 2007) The ESO Council has just appointed
Tim de Zeeuw, 50, as the next Director General of ESO, effective as of 1
September 2007, when the current Director General, Catherine Cesarsky will
complete her mandate.
