Satellite News articles from December 1995

Satellite News archives from December 1995

China Great Wall needs more clean launches to calm insurers. (China Great Wall Industry Corp.)
December 4, 1995... The successful launch of the AsiaSat 2 satellite by China Great Wall Industry Corp.'s Long March 2E rocket last Tuesday has not eased insurance market concerns about the launch vehicle's reliability, sources said. The discounted launch...

Satellite spotlight: Murdoch, TCI and Televisa plan DTH service. (Rupert Murdoch's The News Corp.; Tele-Communications International Inc.; Grupo Televisa S.A.; direct-to-home)
December 4, 1995... A new direct-to-home (DTH) satellite broadcast service for Latin America and the Caribbean is under development by a partnership of prominent satellite, cable and broadcasting ventures: The News Corp. [NEWCF], Tele-Communications International...

Primestar calls for minimum upfront auction payment: $10M. (Primestar Partners)
December 4, 1995... Bala Cynwyd, Pa.-based Primestar Partners has told the FCC there should be a minimum, upfront payment of $10 million in order to bid for the highly coveted direct broadcast satellite (DBS) frequencies at 110 [degrees] W and 148 [degrees] W...

TRW's investment banker rips financing efforts of rivals. (TRW Inc.)
December 4, 1995... Both Iridium Inc. and Globalstar Telecommunications Inc. [GSTRF] have withdrawn debt offerings recently that probably never should have been attempted because they sought too little money well before such funds would be needed for their...

Big LEOs plan to share 300 MHz, but WRC stalls some little LEOs. (low-earth orbiting satellites, World Radiocommunication Conference)
December 4, 1995... The final outcome of the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC '95) largely seems to have provided sufficient spectrum allocations to the fledgling global, mobile communications companies that previously received U.S. operating licenses to...

Aiming high - no - aim lower, please. (US Air Force's evolved expendable launch vehicle)
December 4, 1995... Pentagon space czar Bob Davis says he is concerned the responses the U.S. Air Force is receiving for its evolved expendable launch vehicle [EELV] are "a little ambitious," given the program's evolutionary nature and the $2 billion box within...

PanAmSat lashes out at rival Comsat with latest FCC findings. (Pan American Satellite Corp.; Comsat Corp.)
December 4, 1995... PanAmSat Corp. [SPOT] has lashed out again at its arch-rival Comsat Corp. [CQ] over satellite use and pricing issues in a recent batch of filings at the FCC. PanAmSat is asking the commission to rescind approval of Comsat RSI's Section 214...

Florida politicians pressure White House on international launch agreements.
December 4, 1995... Florida's second ranking political official has urged the Clinton administration to delay the negotiation of space launch agreements with nonmarket economies until the full economic impact of their entry into the international market can be...

Orbital Sciences receives multimillion dollar Pentagon launch contract. (Orbital Sciences Corp.)
December 4, 1995... Orbital Sciences Corp. [ORBI], of Dulles, Va., has received a $14 million face value increase to a firm fixed price contract for launch services for a classified Defense Department satellite. Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles,...

Hughes nabs Chinese spacecraft construction contract. (Hughes Aircraft Co.'s Space and Communications Group)
December 4, 1995... Los Angeles-based Hughes Space and Communications International Inc. [GMH] has received a multimillion-dollar satellite construction contract to build a satellite for the People's Republic of China's ChinaSat program. Hughes will provide an HS...

NASA extends Columbia/TDRSS agreement through 2001. (Columbia Communications Corp.; Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System)
December 4, 1995... Columbia Communications Corp. has reached an agreement with NASA to extend commercial, C-band operations on both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean Region Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) birds through Dec. 21, 2001. Columbia...

Comsat announces new corporate appointments. (Comsat Corp.)
December 4, 1995... Allen Flower has been named vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) of Comsat Corp. [CQ]. Since April, Flower has filled the dual roles of acting CFO and controller of the corporation. He became controller in 1992. In other personnel...

Bitterman named vice president, government relations at Orbital Sciences Corp. (Mark Bitterman)
December 4, 1995... Orbital Sciences Corp. [ORBI] has appointed Mark Bitterman vice president of government relations. He joined the company as director of government relations in 1992. He will continue serving OSC as the focal point for congressional relations...

Industry input sought for national weather satellite program.
December 4, 1995... Government officials are seeking industry input concerning the goals and contractual objectives of the converged civil/military meteorological satellite program composed of Defense Department, NOAA, and NASA elements. The converged program,...

Echostar execs eagerly await Dec. 28 launch of DBS hot bird. (Echostar Communications Corp.; direct broadcast satellite)
December 4, 1995... Echostar Communications Corp. [DISH] is preparing to enter the fast-growing direct broadcast satellite (DBS) business in February following the scheduled Dec. 28 launch of the company's first, high-powered satellite, Echostar 1, on a Long...

USSB stock offering will value Hubbard family stake at $1.1 billion. (United States Satellite Broadcasting Inc.)
December 11, 1995... United States Satellite Broadcasting Co. (USSB) will be valued at $2.2 billion, the founding Hubbard family stake pegged at more than $1.1 billion, if the company completes its proposed $200 million stock offering for 9 percent of the company....

Satellite spotlight: growing ComStream wins exporting award. (ComStream Corp.)
December 11, 1995... ComStream Corp., a sarcoma technology provider, recently was named "Exporter of the Year" by the World Trade Center Association of San Diego. Headquartered in San Diego, ComStream won the award primarily for its fast-paced development of new...

AMSC software problems impact Trimble's quarterly results. (American Mobile Satellite Corp.; Trimble Navigation Ltd.)
December 11, 1995... Difficulties in developing support software for a secondary messaging product of American Mobile Satellite Corp. [SKYC] will hurt the quarterly results of Trimble Navigation Ltd. [TRMB], the manufacturer of AMSC's fleet messaging terminals. In...

U.S., Ukraine negotiators to sign launch pact this week. (commercial satellites)
December 11, 1995... U.S. government negotiators are expected to meet with Ukrainian officials in Vienna, Austria, this week to hammer out an agreement to allow the Ukraine to launch a limited number of U.S. commercial satellites through 2001, sources close to the...

Special report: AMSC eyes rapid launch of new services. (American Mobile Satellite Corp.)
December 11, 1995... American Mobile Satellite Corp. [SKYC] intends to roll out a series of new products in rapid-fire succession during the next year to provide a full range of new satellite services throughout North and South America, said Brian Pemberton, the...

ICO, Hughes ink launch services pact. (ICO Global Communications Ltd.; Hughes Aircraft Co. Space and Communications Group)
December 11, 1995... London-based ICO Global Communications Ltd. and Hughes Space Communications International [GMH] announced last week the signing of a $925 million deal in which Hughes will supply and manage launch services for all 12 ICO satellites. The birds...

Eutelsat taps Arianespace for three launches.
December 11, 1995... Eutelsat chose Arianespace to launch three satellites beginning in mid-1997, on either Artane 4 or Ariane 5 rockets. Two of the satellites - built by Aerospatiale - will replace the existing Eutelsat 2 communications satellites, while the third...

AsiaSat 2 deployed and operating nominally.
December 11, 1995... The AsiaSat 2 satellite deployed its solar arrays and successfully completed a series of maneuvers enabling it to reach geostationary orbit, said Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT], which built the satellite. The spacecraft will reach its final...

Vietnam Telecom International to lease AsiaSat 2 capacity.
December 11, 1995... Vietnam Telecom International (VTI), a subsidiary of Vietnam's PTT, signed a lease agreement with Hong Kong's Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (AsiaSat) for C-band capacity on AsiaSat's newly launched AsiaSat 2 bird. VTI will use the...

Telstra, Mitsui and Hughes Network Systems to develop Vietnamese VSAT network. (Telstra Corp.; Mitsui and Company Ltd.; Hughes Network Systems Inc.; Very Small Aperture Terminals)
December 11, 1995... Australian carrier Telstra Corp. and Japan's Mitsui Co. Ltd. signed a $2 million agreement to implement a VSAT network to serve Vietnam. Hughes Network Systems Inc. [GMH] will provide Mitsui 45 VSAT terminals and a network management system,...

Spot Image satellite imagery used by the Pentagon in Bosnia. (Spot Image Corp.)
December 11, 1995... The Defense Department is using imagery provided by Spot Image Corp., of Reston, Va., to review terrain information in Bosnia during the U.S. peacekeeping effort there. Spot's three satellites provide 10-meter resolution in 60-square-kilometer...

TVRO filter blocks radar interference. (television receive-only)
December 11, 1995... Microwave Filter Co.'s Model 7892 waveguide bandpass blocks out-of-band interference from maritime and airport radars into television receive-only (TVRO) satellite signals. Both maritime and airport radars can interfere with TVRO signals if...

Hughes wins Scandinavian broadcast satellite contract. (Hughes Aircraft Co. Space and Communications Group)
December 11, 1995... Hughes Space and Communications International Inc. [GMH] won a contract from Telenor AS, Norway's partially privatized PTT, for a direct-to-home broadcast satellite to be delivered in spring 1997. The satellite, a high-powered version of Hughes'...

TVN leases five transponders on Hughes' Galaxy 9 bird. (TVN Entertainment L.P.; Hughes Communications Inc.'s communications satellite)
December 11, 1995... Burbank, Calif.-based TVN Entertainment Corp. signed a long-term lease for five transponders on Hughes Communications Inc.'s [GMH] Galaxy 9 satellite, slated for launch in the second quarter of 1996. The deal follows an earlier TVN lease of nine...

Comsat completes Inmarsat-C service upgrade for Pacific Ocean Region. (COMSAT Mobile Communications Div.)
December 11, 1995... Comsat Mobile Communications [CQ] completed upgrades on its C-Link satellite messaging service in the Pacific Ocean Region. The service improvements simplify C-Link connectivity with the other regions of Inmarsat's coverage, and makes sending...

Mac-Dac receives Russian component for Delta Clipper rocket. (McDonnell Douglas Corp.)
December 11, 1995... McDonnell Douglas Corp. [MD], of Huntington Beach, Calif., announced it received a Russian-built liquid oxygen tank for use in its Delta Clipper Experimental-Advanced (DC-XA) prototype reusable launch vehicle. The eight-foot-wide tank, built by...

Taiwan Asia Space Cable picks PanAmSat for broadcast capacity. (Pan American Satellite Corp.)
December 11, 1995... Taiwan Asia Space Cable will lease Ku-band capacity from PanAmSat Corp.'s [SPOT] PAS 2 satellite to deliver TV programming. TASC will be able to reach 5 million television households in Taiwan, as well as potentially provide service in the...

Little LEOS, broadcasters still battling over spectrum. (low-Earth orbit satellites)
December 11, 1995... While last month's World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-95) largely covered communications matters, debate during the meeting demonstrated that broadcasting may well be the high-voltage "third rail" of spectrum sharing disputes. Indeed,...

Commercial communications satellite industry logs banner year. (1995)(Industry Overview)
December 18, 1995... The past 12 months have been highlighted by the licensing of three proposed mobile, global telephony systems, a banner year of billion-dollar contracts for Hughes Space and Communications Co. [GMH] and the continued growth of direct broadcast...

Ascent Entertainment executes initial public stock offering. (Ascent )
December 18, 1995... Ascent Entertainment Group Inc., a Comsat Corp. [CQ] subsidiary formerly known as Comsat Entertainment Group Inc., completed an initial public offering last week to raise $75 million for general corporate purposes that could include building a...

Satellite spotlight: satellite technology hits the Net. (American Technologies Inc. offers wireless satellite communications with Internet)
December 18, 1995... American Technologies Inc. (ATI) is providing what it claims is the first-ever, wireless satellite communications with Internet access using its Logitrak system. Logitrak is the first commercially available system to provide internet users...

The top ten most important satellite industry stories of 1995.(Industry Overview)
December 18, 1995... As the global, commercial, communications satellite industry wraps up another year, the editors of SATELLITE NEWS assembled last week to compile our list of the year's top news events. So, here is our first-ever Top Ten list-for calendar 1995:...

Galaxy 3R satellite launched successfully.(Special Report)
December 18, 1995... Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla. - In a picture-perfect launch here last Thursday, a Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] Atlas 2A rocket boosted Hughes Communications Inc.'s [GMH] Galaxy 3R satellite into orbit. The HS 601-series spacecraft, carrying...

Intelsat board approves service centers.
December 18, 1995... Intelsat's Board of Governors last week approved the creation of four regional service centers to enhance service to the organization's customers. The service centers would be established in London, Singapore, Bombay, India; and Africa in 1996....

Lockheed Martin pegs cause of LMLV 1 launch disaster. (Lockheed Martin Launch Vehicle)
December 18, 1995... Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] announced last week it has determined that overheating of the first-stage thrust vector control system and a malfunction in the inertial measurement unit on the Lockheed Martin Launch Vehicle 1 (LMLV 1) booster was the...

Keystone Communications to encrypt NBA broadcasts. (Keystone Satellite Communications Inc.; National Basketball Association)
December 18, 1995... Keystone Communications Corp., of Culver City, Calif., said it will provide broadcasting and scrambling/encryption services to the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the 1995/1996 season. Hughes Television Network and Keystone have been...

Leica introduces GPS for precision farming. (MX 41R global positioning system receiver)
December 18, 1995... Torrance, Calif.-based Leica Inc. has introduced a global positioning system (GPS) receiver for precision farming. The MX 41R system uses navigation signals from the GPS constellation, as well as error correction from ground-based differential...

AT&T files for digital channelized transponder service via Telstar 402R. (satellite)
December 18, 1995... AT&T Corp. [T] filed an application with the FCC to offer channelized transponder service for broadcast transmission of compressed digital video signals via its Telstar 402 satellite. Applications include distance learning and business TV...

Orion pulls planned debt offerings, may reissue them next year. (Orion Atlantic L.P.)
December 18, 1995... Orion Atlantic L.P. became the latest satellite company to withdraw planned debt offerings this fall when it chose to pull two deals intended to raise a combined $565 million, a senior company official said last week. Both deals were required to...

Global commercial satellite opps help to make the season bright for aerospace. (U.S. aerospace industry)(Industry Overview)
December 18, 1995... The U.S. aerospace industry is on the verge of ending its protracted downward slide, in part, due to growing commercial space opportunities fueled by rising demand for satellite communications and the likely stabilization of U.S. government...

U.S. signs pact to let Ukraine launch 20 U.S. payloads by 2001.
December 18, 1995... U.S. government negotiators struck a deal last Thursday to allow the Ukraine to be involved in up to 20 launches of commercial U.S. satellites through 2001. The agreement dramatically will expand the availability of launches for the U.S....