Satellite News articles from February 2003

Satellite News archives from February 2003

PanAmSat Cautious On Broadband.
February 3, 2003... Joseph Wright, the president and CEO of Wilton, Conn.-based satellite operator PanAmSat Corp. [SPOT], has laid out a growth strategy for his company that entails entering the broadband market later this decade after demand for such services...

FCC Ruling Lifts MSS Prospects.(Mobile satellite services to include wireless terrestrial components)
February 3, 2003... Mobile satellite operators will enjoy expanded opportunities to develop viable businesses and to meet consumer needs following a landmark decision by the Federal Communications Commission last week allowing mobile satellite services to add...

Spotlight: Satellites Help To Secure U.S.-Canadian Border.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Ottawa-based C-Com Satellite Systems Inc. [CMI] is partnering with the Minnesota State Patrol to keep the U.S.-Canada border secure. C-Com recently delivered a number of its iNetVu Mobile satellite-based antenna systems to the Minnesota...

U.S. DBS Industry: At a Crossroads?(Direct broadcast results lower than expected)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... By Stephen A. Blum The U.S. DBS industry is at a crossroads, at least in terms of trend analysis. Recent results in general, and DirecTV's 2003 guidance in particular, point towards lower than expected subscriber growth in the near term,...

Interest Wanes In Eutelsat Protracted Bidding Process.
February 3, 2003... Paris-based Eutelsat S.A. is a profitable global satellite operator that appears unlikely to be sold anytime soon, despite unsolicited buyout offers it has received from its two biggest U.S. rivals. A much more likely outcome is a joint...

XM Closes Financing.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Washington D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio Inc. [XMSR] took a big step toward gaining the financial breathing room it needed this week by closing on its previously announced $475 million funding package. The deal consisted of $225 million in new...

Norway Buys RADARSAT-2 Data.
February 3, 2003... The government of Norway has agreed to purchase $15 million Canadian (US$9.8 million) worth of RADARSAT-2 data. Under the agreement, the first of its kind with Europe, Norway has committed to pre-paying for much of the data. The Norwegian...

New Skies' Indian Deal.(New Skies Satellites signs transponder deal with Reliance Infocomm)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... New Skies Satellites [NSK] has signed a multi-year, multi-transponder deal with Indian telecom company Reliance Infocomm, enabling Reliance to offer international long-distance telephone services to the United States. The bundled offering...

Delta Startup Offers Satellite TV.(Song )(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Song, a new owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines [DAL], will be offering in-flight satellite TV as part of its effort to meet travelers' needs, company officials said. Song is partnering with Matsushita Avionics Systems and EchoStar...

Kingston Secures Two Deals.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Kingston inmedia, the satellite-based broadband technology arm of Kingston Communications, won two contracts last week. One deal involves providing Internet backbone connectivity and VoIP services via satellite to the engineering-oriented...

Space Imaging's Online Shopping.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Space Imaging, which provides Earth imagery and related services to commercial and government markets, is offering online purchasing of IKONOS satellite imagery through its Carterra Online Internet portal. The IKONOS Geo product archive has...

Skylight Weather Info For Military.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Integral Systems [ISYS], a provider of satellite command and control technology and satellite ground systems, is launching its Skylight system using a direct broadcast satellite terminal for remote sensing of weather data. Skylight...

Telenor Inks Pact With Comtech.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2003... Telenor Satellite Services will provide dedicated capacity on Inmarsat satellites and land earth station services to Comtech to offer its customers real-time asset tracking and messaging services. The agreement is significant because mobile...

The Satellite News Financial Ticker.(table)
February 3, 2003... Week of January 27 - 31, 2003 Percentage Change Jan. 30 One One Symbol Price Week Month APT SATELLITE HLDGS ...

Space Imaging refocuses.(Company lays off employees, plans high-resolution satellite launch in 2006)
February 10, 2003... Space Imaging will be pursuing future opportunities with 65 fewer employees after layoffs there last Thursday. The company's board of directors approved the cuts and also backed plans to secure investors to finance the construction and...

Columbia's Satellite Impact Limited.(little effect on Satellite industry)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... The dramatic impact of the Challenger explosion on the U.S. launch and satellite industries will not be repeated in the aftermath of the Columbia disaster, experts say. When the Challenger and its crew of seven were lost in 1986, the...

Satellites Can Rise Above Disaster.
February 10, 2003... By Joe Pelton The recent Columbia disaster, as tragic as it was, has highlighted the danger of the U.S. relying too heavily on the space shuttle for access to space. The next step for the U.S. space program should be develop a cost...

Spotlight: CapRock Expands Gulf Coast Customer Base.(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... CapRock Services Corp., established in 1981 to provide satellite communications services to the oil and gas community, just added Oceaneering International Inc. [OII] to its customer base. CapRock's IP Xpress Network will be used aboard...

Eutelsat CEO: Everything Comes With A Price.(Interview)
February 10, 2003... European fixed satellite service (FSS) operator Eutelsat has rarely been out of the headlines in recent months. Last month, it saw the Ariane 5 fail to place its HOT BIRD 7 into orbit. Also, the company's future ownership has been under the...

Loral Faces Damages Claim Of $350 Million.(Alcatel charges violations of partnership agreement)
February 10, 2003... New York's Loral Space & Communications [LOR] is acknowledging for the first time that claims against it by France-based Alcatel Space could have a "material" impact on its financial picture. The change follows an arbitration panel's...

New Skies To Relocate Satellite.(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... New Skies Satellites N.V. [NSK], a global satellite operator based in the Hague, the Netherlands, plans to change the orbital assignment for its yet-to-be launched NSS-8 satellite. The spacecraft originally was scheduled to be launched to...

Livanos Joins Northrop Grumman.(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... Alexis Livanos is leaving his position as an executive vice president of Boeing Satellite Systems division to join Northop Grumman [NOC]. In his post as vice president of program operations at Northrop, Livanos will report to the president...

ViaSat Receives SKYLink Order.(airborne integrated satellite communications terminals)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... ViaSat [VSAT] has received a delivery order from ARINC for initial production quantities of SKYLink airborne integrated satellite communications terminals. The contract includes delivery of terminals for corporate jets built by General Dynamics...

Epicus Teams With DirecTV Partner.(Satellite Solutions)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... Epicus, a subsidiary of Phoenix International Industries [PHXU], has signed a comprehensive joint sales and marketing agreement with Satellite Solutions, a DirecTV reseller. The agreement enables Epicus (West Palm Beach, Fla.) to co-market...

S&P Downgrades Telesat.(Telesat Canada's debt rating)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2003... Standard & Poor's Rating Services has downgraded Telesat Canada's debt rating. S&P analyst Barbara Komjathy said the company's biggest challenge is excess capacity on satellite and fiber-optic networks, which could slow the pace of growth into...

The Satellite News Financial Ticker.
February 10, 2003... Week of Jan. 31 - Feb. 6, 2003 Percentage Change Feb. 6 One Symbol Price Week APT SATELLITE HLDGS ATS 1.56 -8...

Sea Launch Breaths Sigh of Relief.
February 17, 2003... The malfunction of a Russian Proton rocket launch last November is unlikely to affect Sea Launch's procedures and launch schedule, according to a Failure Review Oversight Board (FROB). Sea Launch's Zenit-3SL rockets have a similar Block DM...

Investor Sees MTN As Bargain.(Falconhead Capital buys Maritime Telecommunications Networks)
February 17, 2003... The $30 million purchase of Maritime Telecommunications Networks (MTN), a Miramir, Fla.-based provider of offshore satellite communication services, offers "very good value" and strong growth potential, said David Moross, chairman and chief...

2003: A Satellite Industry Odyssey.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... By Roger Rusch Planning for 2003 requires an assessment of what the future holds. While prognostication is an inexact science, we can extrapolate certain trends. Present conditions and "external forces" determine subsequent events. The...

Spotlight: Boeing Showcases Real-time Flight Information.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... Boeing's [BA] Air Traffic Management (ATM) and Connexion by Boeing units last week successfully demonstrated a number of enhancements to the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS). The enhancements are intended to improve the capacity, efficiency,...

Cable vs. DBS Battle Affects Growth.
February 17, 2003... The U.S. direct broadcast satellite (DBS) industry has had a marked advantage over cable since it was launched in 1994. The DBS providers emerged to deliver better pictures at a lower cost than their cable brethren. Today, that advantage is...

News Corp, Not SBC, Is Likely Buyer Of DirecTV.
February 17, 2003... Any bid Bell giant SBC Communications [SBC] may be exploring to buy U.S. satellite TV provider DirecTV most likely will not reach fruition, Wall Street analysts predicted. Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns both expressed doubt that such a...

Raytheon Wins Italian Navy Order.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... Raytheon [RTN] will provide an integrated electronics suite (IES) for the Italian Navy's multi-purpose vessel program under a foreign military award of $31.8 million equipping the Italian government with the newest data collection capability...

GS Provides Mozambique Teleport.(GS Telecom)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... African satellite services provider GS Telecom has installed a high-rise teleport in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, to provide telecommunications services throughout the country. GS Telecom is installing a ViaSat [VSAT] Linkway DAMA Network...

Diebold Uses Satellites For ATMs.(automatic teller machines)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... Diebold [DBD] has contracted with Spacenet, the U.S. subsidiary of Israel's Gilat Satellite Networks [GILTF], to become an authorized channel partner of Spacenet's Connexstar business-grade satellite broadband service. As a result of this...

KVH Offers Marine Communications.(Tracphone F55 satellite communications system)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... KVH Industries [KVHI] is launching a satellite communications system designed for maritime use - the Tracphone F55. The Tracphone F55 uses Inmarsat's satellites to offer leisure and small commercial vessels voice connections worldwide and...

New Skies' 2002 Results Slip.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... The fourth-quarter and full-year 2002 financial performances for satellite operator New Skies Satellites [NSK] were off compared to 2001, due to a difficult economy, adoption of a new accounting rule for goodwill and reconfiguration of its...

MDA Gets Bangladesh OK.(MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates' environmental monitoring network)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates [MDA] announced that the $4.45 million Canadian ($2.9 million) second phase of its Environmental Monitoring Information Network (EMIN) in Bangladesh has been approved for implementation. The EMIN is an...

GlobeCast On Eutelsat HOT BIRD.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2003... Satellite broadcast services provider GlobeCast has launched a digital direct-to-home platform on a Eutelsat HOT BIRD satellite. The France Telecom [FTE] subsidiary's new proprietary DTH platform will operate on the satellite via its digital...

The Satellite News Financial Ticker.
February 17, 2003... Week of Feb. 7 - 13, 2003 Percentage Change Feb. 13 One Symbol Price Week APT SATELLITE HLDGS ATS 1.78 13.4 ASIASAT TELECOM ...

Arianespace's Challenging Future.(looks to Ariane 5 rockets for future satellite launches)
February 24, 2003... The successful launch of the last Ariane 4 rocket not only carried the Intelsat 907 satellite into orbit but also ushered in a new era of dependence by Arianespace on its less reliable Ariane 5. The Ariane 4's final mission, Flight 159,...

Latin Operators In Limbo.
February 24, 2003... Latin America's satellite and network services sector is reeling from a worldwide economic downturn, and no one expects much improvement anytime soon. Many companies in the region receive revenues in weak local currency but must pay their...

Canada Mulls Lifting Foreign Ownership Limits.
February 24, 2003... Canada's parliament is holding hearings this month to review whether to ease its foreign ownership restrictions in the telecommunications sector. Canadian law requires telecom companies -- wireline, wireless and satellite --to be...

Spotlight: British Airways Tests In-flight Broadband.(Brief Article)
February 24, 2003... British Airways is trying out the new Connexion by Boeing's in-flight satellite broadband service onboard one of its daily transatlantic flight between London and New York. The service is designed to give airline passengers the ability to...

Canadian DBS: The Northern Duopoly.(Star Choice and Bell ExpressVu battle for direct broadcast satelite market share)
February 24, 2003... Canada has almost 32 million people and roughly 2.1 million of the country's 11 million-plus TV households (TVHHs) receive their direct broadcast satellite (DBS) signals either from Star Choice or Bell ExpressVu (BEV). By year-end 2003, the...

MTN Prospects For Oil And Gas Customers.(Maritime Telecommunications Network markets satellite-based ship-to-shore communications systems)
February 24, 2003... Maritime Telecommunications Network (MTN), a Miramar, Fla.-based provider of ship-to-shore satellite communications, is aggressively exploring its opportunities to serve customers who operate offshore oil and gas rigs. MTN traditionally...

Loral Backs Reverse Stock Split.(Loral Space & Communications )(Brief Article)
February 24, 2003... Loral Space & Communications [LOR] wants shareholder approval to implement a reverse stock split at its annual meeting on May 29 to comply with New York Stock Exchange share price requirements for continued listing. Loral meets the other...

Space Imaging In Bangkok.(Space Imaging Southeast Asia employs IKONOS satellite for map images for planning agencies)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2003... Space Imaging Southeast Asia, an affiliate of Denver, Colo.-based Space Imaging, has begun direct tasking and data collection of high-resolution imagery from the IKONOS satellite. The operations as well as the receiving antenna and processing...

Raytheon Reaches Milestone.(delivers Wide Area Augmentation System to FAA)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2003... Raytheon [RTN] has completed contractor acceptance and inspection for the Federal Aviation Administration's Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), a component in the agency's next-generation space-based aircraft navigation and landing system....

GlobeCast Expands Presence.(opens offices in Korea and Japan)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2003... Satellite broadcast provider GlobeCast, a France Telecom [FTE] subsidiary, is expanding its Asian operations to include Japan and Korea through the opening of a liaison office in Tokyo. The Tokyo office will serve as the local GlobeCast...

Intelsat Launches Asian Service.(Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting to offer satellite pay TV and teleport services for Hong Kong)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2003... Intelsat and Television Broadcasts (TVB) will set up a joint venture, Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting, offering pay-TV service for Hong Kong. Intelsat will own a 51 percent stake in the venture, which is licensed to provide satellite pay-TV...

SiRF To Acquire Wireless Company.(Enuvis)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2003... SiRF Technology, of San Jose, Calif., has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Enuvis, a wireless location technology provider. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. SiRF intends to integrate Enuvis' assisted-GPS (A-GPS)...

Orbital Recovery Names Advisor.(PricewaterhouseCoopers named financial advisor for Geosynch Spacecraft Life Extension System)(Brief Article)
February 24, 2003... Orbital Recovery has selected PricewaterhouseCoopers as its financial advisor, with responsibility for leading the company through its final funding round for its new Geosynch Spacecraft Life Extension System (SLES). PricewaterhouseCoopers...

The Satellite News Financial Ticker.
February 24, 2003... Week of Feb. 14- 20, 2003 Percentage Feb. 20 One Symbol Price Week APT SATELLITE HLDGS ATS 1.72 7.5 ASIASAT TELECOM ...