Satellite News articles from February 2005

Satellite News archives from February 2005

Space-Based Assets Tested In War Games.(Army began testing)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... As Satellite News was going to press, news came over the wire services that the U.S. military began a five-day war game to see how space-based assets such as satellite communications and precision bomb guidance systems would fare in a...

Intelsat Closing Raises Some Eyebrows.(Zeus Holdings Ltd.)
February 7, 2005... While many industry observers did not feel the Zeus Holdings Ltd. purchase of Intelsat was in any danger of falling through following the recent satellite failures Intelsat experienced, most would have guessed that the purchase price would have...

Galileo Operator To Be Selected This Month.(two consortia's Eurely and iNavSat)
February 7, 2005... With the final bids in from the two consortia competing for the contract to deploy and operate Galileo, Europe's satellite navigation system that will work in tandem with the U.S. GPS system, the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU) is now...

Spotlight: Building A More Portable VSAT Terminal.(solid-state power amplifiers)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... With the growing demand for portable VSAT terminals particularly from military users, the need for more portable power amplifiers is becoming an important criterion in terminal design. "One of the challenges we have right now is everyone...

A U.S. First: Dish Network Offers Interactive Shopping Channel.
February 7, 2005... While interactive television is fairly common in the European television markets, it hasn't yet caught on in a significant way in the United States, but EchoStar Communications Corp. is hoping to change all of that. The company which...

Foxtel Hoping To Break Through One Million Barrier.(Interview)
February 7, 2005... Foxtel Digital, the Australian cable and satellite pay-TV operator, has been a success story for digital television services in Asia. It is one of the fastest growing digital pay-TV operators in the region and is determined to break through the...

Double Launch Campaign Successful For ILS.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... International Launch Services (ILS) oversaw the launch of two rockets on Feb. 3, originating on both sides of the Atlantic. A Proton/Breeze M rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying the AMC-12 satellite for SES...

Gilat Reports Net Loss, Increased Revenues For 2004.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. reported an increase in revenues for 2004, but the revenues boost came coupled with a reported net loss for the year. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2004, the company reported $241.5 million in revenues up from...

BSkyB Closes In On 8 Million Target.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... UK satellite pay-TV operator BSkyB added almost 200,000 subscribers in the second quarter ended Dec. 31, 2004. This was one of the highlights as the operator announced its six month and second quarter results today. The operator now has more...

Stratos Boosts High-Speed Data Capabilities Of Fleet F77 Service.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Stratos Global Corp. said it is doubling the high-speed data capabilities of its Inmarsat Fleet F77 maritime communications service up to 128 kilobits per second. Stratos said that with the increased data speeds, vessel operators will now have...

Comsat Subsidiary Nabs $108 Million Contract From Brazil Lottery.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Comsat International Inc. said its Comsat Brazil subsidiary won a public auction to build, operate and mange the communications network for the national lottery and transaction clearinghouse network in Brazil. Comsat will operate the national...

Rainbow Media Inks Long-Term Distribution Agreements.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, the programming subsidiary for Cablevision Systems Corp., said it recently secured a number of key distribution agreements with both EchoStar Communications Corp. and The DirecTV Group Inc. to provide the...

Express-AM1 Satellite Operational.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... The Russian Satellite Communications Co. said its Express-AM1 satellite went into operation at 40 degrees East on Feb. 1. The satellite was launched last October and is designed for federal television and radio broadcasting, and special-purpose...

NDS Almost Doubles Revenues.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... NDS Group, a supplier of Conditional Access (CA) and interactive technologies to direct-to-home platforms, has seen a significant increase in revenues in the second quarter ended Dec. 31, almost doubling them compared to the previous year....

PiTV Taps PrediWave For Interactive Satellite TV Service.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... PrediWave Corp. said that PiTV selected its interactive broadcast TV platform for PiTV's satellite television service. PiTV will leverage PrediWave's technologies to deploy services such as digital video recording, video-on-demand and...

PolarSat Makes First Shipment Of VSAT Equipment To China.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... PolarSat said that is has shipped 15.8 tons of VSAT equipment to the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China. The shipment is the first delivery on a contract that, in total, is currently valued at $12 million. The actual value of the...

Dish Eclipses 11 Million Subscribers.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... EchoStar Communications Corp. said Jan. 31 that its Dish Network directto-home satellite television service has passed the 11 million-subscriber milestone. The company passed the 10 million-subscriber mark in June 2004. "We are pleased...

Satellite Radio Option On New Vehicles Triples In Three Years.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... According to new research released by Autobytel Inc.'s Automotive Information Center, the number of vehicles offering satellite radio as an option has more than tripled throughout the past three years. According to the company's research,...

XM, Nissan Ink Data Services Deal.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... XM Satellite Radio signed an agreement with Nissan North America Inc. to supply the auto manufacturer with satellite-delivered data and telematics services, such as in-vehicle messaging and XM NavTraffic. Nissan currently offers XM receivers as...

Spectrum Signal Processing Launches Rapid Prototyping Platform.(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Spectrum Signal Processing Inc. launched its flexComm SDR-2000 SRDP, a satellite communications rapid-prototyping and development platform. According to the company, this commercial off-the-shelf software defined radio platform is designed for...

Mobile Satellite Ventures Offers New Handset, Rate Plans To Meet Growing Government Demand.
February 7, 2005... Mobile Satellite Ventures last week announced that it is offering a new handset and new rate plans to respond to the needs of a growing public safety/emergency response market. The new handset, according to Mobile Satellite Ventures...

As We Went To Press: Cablevision To Divest Voom.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Cablevision Systems Corp. said it signed a letter of intent under which Voom HD LLC, a new private company formed by certain Cablevision Class B Common Stock holders, including Cablevision Chairman Charles Dolan and Tom Dolan, will acquire the...

Star One CEO Confident Over Broadband Revenues.(Chief Executive Officer)
February 14, 2005... Star One CEO Edson Soffiatti expects the operator's broadband revenues to increase by more than 20 percent in 2005, with overall revenues of around $20 million. The operator is a major player in the Latin American satellite arena, particularly...

Military Space Budget Request Boosted Again.
February 14, 2005... The Air Force's budget request for military space activities has increased again for FY '06 and beyond by nearly $2 billion, and it includes a new path ahead for the Pentagon's rocket program and a congressionally unpopular Space Radar (SR)...

Spotlight: Keeping Cruise Passengers Informed.
February 14, 2005... Many people look at cruise ships as the ultimate escape from the rigors of day-to-day life. But just because a passenger is isolated at sea does not mean they want to be isolated from knowing what is going on back home. To that end,...

Satellite Broadband Markets Showing Signs Of Life.
February 14, 2005... The satellite broadband market, while not showing significant adoption in either the enterprise or the consumer/SoHo (small office/home office) space, is showing signs of life and incremental growth, and the window of opportunity for future...

FCC Facilitates Provision Of Ubiquitous Mobile Satellite Services.(Federal Communications Commission)
February 14, 2005... The Federal Communications Commission Feb. 10 reaffirmed its decision to allow satellite operators to integrate ancillary terrestrial components (ATC) to existing Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) systems and modified the rules governing ATC to...

MTG COO Unconcerned By TeliaSonera Digital Television Entrance.(Modern Times Group)(Chief Operating Officer)
February 14, 2005... Nordic satellite pay-TV operator Viasat Broadcasting believes TeliaSonera's entrance into the digital television market in Sweden announced earlier this year, is a positive development. "We would expect Telia to invest heavily in marketing...

XM Losses Widen.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... XM Satellite Radio reported a net loss of $642.4 million for 2004, compared to a net loss of $584.5 million in 2003, in spite of growth in revenues to $244.4 million from $91.8 million over the same time period. The company said it added 1.8...

ILS Announces Launch Contracts.(International Launch Services )(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... International Launch Services (ILS) said it signed a contract with Eutelsat SA for the launch of Eutelsat's Hot Bird satellite in the first quarter of 2006. The contract was negotiated and signed in the framework of Eutelsat's strategy of...

ITN Taps Norsat For Spot News Coverage.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... United Kingdom television news supplier ITN has selected the Norsat Newslink terminal to enable live and timely news broadcasts of breaking news stories from around the world. The Newslink terminal is optimized for satellite newsgathering...

GlobeCast Adds Interactive Dating Channel.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... GlobeCast added an interactive dating channel, Look4Love TV to its global distribution network. The channel will be available on BSkyB's platform, uplinked via Eurobird 28.5 degreesE from GlobeCast's Brookman's Park teleport. The channel...

Motient Purchases Additional Interest In Mobile Satellite Ventures.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Motient Corp. said it has closed a series of transactions with Telecom Satellite Ventures, Columbia Space Partners and Spectrum Space Equity Investors, the result of which increases Motient's ownership stake in Mobile Satellite Ventures to...

Alcatel Heads Euro Mobile Broadband R&D.(MObile Wideband GLobal Link sYstem)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Alcatel has been tagged to lead a new $16 million European R&D effort to establish standards for providing broadband to ships, trains and planes. The European consortium, called MOWGLY (MObile Wideband GLobal Link sYstem), formally sprang into...

Lockheed Martin Delivers New GPS Satellite To U.S. Air Force.(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Lockheed Martin said it delivered the first modernized GPS satellite to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and the spacecraft is undergoing final preparations for its May launch. The satellite, designated GPS IIR-M1, will provide...

Satamatics Tops 50,000 Terminal Milestone, Targets U.S. Market.
February 14, 2005... Satamatics Inc., operator of Inmarsat's D+ satellite-based micro telemetry service, last week said it eclipsed the 50,000 terminals-in-use milestone and is adding new terminals to its asset tracking and monitoring service at a rate of more than...

At Press Time: XM Launch Delayed.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... The launch of the XM-3 satellite for XM Satellite Radio by Sea Launch was postponed indefinitely "due to continuing sea conditions at the launch site" at the company's equatorial launch site located at 154 degrees West, the launch services...

Consolidation Looming In Remote Sensing Market.
February 21, 2005... While nothing has been officially confirmed, industry observers are expecting Lockheed Marin and Raytheon Co. to sell off their Space Imaging remote sensing joint venture. The question that is still up in the air is whether or not one of its...

NDS Continues To Rely On Satellite Customers.(NDS Group PLC)
February 21, 2005... NDS Group, one of the leading suppliers of Conditional Access (CA) and middleware solutions to pay-TV operators, will see most of its revenue growth come from satellite operators throughout the next 12 months. That is the view of NDS's new CFO...

Spotlight: Satellites Aiding In The Saving Of Lives.(EagleMed donations)
February 21, 2005... For EagleMed, a privately-owned and operated critical care transport service, the adoption last year of an Iridium-based aircraft tracking and communications systems has paid dividends in terms of providing urgent care to those in need of...

Tandberg Execs Hail DirecTV Deal.
February 21, 2005... Tandberg Television secured a key deal with DirecTV, which will see the company play a key role in DirecTV's High-Definition (HD) strategy going forward. The deal, which is worth more than $9 million, will enable DirecTV use Tandberg's latest...

Key Apps, Markets and Regulatory Advancements Highlighted At Satcom Africa 2005.
February 21, 2005... Johannesburg, South Africa--From telemedicine to financial transactions, top end users and satellite industry executives of VSAT technology networks shared, this past week at SatCom Africa 2005, their insights on what is succeeding and what is...

Satellite Manufacturing Market: Stable But Flat.
February 21, 2005... The outlook for the satellite manufacturing market can be summed up in two words: stable and flat, according to new research offered by consultancy Frost & Sullivan. During a recent conference call with reporters and market observers, Max...

MTG Sees Baltic Numbers Leap.(Modern Times Group)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Viasat Broadcasting ended 2004 with 680,000 digital pay-TV subscribers across Scandinavia and the Baltics. This is compared to 629,000 at the end of 2003. This was one of the highlights as Modern Times Group (MTG), the owners of the Viasat...

New Connextion By Boeing Availability.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... El Al Israel Airlines signed a definitive agreement to receive Connexion by Boeing's in-flight high-speed Internet access service for its passengers, the two companies said. The agreement calls for the installation of the Connexion by Boeing...

Raymarine Unveils Marine Satellite TV System.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Raymarine is launching a satellite television system designed for marine users to allow them to access satellite television while at sea. According to Raymarine, the new system, named 45 STV, will automatically identify, acquire and track...

Inmarsat Seeks ATC License.(Ancillary Terrestrial Component)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Inmarsat said it would apply for authorization to operate ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) facilities in the United States to provide voice and data communications using L-band frequencies. The announcement comes after the Federal...

Sky Television Announces Content Additions.(Sky Television New Zealand)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Sky Television New Zealand an-nounced two new additions to its programming line-up to boost its content production in the areas of sports and current affairs. It announced that it intends to launch a new current affairs show, "Williams - Up...

Morsviazsputnik Taps EMS For DVB-RCS System.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... EMS Technologies said its satellite network division signed a contract with Morsviazsputnik for a DVB-RCS system to be installed in Russia. The DVB-RCS product and technology solutions enable two-way broadband access for a wide range of...

MSV Announces Personnel Moves.(Mobile Satellite Ventures L.L.C)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) announced the appointment of Jennifer Manner as the company's new vice president of regulatory affairs. She comes to MSV after most recently serving as senior counsel to Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy of the...

Wendy's Of Rochester Taps Gilat For Networking Applications.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. said its U.S.-based subsidiary, Spacenet Inc., was selected by Wendy's Restaurants of Rochester Inc. to provide a Connexstar broadband satellite network to link 123 Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburger restaurants...

Satellite Industry Seeks To Streamline Earth Station Approval.(Global VSAT Forum)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... The Global VSAT Forum (GVF) said the international satellite sector has launched an initiative seeking to streamline earth station-type approvals procedures through the endorsement of a global standard and the expansion of an industry...

SES Americom Taps ViaSat For DOCSIS-based Broadband Satellite System.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... ViaSat Inc. said it reached agreement to supply SES Americom with its SurfBeam DOCSIS-based two-way broadband satellite system, which it says will enable SES Americom to expand its enterprise offerings across the region with a low-cost, high...

Eagle Broadband, GlobeCast Launch Turnkey IPTV Solution.(Internet Protocol Television)(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Eagle Broadband Inc. and GlobeCast said they are launching IPTVComplete, which they describe as the first turnkey IPTV services solution that enables telephone companies, municipalities, utilities and real estate developers to rapidly deliver...

Phillip Spector Named Executive VP And General Counsel For Intelsat.(Brief Article)
February 21, 2005... Intelsat said Phillip Spector has been hired by the company to serve as executive vice president and general counsel. The well-known Washington attorney most recently serves as chairman of the Communications and Technology Group at...

Less Bandwidth Utilization Could Mean More Usage.
February 21, 2005... Although it defies conventional logic, if MPEG-4 AVC technology became a standard form of encoding broadcast content, the lower bandwidth requirements for MPEG-4 AVC could translate into an increase in capacity usage for satellite operators....

Clear Skies Ahead For Iridium.(Carmen Lloyd of Iridium Satellite L.L.C.)(Interview)
February 28, 2005... Only a few years ago, Iridium Satellite LLC, like others in the Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) sector was teetering on the edge of extinction. But Iridium Satellite LLC is showing positive trends in key financial indicators and is confident...

An Aggressive Move In The Asset Tracking Market.(marketing of Homeland Security Network Inc.)
February 28, 2005... The asset tracking market will soon see a new market competitor coming to the industry with a different game plan to attract new customers, one that takes a page from the playbook of the wireless phone providers in the United States. The...

At Press Time: iDirect's John Kealey Named Satellite Executive Of The Year.(iDirect Technologies)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... Via Satellite magazine, sister publication to Satellite News, named iDirect Technologies President and CEO John Kealey as the 2004 satellite executive of the year. "Kealey materializes a business practice that negates competition on the...

Spotlight: MTN Provides Satellite Link For Intel Demo.(contracts between Maritime Telecommunications Network Inc. and Intel Corp.)
February 28, 2005... Maritime Telecommunications Network (MTN) recently offered its satellitebased communications services to help Intel Corp. show off its latest Centrino mobile technology platform. Intel has been hosting a series of demonstration events to...

Gilat Ready To "Surprise" Market With New Technologies.(Shlomo Rodav of Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.)
February 28, 2005... Gilat Satellite Networks Chairman and CEO Shlomo Rodav is confident the company can increase its overall revenues in 2005 and that the company can soon return to profitability. Gilat has had some difficult years, but Rodav believes the worst is...

How to Succeed in Emerging Markets.(management of Carrier to Carrier Telecom NV)
February 28, 2005... By Robert Bell Pier du Plessis is South African by birth and a turnaround artist by trade. With a background in sales, marketing, finance and accountancy, he worked for several companies in South Africa, helping distressed operations to...

Sirius Nabs Rights To Nascar For $107.5 million.(licensing agreements between National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.)
February 28, 2005... In what is a continuation of its trend to build a strong content offering, Sirius Satellite Radio announced last week that it signed an agreement giving the company exclusive North American satellite radio rights to broadcast Nascar racing and...

SS/L Completes DirecTV 8 Ahead Of Schedule, Nabs Galaxy 18 Contract.(deal between Space Systems/Loral Inc. and The DirecTV Group Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... Space Systems/Loral announced it completed all assembly, integration and tests of the DirecTV 8 satellite more than two months ahead of the contracted schedule. The DirecTV 8 satellite, built for The DirecTV Group Inc., is a hybrid Ka-/Ku-band...

Digital+ Resumes Subscriber Growth.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... Digital+, the direct-to-home (DTH) platform in Spain, announced a subscriber growth for the first time in a number of quarters. At the end of December 2004, the operator had more than 1.65 million subscribers. It increased the number of...

Modulus Video Opens Japan Office.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... Modulus Video said it opened a new office in Tokyo, Japan to support the growing demand from satellite, telecommunications and cable service providers for MPEG-4 AVC video encoding systems. Broadcast industry veteran Shigeru Nakayama was hired...

DirecTV Taps Humax For Set Top Boxes.(contracts between DIRECTV Inc. and Humax Co.)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... Humax said it entered into development and supply agreements with DirecTV Inc. According to Humax, the agreements encompass various set top box models, including a portion of the entry-level receivers that will feature interactive services and...

Boeing Sells Propulsion Unit To Pratt & Whitney.(divestment of Boeing Co. Rocketdyne)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... The Boeing Co. said it reached an agreement to sell its Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power business unit to Pratt & Whitney for about $700 million in cash. Rocketdyne is primarily a rocket engine developer and builder and provides booster engines...

iDirect Unveils Web Compression Solutions For VSATs.(very small aperture terminals)(technology application of iDirect Technologies)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... iDirect Technologies introduced the latest addition to its product platform: the iDirect Compression and Acceleration Server (CAS) technology. The CAS solution compresses and accelerates static and dynamic data and content, in real time, using...

Globecomm Inks $8.1 Million Deal.(National Air Navigation Services Co.)
February 28, 2005... Globecomm Systems Inc. said the National Air Navigation Services Co. (NANSC) in Egypt awarded it an $8.1 million contract to install a next generation satellite-based network connecting 19 remote NANSC sites in Egypt to the Cairo Air Navigation...

Row 44 Inks Exclusive Deal With HNS.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... Row 44 said it signed an exclusive agreement with Hughes Network Systems to bring satellite broadband connectivity to North American commercial and business aircraft. Row 44 will use HNS' Direcway satellite broadband service to deliver Internet...

ViaSat Inks $4.9 Million Order.
February 28, 2005... ViaSat said it finalized a contract to supply its SurfBeam broadband satellite networking system to Mexico-based content and Internet applications provider Pegaso Banda Ancha for consumer Internet access services in Latin America. The initial...

CapRock Expands IPxpress Global Network.(service enhancement by CapRock Communications Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... CapRock Communications said it completed the expansion of its IPxpress core network to its Macae, Brazil teleport. IPxpress is CapRock's Internet Protocol (IP)-based core network architecture that employs multi-protocol label switching (MPLS)...

Roberts Taps Wegener To Aid In DTH Equipment Expansion.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... Wegener Corp. said it recently received a $700,000 order from Roberts Communications Network for equipment to expand its direct-to-home (DTH) small dish satellite delivery platform. The equipment is being used to upgrade Roberts' capacity to 50...

Multichoice Announces Key Channel Launch.(television channels)
February 28, 2005... Multichoice, a pay-TV provider announced that MTV Base, the first pan-African music channel, was launched on its DStv platform. The channel will be broadcast via satellite to 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa reaching more than 1.3 million...

Global VSAT Forum Seeks To Streamline Earth Station Type-Approvals Process.
February 28, 2005... The satellite industry has launched an initiative that seeks to streamline earth station type-approvals procedures through the endorsement of a global standard and the expansion of an industry-authorized network of testing entities, the Global...