Satellite News articles from July 2008

Satellite News archives from July 2008

NDS Could Be Target Of More Acquisitions.
July 2, 2008... A proposed deal that could see News Corp. give up its majority ownership of conditional access and middleware vendor NDS could be the first step that leads to NDS being acquired by a major technology player, according to one industry...

France: 'We Want the EU to Become a Space Power'.
July 2, 2008... Satellite News -- 6-27-08] With France set to assume the presidency of the European Union (EU) in July, there could be major changes in European space policy in the immediate future. France's laid out its space strategy in a June 17 white...

GTV Focuses On Improved Distribution.
July 2, 2008... [Satellite News -- 6-26-08] Gateway Broadcast Services is on track to reach its target of 100,000 subscribers in its first year of operation for its GTV direct-to-home (DTH) platform. The operator launched the DTH service in July 2007,...

NASA Tests New Spaceship 'Engine' Using Solar Wind Power.
July 2, 2008... NASA is moving to wind power -- solar wind, that is -- to propel vehicles through space. The system uses sunlight to propel vehicles through space. Engineers have successfully deployed a 20-meter solar sail system that uses an inflatable...

Senate Committee Approves $20.21 Billion NASA Authorization.
July 2, 2008... Measure Reaffirms Vision Of Manned Exploration Of Moon, Mars; Study Ordered On Extending Shuttle Flights From 2010 To 2015; Added Shuttle Mission Provided For Flying AMS To Space Station Commercial Spacecraft Competition Seen By 2011;...

Analysts Question Harbinger's Intentions With Inmarsat.
July 9, 2008... [Satellite News - 07-08-08] Inmarsat has held preliminary discussions with U.S. investment company Harbinger Capital Partners, Inmarsat's largest shareholder, which could lead to Harbinger taking over the satellite operator. Harbinger...

Demand For Interactive TV Services Could Put Satellite At Disadvantage.
July 9, 2008... [Satellite News 07-04-08] Television viewing and video consumption is about to enter a paradigm shift, one that could put satellite at a disadvantage to new providers such as Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), according to an industry analyst. ...

Study Places Satellite TV Call Centers At The Bottom Of Customer Service Ladder.
July 9, 2008... [Satellite News - 07-03-08] Customer approval ratings for satellite TV call service centers fell in 2008, dropping the industry into last place among those surveyed by CFI Group, an independent research firm. Satellite TV approval ratings...

ArenaSat MD Assesses Satellite Prospects in Germany.
July 9, 2008... [Satellite Today - 07-03-08] Unitymedia, a relatively small player in the German satellite pay-TV market, is making a big impact as it begins to challenge well-established Premiere. Unity is a prime example of a new phase of competition...

Agent Finds Collecting Overseas Debt Can Be Difficult.
July 16, 2008... [Satellite News 07-11-08] In the early 1980s, Fred Sampliner, president of his family-owned and operated collection agency, Sampliner Worldwide Collections, saw the satellite industry as a wide-open market. "It was one of the most...

Premiere Tries To Regain Momentum After Security Breach.
July 16, 2008... [Satellite News - 08-14-08] Premiere had a difficult beginning to 2008, as the German pay-TV operator disclosed in February that its platform had been compromised by hackers. The breach of the security system, provided by the Kudelski...

Higganbotham Brings Experience, New Plans To Integral Systems.(Company overview)
July 16, 2008... [Satellite News - 07-15-08] John Higginbotham has been involved in the space industry for decades as an investor and now returns to the field with plans to serve as a hands-on CEO. Higginbotham was named CEO of Integral Systems Inc. July...

Analysts Question Harbinger's Intentions With Inmarsat.
July 16, 2008... [Satellite News - 07-08-08] Inmarsat has held preliminary discussions with U.S. investment company Harbinger Capital Partners, Inmarsat's largest shareholder, which could lead to Harbinger taking over the satellite operator. Harbinger...

How Panasonic Plans To Bring Broadband Back To Airlines.
July 16, 2008... [Satellite News - 07-09-08] Panasonic has licensed iDirect's satellite IP router hardware and spread spectrum mobile waveform for a system that will provide broadband access to aircraft. The iDirect technology will serve as core...

iPhone Could Provide Competition For Combined Sirius-XM.
July 16, 2008... [Satellite News - 07-15-08] After battling government red tape, hostile Congressmen and lobbying groups for more than a year, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio seem on the cusp of closing their proposed merger. Now a more...

FCC Touts Incentives To Establish Broadband, Digital Technology Core In Pittsburgh.
July 23, 2008... [Satellite News 07-22-08] For years, economists and politicians have racked the brains of think tanks to develop a solution to revive the lackluster industrial output of the Rust Belt, a cluster of cities along the Great Lakes that include...

Investor Group Focuses on Space, Aviation Start-Ups.
July 23, 2008... [Satellite News 07-22-08] The aerospace industry has been dominated by the federal government investments, but Space Angels Network principal and co- founder Burton Lee is trying to bring early-stage financing infrastructure found in the...

VFCT Confident Microsatellite Platform Will Rise Above Competition.
July 23, 2008... [Satellite News 07-21-08] Louis Brothers, founder and president of Valley Forge Composite Technologies (VFCT), is so confident that his company's new small satellite platform will be a revolution for the industry that he invites critics and...

BSkyB Exec Highlights Broadband Importance.
July 23, 2008... [Satellite News - 07-18-08] BSkyB, which serves around 1.4 million broadband subscribers in the United Kingdom, hopes to use that infrastructure to provide the next generation of content services to its subscriber base, a company official...

NSR Report Reveals Unimpressive Chinese Satellite Market.
July 23, 2008... [Satellite News 07-17-08] A lack of diverse content, desire for a commercial-driven direct-to-home (DTH) market and an ingrained political fear of change will result in slow growth and underperforming Chinese satellite markets, according to...

Hellas Sat Plans Expansion Into DTH, Residential Broadband Markets.(Interview)
July 23, 2008... [Satellite Today - 07-17-08] Hellas Sat has ambitious plans to attack both the direct-to-home (DTH) and residential broadband arenas, as the Greek national satellite operator looks to transform its business and play a greater role in...

Harbinger Keeps Up Pursuit of Inmarsat.
July 30, 2008... [Satellite News 07-29-08] The ownership saga of Inmarsat took another as Harbinger Capital Partners Funds intends to bid for the mobile satellite services (MSS) company and then combine it with SkyTerra Communications, the parent company of...

MSV Executives: Harbinger Deal Guarantees Innovation.
July 30, 2008... [Satellite News 07-27-08] A $500 million funding deal from Harbinger Capital Partners comes at a critical time for Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV), according to two of the company's senior executives. The agreement, announced July 25,...

Thuraya Targets Mobile Data Market with New Terminal.
July 30, 2008... [Satellite News -- 07-25-08] Thuraya, believes its latest small broadband terminal with advanced video streaming capability will enable the company to make more of an impact in the mobile data market, the company's CEO said. The mobile...

Boosting Uplink Speed for Military Users and the Living Room.
July 30, 2008... [Satellite News 07-27-08] The big question for optimizing satellite technology is how to speed up the uplink. The good news is that the technology to dramatically increase the speed of the uplink is more than a decade old and some just may...

RUAG Looks to Expand Space Business with Saab Acquisition.
July 30, 2008... [Satellite News -- 07-23-08] Swiss defence company Ruag has been part of the space landscape in Europe for around 30 years, but is looking to play a larger role in the space sector with its acquisition of Saab Space, a supplier of space...

Satellite Consultant: Retired Engineers in High Demand.
July 30, 2008... [Satellite News 07-28-08] Systems engineer and spacecraft bus architecture expert Keith Volkert brings a unique approach to his independent consulting firm, Satellite Consulting Inc. (SCI). He augments his group of more than 140 consultants...

New COO to Guide AeroAstro Through Period of Change.
July 30, 2008... [Satellite News 07-23-08] Paul Lithgow was appointed COO of AeroAstro, a business unit of Radyne, in June. Lithgow will oversee current programs and new business development for AeroAstro, which is celebrating 20 years of operations, and...