Satellite News articles from November 2005

Satellite News archives from November 2005

Venezuela Buys Satellite From China.(Venezuela Ministry of Science and Technology)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... Venezuela signed an agreement Nov. 1 to buy a satellite from China, the Venezuelan Ministry of Science and Technology announced. The Simon Bolivar Satellite will provide telecommunications services such as telephony and Internet access,...

Machinist Strike Threatens To Delay At Least Three Boeing Launches.
November 7, 2005... Boeing Co.'s government launch services business faces short-term and potentially long-term delays as the company's union machinists went on strike Nov. 3. The strike could push back the three remaining Delta rocket launches planned for the...

Mitsubishi Electric Captures SCC's Superbird-7 Contract.
November 7, 2005... No one is ready to call Space Communication Corp.'s (SCC) awarding of the Superbird-7 contract to Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (Melco) the beginning of a major shift in the satellite manufacturing market. But many in the industry are keeping an...

Spotlight: Saving Wetlands With Satellite Imagery.
November 7, 2005... The European Space Agency (ESA) is leading an initiative to help preserve the Earth's wetlands using satellite-based observation data. Global wetlands, which sustain the most biologically diverse ecosystems around the globe, have been in...

Executive Q&A: Thuraya CEO Prepares Company For Busy 2006.(Yousuf Al Sayed of Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co.)(Interview)
November 7, 2005... Since being founded by a consortium of national telecommunications operators in 1997, Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co. has built itself into a $1 billion regional mobile satellite telecommunications satellite system. Nearly a decade...

Spacedev Closes $2.5 Million Financing Round.(Laurus Master Fund Ltd.)(acquisition of Starsys Global Positioning)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... Spacedev Inc. closed the sale of $2.5 million of securities to Laurus Master Fund Ltd., the company announced Nov. 2. The proceeds from the sale will provide working capital, including funding transaction and other costs associated with...

Harris Unveils New Function for Satellite Command and Control Product.(XTCE)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... Harris Corp. introduced a new XTCE database converter for the company's OS/Comet satellite command and control suite of products. The new database allows users to translate databases in XTCE to OS/Comet source files for real- time operations....

Delphi Delivers Modem For Asset Tracking.(Stellar Satellite Communications, contract)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... Delphi Corp. delivered the first shipment of the new DS300 satellite transceiver modem to Stellar Satellite Communications, Delphi announced Nov.2. The modem, aimed at the asset-tracking market, delivers data via the Orbcomm satellite...

SUIRG Launches Interference Tracking Matrix Database.(Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... The Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group (SUIRG) launched an online, interactive database to consolidate and tracks incidents of satellite radio frequency interference within the geostationary arc, the organization announced. ...

BSkyB Teams Up With Vodafone.(British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC, Vodafone Group PLC)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... U.K. satellite pay-TV operator BSkyB has teamed up with Vodafone to launch Sky Mobile TV to deliver broadcast video services to Vodafone mobile phone customers. There will be two Sky Mobile TV packages offering a combined total of 19...

Globalstar Extends Satellite Data Service To Central And South America.(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... Globalstar announced Nov. 1 it would offer simplex, or one-way, data services to customers throughout parts of the Caribbean, Central America and the northern part of South America via its Venezuelan gateway. The data service allows...

Worldspace Satellite Radio Lights Up Ahmedabad.(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... Worldspace Satellite Radio announced Nov. 3 availability of its service in Ahmedabad, India, the seventh largest city in the country. Ahmedabad has a population of nearly 4 million, including more than 2 million consumers who fall into...

Orbiting Wall Street.
November 7, 2005... SIRI While XM Satellite Radio has had a comfortable lead in terms of subscriber numbers, investors may be looking more favorably at Sirius Satellite Radio at the moment. The telling number is that when XM last week reported a widening...

MDA Acquisition Of EMS Montreal Division Draws Mixed Reactions From Observers.(EMS Technologies Inc., MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.)
November 7, 2005... The move by MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) to acquire the financially challenged Space & Technology/Montreal division of EMS Technologies Inc. drew a mixed reaction from the financial community. EMS has been trying to...

Skyterra Gains Complete Ownership Of HNS.(Hughes Network Systems LLC)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... Skyterra Communications Inc., an affiliate of New York-based private equity firm Apollo Management LP, has executed an agreement to acquire the remaining 50 percent of Hughes Network Systems LLC (HNS) from DirecTV Group Inc. for $100 million...

Intelsat-Panamsat Merger Clears First Hurdle.
November 14, 2005... As with any significant transaction, there is always a first step needed to get the forward momentum going. The Intelsat-Panamsat merger took its first step toward completion when Panamsat shareholders approved the deal, Intelsat CEO David...

Canalsat Moving Away From Satellite Roots.
November 14, 2005... French pay-TV operator Canalsat is beginning to gain a significant amount of customers via non-satellite channels as the company bids to increase its subscriber numbers in France, a company official said. The satellite pay-TV operator has...

Spotlight: Keeping Ports Safe.
November 14, 2005... Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., increasing the safety and security of U.S. ports became one of the many areas the federal government began focusing on to help ensure national security....

Companies Gearing Up For BGAN Launch.(Broadband Global Area Network)
November 14, 2005... Given the amount of effort going into the marketing of Inmarsat's forthcoming Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) service, the high-speed data access service should be a significant component of the Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) market...

IS-804 Failure Review Board Update.(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... Intelsat Ltd. said Nov. 10 in its third quarter financial report that, based on failure review board analysis (FRB), the most likely cause of the of the total failure of IS-804 on Jan. 14 was "an electro-static discharge event in the battery...

Second BGAN Satellite Placed In Orbit.(Broadband Global Area Network )(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... Sea Launch Co. delivered the second satellite designed to provide the service, Inmarsat-4 F2, to geosynchronous transfer orbit Nov. 8. The Zenit-3SL rocket lifted off from the platform at Sea Launch's equatorial launch site Nov. 8 at 9:07...

Digitalglobe Appoints New President, CEO.(Jill Smith)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... Jill Smith has been named president and CEO of Digitalglobe, replacing Herb Satterlee, the company announced Nov. 7. Smith most recently served as president and CEO of software company EDial, which was acquired by Alcatel in September 2004....

ILS To Launch Thor 2-R For Telenor.(International Launch Services, Orbital Sciences Corp.)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... International Launch Services (ILS) signed an agreement with Orbital Sciences Corp. for the launch of the Orbital-built Thor 2-R satellite, ILS announced Nov. 9. The mission, aboard a Russian-built Proton Breeze M rocket, is scheduled...

ESA Launches Venus Express.(new spacecraft by European Space Agency)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... The European Space Agency's (ESA) Venus Express spacecraft was launched Nov. 9 by a Russian Soyuz-Fregat rocket operated by Starsem, ESA announced. The spacecraft will enter orbit around Venus in April, where it will study the structure,...

Morocco Joins Galileo Program.(satellite navigation program with European Union)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... The European Union (EU) reached an agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco to participate in the Galileo satellite navigation program, the EU announced Nov. 8. The agreement will cover industrial and scientific cooperation and the development...

Iridium Continues To See Strong Growth In Marine Sector.(Iridium Satellite L.L.C.)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... Iridium Satellite LLC reported that the number of subscribers to its mobile satellite service has grown 30 percent from the beginning of 2005 to Nov. 1. Revenues also are up "substantially," which Iridium attributes to income from new...

Lockheed Martin Delivers Second Modernized GPS Satellite For Launch.(global positioning systems)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... Lockheed Martin said Nov. 8 it delivered the second of eight GPS Block 2R satellite to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., where it will be readied for a scheduled Jan. 26 launch. The upgraded GPS satellites include a modernized...

Microspace Delivers "Chicken Little" To Theater Via Satellite.(Microspace Communications Corp., Walt Disney Co., contract)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... Microspace Communications Corp., a provider of point-to-multipoint satellite services, said Nov. 7 it provided digital delivery for the Disney feature film "Chicken Little" Nov. 4 via its Velocity satellite service and Kodak Digital...

Orbiting Wall Street.
November 14, 2005... NSE New Skies Satellites Holdings Ltd. reported Nov. 9 a profit of $6.1 million on revenues of $61.2 million in the third quarter 2005. "Revenues are 14 percent higher relative to the same period last year, a consequence of the...

Microsatellite Revolution Waiting On Reliable Launcher.(Jim Benson, MMB-100)
November 14, 2005... Spacedev Chairman and CEO Jim Benson hopes the company's newly unveiled MMB-100 microsatellite will change the satellite industry the way microcomputers changed the computer world. The microsatellite bus is intended to serve the needs of...

At Press Time: Cisco Acquires Scientific-Atlanta.
November 21, 2005... As this issue of Satellite News was going to press, Cisco Systems Inc. announced a definitive agreement to acquire Scientific-Atlanta. The combined entity would create an end-to-end triple play solution for carrier networks and the digital...

Small Satellites Poised To Play Bigger Role In FSS Market.(Fixed Satellite Services)
November 21, 2005... Smaller satellites could be in a position to take on a larger role in the Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) market, as evidenced by Orbital Sciences Corp. sitting among the leaders for satellite manufacturing contracts won in 2005, a spot...

Now Under Sole Ownership, HNS Focuses On Future Opportunities.(Hughes Network Systems Inc)
November 21, 2005... With the prospect of having a single owner managing the company one step closer to reality, Hughes Network Systems (HNS) Chairman and CEO Pradman Kaul is looking toward new growth opportunities. Skyterra Communications Inc. announced...

NPOESS Struggles Continue For Northrop Grumman.(National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, Northrop Grumman Space Technology)
November 21, 2005... The U.S. National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) could be as much as $3 billion over budget, and the launch of the first spacecraft is facing another three-year delay that could mean a potential gap in...

Spotlight: Satellites Play Key Role In Coast Guard Rescue Efforts.
November 21, 2005... The U.S. Coast Guard is adding a satellite component to a new digital communications system it currently is deploying to receive distress signals from boaters within 20 miles of U.S. shorelines. The system, dubbed Rescue 21, is intended...

Europe's Earth Observation Programs Face Key Funding Decisions.
November 21, 2005... The next 12 months likely will be a pivotal time for the European Space Agency in terms of securing the necessary funding to meet the needs of planned earth observation missions, with the upcoming ESA Council meeting at the ministerial level...

Ariane Places Spaceway F2, Telkom-2 In Orbit.(Arianespace contracts with satellite television industry)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... An Ariane 5 ECA rocket lofted the Spaceway 2 and Telkom-2 satellites into orbit, Arianespace announced. The vehicle lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 8:46 p.m. local time Nov. 16. Spaceway F2, based on a Boeing 702 platform, will...

Measat Selects Orbital For Communications Satellite.(Measat Satellite Systems, Orbital Sciences Corp.)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... Orbital Sciences Corp. said Nov. 14 that Measat Satellite Systems of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, awarded Orbital a contract to build the Measat-1R commercial communications satellite. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed. The...

Tata Sky Leases Insat-4A Transponders From ISRO.(Indian Space Research Organization)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... The Tata Sky Ltd. direct-to-to home joint venture signed a lease agreement with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for capacity aboard the Insat-4A satellite, Tata Sky announced Nov. 14. Tata Sky, a joint venture between the...

DirecTV Awards Contract To Sea Launch.
November 21, 2005... Sea Launch Co. LLC said Nov. 15 it signed a firm launch contract with DirecTV Inc. for a mission scheduled for early 2007. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The DirecTV spacecraft is one of three Boeing 702 model Ka-band...

Long March 3B To Carry Chinasat 9 Into Orbit.(China Great Wall Industrial Corp.contracts with China Satellite Communications Corp.)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... China Great Wall Industry Corp. and China Satellite Communications Corp. (Chinasat) signed a contract Nov. 9 for the launch of the Chinasat 9 satellite aboard a Long March 3B rocket in the second half of 2007, according to the People's Daily...

Orbiting Wall Street.(acquisition deal of New Skies Satellite Holdings Ltd. with SES Global S.A.)(management of Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. for initial public offering)
November 21, 2005... Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. For those excited at the prospects for satellite radio in Canada and looking to get in on the ground floor, Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (CSR) could be worth keeping an eye on. CSR,...

Satellite Industry Must Capitalize On Recent Performance.
November 21, 2005... While the satellite industry continues to be lauded for its performance in aiding hurricane recovery efforts in the U.S. Gulf Coast region, the industry must capitalize on its current prominence, industry officials said. In August,...