Satellite News articles from September 1992

Satellite News archives from September 1992

GE Astro-Space wins prized Intelsat Follow-on Satellite contract. (General Electric Co. Astro-Space Div.)
September 7, 1992... McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co. successfully launched a commercial Delta 2 rocket, carrying GE American Communication Inc.'s Satcom C4 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit last Monday (SN, Aug. 31, p. 1, Aug. 24, p. 1). The launch...

Satellite spotlight - Indiana higher ed. purchases CLI product. (Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System enters into agreement to purchase Compression Labs Inc.'s SpectrumSaver Compressed Digital Video satellite broadcast system through vendor Radiation Systems Inc.)
September 7, 1992... 3 Compression Labs Inc. (CLI) recently announced that the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System (IHETS) has agreed to purchase CLI's SpectrumSaver Compressed Digital Video (CDV) satellite broadcast system from Radiation Systems...

Making money in satellites: it can and is being done. (several issues discussed at 1992 World Space Congress)
September 7, 1992... The globalization of human activity coupled with the explosion of mobilebased telecommunications promises drastically to increase the demand for telephony services--both fixed and mobile--into the next millennium. "There is a fantastic...

Tethered Satellite System. (problem analyzed with respect to space shuttle Atlantis mission)
September 7, 1992... * A mechanical obstruction caused by a 1/4-inch diameter bolt appears to be at fault for preventing the full deployment of the Italian Tethered Satellite System (TSS) from the space shuttle Atlantis, a preliminary report by a NASA-Italian Space...

Orbital Sciences Corp. (contract to launch remote sensing and data relay satellite for Brazil's civil space agency)
September 7, 1992... * Fairfax, Va.-based Orbital Sciences Corp. (OSC) said last week it has signed a $13.5 million deal with Brazil's civil space agency to launch that country's SCD 1 remote sensing and data relay satellite onboard a Pegasus launch vehicle. The...

Spot Image Corp. (remote sensing imagery provided to government agencies and private firms on damage from Hurricane Andrew)
September 7, 1992... * Spot Image Corp. said last week that remote sensing imagery of Florida and other Gulf states damaged by Hurricane Andrew is being made available to government agencies and private firms involved in damage assessment. The images were taken by...

Comsat Corp. (Communications Satellite Corp. invests 20 percent equity stake in Plexsys International Corp.)
September 7, 1992... *Comsat Corp. announced last week that it has acquired a 20 percent equity interest in privately held Plexsys International Corp., a Naperville, Ill.-based firm that manufactures cellular network systems primarily for rural and...

GE Aerospace's Electronics Laboratory. (contract from Lewis Research Center for development of new high-frequency System-Level Integrated Circuit that exceeds present MMIC module technology)
September 7, 1992... * GE Aerospace's Electronics Laboratory has received a $1.4 million contract from NASA's Lewis Research Center to develop a new high-frequency System-Level Integrated Circuit (SLIC) that goes beyond current MMIC module technology. GE will use...

Skydata Inc. (new line of C-band satellite RF transceivers) (Product Announcement)
September 7, 1992... * Skydata Inc. has announced a new line of C-band satellite RF transceivers. The frequency band is 5.925 GHz to 6.425 GHz transmit and 3.7 GHz to 4.2 GHz receive. Intermediate frequencies are 70 MHz + 27 MHz. Transmit power ratings offered are...

WorldSpace Corp. (subsidiary, CaribSpace Ltd., granted license by government of Trinidad and Tobago to build, launch and operate digital audio broadcasting satellites)
September 7, 1992... 9 * The government of Caribbean-based Trinidad and Tobago has issued a license to CaribSpace Ltd., a subsidiary of Washington, D.C.-based WorldSpace Corp. The license permits the company to construct, launch and operate the first of several...

JCPenny Company Inc. (agreement with GTE Spacenet Corp. and Capital Cities/ABC to provide communications services to retail industry)
September 7, 1992... * JCPenney Company Inc., GTE Spacenet Corp. and Capital Cities/ABe have announced they are working toward the formation of a venture to provide a wide range of communications services to the retail community. The venture, Advanced Retail...

USA Today Sky Radio. (agreement announced with CNN Inc. and Mutual Broadcasting System to provide new services for USA's live, in-flight audio service)
September 7, 1992... *USA Today Sky Radio announced last week that it has signed agreements with CNN Inc. and the Mutual Broadcasting System for each to supply a range of highprofile programming to its new live, in-flight audio service. USA Today Sky Radio is the...

Martin Marietta Aerospace Corp. (contract for solid rocket motor components for Titan 4 rocket)
September 7, 1992... *Martin Marietta Aerospace Corp., of Littleton, Colo., has received a $170.1 million face value increase to a fixed price incentive firm contract for completion of long lead steel cased solid rocket motor segments for the Titan 4 launch system....

Hughes, NRTC provide update on long-awaited DirecTv service. (Hughes Communications Inc., National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, direct broadcast satellite television)
September 7, 1992... Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) proponents were touting the potential in utility services delivered to the home via satellite as they offered their latest update last week on implementing the long-heralded technology. Bob Phillips of the...

Intelsat board of governors authorizes Intelsat 8 series purchase.
September 14, 1992... As reported exclusively by SATELLITE NEWS more than two weeks ago (SN, Sept. 7, pp. 1-3; Aug. 31, pp. 1-3), the Intelsat Board of Governors (BG) last Thursday formally endorsed the recommendation of Intelsat Management, formerly the Executive...

Satellite spotlight: STM receives $4 million VSAT order. (Satellite Technology Management Inc. lands contract for very small aperture terminals)
September 14, 1992... Satellite Technology Management Inc. recently announced it has received an order in excess of $4 million for a turnkey, private VSAT network from Agroasemex, a government-owned insurer of agricultural crops, equipment and livestock based in...

Arab states to procure two follow-on Arabsat satellites.
September 14, 1992... The Arab consortium for space communications (Arabsat) has decided to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for two next-generation Arabsat satellites, the first to be launched in 1995, an Egyptian official said. Soliman Metwalli, Egypt's...

Tele-Communications Inc. announces earnings increase.
September 14, 1992... Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), the nation's largest cable TV multiple system operator (MSO), has announced that total revenues for the first six months of this year, ending June 30, were $1.73 million, an increase of $149 million, or 9 percent...

On the trail of investors: LEOs face financial world's skeptics. (low-earth-orbit satellite proponents)
September 14, 1992... As the regulatory wheels in Washington turn, Big LEO proponents face a challenge from the north on Wall Street as they continue the search for investors in the capital-intensive mobile satellite services (MSS) market. Onlookers in the...

Special report: NASA issues challenges to space community. (NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin proposes innovative space programs for the future at World Space Congress meeting)
September 14, 1992... In a keynote address to the world's space leaders and a large audience of international space officials from industry and government, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin said the global space community is capable of sending spacecraft to the moon,...

European Space Agency (ESA) Council. (policy towards Russian Federation expressed at meeting)
September 14, 1992... * The European Space Agency (ESA) Council, meeting in Paris on Sept. 8, issued a status report detailing the agency's policy and programs as they relate to the Russian Federation. The agency said it is experiencing "further budget constraints"...

Hughes Aircraft Co. (plans for final days of company's Pioneer Venus orbiter)
September 14, 1992... * NASA's Pioneer Venus orbiter, the nation's oldest planetary explorer, soon will end its mission when NASA's Ames Research Center permits gravity gradually to lower the nearly out-of-fuel spacecraft into Venus' hostile, hot, dense atmosphere...

Fortress Satellite Services Ltd. (Hong Kong's first fiber optic, satellite-using network installed)
September 14, 1992... * Fortress Satellite Services Ltd. said last week that Hong Kong's first fiber optic, satellite-received network has been installed at Discovery Bay, linking 4,000 households to a community-wide system. The fiber network is manufactured and...

DirecTv Inc. (agreement with MATRIXX Marketing Inc. to provide services)
September 14, 1992... * DirecTv Inc. last week announced that it has executed a definitive agreement with MATRIXX Marketing Inc. to provide the national telephone marketing and customer service center for its 150-channel direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service....

Conus Communications. (CONUS Communication Company L.P. now offering Saturday Morning News program services permitting locally produced newscasts)
September 14, 1992... * Conus Communications recently rolled out Saturday Morning News. The program offers TV stations all of the elements needed to create a high-quality, locally produced Saturday morning newscast. Earlier in the day, Yuri Semonyov, a senior...

Kaul-Tronics Inc. (improved KTI Pro-Form Mounts available) (Product Announcement)
September 14, 1992... * Kaul-Tronics Inc. (KTI) said recently that hot dip galvanizing now is available for all KTI Pro-Form Mounts. KTI's polar mounts have standard features such as 4-inch-wide actuator bars, four 5/8-inch pinch bolts, angle cross braces, vertical...

Loral's Space Systems Division. (receives approval to use both Western and Russian technology in making satellite products as part of new venture, International Space Technology Inc.)
September 14, 1992... * A new business team that includes Loral's Space Systems Division has won approval to start making satellite products using both Russian and Western technology, paving the way for the worldwide marketing of a new breed of satellite propulsion...

Polar satellite launch vehicle. (Indian scientists successfully test high-energy solid propellant third-stage rocket engine)
September 14, 1992... * Indian scientists reached a milestone recently in their Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) project with the successful testing of the high-energy solid propellant third-stage rocket motor (PS 3). The PS 3, which was developed at the...

Ball Corp. (contract for Geosat Follow-on radar altimeter satellite)
September 14, 1992... * Ball Corp. has received a $46 million Navy contract to build the Geosat Follow-on (GFO) radar altimeter satellite that will measure ocean topography for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. The contract includes options for two...

General Dynamics Corp. (Space Systems Div. lands contract increase for work on Medium Launch Vehicle, Number 9)
September 14, 1992... * General Dynamics Corp., Space Systems Division, of San Diego has received a $42.1 million face value increase to a fixed price and cost reimbursement contract for advance procurement, production and launch support for the Medium Launch...

Russian cruise ships install MSS phones for two-way telephony. (mobile satellite service)
September 14, 1992... PORT OF BALTIMORE--Marking the first visit to the United States by a Russian passenger ship in 13 years, Comsat Mobile Communications execs last week showed off the shipboard phones the company is using to build a business with firms in the new...

People's Republic of China receives nod from Bush Administration. (agreement to provide nine satellites for launching by China backed-up by President Bush)
September 21, 1992... Surprising few within the commercial expendable launch vehicle industry, President Bush last week approved the controversial and long-sought-after waivers for the granting of export licenses for the People's Republic of China. The move...

Satellite spotlight: MEDphone, IDB offer new lifesaving service. (IDB Mobile Communications Group Inc.; delivery of emergency medical assistance/treatment for cardiac arrest victims anywhere around the world wherever satellite communication is available)
September 21, 1992... MEDphone Corp. and IDB Mobile Communications, a joint venture of IDB Communications Group Inc. and Teleglobe International (U.S.) Inc., recently announced a new alliance that will offer a lifesaving service which delivers emergency medical...

NRC minimizes value of materials processing in space. (National Research Council)
September 21, 1992... Materials processing should be deemphasized as a rationale for undertaking microgravity research, a report released recently by the National Research Council (NRC) said. "It should be recognized that, to date, no examples have been found...

IDB Communications reports record second quarter results. (IDB Communications Group Inc., quarter ending June 30, 1992)
September 21, 1992... IDB Communications Group Inc. has reported that net income for the quarter ended June 30, was a record high of $1.91 million, or 18 cents per share. Revenues for the quarter, also a record, were $36.22 million, compared to $25.28 million during...

Germany continues to push Europesat DBS project. (direct broadcast satellite)
September 21, 1992... With only one month remaining before the launch of its third DFS Kopernikus direct broadcast satellite (DBS), Germany's Deutsche Bundespost Telekom (DBT) again has renewed the push to liberate itself from the German domestic aerospace industry...

Russia reinvigorates space program by inking pacts with the West.
September 21, 1992... As a result of the recent financial agreements Russia has completed with NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), NPO Energia and the Russian Space Agency said that 1993 will mark the year the Russian Federation resumes a high level of manned...

Personal communications: it's not just for advanced cellular.
September 21, 1992... As the nascent personal communications services (PCS) industry continues to define itself, the satellite industry--specifically the bevy of proposed low-earth-orbit (LEO) proponents--is aiming at making satellite technology a crucial link in...

Little LEOs reach tentative consensus on 1 GHz proposals. (low-earth-orbiting satellite communications below 1 gigahertz frequency)
September 21, 1992... Overcoming weeks of sometimes heated technical and business disputes, the Little LEO Negotiated Rulemaking Committee last week reached a consensus and issued a list of recommendations for the FCC to consider concerning low-earth-orbit (LEO)...

Columbia Communications Corp. (awarded contract from Defense Dept. to provide satellite communications services to military bases throughout Pacific Rim)
September 21, 1992... * The Defense Department has selected Columbia Communications Corp. as the satellite carrier for a telecommunications network linking U.S. military bases in the Pacific Rim. The firm will be teaming with MCI in operating the voice and data...

Alpha Lyracom Space Communications. (Gregg Daffner appointed vice president of market development and regulatory affairs)
September 21, 1992... * Gregg Daffner is joining Alpha Lyracom Space Communications (PanAmSat) as vice president for market development and regulatory affairs. Daffner moves to PanAmSat from the Commerce Department, where he served as director of international...

Qualcomm Inc. (provided critical emergency backup communications services during Hurricane Andrew)
September 21, 1992... * Qualcomm Inc. said it assisted with emergency back-up communications as Hurricane Andrew blew through the Gulf Coast. Girding for the storm, the National Marine initiated the back-up using BoaTracs, the marine distributor for Qualcomm's...

GE American Communications Inc. (General Electric Co. GE American Communications Inc. awarded contract to provide services for National Education Telecommunications Organization and subsidiary EDSAT Corp.)
September 21, 1992... * GE American Communications Inc. (GE Americom) has been selected to provide C- and Ku-band services for the distance learning venture of the National Education Telecommunications Organization (NETO) and its subsidiary, EDSAT Corp. GE Americom...

Conus Satellite News Cooperative. (Time Warner Inc. New York City Cable Group. New York 1 News, 24-hour local cable news channel, joins cooperative)
September 21, 1992... * New York 1 News, Time Warner Cable's 24-hour local cable news channel, has joined the Conus Satellite News Cooperative. The channel joins WWOR-TV (New York) and News 12 (Long Island) as contributors to the cooperative, which includes more...

GTE Spacenet Corp. (contract for providing services via satellite-based telecommunications system for USA Today Sky Radio service on-board United Airlines)
September 21, 1992... * GTE Spacenet Corp. has been selected to provide satellite-based telecommunications for the new USA Today Sky Radio in-flight audio information service. The company will provide uplinking services via its GStar 3 satellite. GStar 3 will...

Satellite Sports Networks. (case decided in favor of SSN against New Dock Inn Corp. and William Mullare for illegal use SSN's sports satellite transmissions)
September 21, 1992... *The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of NEW York has entered a default judgment and awarded statutory damages in the case of Satellite Sports Networks (SSN) vs. New Dock Inn Corp. and William Mullare. The two were charged in the...

American Mobile Satellite Corp. (contract with Pan American Health Organization for satellite mobile communication services to be used in disaster relief assistance)
September 21, 1992... * American Mobile Satellite Corp. (AMSC) has signed an agreement with the Pan American Health Organization (PAl{O) to provide satellite-based mobile communications services for disaster relief assistance to PAHO member countries. The pact...

Signal Communications Systems and Supply Inc. (five-year contract with Defense Dept. for voice, data and video encrypted communications services)
September 21, 1992... * Signal Communications Systems and Supply Inc. has been awarded a five-year contract, with five one-year options valued at about $100 million overall to provide Defense Department voice, data and video encrypted communications services...

Working group readies reports for international DAB meeting. (broadcast representatives drafting issues and positions involving satellite digital audio broadcasting for upcoming International Telecommunication Union's January 1993 Radio Consultative Committee meeting)
September 21, 1992... Broadcast representatives met here last week to hone U.S. positions on satellite digital audio broadcasting (DAB) in preparation for international talks on the service. Reviewing a draft paper on U.S. requirements for satellite DAB,...

GTE Spacenet Corp. sells Spacenet 1; shops remaining Spacenets. (Spacenet artificial satellites)
September 28, 1992... Signaling the beginning of the long-awaited, industry-wide consolidation among satellite carriers, SATELLITE NEWS has learned that McLean, Va.-based GTE Spacenet Corp. has sold its Spacenet 1 satellite to Hong Kong-based Asia Pacific Telecom...

Satellite spotlight: American Rocket Co. readies hybrid motor.
September 28, 1992... American Rocket Co. hopes by the fall of 1996 to make its hybrid rocket booster available for launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Camarillo, Calif.-based company is working to develop a commercial hybrid booster,...

Space Systems/Loral receives Russian satellite thrusters. (electric rocket motors from joint venture with Russian-based Fakel Enterprises and Research Institute of Applied Mechanics and Electrodynamics)
September 28, 1992... Space Systems/Loyal (SS/L) recently received two Russian electric satellite thrusters slated to be used on next-generation communications satellites, the company said recently. SS/L said it believes the thrusters will improve the operating...

California Amplifier second quarter earnings up 135 percent. (ending August 29, 1992)
September 28, 1992... California Amplifier Inc. recently reported its operating results for the second quarter of fiscal 1993. Sales for the quarter ended Aug. 29 were $8.4 million compared with sales of $5.1 million for the same period in the prior year. ...

GPS system may produce the next trade flap with Japan. (Global Positioning System)
September 28, 1992... The U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) may become the next battleground in the ongoing trade discussions currently being conducted between the United States and Japan. Many industry watchers believe that the next fad among novelty-hunting...

General Dynamics isolates possible cause of Atlas failure. (General Dynamics Corp. Space Systems Div. investigating Atlas-Centaur rocket incident)
September 28, 1992... In a Sept. 21 memo to company employees, Michael Wynne, president of General Dynamics Space Systems Division, wrote that following the conclusion of the second meeting of the AC 71 Failure Review Oversight Board, investigators have "closed in...

Ukraine proposes launch system using four separate rockets. (Ukraine-based rocket manufacturer NPO Yuzhnoye offers several payload-launching systems)
September 28, 1992... NPO Yuzhnoye of Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine, is proposing to provide commercial launch services onboard four different rockets that are designed and manufactured in the Ukraine. Theo Pirard, SATELLITE NEWS' European correspondent, reports...

Long March 2E launchers impress air show attendees. (Chinese rocket launcher at 1992 Farnborough International Air Show)
September 28, 1992... FARNBOROUGH, England--The People's Republic of China's Great Wall Industry Corp. (GWIC), impressed attendees here at the Farnborough Air Show with predictions of how the Long March series of launch vehicles will perform through the remainder...

Fuji Television Network Inc. (plans to initiate joint venture in 1993 in effort to enter satellite broadcasting market)
September 28, 1992... * Fuji Television Network Inc. said recently it will launch a joint venture next year to prepare for entry into the satellite broadcasting market. The company said the new firm, tentatively named FNS Space, will be incorporated in May 1993 and...

North American Bar Network. (Richard Paul appointed vice president of sales and marketing)
September 28, 1992... * Newington, Va.-based North American Bar Network (NABN), operator of Tavern Television, said that it has hired Richard Paul as vice president of sales and marketing. Paul formerly served as national sales manager for Satellite Sports Networks...

TRW. (new plant to manufacture small, lightweight satellites)
September 28, 1992... * A new TRW plant in Chantilly, Va., will produce small, lightweight satellites for the military, civil and international markets, the firm said last week as it announced the opening of the facility. TRW "will be able to meet a wide range of...

NASA. (Administrator Daniel S. Goldin nixes pushing Magellan Venus mapping mission beyond its intended lifespan)
September 28, 1992... * NASA Administrator Dan Goldin has ruled out the possibility of continuing the Magellan Venus mapping mission beyond Cycle 4, which began last week and is slated to end May 15. "Absolutely, positively not," said Goldin in response to a...

Discovery. (NASA investigating integrity of booster rocket on Space Shuttle Discovery)
September 28, 1992... * NASA engineers were in the process of de-stacking a space shuttle Discovery booster rocket last week in order to determine which of three O-rings is leaking, space agency officials said. The O-rings were found to be leaking during a...

Toshiba Video Communications Group. (new integrated satellite receiver-decoder, model TRX 1500) (Product Announcement)
September 28, 1992... * Toshiba Video Communications Group recently announced a value-priced addition to its line of satellite receivers, the TRX 1500 integrated receiverdecoder (IRD). Toshiba said the objective of the TRX 1500 is to create a new benchmark in...

National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative. (non-rural utilities, non-National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative member organizations, interested investor groups and individuals to be allowed to participate in DirecTv direct broadcast satellite program)
September 28, 1992... * The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) said recently that it will accept applications for participation in Hughes Communications Inc.'s (HCI) DirecTv direct broadcast satellite (DBS) program from non-rural utilities Oct. 2....

Hughes Communications Inc. (contract with Playboy Enterprises Inc.)
September 28, 1992... * Hughes Communications Inc. (HCI) said last week that Playboy at Night will transmit its 10-hour nightly programming schedule via Galaxy 5 for the rest of the decade. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Playboy acquired the remaining...

ComputerLand Corp. (offering new videoconferencing service)
September 28, 1992... * ComputerLand Corp., the world's largest computer reseller and multi-vendor network integrator, announced last week a new videoconferencing downlink and television production service, dubbed ComputerLand Connect. Using more than 300 fully...

Investigators to eye plans for restructuring of SkyPix. (bankruptcy court appoints investigators)
September 28, 1992... A U.S. bankruptcy court in Seattle last week turned its attention to setting a course for the shipwrecked SkyPix Corp. following its decision to take the helm from previous management. A source close to the proceeding told SATELLITE NEWS...