Satellite Today articles from March 2003

Satellite Today archives from March 2003

Newscasters To Use Norsat Terminals For Middle East Coverage.
March 3, 2003... Canadian firm Norsat International [Nasdaq: NSAT] (Burnaby, British Columbia) has deployed three Norsat NewsLink portable satellite terminals in Kuwait. The units, two of which were purchased by New York City-based Viacom [NYSE: VIA]...

U.S. Patent Office Awards "We Are GPS" Service Mark.
March 3, 2003... Global Positioning System services provider FleetBoss Global Positioning Solutions has been granted use and ownership of the slogan, "We Are GPS," by the U.S. Patent Office. GPS technology is used in applications ranging from handheld...

EMS Technologies Announces Business Deals.
March 3, 2003... EMS Technologies [Nasdaq: ELMG] announced a series of deals in conjunction with the SATELLITE 2003 conference this past week in Washington, D.C. Among the announcements, EMS hardware will be part of the Intelsat 907 communications satellite...

HDNet Selects PanAmSat for Satellite Delivery of HDTV Programming.
March 3, 2003... High-definition broadcaster HDNet has selected PanAmSat [Nasdaq: SPOT] to provide satellite delivery of its high-definition television (HDTV) content to its cable and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) providers throughout North America. By...

SAT-TEL, IROC Complete Merger.
March 3, 2003... SAT-TEL [Toronto: SAJ] and IROC Systems [Toronto: IRC] have received shareholder approval to merge the two companies based in Red Deer, Alberta. Financial terms were not disclosed. SAT-TEL specializes in the integration of wireless and...

DWJ Television, Fisher Pathways Sign Content Agreement.
March 3, 2003... Fisher Pathways, a provider of video and data connectivity and distribution, and DWJ Television, which produces broadcast communications services, have signed an agreement under which Pathways will provide studio services, satellite and fiber...

EchoStar Adds 400,000 Net New Subscribers.
March 4, 2003... EchoStar Communications [DISH] netted approximately 400,000 new subscribers during the fourth quarter to boost its subscriber total to 8.18 million at the end of 2002. EchoStar (Littleton, Colo.) also reported revenues for the quarter of $1.32...

M2sat, Thuraya Launch a New Mobile Broadband Service.
March 4, 2003... M2sat and Thuraya Satellite Telecommunication are teaming up to offer satellite broadband services of 192 Kbps to the international broadcasting industry and other high-capacity users. Thuraya's (Abu Dhabi, UAE) satellite capacity is...

Sirius Stockholders Approve $1.2B Recapitalization.
March 4, 2003... Sirius Satellite Radio [Nasdaq: SIRI] said its stockholders have overwhelmingly approved the company's proposed recapitalization. A majority of Sirius (New York City) stockholders voted to approve transactions to exchange $700 million in debt...

NetCentrex Expands into Latin America with LatAmNap.
March 4, 2003... NetCentrex, which provides next-generation networking products and applications for voice-over-IP (VoIP), PSTN and mobile networks, announced today that LatAmNap will use its CCS Softswitch and Media Server architectures to deploy advanced VoIP...

Army Engineers Monitor Water Levels Using Satellites.
March 4, 2003... U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hydraulic engineers are monitoring water levels in the New England region's major rivers and the depth of snow cover throughout the region to regulate Corps dams and to minimize downstream impacts from the district...

Telenor Extends Offer High-speed Wireless Packet Data Service.
March 4, 2003... Telenor Satellite Services is extending its offer for customers to try out its wireless packet data satellite service--Regional Broadband Global Area Network (Regional BGAN). Telenor is offering 50 free megabytes for each Regional BGAN SIM card...

U.S. Aerospace Industry Employment Hits 50-Year Low.
March 5, 2003... U.S. aerospace employment has reached its lowest level since 1953, dropping to 689,000 jobs at the end of 2002. Based on the latest data from the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the figure should serve as a call to action for...

Hughes Terminates Strategic Alliance With AOL.
March 5, 2003... The strategic alliance forged between Hughes Electronics [NYSE: GMH] and America Online in 1999 has been terminated, Hughes reported in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The break-up will allow Hughes to avoid...

FAA Selects Lockheed Martin-Led Team To Provide WAAS Satellite Services.
March 5, 2003... The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management for wide-area augmentation system (WAAS) satellite leased communication services. As the FAA moves toward implementation of satellite...

ITT To Build Teleports for Naval Satellite Communications System.
March 5, 2003... ITT Industries [NYSE:ITT] has been awarded a contract by the Department of the Navy's Space, and Naval Warfare Systems Command to provide hardware and software for the management and control of six military satellite communications system...

FiberSat Gains Pact With Hotelevision.
March 5, 2003... FiberSat Global Services, previously known as McKibben Communications, won a contract from Hotelevision to handle satellite installation services, technical support and installation base management, company officials said. FiberSat Global...

Sirius Debt Holders Approve Refinancing.
March 5, 2003... The path is clear for Sirius Satellite Radio [Nasdaq: SIRI] to operate without the financial questions that have followed it in recent months after its debt holders approved a recapitalization. On Tuesday, Sirius stockholders approved the...

Motorola Settles Chase Manhattan Claims Stemming From Iridium's Collapse.
March 6, 2003... Motorola [NYSE: MOT] reached an out-of-court settlement that covers all five remaining lawsuits filed against the company by Chase Manhattan Bank due to the financial failure of Iridium LLC, a global satellite voice service that ultimately went...

Boeing, Hughes Agree To Pay $32 Million Penalty For Alleged Export Missteps.
March 6, 2003... Hughes Electronics [NYSE: GMH] and Boeing Satellite Systems, formerly Hughes Space and Communication Co., reached a $32 million settlement with the U.S. Department of State involving claims of technology transfer from two failed launches of...

Hughes Moves Closer To Sale After AOL Break-up.
March 6, 2003... The break-up of an alliance between Hughes Electronics [NYSE: GMH] and America Online appears to be a move to prepare for the eventual sale of Hughes, a non-core business unit of General Motors [GM], said Tom Watts, a satellite analyst with SG...

Israel Court Approves Gilat's Debt Restructuring Plan.
March 6, 2003... Gilat Satellite Networks [Nasdaq:GILTF] has received approval from the Israel District Court in Tel Aviv for its debt-restructuring plan. The court's approval of the plan, allowing the company to restructure its principal debt obligations, is...

Boeing Delta IV Launch Set for First Air Force EELV Mission.
March 6, 2003... A Boeing [NYSE: BA] Delta IV rocket is scheduled to launch the first satellite for the U.S. Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program on Saturday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Liftoff is scheduled during a 77-minute...

ICESAT Spacecraft Passes Final Test.
March 6, 2003... The Goddard Space Flight Center's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) has completed testing of its laser altimeter, its final test before full operation. The focus of the operations is now on fine-tuning and calibrating the...

Integration Of Two Loral Units Eliminates Two COOs.
March 7, 2003... The chief operating officers of both Loral Skynet and Loral Cyberstar are leaving their jobs as part of the integration of the two units of Loral Space and Communications [NYSE: LOR], a process that began last fall. Joan Byrnes opted to...

Boeing's Settlement With State Department Will Not Spur Export Flow.
March 7, 2003... The settlement announced this week between Boeing Satellite Systems, Hughes Electronics [GMH] and the U.S. State Department resolving technology transfer violations stemming from Chinese launch failure reviews in 1995 and 1996 likely will not...

Globalstar Receives Final Approval of Debtor-in-Possession Financing.
March 7, 2003... Satellite phone provider Globalstar LP has been granted final court approval for its $10 million debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing. The court had earlier granted approval on an interim basis, making an initial $4 million available to the...

Star One Cautious Over LatAm Prospects.
March 7, 2003... This year is likely to be a tough year for satellite operators in Latin America, according to Lincoln Oliveira, chief technology officer of Latin American satellite operator Star One. He told SATELLITE TODAY that with a number of economies in...

Tandberg Launches nCompass Integrated Control and Monitoring.
March 7, 2003... Tandberg Television, a supplier of open-standard products for digital broadcasting, plans to launch its integrated control and monitoring system, nCompass, at the upcoming National Association of Broadcasters 2003 conference. The...

Top Executives at Gilat Step Down.
March 10, 2003... Gilat Satellite Networks [Nasdaq:GILTF] on Monday announced the resignations of its co-founders, Chairman and CEO Yoel Gat and President Amiram Levinberg. The resignations will take effect at the April meeting of a new board. Shlomo Rodav is...

EADS To Cut 1,700 Jobs At Space Division.
March 10, 2003... The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. [Amsterdam: EAD] is eliminating 1,700 jobs at its Space Division. The division reported a loss of 268 million euros ($296 million) in 2002 because of "high provisions made in the context of further...

Boeing Delta IV Launch Delayed for Weather.
March 10, 2003... The planned launch Sunday night of Boeing's [NYSE: BA] Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., was rescheduled for tonight after a forecast of 50 mph winds last night caused the launch to be postponed. The launch pad's mobile service tower...

Globecomm Forges Three Agreements With Partners.
March 10, 2003... Globecomm Systems [Nasdaq: GCOM], a provider of end-to-end satellitebased communications, entered into three agreements that involve two satellite equipment contracts for $2.3 million and a separate deal to turn OneTouch Systems into a...

Thrane & Thrane Received Capsat Fleet77 Order From P&O Nedlloyd.
March 10, 2003... Through its Dutch distributor, Thrane & Thrane of Denmark will deliver 27 Capsat Fleet77 terminals to P&O Nedlloyd, a global shipping and international logistics company. This will result in 27 vessels of the P&O Nedlloyd Container Line fleet...

Americom Government Services Awarded Federal Satellite Contract.
March 10, 2003... Americom Government Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES Global [Luxembourg: SESG] unit SES Americom, won a federal satellite communications services contract from the General Services Administration. Terms were not disclosed. The...

Delta IV Successfully Launches Air Force Satellite.
March 11, 2003... A U.S. Air Force Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] was launched successfully Monday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard a Boeing-built [NYSE: BA] Delta IV launch...

Stratos To Provide Satellite Communications To Oil Platform.
March 11, 2003... Stratos, a provider of remote communications solutions and services, agreed to provide Shell UK Exploration and Production with a satellite communications network for its Goldeneye Platform, due to be deployed next year in Moray Firth,...

ATCi Awarded $2.8M Teleport Contract for Latin America Network.
March 11, 2003... Antenna Technology Communications, a provider of commercial satellite communications systems, won a $2.8 million contract from the Mexican Ministry of Education to install the largest distance learning network in Latin America. Antenna...

India's Sahara Television Buys Tektronix Equipment.
March 11, 2003... Sahara Sanchar Nigam, parent company of Sahara TV, has purchased Tektronix [NYSE: TEK] video test and measurement instruments for its eight new TV channels and new uplink earth station, located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. Sahara, which...

National Scientific Receives GPS Tracking Order From Verify Systems.
March 11, 2003... National Scientific [OTC: NSCT] has received a $250,000 blanket purchase order from Verify Systems for mobile wireless developmental platforms for use in Verify's iVERIFIED school bus rider authentication system. National Scientific designed a...

Qualcomm, Agentek Deliver Satellite-Based Fleet Management System.
March 11, 2003... Qualcomm [Nasdaq: QCOM] and Agentek, a provider of wireless mobile computing solutions, are teaming to deploy satellite-based fleet management system for Milan Express. Using Qualcomm's OmniTRACS mobile communications system and Agentek's...

Launch Market Outlooks Shows Little Short-term Promise.
March 12, 2003... WASHINGTON, DC -- Launch industry officials and analysts offered little hope for a quick turnaround in the beleaguered launch sector due to drastically curtailed demand, according to a panel discussion held Tuesday night sponsored by the...

Orbital Stock Price Weakness Is Unwarranted, Analyst Says.
March 12, 2003... Weakness in the share price of Orbital Sciences [Nasdaq: ORB] is unwarranted and stems from "general confusion" around the company's plan to increase its outstanding shares from 80 million to 200 million, according to William Kidd, Lehman...

PanAmSat Focuses On Government Services Market.
March 12, 2003... PanAmSat's [Nasdaq: SPOT] newly acquired G2 Satellite Solutions Company (G2) plans to offer satellite and value-added services to the government. To facilitate that work, the new business unit (formerly Hughes Global Services) will be based in...

EchoStar Plans Hybrid Ku-/Ka-band Satellite Launch for May.
March 12, 2003... EchoStar Communications [Nasdaq: DISH] plans to launch the EchoStar IX satellite in May. The satellite will launch from a floating platform at the equator aboard a Sea Launch rocket. Built by Space Systems/Loral, the EchoStar IX satellite...

BBC Makes Crucial Satellite Decision.
March 12, 2003... The BBC announced that it would, for the first time, broadcast its eight TV channels unencrypted by satellite. This decision will enable viewers in the United Kingdom to receive BBC channels without a BSkyB viewing card, through any make of...

SpaceConnection Inks Marketing Deal With PanAmSat.
March 12, 2003... Satellite service provider SpaceConnection has signed an exclusive marketing agreement with PanAmSat [Nasdaq: SPOT] that will provide the satellite news gathering (SNG) market with an access facility. Under the terms of the agreement,...

China Central Television Chooses GlobeCast's DTH Platform.
March 13, 2003... GlobeCast, the satellite services unit of France Telecom [NYSE: FTE], said China's national broadcaster CCTV-9 is available on its digital DTH Hot Bird platform as part of French satellite bouquet TPS and its Eurobird platform targeting over...

Virtual Music Stores To Use DirecWay To Distribute CDs on Demand.
March 13, 2003... Hughes Network Systems Europe (HNSE) has signed a multi-year contract with Virtual Music Stores (VMS) for DirecWay broadband satellite services. VMS will use DirecWay to distribute music content to its "on demand' manufacturing kiosks situated...

QuickBird Satellite Imagery Aids In Forestry Management.
March 13, 2003... Canada's CLC-Camint is using DigitalGlobe's (Longmont, Colo.) QuickBird satellite imagery to identify individual tree crowns in forest areas. With the ability to delineate and classify tree crowns, forestry professionals will have a better...

InterWAVE Gets $1.6M Satellite Services Contract From Vodacom.
March 13, 2003... InterWAVE Communications International [Nasdaq:IWAV] has received a $1.6 million agreement with Vodacom Congo for a GSM network with an advanced satellite compression capabilities. InterWAVE said the network expects to provide a 50 percent...

Canadian Weather Service Modernization Taps Into U.S. Satellites.
March 13, 2003... The Canadian government is investing $75 million over five years that will allow the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) to improve the quality of its forecasts and its service to Canadians in all regions. MSC staff will be able to make...

Sarantel Launches Surface Mount GPS Antenna.
March 13, 2003... U.K. antenna supplier Sarantel announced a surface mount version of its GeoHelix miniature Global Positioning System antenna. Sarantel's (Wellingborough, England) GeoHelix-S can be mounted directly onto GPS circuit boards, simplifying...

Canal Digital CEO Looks For Interactive Progress.
March 14, 2003... Nordic pay-TV operator Canal Digital expects to derive further revenues from interactive services in 2003 through a range of new service offerings. Canal Digital ended the year with just over 700,000 digital subscribers in the Nordic region....

Intelsat Forms Three New Business Units.
March 14, 2003... Intelsat has formed three business units that report to President and COO Ramu Potarazu. A new business unit, Data, Carrier & Internet, will be led by John Stanton and concentrate on Intelsat's largest customer base--telecommunications...

FCC Chairman Powell Leads Panel On Emergency Services.
March 14, 2003... Leaders from the satellite, telecommunications, Internet service and cable industries are considering ways to safeguard services in the event of an attack on the U.S. communications infrastructure. Recommendations were offered by members of...

DirecTV Loses Yankees Advantage In Battle With Cablevision.
March 14, 2003... DirecTV has lost a marketing advantage it held in 2002 in many parts of New York when a major cable TV operator could not reach an agreement with the Yes Network to carry an estimated 130 games of the New York Yankees. The absence of the...

Motorola, IBM Team On A-GPS Receiver.
March 14, 2003... Motorola [NYSE: MOT] and IBM Microelectronics are teaming to develop Motorola Instant GPS, a single-chip, assisted Global Positioning System (A-GPS) receiver. Due to its small stature, the device can add accurate location sensing to any...

Fusion To Buy $6M In iSecureTrac Stock.
March 14, 2003... ISecureTrac [OTC: ISRE], a developer of Global Positioning Systems for tracking and monitoring, has signed a common stock purchase agreement with Fusion Capital Fund II, an institutional investor. The agreement provides that Fusion Capital...

Trimble, Infineon Introduce Low-Power GPS Chipset.
March 17, 2003... Trimble [Nasdaq: TRMB] and Infineon Technologies [NYSE: IFX; FSE] are offering their integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) chipset and software product in a smaller package, company officials said. The new product will enable...

Andrew Gains New Intelsat-Type Approvals.
March 17, 2003... Orland Park, Ill.-based Andrew Corp. [NASDAQ: ANDW] received Intelsattype approval for its 4.9-meter C- and Ku-Band earth station antennas (2- and 4-port versions), company officials said. A newly Intelsat-approved 4.9-meter ESA anti-icing...

Acura Ships XM-Equipped 2004 Acura RL Models To U.S. Dealers.
March 17, 2003... Honda Motor Co.'s [NYSE: HME] Acura dealerships in the United States began taking delivery this week of the first Acura model vehicle and first luxury sedan to include an audio system from XM Satellite Radio [XMSR] as standard equipment. The...

SchlumbergerSema Invests In Brazilian Teleport To Serve Offshore Sites.
March 17, 2003... SchlumbergerSema, the IT business segment of Schlumberger Ltd. [NYSE:SLB] is investing in a new satellite teleport facility in Macae, Brazil, to enhance remote communications between offshore vessels and land-based offices in Latin America. ...

GPS Smart Splitter Helps Carriers Meet E911 Requirements.
March 17, 2003... Symmetricom [Nasdaq:SYMM] is launching the first micro-controlled intelligent GPS L1 splitter which will enable carriers to comply with the Federal Communications Commission's E-911 wireless emergency response requirements. The...

Orbis Telecom Uses Satellites To Deliver VoIP.
March 17, 2003... Orbis Telecom has launched voice over IP (VoIP) services based on its CosmoCall Universe platform, which uses satellite communications links. The CosmoCall Universe servers in Florida can route calls via IP to client workstations in Ecuador. By...

DirecTV Latin America Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection.
March 18, 2003... DirecTV Latin America, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based subsidiary of Hughes Electronics [NYSE: GMH], has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing applies only to DirecTV Latin America and not its operating companies in Latin America...

Inmarsat Moves Spare Satellite To Meet Middle East Demand.
March 18, 2003... Inmarsat is moving one of its five in-orbit spare satellites over the Middle East to meet the rising demand for communications in that region of the world. The move is aimed at ensuring communication will not be blacked out due to...

AsiaSat CEO Ready For AsiaSat 4 Challenge.
March 18, 2003... With the imminent launch of AsiaSat 4 in the next few weeks, AsiaSat CEO Peter Jackson admitted that the main challenge for the operator in 2003 would be to sell capacity on the satellite. This will not be easy given difficult economic...

Space Imaging Product To Help With Postwar Iraq Reconstruction.
March 18, 2003... The U.S. State Department has selected Space Imaging's Geobook geographic information systems (GIS) product for use by the department's "future of Iraq" project. The working groups will use Geobook for planning in fields such as local...

Galileo System Could Generate Big Revenues From Navigation Applications.
March 18, 2003... Annual sales revenues from commercial applications of Europe's planned Galileo satellite navigation service could reach 400 million euros ($425 million) by 2015, according to Hispasat CEO Jacinto Garcia Palacios. When operational in 2008,...

SBCA Names Hearn and Sann To New Posts.
March 18, 2003... The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA) has named Angela Hearn as marketing manager and Heidi Sann as communications and marketing coordinator. Hearn, who joined SBCA in 2001, will be responsible for all...

Inmarsat Posts Rising Earnings, Revenues.
March 19, 2003... Inmarsat, a London-based provider of global mobile communications via satellite, reported increases in revenues, profits and earnings per share last year compared with 2001. Revenues rose 5 percent to $463 million; earnings before interest,...

Lockheed Martin Awarded Patent For Rocket Nozzle Technology.
March 19, 2003... The U. S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] a patent for a ceramic rocket nozzle throat for solid rocket motors. The new ceramic material promises to improve solid rocket motor affordability and...

SpaceX Venture Performs First Rocket Engine Firing.
March 19, 2003... El Segundo, Calif.-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), founded by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, has successfully test fired the company's Falcon rocket main engine. "Satellites and spacecraft urgently need a more reliable and...

Integral Sells Satellite Image System to NASA.
March 19, 2003... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has purchased Integral's [Nasdaq: ISYS] SKYLIGHT ground terminal system for receiving and processing satellite Earth science data. The system includes a receiver and data processing, storage,...

Sears Launches In-Store HDTV Broadcast Platform Using DISH Network.
March 19, 2003... Premier Retail Networks (PRN) plans to deliver high-definition TV programming to 870 Sears' in-store television broadcast platforms using EchoStar Communications [Nasdaq: DISH] DISH Network Business Solutions as the satellite delivery provider....

ViaSat Receives Order From Connexion By Boeing.
March 19, 2003... Connexion, a business unit of Boeing [NYSE: BA], is tasking ViaSat [Nasdaq: VSAT] to develop airborne receive and transmit subsystems [ARTS] for its in-flight communications system for aircraft. For the past two years, ViaSat has been working...

Intelsat Defends DoD Satellite Procurement Process.
March 20, 2003... Responding to complaints of favoritism in the Department of Defense's commercial satellite service procurement process, Intelsat told the General Accounting Office that a contract it received to provide satellite transponder service to a DoD...

Chinese Satellite TV Manufacturer Selects Demodulator for New Receiver.
March 20, 2003... Zarlink Semiconductor [NYSE: ZL] won a contract to provide its MT312 demodulator chip for a new digital set-top box satellite receiver manufactured by Chinese satellite TV equipment company FuZhou ZhuoYi Electronics. JiangSu YinHe...

ESA To Launch Mars Probe From Baikonur In June.
March 20, 2003... Mars Express, the European Space Agency's first spacecraft developed for a mission to the planet Mars, has completed its tests at Toulouse, France. After six months of extensive thermal environmental, mechanical and electric tests, the...

Gilat Completes Nicaraguan Satellite Telephony Network.
March 20, 2003... Gilat Satellite Networks [Nasdaq: GILTF] has deployed a fixed rural satellite telephony network for Empresa Nicaraguense de Telecomunicaciones (Enitel) to serve 170 communities throughout Nicaragua. The new Enitel network, based on Gilat's...

Sea Launch To Resume Launches.
March 20, 2003... Sea Launch said Thursday that it is ready to resume satellite launches following completion of the Sea Launch Failure Review Oversight Board (FROB) investigation into the failure of the ILS Proton Astra-1K mission. Sea Launch (Long Beach,...

EMS Technologies, Stratos Partner To Serve Truckers.
March 20, 2003... EMS Technologies [Nasdaq: ELMG] has signed an agreement that makes Stratos [Toronto: SGB] a principal reseller to the trucking industry of EMS' (Atlanta) suite of satellite communications terminals. With the partnership, Stratos can offer...

Telesat Selects ILS To Launch Anik F1R Bird.
March 21, 2003... BCE [NYSE: BCE] subsidiary Telesat Canada has signed a contract with International Launch Services to launch its new Anik F1R satellite aboard a Russian Proton M/Breeze M rocket in 2005. Anik F1R, a Eurostar 3000, is being built by European...