MICROCOM'S SPACE NEWSFEED 14 July 2002<br />Space Industry News from Around the World<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Brought to you by Microcom Systems Ltd, consultants in satellite communications since 1985. http://www.microcomsystems.co.uk<br /><br />Publishers of the Handbook of Satellite Services in Europe, the definitive guide to European satellite communications and broadcast services, providing extensive data on operators, services and service providers, satellites, technology, regulators and regulations in more than forty European countries. The most comprehensive sourcebook available on European satellite communications and broadcasting. http://www.microcomsystems.co.uk/pubs/ssie.html<br /><br />For the most extensive directory of space industry links on the web visit http://www.satellite-links.co.uk<br /><br />White papers covering some of the key networking technologies in satellite communications today, including: interactive hubbed VSATs, meshed VSATs, telephony VSATs, Internet connectivity and broadband satellites available free on Microcom's website at http://www.satelliteonthenet.co.uk/white.html<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />CONTENTS<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />SATCOMS:<br />Globalstar to Assume Ownership of French Gateway<br />Globecomm Systems Awarded US$ 6.1 Million Follow on Contract with Atlanta Direct to Home<br />iDirect and SolaComm to Improve Comms Quality For Oil & Gas Industry<br /><br />EARTH OBSERVATION:<br />Pathfinder Missions to Enhance Understanding of Earth<br />Sharp New NASA Maps to Improve Lives Everywhere<br />US DoD Awards RSI Three-Year Contract<br /><br />MILITARY SPACE:<br />ViaSat Receives US$ 16.5 Million Order for 2nd Generation DAMA Modem Modules<br /><br />SCIENCE:<br />NASA Awards Contract to Support Astrobiology and Space Research<br />New Spanish Dish Will Aid NASA’s Interplanetary Communications<br />Orbital Selected for US$ 39 Million Contract to Build NASA Atmospheric Science Satellite<br /><br />TECHNOLOGY:<br />Boeing Rocketdyne Awarded Air Force Hydrocarbon Study Contract<br />Revolutionary Air-Breathing Engine Rockets Past Key Milestone Ahead of Schedule<br /><br />LAUNCHES:<br />Cosmos 2390 and 2391<br />Demonstrator-2<br />Launch Schedule<br /><br />BUSINESS:<br />Boeing Realigns Defence, Intelligence and Space Businesses<br /><br />PRODUCTS AND SERVICES:<br />DigitalGlobe Releases New QuickBird Imagery Products<br />StarBand Launches High-Speed Internet Service in Puerto Rico<br /><br />PEOPLE:<br />Aerospace and Satellite Communications Attorney Joins Pillsbury Winthrop's Washington DC Office<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Bolton Associates - Corporate Strategies applies 21st. Century thinking for the Earth Observation, SatCom and Environment Industries that penetrate new markets using creative commercial Risk models and innovation.<br /><br />Visit us at http://www.BoltonAssociates.com and/or download our Power Point presentation http://www.microcomsystems.co.uk/ads/EOConsult.ppt [131Kb]<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />SATCOMS<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Globalstar to Assume Ownership of French Gateway<br /><br />(9 July 2002) Globalstar has assumed ownership of its network satellite gateway in Aussaguel, France. This gateway has been operated by TE.SA.M, the Globalstar service provider for much of Europe and North Africa.<br /><br />Under an agreement closed on July 2, Globalstar Europe SARL, a European subsidiary of Globalstar LP, will take ownership of the Aussaguel gateway antennas and other related equipment previously administered by TE.SA.M, allowing Globalstar to manage sales and operations activities in countries served by this gateway. The transaction is subject to licensing approval from the French telecommunications authorities.<br /><br />This follows similar acquisitions by Globalstar of operational assets in North America, where the company now has a major equity stake in Globalstar Canada, and recently received Federal Communications Commission approval to acquire Globalstar gateway operations in the US and the Caribbean.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Globecomm Systems Awarded US$ 6.1 Million Follow on Contract with Atlanta Direct to Home<br /><br />(8 July 2002) Globecomm Systems Inc has been awarded a follow-on multiyear contract valued at approximately US$ 6.1 million from video content distributor Atlanta Direct To Home (ADTH).<br /><br />Under the terms of the contract, Globecomm Systems will increase its provision of TelStar-12 capacity from 27 MHz to 54 MHz, providing ADTH the usage of an entire transponder. This enables ADTH to transmit multiple digital MPEG television channels of ethnic programming into Europe and South Africa.<br /><br />Atlanta, Georgia-based Atlanta Direct To Home provides direct-to-home content delivery services and "niche" language programming to countries around the globe.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />iDirect and SolaComm to Improve Comms Quality For Oil & Gas Industry<br /><br />(10 July 2002) Sola Communications Inc, an integrated telecommunication service provider that manufactures stabilised antenna systems for marine applications and operates teleport facilities, has selected iDirect to provide a satellite system that provides both Quality of Service (QoS) and dynamic bandwidth allocation.<br /><br />Established in 1986, Sola provides IP based network solutions that guarantee a QoS necessary for critical communication applications, especially for Sola's Oil & Gas industry customers. To offer this new communication solution, Sola turned to iDirect who is able to deliver this platform by way of their integrated control channel that facilitates bandwidth on demand and network management system "iMonitor."<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />EARTH OBSERVATION<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Pathfinder Missions to Enhance Understanding of Earth<br /><br />(9 July 2002) As part of the Earth System Science Pathfinder small- satellite program, NASA has selected two new space mission proposals that will yield fresh insight into our home planet's carbon cycle and how oceans affect and respond to climate change.<br /><br />The Orbiting Carbon Observatory, a mission that partners with industry and academia, will generate knowledge needed to improve projections of future carbon dioxide levels within Earth's atmosphere. Increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations have raised concerns about global warming. Even though the biosphere and oceans are currently absorbing about half of the CO2 generated by human activities, the nature and geographic distribution of these CO2 sinks are too poorly understood to predict their response to future climate and land-use changes.<br /><br />Aquarius will provide global maps of ocean-salt concentration on a monthly basis over its planned three-year mission life. By gaining these global, monthly maps researchers can better understand the nature of Earth's oceans and their role in storage and distribution of heat and thus their role in global climate change.<br /><br />Aquarius will measure variations in salinity to determine how the ocean responds to the combined effects of evaporation and precipitation, ice melt and river runoff on seasonal and interannual time scales. This is critical information to understand how salinity variations modify ocean circulation and the global redistribution of heat.<br /><br />In addition to the two selected new missions, a third proposal, called HYDROS, has been selected to serve as an alternate to the selected missions, should the primary missions encounter difficulties during the initial development phases. The HYDROS mission concept calls for a spacecraft that would monitor soil moisture from space - a measurement that would improve current models for weather and climate predictions.<br /><br />NASA will fund up to US$ 175 million for each of the two selected missions. The selected missions will have approximately nine months to refine their proposals to mitigate risk before mission development is fully underway.<br /><br />NASA issued an Announcement of Opportunity and initially received 18 proposals, six of which were selected for detailed assessment, with two now moving on toward final implementation.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Sharp New NASA Maps to Improve Lives Everywhere<br /><br />(11 July 2002) NASA and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), partners in the shuttle mapping mission, agreed this week on a policy to provide 90-meter resolution digital-elevation mission data from sites outside the United States to qualified researchers. Selected data will simultaneously become available to the public. The two agencies also this week made public the mission's research-quality 30-meter resolution topographic data for the entire continental United States.<br /><br />The practical benefits of space-based synthetic-aperture radar data, which can see through clouds and provide researchers with terrain data of exceptional quality, can be applied to uses as diverse as flood plain mapping and location of cellular telephone towers in mountainous regions.<br /><br />Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data are being processed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) into research-quality digital-elevation models one continent at a time. When each continent is completed, the data will be sent to NIMA for additional finishing and then to the US Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation Systems Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for final archiving and distribution.<br /><br />NASA is processing mission data for research purposes in response to requests from NASA principal investigators and other qualified scientists. Under the terms of the new agreement, researchers will submit their requests for international topography data to NASA/JPL. The requests will be reviewed by NASA and NIMA, and the data will be released either for use by the approved researchers or for broad public access. Decisions on how data will be released will be made on a case-by-case basis.<br /><br />NASA began processing mission data in April 2002 and expects to have all mission data processed and delivered to NIMA by the end of this year. All international 90-meter resolution data is expected to be available to the public no later than two years after JPL makes its final data delivery.<br /><br />Still in discussion is a release policy for international 30-meter resolution measurements. However, at the National Imagery and Mapping Agency's discretion, some 30-meter resolution international data may be made available in special situations in which the information can help protect life and property, such as during volcanic eruptions and floods; NASA, however, will have access to such data for its sponsored scientific research.<br /><br />The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (Feb. 11-22, 2000) made 3-D measurements of more than 80% of Earth's landmass between 60° N and 56° S of the equator, areas home to nearly 95% of the world's population.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />US DoD Awards RSI Three-Year Contract<br /><br />(11 July 2002) Radarsat International (RSI) has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), an agency of the US Department of Defense (DoD). The IDIQ is a direct contract vehicle with NIMA/DoD in the form of a standing offer worth a maximum of US$ 1.7 million per year for the next three years in the form of Radarsat-1 data and services.<br /><br />The NIMA IDIQ was established as a result of the superior products and services provided by RSI in responding to NIMA/DoD's needs. These include near-real time delivery of Radarsat-1 data, flood information products, feature extraction, digital elevation models (DEMS) and imagery intelligence training.<br /><br />RSI, through its distributors, has been working with NIMA since 1996. This current contract will see RSI working directly with NIMA.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />MILITARY SPACE<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />ViaSat Receives US$ 16.5 Million Order for 2nd Generation DAMA Modem Modules<br /><br />(10 July 2002) ViaSat Inc has been awarded a contract valued at US$ 16.5 million from Raytheon Systems Company for second generation UHF Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA) modem modules. The contract also includes a software upgrade to the Second Generation Modem (SGM) to add the MIL-STD-188-183A waveform. Combined with another previous order for the SGM, ViaSat now has a backlog of over 6,000 units that are scheduled to be delivered by the end of calendar 2004.<br /><br />The SGM is a key component of the PSC-5C and PSC-5D battery-operated, portable UHF DAMA terminals that Raytheon builds for the US Army. The ViaSat SGM module automatically requests communication channels on military UHF satellites for selected destinations at a designated time when the operator needs to send a message or transmit data. Operators can transmit and receive secure voice or data from almost anywhere in the world using the UHF DAMA Network Control System, also developed by ViaSat. DAMA is a technique that increases the communications capacity of satellites by enabling many users to share satellite bandwidth.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />SCIENCE<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />NASA Awards Contract to Support Astrobiology and Space Research<br /><br />(11 July 2002) NASA's Ames Research Center has awarded a contract valued at more than US$ 300 million to Lockheed Martin Space Operations, Houston, to provide supplies and services for Ames' Astrobiology and Space Research Directorate.<br /><br />Under the terms of the contract Lockheed Martin will support numerous activities involved in the Space Station Biological Research Project, Flight Payload Integration, and Fundamental Biology Programs Office. The contract also will support Space Station Payload Projects, Discovery Missions and Shuttle Space Flight missions and payloads, in addition to maintaining project and mission schedules and supporting co-ordination of science planning between Ames and NASA Headquarters in Washington, other NASA centres, science working groups and other entities.<br /><br />Lockheed Martin will provide support for planning and analysis options for potential space flight opportunities and support experimenters during development of flight experiments and hardware, including flight hardware and support equipment; orbital and ground support equipment; and associated software.<br /><br />The cost-plus-award-fee contract is valued at US$ 310 million and has a period of performance of eight years consisting of a three-year base period, one two-year priced option and one three-year priced option.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />New Spanish Dish Will Aid NASA’s Interplanetary Communications<br /><br />(8 July 2002) Construction workers erecting steel components atop a new concrete chamber near Madrid, Spain, this summer are helping NASA study Mars and comets.<br /><br />They are building a big antenna for the Deep Space Network, which provides radio communications for spacecraft exploring the solar system. The network operates clusters of skyward-facing dish antennas at sites in California, Spain and Australia. The antennas catch radioed information from spacecraft as near as Earth orbit and as far as more than twice the distance to Pluto. They also send commands to the spacecraft. JPL administers the network for NASA.<br /><br />NASA needs this new antenna operating by the time an unprecedented peak in demand for deep-space communications hits in November 2003. During the following three months, three rovers and two orbiters from the United States, Europe and Japan will arrive at Mars, two other spacecraft will encounter comets, and a third comet mission will launch. That's on top of the continuing communication needs of many other missions.<br /><br />The new antenna will span 34 meters in diameter and will use an advanced design called "beam waveguide," which steers the gathered radio signals to a protected, underground electronics room. The design gives more reliable operation than the older antenna design with processing gear up in the dish.<br /><br />The pedestal encloses the electronics room and will support more than 500 tons of antenna structure.<br /><br />Custom-made steel pieces for the antenna's giant dish and other components are being fabricated at the factory in Tarragona, Spain, of the project's prime contractor, Schwartz-Hautmont Construcciones Metalicas.<br /><br />This antenna is the biggest piece in about US$ 54 million worth of improvements NASA chose as priorities for increasing the Deep Space Network's capabilities by November 2003.<br /><br />It will become the network's sixth 34-meter, beam-waveguide antenna. Three are at the network's Goldstone station near Barstow, California. The stations near Madrid and near Canberra, Australia, each have one already in operation. Each of the three stations also has a 70-meter antenna and several smaller ones.<br /><br />The stations take turns linking with various spacecraft as Earth's rotation puts the target spacecraft in view of each station in turn.<br /><br />Putting the new antenna at Madrid gives the biggest possible advantage for handling the upcoming peak in communications needs, including pictures from two advanced rovers from JPL that NASA plans to land on Mars in early 2004. This antenna will add about 70 hours of spacecraft-tracking time per week during the periods when Mars is in view of Madrid. That's a 33% increase from the station's capacity with its existing antennas.<br /><br />A coincidence of solar system geometry will intensify demand on network resources during the crunch period: The comet encounters by NASA's Comet Nucleus Tour spacecraft in November 2003 and by NASA's Stardust spacecraft in January 2004 will happen in the same direction from Earth as Mars will be. That will minimise opportunities to have one station track the comet missions while another tracks the Mars missions.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Orbital Selected for US$ 39 Million Contract to Build NASA Atmospheric Science Satellite<br /><br />(11 July 2002) Orbital Sciences Corporation has been selected for a contract, valued at approximately US$ 39 million, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to design, manufacture and support mission operations of a new National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) atmospheric science satellite.<br /><br />As part of the space agency's Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) small satellite program, Orbital will design, develop and build the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) spacecraft at the company's Dulles, Virginia satellite manufacturing facility over the next four years. NASA's ESSP missions are funded up to a total of US$ 175 million, which includes the spacecraft, the onboard science instrument, the launch vehicle and overall mission operations. NASA's OCO mission, managed by JPL, intends to provide the first high- resolution global maps of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations in order to identify the natural and man-made processes that regulate this important greenhouse gas.<br /><br />The OCO satellite will be based on Orbital's LEOStar spacecraft platform. The baseline plan for the OCO program calls for the satellite to be launched aboard an Orbital-supplied Taurus space launch vehicle in 2006. NASA's Kennedy Space Center is responsible for procuring the mission's launch service and will make a final selection at a later date.<br /><br />The primary mission of the OCO satellite is to provide environmental researchers with the answer to the question of where human-generated carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere by natural processes. Carbon dioxide is produced whenever fuel, such as oil, natural gas and coal, is burned and is one of the principal factors in global climate change.<br /><br />The OCO satellite will carry an instrument that measures the intensity of reflected sunlight from the Earth's surface. The intensity level changes with the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. By making global measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide, scientists will be able to locate where it is being removed from the atmosphere. These high-precision measurements have been identified as critical data by the world's scientific community and will be used by researchers from NASA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and numerous US and international universities.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />TECHNOLOGY<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Boeing Rocketdyne Awarded Air Force Hydrocarbon Study Contract<br /><br />(10 July 2002) The Boeing Co will make a significant contribution to improving and enhancing US rocket propulsion technology under a one-year, US$ 2.6 million Air Force contract awarded to Boeing's Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power unit to pursue hydrocarbon booster studies under the Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology (IHPRPT) program.<br /><br />The Air Force Research Laboratory's Propulsion Directorate has been leading the IHPRPT mission since 1993, with NASA and other government agencies as well as industry representatives actively participating. Boeing Rocketdyne is already supporting IHPRPT in other categories, such as cryogenic propulsion through the Integrated Powerhead Demonstration (IPD) effort.<br /><br />Rocketdyne is also developing a number of other propulsion initiatives, including a reusable hydrocarbon engine - the RS-84 - under NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI).<br /><br />The primary focus of this hydrocarbon study is to address IHPRPT hydrocarbon phase II goals. IHPRPT calls for time-phased, integrated technology demonstrations, with each phase successively more challenging. The five IHPRPT hydrocarbon boost phase II goals represent a quantum leap over the currently base lined technology.<br /><br />For example, the Air Force is looking for substantial improvement in specific impulse (Isp), the mathematical measure of a rocket's fuel efficiency, while also requiring substantial improvements in reliability and cost.<br /><br />Hydrocarbon-fuelled vehicles offer some benefits over other propulsion systems. The vehicle is heavier when fuelled with kerosene, but because of the propellant's nature, it is lighter when empty - a benefit in reduced vehicle weight and cost. Also, kerosene costs less to produce and use.<br /><br />As the propulsion system is defined, vehicle architecture will be determined. The IHPRPT goals will be balanced against the Air Force's requirements for the Space Operations Vehicle concept. Following completion of this one-year study contract, Rocketdyne hopes to receive a follow-on contract to design and build a demonstration engine.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Revolutionary Air-Breathing Engine Rockets Past Key Milestone Ahead of Schedule<br /><br />(8 July 2002) Initial design of a new prototype air-breathing rocket engine for NASA - one that could revolutionise air and space travel in the next 40 years - reached a major milestone ahead of schedule last week.<br /><br />The engine's design team, the Rocket Based Combined Cycle Consortium (RBC3(cubed)), completed its first major engine systems requirements review - an exhaustive examination of the engine's design and performance parameters - three months earlier than originally planned.<br /><br />The flight-like ground test engine (ARGO) is being developed as part of NASA's Integrated System Test of an Air-breathing Rocket (ISTAR) program, which intends by the end of the decade to flight-test a self-powered vehicle to more than six times the speed of sound, demonstrating all modes of engine operation.<br /><br />ARGO's unique engine design allows it to function as a rocket, ramjet and scramjet. Key among its technical advantages: the ability to use air as an oxidiser. Compared with conventionally powered rocket vehicles, this technology will significantly reduce vehicle weight by eliminating a significant amount of its required on-board oxidiser.<br /><br />The ISTAR contract calls for completion of conceptual system design and subsystem testing by November 2002. Ground testing of the flight-weight, fuel-cooled engine flowpath is scheduled to begin in 2006.<br /><br />The innovative air-breathing rocket engine for the operational vehicle would get its initial power boost from specially designed rockets in a duct that captures air, an arrangement that improves performance about 15% above conventional rockets. Once the vehicle has accelerated to more than twice the speed of sound, the rockets are turned off and the engine relies solely on oxygen in the atmosphere to burn its hydrogen fuel.<br /><br />When the vehicle has accelerated to more than 10 times the speed of sound, the engine converts to a conventional rocket-powered system to propel the craft into orbit.<br /><br />Spacecraft powered by air-breathing - or rocket-based, combined cycle - rocket engines would be completely reusable, able to take off and land at airport runways, and ready to fly again within days.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />LAUNCHES<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Cosmos 2390 and 2391<br /><br />Launched: 8 July 2002<br />Site: Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia<br />Launcher: Cosmos-3M<br />Orbit: MEO, apogee: 1505 km, perigee: 1465 km: inclination: 82.6°<br />International Number: 2002-036A and 2002-036B<br />Name: Cosmos 2390, Cosmos 2391<br /><br />This was a classified launch of two Russian military satellites. No official information on the satellites has been released.<br /><br />Analysts believe that this could be the first of two launches of pairs of Strela-3 military communications satellites which will eventually form a four satellite constellation.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Demonstrator-2<br /><br />Launched: 12 July 2002<br />Site: Ryazan submarine in the Barents Sea<br />Launcher: Volna<br />Orbit: not known<br />International Number: TBD<br />Name: Demonstrator-2<br /><br />Demonstrator-2 is reported to be an experimental inflatable spacecraft which could be developed into a re-entry system to bring payloads or people back from orbit.<br /><br />The project is reported to be a joint venture between the European Space Agency, Astrium and the Babakin Space Centre.<br /><br />The Russian navy, which monitored the flight, reported that the craft entered orbit and then re-entered over the Kamchatka peninsular in Russia’s Far East, where a recovery operation is currently underway. It is not yet clear whether the craft only performed a partial orbit, or several orbits or was a suborbital flight.<br /><br />The craft was packed into a 0.8 m diameter ball for launch. For re-entry, the craft as inflated into a 3.8 m long panel which enclosed a second 2.3 m long panel.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Launch Schedule<br /><br />Delayed: EchoStar 8 on a Proton K from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: delayed indefinitely - spacecraft problems<br />delayed Spacehab research laboratory (Freestar) on the Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida: delayed following discovery of cracks in fuel line liner<br />July 25: Arkon on a Proton K from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan <br />August 1: Data Relay Test Satellite W on an H-2A from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan <br />August 12: Hot Bird 6 on an Atlas 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida: maiden flight of Atlas 5<br />August 15: Astra 1K on a Proton from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan <br />Q3: Intelsat 906 on an Ariane from CSG Kourou, French Guiana <br />delayed: ISS 9A/BA, ITS S1 on the Shuttle Atlantis (STS-112) from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida: delayed following discovery of cracks in fuel line liner<br />August 27: Atlantic Bird 1, MSG-1 on an Ariane 5 from CSG Kourou, French Guiana <br />August 31: Kypros Sat 1 on an Ariane from CSG Kourou, French Guiana <br />September: GPS 2R-8 on a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida <br />September 10: Progress M-47 (9P) on a Soyuz-U from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan <br />September 18: Hispasat 1D on an Atlas 2AS from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida <br />delayed: Orbview 3 on a Pegasus XL from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California <br />October: GALEX on a Pegasus XL from Canaveral Spaceport, Florida <br />October 1: Helios 2A on an Ariane from CSG Kourou, French Guiana <br />October 6: DMSP-16 (5D-3-F16) on a Titan II from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California <br />delayed: ISS 11A, ITS, P1 on the Shuttle Endeavour (STS-113) from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida: delayed following discovery of cracks in fuel line liner<br />October 9: Eutelsat W5 on a Delta 4 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida: first EELV launch<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />BUSINESS<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Boeing Realigns Defence, Intelligence and Space Businesses<br /><br />(10 July 2002) Boeing has announced the creation of Integrated Defense Systems, a US$ 23 billion business merging the company's total space, defence, government, intelligence and communications capabilities into one business unit. Jim Albaugh, 52, has been named president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems which will be headquartered in St. Louis, with 78,600 employees world-wide.<br /><br />Concurrent with the announcement of the new organisation, a new series of top-level leaders within the new Integrated Defense Systems unit were named:<br /><br />John Lockard, 58, vice president and general manager, Navy Systems, St. Louis<br />George Muellner, 59, vice president and general manager, Air Force Systems, Long Beach, California<br />Jim Albaugh, (Acting) vice president and general manager, of Army Systems, (location to be named later)<br />Mike Mott, 52, vice president and general manager, Human Space Flight, Houston<br />Jim Evatt, 61, vice president and general manager, Missile Defense Systems, Washington DC<br />Rick Stephens, 49, vice president and general manager, Homeland Defense, Seal Beach, California<br />Roger Roberts, 55, vice president and general manager, Space and Intelligence Systems, Seal Beach, California<br />Bill Collopy, 52, vice president and general manager, Commercial Space Systems, Seal Beach, California<br />David Spong, 62, vice president and general manager, Aerospace Support, St. Louis<br /><br />In order to ensure integration across the customer-facing businesses, two integrating organisations have been established:<br /><br />Carl O'Berry, 66, vice president, Strategic Architecture<br />Ron Prosser, 55, vice president, Advanced Integrated Defense Systems. Prosser will report also to the president of Phantom Works.<br /><br />Boeing also announced the promotion of Bob Krieger to president of Phantom Works, Boeing's internal technology and advanced research and development organisation. He replaces George Muellner, who is becoming Integrated Defense Systems' vice president and general manager of Air Force Programs.<br /><br />Although these changes will be effective immediately, there will a transition period as the integration of this organisation takes place.<br /><br />The creation of Integrated Defense Systems combines all the capabilities and programs formerly under Military Aircraft and Missile Systems, headquartered in St. Louis, with Space and Communications, headquartered in Seal Beach. The new unit will have concentrated operations in St. Louis; Southern California; Seattle; Houston; Huntsville; the Space Coast of Florida; San Antonio, Texas; and Washington DC.<br /><br />Jerry Daniels, the president and CEO of Military Aircraft and Missile Systems since May 2000, has elected to retire and will assist Albaugh in the merger transition.<br /><br />Albaugh has led Boeing's Space and Communications unit since April 1998. A former president of Rocketdyne, Rockwell's rocket engine unit, he joined Boeing when the Rockwell aerospace and defence businesses were acquired in 1996. Under his leadership, Space and Communications has grown to be the world leader in several key markets - including commercial and government communication satellites, airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, human space flight and missile defence - with a significant position in launch services and classified programs.<br /><br />Boeing Integrated Defense Systems will be a provider of integrated battlespace solutions for military services around the world. It will continue to expand its leadership role in providing system-of-systems solutions to customers by closely aligning its platform business with its network-centric activities. By doing so, Integrated Defense Systems can design into product offerings the capability to link to the network and as a result provides greater value to its customers.<br /><br />The unit will design, produce, modify and support a wide range of fighters, transports, aerial tankers, bombers, rotorcraft, surveillance and sensor platforms, missiles and munitions. Along with the F-15, F/A-18, C-17 and various helicopters, Boeing is already flying an experimental unmanned combat air vehicle and sees a wide range of applications for this technology in the future.<br /><br />The extraordinary range of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems' related products and services includes missile defence, the National Reconnaissance Office's Future Imagery Architecture program, airborne lasers, battlefield management and several advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance programs. The unit is NASA's largest supplier and the systems integrator of the International Space Station. It produces a variety of satellites, provides human space flight and launch services support, builds and launches a family of Delta rocket vehicles, is a partner in Sea Launch, and produces advanced rocket propulsion systems.<br /><br />Boeing Integrated Defense Systems will also serve commercial satellite and launch customers, and will be closely aligned with Phantom Works.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />PRODUCTS AND SERVICES<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />DigitalGlobe Releases New QuickBird Imagery Products<br /><br />(9 July 2002) DigitalGlobe has announced the availability of QuickBird Orthorectified, QuickBird Color (Pan-Sharpened) and QuickBird Two-Foot Imagery.<br /><br />About the new, GIS-ready QuickBird products:<br /><br />* Orthorectified Imagery - Highest resolution and adherence to<br /> established mapping accuracy standards for users requiring GIS-ready<br /> products or for users pursuing analytical applications<br />* Color (Pan-Sharpened) Imagery - For applications that require<br /> feature information derived from colour images in combination with<br /> the superior resolution of black and white images<br />* Two-foot Standard and Orthorectified Imagery - Greater detail and<br /> higher resolution for applications that require precision identification<br /> of features meeting standard mapping scales<br />* Subscription Program - DigitalGlobe is offering a subscription program,<br /> which allows customers to receive regular updates of GIS ready<br /> orthorectified imagery for change detection and base mapping purposes.<br /><br />QuickBird products enable users to identify features, classify image data, detect change, and to use imagery as a backdrop for GIS and mapping applications. Using recent global imagery at the highest resolution available from a commercial imaging satellite, users can map large areas faster with fewer files to manage, process and mosaic, resulting in higher quality products.<br /><br />DigitalGlobe's commitment to an open systems approach makes QuickBird imagery compatible with all popular commercial software packages.<br /><br />QuickBird imagery can be acquired directly from the DigitalGlobe archive or can be tasked by submitting a new collection request. Products and image metadata are delivered on the customer's choice of standard digital media.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />StarBand Launches High-Speed Internet Service in Puerto Rico<br /><br />(11 July 2002) StarBand has launched high-speed satellite Internet service for consumer and small office customers in Puerto Rico.<br /><br />StarBand is the first satellite-delivered Internet provider officially launching service on the Island. The company's high-speed satellite-based network marks the end of Internet isolation for many in Puerto Rico.<br /><br />StarBand has signed up several other StarBand Direct Dealers including Hytech Satellite Communications and expects to have dealers located throughout Puerto Rico in the next several months.<br /><br />In conjunction with the service launch in Puerto Rico, StarBand will link to a web portal with Spanish language content. The company's call centre will also provide assistance for Spanish-speaking customers.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />PEOPLE<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Aerospace and Satellite Communications Attorney Joins Pillsbury Winthrop's Washington DC Office<br /><br />(10 July 2002) Pillsbury Winthrop LLP has been joined by partner Franceska Schroeder, who will practice in the areas of aerospace, communications, and international trade in the firm's Washington DC office.<br /><br />Schroeder represents domestic and international clients including space-segment manufacturers, satellite and launch operators and terrestrial communications companies, as well as investors in commercial space and communications projects. Her work includes contract drafting and negotiation, insurance and risk management, regulatory compliance including export control and FCC licensing, and advising on legislative and policy matters.<br /><br />Since 1993, Schroeder has served as legal counsel to the American Astronautical Society, and, in that capacity, was appointed by the US Department of State as private sector advisor to the US Delegation to the Legal Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. She is a member of Women in Aerospace and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and has published numerous articles on commercial space and communications issues.<br /><br />Schroeder received her JD from American University, Washington College of Law, where she was Executive Editor of the International Law Journal. She received a BA from Tufts University, where she graduated magna cum laude.<br /><br />In conjunction with the firm's Northern Virginia office, the Washington DC office offers clients expertise in intellectual property, corporate securities, regulatory and litigation with an emphasis on aviation and aerospace, energy, environmental and international trade matters.<br /><br />Pillsbury Winthrop is an international law firm with core practice areas in litigation, technology, energy, capital markets and finance. The firm has 16 offices world-wide and nearly 800 attorneys.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Press releases should be sent to: newsfeed@microcomsystems.co.uk<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Microcom makes no charge for this service and makes no payments for the use of material. Microcom makes no warranties about the quality of this free service and accepts no liability for mistakes and errors. Use of this service is taken as confirmation of acceptance of these conditions.<br /><br />If you require further information contact Microcom by email: info@microcomsystems.co.uk<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />This newsletter, and archives dating back to January 2000, can be viewed on the web at http://www.spacenewsfeed.co.uk<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />To subscribe and unsubscribe go to: http://www.spacenewsfeed.co.uk/subscribe.html<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Copyright 2002 Microcom Systems Ltd. All rights reserved.<br /><br />Microcom's Space Newsfeed may be freely distributed on condition that it is distributed complete, not edited in any way, and that no fee is charged. All copies must contain this copyright notice.<br /><br />Microcom Systems Ltd<br />PO Box 21<br />Haverhill<br />Suffolk CB9 0NZ<br />United Kingdom<br /><br />info@microcomsystems.co.uk<br />http://www.microcomsystems.co.uk