Microcom's Space Newsfeed 18 April 2004<br />Space Industry News from Around the World<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Web resources from Microcom Systems:<br /><br />Satellite Industry Links: the largest satellite and space industry directory on the web
http://www.satellite-links.co.uk<br /><br />Satellite on the Net: white papers, industry events, launch information and space bookshop
http://www.satelliteonthenet.co.uk<br /><br />Jobs in Space: space industry recruitment
http://www.space-jobs.co.uk post your CV or job specification here<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Handbook of Satellite Services in Europe<br /><br />This unique publication provides detailed information on all aspects of the European satellite scene including extensive data on service providers, national regulations, satellites used in Europe as well as background on satellite communications technology.
http://www.microcomsystems.co.uk/pubs/ssie.html<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Advertise on Microcom's websites and reach over 25,000 space and satellite industry professionals each month.
http://www.spacenewsfeed.co.uk/ratecard.html<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Contents<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Satcoms:<br />BT Broadcast Services Teams Up With Nascar.com to Offer Live In-Truck Video<br />CapRock and ViaSat Form Alliance to Deliver Global Service<br />CopyTele Encryption Enhances Boeing Telecommunications Services<br />Europe Ready to Deliver HD Content to Asian and US Broadcasters<br />Loral Skynet Successfully Completes SkyReach Trials<br />Microspace to Demonstrate First 4K Digital Cinema Transmission<br />Tektronix MPEG Transport Stream Monitor Delivers 24/7 Monitoring Capabilities for EchoStar<br /><br />Earth Observation:<br />DigitalGlobe and GlobeXplorer Partner to Offer QuickBird Imagery Online<br />Space Imaging Completes Florida County's Asset Management System Project<br /><br />Navigation:<br />Alcatel Named Prime Contractor for SCORE<br /><br />Military Space:<br />Elbit Systems and Gilat Sign Teaming Agreement<br /><br />Science:<br />ESA Consults European Science Community on Candidate Earth Explorer Missions<br /><br />Launches:<br />Superbird 6<br /><br />Business:<br />California Amplifier Completes Merger with Vytek<br />Globalstar Acquired by Thermo Capital Partners<br /><br />Products and Services:<br />SES Global Unveils Low Cost, Always-On Satellite Return Path Technology for Interactive TV<br />Tachyon Adds 'Auto Deploy' to Terminal Range<br />Tariam Simplifies VPN Over Satellite<br /><br />People:<br />James L Crawford Named KSC Director of Safety and Mission Assurance<br />Radyne ComStream Hires Malcolm Persen as Chief Financial Officer<br />Space Imaging Recruits Mark Kling<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />EEBC 2004 - Eastern Europe Broadband Convention - 13-15 October 2004, Kiev, Ukraine.<br /><br />Exhibition, Conference, Technical Training and Round Table Discussion of Industry Organisations will be devoted to progress trends in the broadband industry of Central and Eastern Europe.<br /><br />All industry organisations and companies are welcome to participate and investigate possibilities of making business in the CEE market! For full details see
www.eebc.com.ua<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Military Satellites Applications, 15th - 16th July, The Thistle Marble Arch Hotel, London.<br /><br />A two-day conference highlighting applications of satellite systems for the military and an unmissable pre-conference site visit on 14th July to EADS Astrium. Examine recent programmes and technologies on Earth Observation, Satellite Communications, Navigation and Space Launch through presentations from an exceptional international speaker panel.<br /><br />For further information and to book online please visit
http://www.iqpc-defence.com/GB-2232/MIC<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 />Space Bookshop - books for space professionals.<br />
http://www.satelliteonthenet.co.uk/bookshop.html<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Satcoms<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />BT Broadcast Services Teams Up With Nascar.com to Offer Live In-Truck Video<br /><br />(13 April 2004) Nascar.com, the official site of NASCAR, has teamed up with BT Broadcast Services, the Americas Inc to bring, for the first time online, live in-truck video and audio from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races.<br /><br />Nascar.com will offer fans Live Ride-Along Video feature on the website, where fans can tune into team communications and follow the selected races live from inside the cab of up to four participating drivers.<br /><br />BT Broadcast Services (BTBS) is responsible for the signal acquisition of the footage from the four selected trucks on the race-course which is multiplexed onsite and delivered to BT's Washington DC facilities via satellite on PanAmSat. The video and audio footage is encoded using BT Mediastream and streamed at 300 kb/s in Real Player and handed off to AOL for distribution over the Internet.<br /><br />The 'Live Ride-Along Video' feature will be available for twelve of the twenty-six NASCAR Craftsman Truck Races, including the Easycare Vehicle Service Contracts 200, the Kroger 250, the Tailgate 200, the MBNA America 200, the O'Reilly 200 presented by Valvoline Maxlife, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 200, the New Hampshire 200, the Kroger 200, the Chevy Silverado 150, the Darlington 200 and the Ford 200.<br /><br />(source: BT Broadcast Services)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />CapRock and ViaSat Form Alliance to Deliver Global Service<br /><br />(12 April 2004) CapRock Communications and ViaSat Inc have formed a global alliance that supports CapRock's continuing initiative to supply its customers with reliable, flexible and feature-rich satellite communications services. In addition, CapRock now serves as the exclusive oil and gas industry partner to ViaSat's VSAT Networks division. The alliance enables ViaSat to leverage CapRock's global network, reputation for reliability and industry relationships.<br /><br />The alliance with ViaSat enables CapRock to focus on its core competency of delivering reliable, advanced satellite communications service to the harshest and most remote locations in the world. ViaSat is supplying and supporting communications equipment for CapRock's customers around the globe. CapRock has grown its coverage during the past year, extending the capabilities of its CapRock IPxpress network in Africa, the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region and South America.<br /><br />(source: CapRock Communications)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />CopyTele Encryption Enhances Boeing Telecommunications Services<br /><br />(15 April 2004) CopyTele Inc has entered into an agreement with Boeing Satellite Systems International Inc, allowing Boeing to provide CopyTele's encryption products for use over the Boeing-built Thuraya satellite communications network.<br /><br />Boeing will use CopyTele's USS-900 for fax and/or voice encryption, and the DCS-1200 and DCS-1400 for voice encryption. Boeing will sell these units for use with its Thuraya handsets throughout the Thuraya satellite network. CopyTele's encryption technology will be integrated directly into this phone system. CopyTele's products will enable the Thuraya satellite network to provide encrypted communications between satellite phones, from satellite phones to desk-based phones or between desk-based phones. CopyTele's encryption products can provide high-grade hardware security over the Thuraya, Iridium, Globalstar, Inmarsat M4 and Mini M satellite networks utilising Harris Corporation's Citadel CCX encryption chip.<br /><br />The use of encryption is expected to benefit Thuraya satellite telecommunications customers that Boeing is currently serving in Iraq under a recently awarded contract. Boeing is providing mobile satellite services to the Coalition Provision Authority, to officials in Baghdad's 18 governing ministries, to US military forces and to other US personnel in Iraq.<br /><br />(source: CopyTele)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Europe Ready to Deliver HD Content to Asian and US Broadcasters<br /><br />(13 April 2004) Kingston inmedia and Tandberg Television have collaborated in trials to demonstrate how US and Asian broadcasters can benefit from mobile and fixed high definition (HD) contribution of live events in Europe, such as sports, news and concerts. The trials combined Kingston’s expertise in satellite and fibre delivery and occasional video facilities with Tandberg Television’s new HD encoding and professional receiver solutions. Intelsat space segment was utilised to deliver HD content to Japanese and US broadcasting companies.<br /><br />For both the American and Japanese trials, Kingston used Tandberg Television’s E5780 HD encoders and TT1280 HD professional receivers to deliver content via 42 MHz of space segment using the Intelsat 901 satellite. The collaboration between Intelsat, Kingston and Tandberg Television successfully proved the capability to deliver HD content and also demonstrated interoperability between different broadcast standards.<br /><br />The trials with Japan used turn-around content from the Euro 1080 on Astra 19.2 as well as from digital tape sources. The signal was then compressed into a 38 Mb/s transport stream using Tandberg‘s E5780. Kingston uplinked the locally encoded HD signals from its SNG trucks before downlinking the signal at its London-based digital broadcast facility, where it was then passed onto fibre circuits to Japan. A Tandberg TT1280 HD professional receiver was used to receive and decode the content, alongside a Mitsubishi MH-2210D decoder, demonstrating interoperability between European and Japanese standards.<br /><br />(source: Tandberg TV, Kingston inmedia)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Loral Skynet Successfully Completes SkyReach Trials<br /><br />(15 April 2004) Loral Skynet has successfully completed service trials with several customers on SkyReach, Skynet's Internet Protocol (IP) enabled product that provides two-way broadband services for secure private networks or high-speed Internet access.<br /><br />During 2003 and early 2004, Loral Skynet partnered with numerous users, including large corporations and government agencies, to test and deliver applications such as:<br /><br />* Multicasting of large media files - effectively delivered at rates of<br /> 2 Mb/s on the forward link and 128 kb/s on the return channel.<br />* Security and surveillance - remotely monitored video signals using<br /> forward link rates of up to 2 Mb/s with 64 kb/s return link.<br />* Remote office connectivity - delivered corporate communications over<br /> the Internet using Virtual Private Network (VPN) and Voice over IP (VoIP).<br />* Distance learning - utilised satellite-based multicast and unicast<br /> features over the Internet to enable troop communications between<br /> military bases using high-bandwidth rates.<br /><br />SkyReach will offer a number of services that complement existing frame relay and multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) networks and offer efficient network management. SkyReach is optimised to provide a common platform on which to converge data, voice and video needs onto a single secure IP network. This SkyReach service uses a digital video broadcast-return channel via satellite (DVB-RCS) hub platform from EMS Technologies, an open-standards platform that has the advantages of higher return speeds and interoperability of equipment.<br /><br />Designed for companies that need broadband communications over the Internet or secure private networks, SkyReach overcomes the limitations of terrestrial systems to extend the wide-area network (WAN) to office locations in areas with limited terrestrial connectivity. Flexible, scaleable and easily deployed, SkyReach offers both one-way and two-way services to support high-speed IP applications, access to local area network resources and Internet services across the entire WAN.<br /><br />The rollout of SkyReach's two-way services is scheduled for the second quarter of 2004, and will offer forward speeds up to 2 Mb/s and return speeds of up to 512 kb/s throughout the Americas on Telstar 12 and IA-7 (formerly Telstar 7). Higher return speed options will be available in later versions. Skynet will roll out SkyReach services in Europe and Asia later in 2004.<br /><br />(source: Loral Skynet)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Microspace to Demonstrate First 4K Digital Cinema Transmission<br /><br />(16 April 2004) Microspace Communications Corporation (Microspace) is to deliver 4K content at NAB2004's Digital Cinema Summit. Microspace will work with QuVIS, a leading provider of digital motion imaging technology, to provide the first end-to-end fulfilment of Digital Cinema Initiative's (DCI) new architecture requirements, which call for development of a complete 4K delivery system compatible with current 2K projectors.<br /><br />Microspace's Velocity satellite service and QuVIS' Acuity will specifically deliver the Standardized Evaluation Material (StEM) mini-movie. The StEM mini-movie is a standard way to evaluate the capabilities of digital cinema systems and compare them to film. It was developed by the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Technology Committee and DCI, a consortium of seven film studios including Disney, Fox, MGM, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros. Studios.<br /><br />(source: Microspace Communications)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Tektronix MPEG Transport Stream Monitor Delivers 24/7 Monitoring Capabilities for EchoStar<br /><br />(13 April 2004) EchoStar Communications Corporation has chosen Tektronix Inc's MPEG monitoring solution to observe its satellite uplink and downlink facilities.<br /><br />Tektronix's MTM400 Transport Stream Monitor is a scalable solution that detects systems degradation and enables operators to easily perform diagnostics and rapidly pinpoint problems. The MTM400 ensures an error-free network and minimal downtime for customers such as EchoStar.<br /><br />The MTM400 is an extended confidence transport stream monitor that provides key measurements to ensure an entire network is error free, and is only one rack-unit high. It provides high data rate, full TR101 290 monitoring of a single transport stream. When more in-depth analysis and/or recording capability is needed, diagnostic monitoring functionality can be added to the probe with additional software licenses.<br /><br />The MTM400 uses Tektronix' WebMSM MPEG Measurement Manager, a software installable application that enables complete visibility of the error status of a transmission network from a standard Web browser via Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). The user is able to customise the user interface, building up geographical maps showing the location and status of the network, as well as mimic diagrams of the transmission network.<br /><br />(source: Tektronix)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Earth Observation<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />DigitalGlobe and GlobeXplorer Partner to Offer QuickBird Imagery Online<br /><br />(12 April 2004) DigitalGlobe and GlobeXplorer LLC, a subsidiary of Stewart Information Services Corp, have joined forces to make QuickBird high-resolution satellite imagery available to customers through GlobeXplorer's Internet server technology. The addition of QuickBird imagery to GlobeXplorer's existing database of aerial and satellite products gives customers instant, online access to the world's highest resolution commercial satellite imagery, and takes advantage of standards-based Web Mapping Services technology.<br /><br />DigitalGlobe and GlobeXplorer are offering cloud-free QuickBird satellite imagery of US metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), and most international cities. To populate the database, DigitalGlobe is harvesting its extensive image library for the best imagery collected over the past two years.<br /><br />Before delivering imagery products to GlobeXplorer for integration into the Web distribution infrastructure, DigitalGlobe georeferences and colour balances the products, then compresses them into high quality JPEG2000 format. By creating and hosting a product library with user-ready products and applications, GlobeXplorer offers customers the ability to retrieve imagery on an "as-needed" basis, and to quickly integrate it into Internet applications, mapping and geographic information systems (GIS), or internal business processes.<br /><br />GlobeXplorer LLC is a leading geographic data integration and publishing company providing online access to the world's largest commercial library of georeferenced digital aerial imagery. The company's image library is distributed over the Internet using a proprietary platform that dynamically searches, retrieves, compacts, and delivers high-quality images from an online database within seconds. Using this technology, GlobeXplorer provides fast and affordable access to aerial images and associated database content to thousands of businesses and consumers on a daily basis. Through dynamic Web applications, Web services, Internet portals, and Internet-aware devices, GlobeXplorer distributes interactive maps and aerial imagery via flexible subscription services.<br /><br />(source: DigitalGlobe)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Space Imaging Completes Florida County's Asset Management System Project<br /><br />(13 April 2004) Space Imaging has completed a comprehensive asset management system (AMS) for the Marion County, Florida Engineering department valued at US$ 2.8 million. Space Imaging's Solutions group developed the AMS for the county as a tool to manage a rapidly developing infrastructure to support rising population influxes and to help Marion County comply with the federal Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement 34 (GASB 34) requirements.<br /><br />With more than 2,300 paved and 500 unpaved road miles, Marion County has undergone increasing growth and development in recent years, further stimulating the need for a comprehensive up-to-date assessment for county authorities. Most importantly, the county needed to obtain a more accurate accounting of all infrastructure assets to be in compliance with GASB 34. The new AMS eliminates superfluous records, fosters intra-departmental communications and assists with GASB 34 reporting and compliance.<br /><br />Newly collected 1-meter resolution Ikonos satellite imagery allowed the joint Space Imaging-Marion County team to develop a cost-effective methodology to locate, map, inventory, assess condition levels, and determine the value of the county's road and storm water assets. In addition, the Ikonos imagery was used as the basis for new countywide maps of storm sewer facilities to satisfy National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requirements. Satellite imagery, coupled with higher-resolution aerial photographs, also allowed the team to determine pavement edges in order to obtain exact roadway measurements. The asset management solution utilised both field data collection and image-based feature extraction to build the required asset databases.<br /><br />Space Imaging and Jones, Edmunds and Associates Inc have been working with the county's Engineering department to collect roadway asset data for incorporation into the integrated AMS. More than 40,000 data points with full attribution were collected and entered into the AMS in less than six months.<br /><br />The map-accurate Ikonos imagery also allowed the team to determine roadway characteristics in order to obtain accurate roadway measurements. This information was vital to developing a Pavement Management System that is currently in use by the county. The Engineering department now has the ability to monitor the overall health of its road network through proactive management techniques developed by the Space Imaging team. Engineers are also using this system to plan for future maintenance activities as well as for tracking financial information related to current construction activities.<br /><br />From a technical standpoint, the objective was to make the AMS a complete GIS product, easy to use and simple to update. Space Imaging's Solutions group devised both components to be compatible for fieldwork on PDAs. ESRI's ArcPad software was used to make the necessary mobile maps with full GIS capabilities for field use. Space Imaging also administered user training to Marion County officials and will continue to deploy on-site support.<br /><br />(source: Space Imaging)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Navigation<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Alcatel Named Prime Contractor for SCORE<br /><br />(15 April 2004) Alcatel Space has been chosen by the Galileo Joint Undertaking (GJU) consortium as the prime contractor for the European research and development project SCORE (Service of Co-ordinated Operational Emergency & Rescue using EGNOS).<br /><br />The SCORE project will run for 24 months, and is budgeted at Euro 2 million, including Euro 1.1 million financed by GJU.<br /><br />In the scope of this project, which integrates positioning data from EGNOS and Galileo - Europe's planned satellite positioning system - Alcatel Space will lead a European consortium in setting up emergency call positioning (regulation E112) and rescue force guidance services during accidents or natural disasters. For example, if a fire breaks out in a shopping centre, a person in danger could automatically send his exact position via a cell phone in real time (call code E112), even from inside a building. Fire-fighters and police forces with PDAs could easily and precisely locate the place where the disaster has struck and determine which accesses remain open, be effectively guided to the person to be rescued, and easily co-ordinate their positions and actions.<br /><br />This solution is made possible by two major factors. First, the use of EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service), which provides fast, accurate positioning data via an assistance data server operating through the GSM/GPRS networks. Secondly, an innovative algorithm embedded in the chips used in mobile phones and PDAs.<br /><br />The introduction of these technologies for emergency services will support the precise, automatic and fast positioning of people in danger, while more effectively guiding rescue teams. The service will operate even inside buildings, where signals are highly attenuated, and takes just a few seconds, compared with several minutes for GPS receivers.<br /><br />(source: Alcatel Space)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Military Space<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Elbit Systems and Gilat Sign Teaming Agreement<br /><br />(14 April 2004) Elbit Systems Ltd and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd have signed a teaming agreement for co-operation in the area of satellite communications for the defence and homeland security markets. The agreement leverages Gilat`s latest commercial satellite-based Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology by integrating it with Elbit Systems’ defence technologies for military and homeland defence applications.<br /><br />The joint effort has already resulted in the introduction of a new product as well as additional defence and security applications. The new product, GlobaLight is a man-pack, military standard, portable VSAT terminal for broadband data, voice and video, providing a highly effective means of communication for disaster and emergency command and support teams, as well as for remote infantry and border patrols. GlobaLight products were already presented to several potential customers.<br /><br />Another example of this joint effort is a family of military transportable VSAT terminals with Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA) networks using the latest Mesh and Multicasts topologies, making it suitable for defence and homeland security communication infrastructures.<br /><br />(source: Gilat Satellite Networks)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Science<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />ESA Consults European Science Community on Candidate Earth Explorer Missions<br /><br />(15 April 2004) On 19 and 20 April at ESA’s establishment in Frascati, near Rome, the ESA Directorate of Earth Observation is holding an Earth Explorer User Consultation Meeting at which the findings of the scientific and technical evaluations of the six candidates for the next generation of Earth Explorer missions will be presented and discussed by leading scientists from the European Earth science community.<br /><br />The six candidate missions for Earth Explorer, part of ESA’s Living Planet programme, are:<br /><br />EarthCARE - Earth Clouds Aerosols and Radiation Explorer - to improve the representation and understanding of the Earth’s radiative balance in climate and numerical weather forecast models by acquiring vertical profiles of clouds and aerosols, as well as the radiances at the top of the atmosphere. From a single platform in a 450 km polar orbit a lidar (laser radar) will acquire data on aerosols and thin clouds and a high frequency radar will do the same for thick clouds. A multi-spectral imager will provide additional information on distribution of aerosol and cloud optical properties, and a broadband radiometer will measure radiances.<br /><br />SPECTRA - Surface Processes and Ecosystem Changes Through Response Analysis - to describe, understand and model the role of terrestrial vegetation in the global carbon cycle and its response to climate variability under the increasing pressure of human activity. The mission will carry an imaging spectrometer to analyse radiance from vegetation. From a near-polar 670 km altitude orbit SPECTRA will collect data over a selection of regions representative of all the Earth’s major biomes.<br /><br />WALES - Water VApour and Lidar Experiment in Space - to provide global water vapour observations in the troposphere and lowermost stratosphere with high vertical resolution and accuracy to support climate and numerical weather prediction. WALES, a polar orbiting satellite at 450 km altitude, hosts a lidar using four wavelengths with different water vapour absorptions adapted to the large mixing ratio of water vapour in the atmosphere.<br /><br />ACE+ - Atmosphere and Climate Explorer - to establish highly accurate measurements of humidity and temperature in the troposphere and the stratosphere for climate trend observations. ACE+ comprises four satellites flying as two pairs in the same Sun-synchronous orbital plane but at two different altitudes. The satellites in the 650 km orbit will counter-rotate with respect to the satellites in the 800 km orbit.<br /><br />EGPM - European contribution to Global Precipitation Measurement - to provide improved observations of light rain and snowfall and to contribute to the monitoring and understanding of storms that produce hazards such as flash floods. The overall Global Precipitation Measurement mission consists of a core platform equipped with microwave instruments and a number of smaller satellites to give a repeat observation cycle of approximately three hours. One of these satellites will be EGPM flying in a Sun-synchronous near-polar orbit at 510 km altitude with two instruments on board, a microwave radiometer and a precipitation radar.<br /><br />Swarm - a constellation of three magnetometry satellites - to provide the best ever survey of the geomagnetic field and its temporal evolution. Swarm will offer new insights into the composition and processes in the interior and the surroundings of the Earth, thereby improving our knowledge of climate. The satellites will drift in near-polar orbital planes at 530 and 450 km altitude. Each satellite will carry a magnetometry package, an electric field instrument and an accelerometer.<br /><br />(source: ESA)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Launches<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Superbird 6<br /><br />Launched: 16 April 2004<br />Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida<br />Launcher: Atlas 2AS<br />Orbit: GEO: 158° E<br />International Number: 2004-011A<br />Name: Superbird 6<br />Owner: Space Communications Corporation<br />Contractor: Boeing Satellite Systems<br /><br />Superbird 6 is a commercial communications satellite. It is based on the Boeing 601 platform and had a separation mass of 3,100 kg. Superbird 6 carries 23 Ku band and 4 Ka band transponders and will be used for business communications throughout Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Korea and Hawaii. It has a design life of 13 years.<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Business<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />California Amplifier Completes Merger with Vytek<br /><br />(12 April 2004) California Amplifier Inc has completed the merger with Vytek Corporation. Vytek is a provider of hardware and software solutions and services that enable wireless and wireline access to information and media content.<br /><br />Under the terms of the merger agreement California Amplifier issued approximately 8.2 million shares of common stock to acquire Vytek, with a purchase price valuation of approximately US$ 92 million.<br /><br />California Amplifier's existing Satellite business unit and the legacy products portion of the existing Wireless Access business unit will be combined to form the new Products Division. Patrick Hutchins, formerly California Amplifier's Vice President of Operations, has been appointed President of the Products Division.<br /><br />The newly acquired business of Vytek will operate as the California Amplifier's Solutions Division. Tracy Trent, formerly Chief Operating Officer of Vytek, has been appointed President of the Solutions Division.<br /><br />Prior to his role as COO of Vytek, Mr. Trent served as CEO of Stellcom, a leader in the development and deployment of mobile computing technologies, services and solutions for enterprises and technology providers. Stellcom was acquired by Vytek in April 2003. Mr. Trent also served in senior executive roles from 1993 to 2000 at SAIC where he established and managed several technology divisions including the Automotive Network Exchange (ANX) and the Health Solutions organisation. Before joining SAIC, Mr. Trent held business development roles at Digital Equipment Corporation and Sun Microsystems. He holds a Master's degree in Management of Technology from MIT's Sloan School of Management.<br /><br />Mr. Hutchins joined California Amplifier in 2001 and has played a key role in maintaining and building upon California Amplifier's strong industry reputation as a world class supplier of RF-based reception and transmission products. From 1997 until 2001, Mr. Hutchins served in general management capacities with several units of Chloride Group PLC and Genlyte Thomas LLC, most recently serving as the President and General Manager of Chloride Systems, a division of Genlyte Thomas. He holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.<br /><br />California Amplifier also announced today that Kris Kelkar has tendered his resignation as Senior Vice President of Wireless Access Products. Mr. Kelkar, who joined California Amplifier in 1995, will continue his relationship with the Company on a consulting basis, exploring and evaluating additional strategic growth opportunities.<br /><br />California Amplifier's Chief Financial Officer Rick Vitelle will continue to serve in that capacity with the post-merger company. James Ousley, Vytek's former President and CEO, is expected to join California Amplifier's Board of Directors before the end of this month.<br /><br />(source: California Amplifier)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Globalstar Acquired by Thermo Capital Partners<br /><br />(15 April 2004) Globalstar has completed its financial restructuring following the formal acquisition of its main business operations and assets by Thermo Capital Partners LLC.<br /><br />Thermo now owns 81.25% of a newly-formed Globalstar company in exchange for an investment of US$ 43 million, with the remainder of the equity to be distributed to the creditors of the original Globalstar company - Globalstar, L.P. (GLP). With this acquisition, Globalstar's main business has now effectively exited from the bankruptcy process.<br /><br />Thermo announced several new business initiatives and strategies, aimed at ramping up the company's growth in the months and years ahead. These include:<br /><br />* Spare satellite launch plans: Planning has now begun to prepare the<br /> eight spare satellites that Globalstar is currently holding in ground<br /> storage for launch into orbit, possibly in late 2005 or early 2006.<br />* Enhanced Caribbean Service: A final site review is now underway for a<br /> new Globalstar gateway in Florida, and the company hopes to enter into<br /> a formal lease agreement for the site in the weeks ahead, with the<br /> gateway - valued at several million dollars - to be constructed during<br /> 2004. This follows the company's earlier decision to add a fourth<br /> antenna at the company's gateway at Las Palmas, Puerto Rico, with<br /> installation to be completed later this month. Together these two<br /> programs will provide higher quality coverage and greater system<br /> capacity across the Caribbean where Globalstar service has been<br /> exceptionally popular.<br />* Introduction of New Products and Services: Globalstar will resume<br /> or accelerate several product development programs that had been slowed<br /> down or suspended during the company's restructuring. Globalstar expects<br /> the first new product - fax capability - to be introduced commercially<br /> later this month.<br />* Expansion of Data Offerings: Building on Globalstar's existing portfolio<br /> of data services and technology, the company has now begun offering<br /> data services tailored for specific industries, such as maritime,<br /> homeland security, oil and gas extraction and transport, and more.<br /> At the same time, new data services are also under development, with<br /> a new data compression service scheduled for commercial launch in the<br /> weeks ahead.<br />* Alaskan Gateway Planning: Thermo has approved work to proceed on site<br /> selection for a new Globalstar gateway in Alaska, intended to serve<br /> virtually the entire state of Alaska as well as offshore regions in<br /> the North Pacific and Bering Strait where commercial cargo and fishing<br /> vessels have shown strong interest in the company's service.<br /><br />Underlying these initiatives is a new business plan that Globalstar and Thermo have been developing over the past several months, centring on re-aligning the company's resources to bring greater emphasis on addressing customer needs, particularly in the company's key markets such as oil and gas, maritime, defence, and transportation. Furthermore, Globalstar has already recruited new professional staff who will bring new expertise and skills to the company's sales and marketing departments and will be hiring additional professionals to further augment its sales efforts.<br /><br />Details of the Acquisition Agreement:<br /><br />In December 2003, Thermo entered into a preliminary agreement to acquire Globalstar, subject to a number of conditions, including regulatory approval and the successful completion of several settlement and technical agreements. Regulatory approval was granted in early March, and the US Bankruptcy Court approved the last of the required agreements on March 31, allowing Thermo to formally conclude the acquisition.<br /><br />The acquisition process centred around the establishment of a new Globalstar company which subsequently assumed ownership of essentially all of the assets and business operations formerly owned by GLP. Employees of GLP and its world-wide subsidiaries have also been transferred to the new company. As a result, GLP no longer has any significant operations and is expected to be wound up in the weeks ahead.<br /><br />Globalstar service will continue to be marketed and sold under the Globalstar name, and the company's service provider partners around the world will continue to support customers as usual, with newer products and services expected to be introduced in the future.<br /><br />(source: Globalstar)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Products and Services<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />SES Global Unveils Low Cost, Always-On Satellite Return Path Technology for Interactive TV<br /><br />(15 April 2004) SES Americom is to unveil Satmode, an innovative technology designed to support real-time voting, chatting, messaging, commerce, video-on-demand, and other applications at the remote control fingertips of DBS consumers world-wide, at NAB in Las Vegas.<br /><br />The affordable, two-way satellite channel platform, scheduled for availability next year, is the result of a global, cutting-edge consortium effort, led by SES Global, which could forever change and enhance the way DBS providers deliver services and how millions of consumers receive and interact with them.<br /><br />Easily integrated into an existing or new, basic or DVR-powered, satellite TV set-top box, Satmode is designed to enable broadcasters to deliver truly personalised, interactive and on-demand services directly to individual subscribers. Whether it's in the hands of millions of voting American Idol fans, chatting friends and family members world-wide, or movie buffs ordering the latest release on-demand, the scalability of Satmode would allow the transactions to be completed without delay.<br /><br />Satmode is currently in the latter stages of development, with field tests scheduled for next spring and commercial availability slated for sometime late next year.<br /><br />Satmode is a low-cost always on transmission technology, designed to enable broadcasters and DBS providers to personalise the television experience for their subscribers. Services based on this technology can be easily integrated into existing or new, basic and DVR-based set-top boxes, and will be offered with a turn-key option for service providers that prefer to leave the back office management to Satmode. The Satmode development consortium is led by SES Global. The development kernel of the consortium is the Satmode program, financed by the European Space Agency (ESA), SES Global entities, and by industry partners including: Newtec, a satellite solutions provider; NDS France, the MediaHighway middleware developer; NAGRA France, a conditional access developer; Thomson, a manufacturer of set-top boxes; ST Microelectronics, a chip manufacturer and SpaceBridge of Canada, a chip designer.<br /><br />(Source: SES Americom)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Tachyon Adds 'Auto Deploy' to Terminal Range<br /><br />(14 April 2004) Tachyon Networks Incorporated has announced the immediate availability of its Auto Deploy Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) solution, as the second in an expanding line of transportable broadband access products, providing high-speed connectivity at virtually any location in a matter of minutes.<br /><br />Tachyon's first portable solution "Quick Deploy" provides reliable, portable broadband connectivity even in the most remote locations for emergency response teams, temporary field locations and for special events. The advanced Auto Deploy CPE offers the same benefits of Quick Deploy, with added benefits of smaller, lighter equipment and one-button-push motorised antenna deployment, which automatically locates the correct satellite and locks on to Tachyon's high-speed broadband satellite network, within minutes.<br /><br />Compact and rugged, Auto Deploy sets up in a matter of minutes, significantly reducing time and eliminating the costs associated with deploying specially trained field personnel. Auto Deploy is backed by T-Force, Tachyon's Satellite Broadband Performance Optimiser that delivers reliable, fast IP transport, maintains TCP/IP standards compliance and provides guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS).<br /><br />Tachyon's Auto Deploy CPE is the second in a growing line of cost- effective, powerful and reliable portable broadband products. Tachyon's commitment to customer-focused research and product development is accelerating market availability of other portable, mobile and cost-effective fixed-location products and services, aimed at meeting the needs of large and small enterprises and government agencies.<br /><br />(source: Tachyon Networks)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Tariam Simplifies VPN Over Satellite<br /><br />(13 April 2004) UK satellite broadband company Tariam has launched a new high speed satellite service targeted at SME customers, which resolves the existing problems associated with secure VPN over satellite broadband.<br /><br />The system, which is available now anywhere in the UK or France, runs on the lower latency DVB-RCS satellite standard originally developed for TV broadcasting. The new package can also be used to provide fast broadband connectivity in remote locations.<br /><br />(source: Tariam)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />People<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />James L Crawford Named KSC Director of Safety and Mission Assurance<br /><br />(16 April 2004) NASA Kennedy Space Center Director James W. Kennedy has announced that James. L. “Larry” Crawford was named as the Director of the newly created Safety and Mission Assurance organization at KSC.<br /><br />Crawford will be responsible for the nearly 250 professionals assigned to ensure KSC is a safe workplace and mission success is accomplished.<br /><br />Prior to his selection for the KSC post, he served as the Deputy Director for Safety at the NASA Engineering and Safety Center at the Langley Research Center in Virginia.<br /><br />The new S&MA Directorate at KSC is being created to centralise the safety and mission assurance mission into one organisation.<br /><br />The new directorate will help address recommendations documented in the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report released in August 2003. This change will strengthen KSC’s safety reporting structure within the Space Shuttle Program and in all areas at the Center.<br /><br />Crawford began his NASA career in 1980 as NASA Director of Safety and has served in various positions, including program engineering manager for the International Space Station, technical assistant to the Director of Shuttle engineering at KSC, Director of System Engineering at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC, X-34 Project Manager and Director of Research Engineering at Dryden Flight Research Center, in Edwards, California.<br /><br />He brings 33 years of engineering, project management and safety experience to KSC. In addition to his NASA service, Crawford has held key safety positions at three US Army field sites and was named Chief of the Safety Office for the Army Material Command.<br /><br />Crawford holds a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Mississippi State University and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Texas A&M. He is a graduate of the Army’s two-year safety engineering intern program.<br /><br />(source: NASA)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Radyne ComStream Hires Malcolm Persen as Chief Financial Officer<br /><br />(15 April 2004) Radyne ComStream has hired Malcolm Persen as its Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance. Garry Kline will remain as Vice President and Corporate controller.<br /><br />Mr. Persen comes to Radyne ComStream after serving as CFO of DW Acquisition Company of San Diego, California, a marketing investment firm from 2002 to present. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Persen served as Group Financial Officer of Avnet Global Services, a Fortune 500 electronics distribution company located in Phoenix, Arizona.<br /><br />Mr. Persen has an MBA degree from Dartmouth College and a BA from The Colorado College and has served as Adjunct Professor of Finance teaching to full time undergraduate finance majors at Boston College.<br /><br />(source: Radyne ComStream)<br /><br />**********************************************************************<br /><br />Space Imaging Recruits Mark Kling<br /><br />(15 April 2004) Space Imaging has appointed Mark A. Kling as vice president, general counsel and secretary. Kling’s appointment is effective immediately.<br /><br />Kling joins Space Imaging with over 20 years of corporate legal experience. He has negotiated transactions and managed litigation in more than 20 states and countries in Europe, South America, Asia and Africa. Kling’s private practice and commercial legal expertise encompasses a variety of specialised disciplines including strategic transactions, mergers and acquisitions; information technology; intellectual property; securities compliance; commercial litigation; risk management; insurance and employment law.<br /><br />Prior to joining Space Imaging, Kling worked for Qwest Communications where he managed commercial, corporate, intellectual property and real estate litigation. Before that he was associate general counsel for Telseon Inc where he handled strategic transactions and prior to that was general attorney for Cyprus Amax Minerals Company responsible for international transactions and complex litigation.<br /><br />Kling holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Northern Colorado and a Juris Doctor from the College of Law at the University of Denver where he served as an adjunct professor for their International Law program.<br /><br />(source: Space Imaging)<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 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
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