E-letter: Briefs

Archetype Corp. of Birmingham, Ala., has appointed Alva Wright as director of West Coast sales, the company announced Dec. 11. Wright will manage operations at Archetype’s satellite offices in San […]

A Chicago man accused of developing and distributing software designed to steal DirecTV programming has agreed to a $1 million settlement with DirecTV Inc. and NDS Americas Inc., DirecTV announced […]

Orbital Sciences Corp. updated its 2007 earnings per share and free cash flow guidance following the pricing of a $143.8 million debt offering, Orbital announced Dec. 8. Orbital intends to […]

Aerojet has signed an agreement to integrate Russian-built thrusters into Aerojet’s satellite propulsion systems, GenCorp Inc. announced Dec. 6. Aerojet will integrate Russian-built Hall-effect thrusters built by Fakel Experimental Design […]

Euro1080, a leading European high-definition (HD) channel and content provider, will broadcast all of its channels using MPEG-4 beginning in 2007, the company announced. In order to facilitate the transition, […]

China placed the Fengyun-2D meteorological satellite into orbit Dec. 8, Xinhua announced. The Long March-3 rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province at 8:53 a.m. local […]

BSkyB has made a deal with Google to bring a number of Web-based services to BSkyB’s broadband customer base, the companies announced. BSkyB will deploy Google’s suite of search, advertising, […]

The launch of the Corot satellite has been postponed due to a leak in the fuel circuit of the Soyuz rocket’s Fregat upper stage, the European Space Agency announced. The […]

France’s Caisse des D�pots et Consignations will acquire a 25.5 percent stake in Eutelsat from French investment firm Eurazeo, the companies announced Dec. 7. This is the second major transfer […]

Dominion Video Satellite Inc. has signed an agreement to offer HughesNet high-speed satellite Internet service, Hughes Network Systems LLC announced. Dominion provides the Sky Angel service, which delivers more than […]

Northrop Grumman Corp. has appointed three new vice presidents in its Space Technology sector, the company announced. Steve Hixson has been named vice president of the newly created Advanced Concepts […]

Northrop Grumman Corp. has been awarded a 14-month, $8.4 million phase-two study contract by the U.S. Air Force for further work on the Enhanced Polar System (EPS) satellite communications program, […]

Orbital Sciences Corp. has formed a partnership with Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology of Alexandria, Va., to develop a small satellite that will be built entirely by […]

Space Communications Ltd. has sold more than 50 percent of the total capacity on its Amos-3 satellite, which is slated for launch in the third quarter of 2007, the company […]

Quake Global announced Dec. 6 that Volvo Trucks North America will install Quake Global’s Q2000+ satellite communicator as standard equipment in all Volvo trucks manufactured with US’07 engines. The Q2000+ […]

SAT Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Integral Systems Inc., will provide a carrier monitoring and interference detection system to SES Sirius for the company’s Stockholm teleport, SAT announced. The […]

Spanish industrial group Abertis will pay more than 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) to become the single largest shareholder in European satellite operator Eutelsat, Abertis announced Dec. 5. Abertis, through […]

Alcatel-Lucent and Thales have signed a final agreement for the transfer of Alcatel-Lucent’s transportation, security and space assets to Thales, the companies announced Dec. 4. The deal follows a space […]

Sirius Satellite Radio announced Dec. 4 that it was updating its year-end 2006 subscriber guidance in light of lagging holiday retail sales. "While strong, this year’s retail sales results since […]

Leoterra LLC, a low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, and Terrestar Networks Inc., a subsidiary of Motient Corp., announced Dec. 5 they will perform a joint feasibility study toward providing […]

Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. has been selected by Alef Soluciones Integrales and Corporative Lanix to provide a Skyedge VSAT network to more than 7,700 Mexican public-school classrooms, Gilat announced Dec. […]

Emerging Markets Communications (EMC) has been contracted to provide Internet protocol (IP) capacity via satellite to South Africa-based Internet Solutions, EMC announced. Internet Solutions, owned by Dimension Data, is the […]

XM Satellite Radio and General Motors (GM) announced Dec. 5 that the automaker will build more than 1.8 million 2007 vehicles with factory-installed XM Radio. GM was the first automaker […]

Alcatel Alenia Space signed a contract to design, manufacture and deliver Globalstar Inc.’s second-generation constellation of 48 satellites, the companies announced Dec. 4. The deal is worth about 661 million […]

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute has chosen Arianespace to launch the Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite-1 (COMS-1), Arianespace announced Dec. 4. COMS-1 will be placed into geostationary transfer orbit by […]

China Central Television (CCTV), the national broadcaster of the People’s Republic of China, has renewed a multiyear contract with Intelsat for global distribution of programming, Intelsat announced. Intelsat provides program […]

Two of the Middle East’s leading satellite operators, Arabsat and Nilesat, have joined forces in the Middle East to establish a media gateway. The agreement will enable Arabsat to establish […]

Norsat International Inc. has reached an agreement with Bill Coyne, the company’s former president and CEO, to settle all claims relating to a wrongful dismissal suit. Details of the settlement […]

The People’s Republic of China will launch its second geostationary orbit meteorological satellite, Fengyun-2D, Dec. 8, according to Xinhua. Described in a report citing the China Meteorological Administration, the Fengyun-2D […]

Concurrent to the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, XM Radio will offer Radio Hanukkah, a national broadcast channel devoted exclusively to Jewish culture, XM announced Dec. 4. From Dec. 15 through […]