Alcatel Space has concluded a deal to provide a new weather satellite, worth 135 million euros ($146.9 million), to Eumetsat, an intergovernmental organisation that operates meteorological satellites for 18 European countries. The deal was announced on April 8.

The satellite, the fourth Meteosat Second Generation satellite (MSG-4), is part of a programme worth 391 million euros ($425.4 million). The first satellite in the MSG series was launched in August 2002. The MSG satellites are designed to improve the long-term viability of Europe’s weather forecasting system. The system is a joint project between Eumetsat and the European Space Agency.

Tillman Mohr, director general of Eumetsat, told Interspace: “The full operational service will only be available by the end of the year. The main challenge is to get the MSG-1 in operational status. This is a significant challenge as there is a tremendous amount of additional data, which is not provided by the old generation of Meteosat” weather satellites.

The next-generation MSG system will have 12 spectral channels, compared to three on the current systems, enabling more precise data. Mohr said: “There will be more frequency bands, in which you get different information on the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere and so on.” It will also be able to cycle images every 15 minutes, compared to 30 minutes with existing satellites.

There are three main user communities for the Eumetsat satellites – national meteorological organisations, private companies and academic institutions. Mohr said that the next generation Meteosat system will put Europe at the forefront of meteorological research. “These new satellites will improve the services of users, [increasing the] usefulness of the data. The next generation programme will last 15 years. This geostationary meteorological satellite [is] far ahead of the U.S. and Asia. So, it is a significant demonstration of our capabilities.” –Mark Holmes

(Contact: Livia Briese, Eumetsat, e:mail: [email protected])

Intelsat’s Middle East Office

Satellite communications firm Intelsat has opened a field office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, pushing to 13 its number of customer service centers worldwide.

Intelsat UAE, as the office in Dubai is known, serves customers in North Africa in addition to those in the Persian Gulf region, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Samir El Battah, regional director of the Middle East and North Africa, heads the operations in Dubai.

AIRIA Selects Telenor

AIRIA, a venture of London-based Inmarsat Ventures, is moving ahead with plans to deliver live television services onboard aircraft.

The latest step involved the delivery of transmission equipment for use at Telenor Satellite Services’ Southbury, Conn.-based land earth station. The plan by AIRIA is to provide live television globally without launching new satellites or installing antennae onboard aircraft by transmitting multimedia signals via the Telenor earth stations to in- orbit Inmarsat satellites. Inmarsat’s satellite network and the Inmarsat Aero H/H+ antenna already onboard most modern long-haul airliners would be used to provide the service.

Space Centre Uses Fiber

Tyco Telecommunications, a Morristown, N.J.-based business unit of Tyco Electronics, has been selected by a subsidiary of the Norwegian Space Centre to supply the Svalbard undersea cable linking the island of Svalbard with mainland Norway.

At 78 degrees North latitude, Svalbard is in close proximity to the North Pole, and therefore is situated for collecting data from polar orbiting satellites. The Svalbard undersea cable will enable the transmission of data collected from these satellites by earth stations located on Svalbard. Initially, the fiber optic system will support data collected from polar orbiting satellites owned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.