TECHNOLOGY

Telespazio, Thales Demonstrate Satellite System For Emergency Responders

Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space demonstrated a new satellite system for guiding and monitoring emergency service vehicles responding to fire or other incidents in tunnels and buildings.
    Liaison (location-based services for the enhancement of working environment) is intended to make the duties of the fire brigade, police, and civil protection squads safer and more efficient.
    The system is an integrated project co-funded by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Program and could play a significant role for future security applications. The system is compatible with GPS and with the planned Egnos and Galileo systems.

Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Complete GPS OCX Review

Northrop Grumman Corp. and Raytheon Co. completed the system requirements review for the U.S. Air Force next-generation GPS (GPS) Control Segment (OCX).
       In November, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon received contracts to continue work on their proposed OCX systems, which include satellite command and control, mission planning, constellation management, monitoring stations and ground antennas for the planned GPS 3 satellites.
    The new control segment will have four development phases. The first phase is for the operation of the current GPS Block 2 satellites. Subsequent OCX phases will provide additional net-centric and navigation warfare capabilities in addition to flying the next-generation GPS Block 3 satellites.

TriaGnoSys Launches GSM Capability For Disaster Recovery 

TriaGnoSys, a mobile satellite communications provider, completed trials of its disaster-recovery communications solution designed to establish a GSM communications infrastructure in the first 24 hours following a disaster.
    The system can be used for the electronic location tagging of injured victims and real-time transmission of electronic medical records.
    The TriaGnoSys satellite-based solution allows a single person to carry and deploy the equipment to establish a local GSM network that can be set up in minutes and has a range of 700 meters. GSM compatible phones can then be used in the area, removing the need for satellite phones.

SERVICES

Hughes, Wayport Team To Bring Wi-Fi On The Go

Hughes Network Systems LLC reached an agreement with Wayport Inc. to provide Wi-Fi services to its HughesNet subscribers at more than 10,000 locations in the United States.
    Subscribers will be able to access Wi-Fi using their laptops, mobile handsets, PDAs, gaming devices, media players, cameras, and other browserless devices in selected hotels, McDonald’s restaurants and Hertz airport locations.
    HughesNet is available throughout the continental United States and serves more than 400,000 consumers and small businesses.

MSV Launches Service For Homeland Security

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Communications System (NCS) is partnering with Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) to provide satellite priority services to NCS priority service customers.
    The NCS, part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Cyber Security and Communications, coordinates the planning and provisioning of national security and emergency preparedness communications for federal, state and local governments under all emergency circumstances.
    MSV provides satellite push-to-talk and priority satellite telephony communications through its distribution alliance with Sprint’s emergency response team. Under this alliance, Sprint will be responsible for nationwide deployment of the satellite priority service for NCS.

Orange To Launch DTH Services In France 

Orange will launch pay-TV services via satellite to households in France.
    The launch of the direct-to-home service in conjunction with Eutelsat means 24 million French households will be able to enjoy Orange TV. Previously, broadband TV technology only enabled half of France’s households to benefit from
the offer.

CONTRACTS

CPI Awarded Orders To Support WIN-T Program

Communications & Power Industries Inc. (CPI) has been awarded about $12 million in follow-on orders from General Dynamics Satcom Technologies in fiscal 2008 to support Increment One of the U.S. Army’s Warfighter Information Network Tactical (WIN-T) program.
    In 2007, General Dynamics selected CPI to supply Ku-band, high-power satellite communications amplifiers for its specialized satcom earth terminals for the WIN-T program.
    Under the most recent follow-on award, CPI will provide General Dynamics with Ku-band traveling-wave tube amplifiers for use in approximately 200 General Dynamics satellite transportable terminals.

GMV Receives Software Contract For NASA’s Glory Mission

GMV received a subcontract from prime contractor Orbital Sciences Corp. to adapt a satellite flight dynamics software product for NASA’s Glory satellite mission.
    GMV will customize its FocusLEO product to support Orbital’s satellite platform. The system will include functions such as GPS measurement processing for orbit determination, maneuver planning, implementation and calibration as well as mass bookkeeping.
    Glory, scheduled to be launched in December, is a remote sensing spacecraft intended to collect data on aerosols as well as continue collection of total solar irradiance data for the long-term climate record.

Hughes Receives Globalstar Equipment Contract 

Hughes Network Systems will provide the next-generation ground network equipment and software upgrades for Globalstar’s satellite gateway ground stations.
    Under the contract, valued at $100.8 million, Hughes also will design and supply Globalstar with satellite interface chips that will provide satellite capability to various handsets, fixed units and modem-equipped transceivers and transmitters. Globalstar also expects to provide these chips to manufacturers of terrestrial wireless devices, which will allow Globalstar to cut the prices to as little as $10 per chip, the company said.
    The ground network is designed to support speeds of 1 megabit per second to subscriber equipment and 256 kilobits per second to the satellites using all IP implementation.

Harris Awarded Broadband Contract For U.S. Navy Program

Harris Corp. has been awarded a potential five-year, $85 million contract from the U.S. Navy for multiband satellite communications terminals.
    Harris will supply 2.7-meter satellite communications terminals with C- and Ku-band capabilities for the Navy’s Commercial Broadband Satellite Program Force Level Variant. The higher bandwidth capacity of these terminals will enable the Navy to augment military satellite communications by supporting essential mission requirements and by providing high-speed Internet access onboard aircraft carriers. The terminals will provide advanced communications for aircraft carriers and other large deck ships. Harris received an initial $15 million order under the contract.
   

MDA Wins Imagery Satellite Contract

MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) has been awarded a multi-million dollar upgrade contract to supply an unnamed customer with additional capabilities for a complete system solution for a high-resolution satellite program.
    Under this contract, MDA will provide a second ground system to be located in a separate facility to the existing system. The new system will be capable of programming and receiving imagery from the satellite. MDA also will upgrade the existing system to integrate with the new system. The new system upgrade will be fully operational in 2009.

Naval Research Laboratory To Develop NPOESS Sensor

The NPOESS Integrated Program Office awarded a contract to the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory to develop the microwave imager/sounder sensor for the next generation of polar-orbiting weather satellites, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced.
The sensor, intended for the second National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) satellite that will be launched in 2016, will provide improved data and imagery, allowing researchers to develop better weather forecasts and climate change assessments.
 

ND SatCom Receives SNG Vehicles Order 

ND SatCom has sold nine redundant satellite newsgathering (SNG) vehicles to German radio and media service provider Media Broadcast.
    The vehicles are equipped with SkyRay MAS 1900 antenna subsystems as satellite uplinks and some include 750-watt outdoor high power amplifiers. Six of the vehicles are ND SatCom classicSNGs mainly used for uplinking services. Three vehicles are ND SatCom productionSNGs equipped with broadcast production equipment integrated by ND SatCom in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
    The vehicles are high-definition-ready and will be used primarily for live sports broadcasting.

Orbit Announces Mexican Deal

Orbit Technology Group announced the delivery of six marine stabilized satellite systems – the OrSat – to AITelecom, a Mexican company operating in the field of satellite communications and ground installations. AITelecom will provide Orbit’s OrSat systems to one of the suppliers of Pemex, the Mexican government’s oil and gas company.
    AITelecom began providing marine satellite communications services in late 2006 based on Orbit’s OrSat systems and installed a communications hub, in order to extend the delivery of broadband services to end-users in the area of the Gulf of Mexico. AITelecom now has installed a second hub, which will enable the provision of additional bandwidth, allowing for the expanded delivery of Internet services and data transfer to users in the area.

EXECUTIVE MOVES

Broadpoint Appoints President And CEO 

Broadpoint has appointed Errol Olivier president and CEO.
    Olivier will focus on growing Broadpoint’s U.S.-based telecommunications and satellite services as well as expanding the the company’s international presence.
    Olivier comes to Broadpoint following his retirement from a 17-year career at satellite and telecommunications provider CapRock Communications Inc., where he served as president and COO. He also previously served as the vice president of CapRock’s enterprise business group, managing sales and marketing for all of the company’s strategic markets.

Intelsat General Names President

Kay Sears has been appointed president of Intelsat General.
    Sears most recently served as senior vice president of sales and business development for Intelsat General, a subsidiary of Intelsat that provides secure communications to military and civil government customers.
    Sears replaces Intelsat General President & CEO William Shernit, who retired.

Globecomm Names Vice President

Globecomm Systems Inc. named Stephen Wilson vice president of American sales for Globecomm.
    Wilson brings 26 years of experience in the broadcast and government services industries to Globecomm. In his new role, he will report to Bill Raney, senior vice president, sales and marketing, and will support Raney in maintaining and expanding Globecomm sales in the American region.
    Wilson served previously as vice president of operations for Globecomm Services Maryland, formerly the GlobalSat division of Lyman Brothers, until the completion of its acquisition by Globecomm in May 2007.