BBC World News signs multi-satellite deal

BBC World News has signed a renewal and expansion contract for satellite and teleport services to distribute its programming to its audiences throughout Asia-Pacific and the Americas regions. To reach viewers in the Asia-Pacific region, BBC World News will utilize capacity on the Intelsat 8 and the Intelsat 5 satellites, located at 166º E and 169º E, respectively. For distribution into America, BBC World News will use capacity on the Intelsat 9 and the Galaxy 13 satellites, located at 58º W and 127º W, respectively. Uplinking services will be carried out at Intelsat's teleports located in Ellenwood, Georgia; Napa, California; and Paumalu, Hawaii.

Asia Broadcast Satellite acquires Koreasat-3

KT Corporation and Asia Broadcast Satellite have completed their second successful transaction with the execution of the agreement for the sale and purchase of the Koreasat-3 satellite. Ten months earlier, KT and ABS had announced the successful completion of the sale and purchase of the Koreasat-2 satellite. The closing of the Koreasat-3 sale will occur upon the issuance of the necessary U.S. governmental approvals.

The Koreasat-3 satellite is a Lockheed Martin A2100 spacecraft launched in September 1999. The satellite has a payload consisting of 24 x 36MHz FSS Ku-band (12 fixed and 12 steerable beams), 6 x 27 MHz BSS Ku-band and 3 x 200 MHz FSS Ka-Band transponders. Koreasat-3 will be renamed as ABS-7 as a result of this transaction. With sufficient fuel for station-kept operations in geo-stationary orbit for an estimated 6-7 years and an additional 5-6 years of inclined-orbit operations, ABS-7 (Koreasat-3) will provide significant high powered Ku-band and Ka-band capacities to meet ABS's customer demands for cellular backhaul, VSAT services, satellite broadband and US/NATO government requirements in the Middle East region.

KT Corporation will continue to provide the satellite operations and telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) services for the ABS-7 (Koreasat-3) spacecraft at 116º east longitude.

Integral Systems offers discount rate on SATCOM NetOps services

Integral Systems has announced that its integral systems service solutions (IS3) business will provide a significant discount on its SATCOM NetOps services subscription to SUIRG members. The IS3 service enables satellite operators to better manage their satellite operations and increase the speed and efficiency with which they can identify sources of interference.

Companies with full membership in SUIRG will enjoy a 12.5 percent discount on the cost of the IS3 SATCOM NetOps subscription services. This will be a vital benefit for SUIRG members and those considering joining the industry's only organization dedicated to raising awareness about and eradicating satellite radio interference. The IS3 discount benefit exceeds the cost of SUIRG membership, even at the entry level.

Ses World Skies satellite operational

SES-1, a satellite of Ses World Skies, has entered commercial service. Built by Orbital Sciences, SES-1 was successfully launched onboard an ILS-Proton Breeze M rocket. The spacecraft replaces AMC-2 and AMC-4 at the key orbital location of 101 degrees West over North America, and is used to feed TV programming into virtually every cable network in the U.S. The transition of customers' traffic to the SES-1 satellite frees up the AMC-2 and AMC-4 spacecraft for new missions at new orbital slots.

Gilat to provide broadband satellite network deployment to VTI

Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. is providing a SkyEdge II broadband satellite communications network to Vietnam Telecom International (VTI). The SkyEdge II system will operate via VINASAT-1 and will combine both C-band and Ku-band capacity within the same network using the SkyEdge II multi-transponder capability.The VSAT network will consist of hundreds of remote sites and will support a wide range of applications, including broadband Internet access, GSM trunking and private leased circuits.

Thales Alenia space to deliver W6A Satellite to Eutelsat

Eutelsat Communications has selected Thales Alenia Space to build a 40-transponder Ku-band satellite enabling a 50 percent increase in capacity operated in the geostationary orbit. Scheduled for launch in third quarter 2012, the satellite will replace Eutelsat‘s W6 craft at a core neighborhood anchored for data, professional video and government services across Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia.

Weighing five tonnes, the satellite will be based on the Thales Alenia Space Spacebus C3 platform, with a scheduled in-orbit lifetime exceeding 15 years. It will be equipped with one broad footprint sweeping across Europe into North Africa and Central Asia, and two dedicated high-power beams to add increased flexibility for regional coverage of North Africa and the Middle East. This satellite is the 20th ordered by Eutelsat from Thales Alenia Space.

RigNet to provide satellite services to Seahawk Drilling

RigNet has entered into a multi-year contract with Seahawk Drilling, to provide managed remote communications for its fleet of offshore rigs. RigNet will provide fully managed VoIP, FoIP, data and Internet access services across the entire Seahawk fleet, which includes twenty jack-up rigs in the United States. The deal also includes installation of communications infrastructure for hardware, including cabling, phones, modems and fax machines as well as software applications, bandwidth and network connections, testing and training and year-round 24-hour live monitoring and technical support. Seahawk also is using RigNet's TurboNet service to improve the speed and performance of software applications running over its satellite links. RigNet, in partnership with Seahawk, will design and manage Seahawk's wide-area network connecting Seahawk's rig fleet to its Houston headquarters.

SBSS spacecraft launch delayed

The launch of the Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) spacecraft has been delayed pending resolution of a test anomaly associated with another Minotaur IV launch vehicle undergoing test in the factory. The testing identified a software issue that is being assessed for implications to the SBSS mission. The integrated government and contractor team is accessing the cause of the software anomaly and potential corrective actions and expects to establish a new launch date.

Loral to provide ComSat to HISPASAT

Space Systems/Loral will manufacture a ComSat spacecraft for the HISPASAT Group. HISPASAT will use the new satellite to broadcast and distribute TV and radio programming in America and Europe as well as for deploying universal social services and corporate fixed and mobile telephone networks in the regions.

The new satellite will be capable of operating up to 33 simultaneous Ku-band transponders and 19 simultaneous C-band transponders over Europe and North and South America. It is based on the Space Systems/Loral 1300 satellite bus, which is a decades-proven, modular platform with the industry's highest power capability and flexibility for a broad range of applications. It will have a launch mass of approximately five tons and will produce nearly 14-kW of power at end of life.

ISRO to launch five satellites

ISRO will launch India's advanced, high-resolution remote-sensing satellite Cartosat-2B from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh, giving a boost to the country's infrastructure and urban planning. The Indian Space and Research Organisation's (ISRO) rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will carry into space the 690 kg Cartosat 2B and an Algerian satellite, Alsat (117 kg). The rocket will blast off carrying also three nano satellites- NLS 6.1 and NLS 6.2 from Canada and Switzerland, and StudSat developed by students of engineering colleges in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The rocket's main cargo Cartosat-2B will be a remote sensing satellite carrying a sophisticated panchromatic camera on board to photograph specific spots closely. The pictures will be useful for cartographic applications such as mapping, land information and geographical information system. Cartosat 2B will join the other two cartography satellites Cartosat 2 and 2A launched earlier. With three satellites ISRO's satellites will be able to cover the country effectively.

ISRO had decided to postpone the launch as it found 'a marginal drop in the pressure in the second stage of the vehicle during mandatory checks'. Though the pressure drop was marginal, ISRO wanted to be sure as it does not want to risk a failure since PSLV is a major revenue earner, carrying satellites for others for a fee. As the faulty valve was in an inaccessible area with the rocket stages having been fully assembled, the second stage had to be dismantled to take corrective action. Even after the replacement of the faulty valve at Sriharikota the problem continued to persist and ISRO sent the second stage (engine and other systems) to Liquid Propulsion System Centre at Thiruvanthapuram in Kerala where it was originally assembled.