Industry News

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December

Galaxy 3A Shutdown - PanAmSat has announced that Galaxy 3R, operating in inclined orbit at 74°W, experienced an anomaly of its secondary spacecraft control processor (SCP) on 23 January. PanAmSat and the manufacturer Boeing are continuing to investigate the anomaly. Galaxy 3R had already been removed from primary service and was at the end of its contract life and operating in an inclined orbit. A Boeing 601 spacecraft launched in 1995, the satellite has no book value to the PanAmSat and the event will not impact the Intelsat deal, but it was expected to remain in inclined orbit until early 2009. AMC-23 Successfully Launched - on 29 December from Baikonur on a Proton M / Breeze M launcher, to be finally positioned at 172° E, AMC 23 (formerly Worldsat 3) is a Spacebus 4000 platform owned and operated by SES Americom. AMC-23 is an advanced, high-powered hybrid C/Ku-band satellite, covering the Pacific region, including Western North America, East Asia, the South Pacific, Alaska and Hawaii, and provide links to other regional satellite systems. The design of AMC-23 combines a conventional C-band landmass coverage payload with an innovative Ku-band oceanic coverage payload. The satellite's Ku-band payload, comprised of 20 high-powered transponders with varied bandwidths from 27 to 36 MHz, has been tailored to the long-haul airline routes over the Pacific Ocean to ensure broadband connectivity requirements of Connexion by Boeing. In comparison, the 18 transponder C-band payload will be used by broadcasters, cable programmers, Internet service providers, government agencies, educational institutions, carriers and private networks for next generation distribution solutions within, and connectivity to, North America and Pacific Rim. INSAT-4A Successfully Launched - on 21 December from Kourou on an Ariane 5GS to be finally positioned at 83° E along with INSAT-2E and INSAT-3B. INSAT-4A is an Indian satellite which will be used for communications, broadcasting and meteorology. It is owned and operated by the Bangalore-based  Indian Satellite Research Organization (ISRO) which also designed, built and integrated the satellite. With 12 Ku-band transponders, the 3,080 kg INSAT-4A will be the first Indian satellite to meet the requirements of domestic DTH services as well as carrying 12 C-band transponders to augment INSAT capacity for communication and TV services. The 12 Ku-band 36 MHz bandwidth high-powered transponders will provide 140 to 150 DTH channels. Tata-Sky, the joint venture of the Tatas and the Rupert Murdoch-owned STAR group, has booked all the Ku-band transponders. SES buying New Skies - SES Global has effectively bid USD 1.16 billion to buy New Skies from Blackstone Holdings, the private equity firm that bought New Skies last year for USD 983 million, and currently holds a 56% share of New Skies. The offer includes USD 760 million for the company plus around USD 400 million of debt held by New Skies. New Skies has a fleet of 5 satellites, and another due to be launched next year. The transaction needs approval from New Skies shareholders and regulators including the FCC and is expected to be completed within six months. New Skies was the company rumoured to be up for acquisition by Intelsat in August, but they picked PanAmSat instead. BGAN Ready - Telenor, Stratos and Xantic, the three principal Inmarsat service providers, have all announced that BGAN services are commercially launched in Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia. Swedish Satellite Company Changes Name - Swedish Nordic Satellite AB is changing its name to SES Sirius AB. Nordic Satellite AB, with its satellite system Sirius, changes its name as of December 1st. The company is partly government-owned through the Swedish Space Corporation (25%), which monitors Sirius satellites from its control station at the Esrange base in northern Sweden. The change of name to SES Sirius AB is part of the company's development into an expanded market and new tasks. At the same time the name reinforces the link with the principal owner, SES Astra (75%).

 

November

Loral Emerges From Chapter 11 - Loral Space & Communications Inc. has officially concluded its reorganisation and has successfully emerged from chapter 11. Throughout the chapter 11 process, Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) remained a premier manufacturer of commercial satellites, increasing its market share and winning more than a third of the dollar value of all contracts awarded over the last 18 months, more than any other commercial satellite manufacturer. Loral Skynet's fleet is well-positioned to serve areas with high growth potential such as Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and the trans-Atlantic market. Skynet has also expanded its services beyond traditional FSS leases with the introduction of new IP-based data services. Loral's new XTAR joint venture has been awarded contracts for service to the U.S. State Department and the Spanish Ministry of Defence. Loral exits chapter 11 with approximately USD 180 million in cash. During the chapter 11 reorganisation, Loral did not require any debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing, and, as of its emergence from chapter 11, has only USD 126 million of debt in the form of the notes issued by Loral Skynet. Loral Skynet has also issued USD 200 million of preferred stock to certain creditors of Loral Orion. In accordance with the Plan of Reorganization, the company is issuing 20 million shares of new common stock in Loral Space & Communications Inc. to certain of its creditors. Loral's prior common and preferred stock was cancelled as of November 21, 2005 with no distribution made to holders of such stock. Cisco buys SA - Cisco Systems and Scientific-Atlanta have announced a definitive agreement for Cisco to acquire Scientific-Atlanta. Scientific-Atlanta is a leading global provider of set-top boxes, end-to-end video distribution networks and video system integration. The combined entity creates a world class, end-to-end triple play solution for carrier networks and the digital home. In addition, upon closure, the market opportunities represented by this acquisition will become part of Cisco's Advanced Technology portfolio. Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay USD 43 per share in cash in exchange for each share of Scientific-Atlanta, and assume outstanding options, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately USD 6.9 billion, or approximately USD 5.3 billion net of Scientific-Atlanta's existing cash balance. The acquisition of Scientific-Atlanta is expected to close in the third quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2006. The acquisition has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is subject to various standard closing conditions, including approval by the shareholders of Scientific-Atlanta. Telkom 2 Successfully Launched - on 16 November 2005 from Kourou on an Ariane 5 ECA launcher to be finally positioned at 108° or 118° E.  Telkom 2 is owned and operated by PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, and carries 24 C band transponders and has a design life of 15 years. It had a lift-off mass of 1,975 kg. Telkom 2 is designed to provide fixed satellite services to a region including all of Indonesia, as well as areas of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. JSAT Trialing MPEG-4 AVC HD Satellite Distribution - Japanese satellite operator JSAT Corporation has deployed Tandberg Television MPEG-4 AVC equipment as part of a Japanese government-funded trial for the DTH delivery of HD video over satellite. JSAT Corporation chose Tandberg Television’s MPEG-4 AVC HD encoding system with statistical multiplexing for maximum bandwidth efficiency. The project is designed to test the suitability of MPEG-4 AVC HD technology for the Japanese satellite market. Iridium Subscriptions Up - Iridium has approximately 137,500 subscribers as of September 30, 2005, the company announced in its Q3 results. The new total represents a 22% increase over the total number of subscribers at the end of the third quarter last year. Revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2005 was up 24% over the nine months ended September 30, 2004. In the first 72 hours of Hurricane Katrina, Iridium traffic in the Gulf Region increased more than 3,000%, while the number of subscribers in the affected areas increased more than 500%. To help meet this increased demand, the FCC granted Iridium the use of additional spectrum to accommodate network traffic and minimise the risk of congestion. Iridium also moved to a 24x7 manufacturing schedule to accommodate the surge in need for mobile satellite communications services. During the quarter, Iridium and its partners shipped more than 13,300 voice and data units. Inmarsat-4 F2 Successfully Launched - on 8 November by Sea Launch on a Eurostar E3000, to be finally positioned at 53°W. The second huge Inmarsat-4 satellite will enable Inmarsat to address a wide area covering the Americas, the Atlantic Ocean and part of the Pacific Ocean. The first satellite was launched earlier this year and is already in service, covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as well as the Indian Ocean. A third satellite is complete and in stand-by storage. All three satellites are identical and interchangeable - their coverage is programmable and can be reconfigured in orbit.

 

October

Xantic Starts BGAN Beta Testing - Xantic is the first ISP to start beta testing with a customer for the BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) service, working with Inmarsat and UK-based TET Satellite Solutions. In preparation for the beta test, Xantic carried out extensive testing at the Inmarsat test facilities in Malaga, Spain. Testing then continued at TET’s site in Pretoria, South Africa on 24 October. The beta tests are the final step before the new BGAN service from Inmarsat is launched. BGAN will offer a comprehensive and easy-to-use mobile satellite solution. With a higher bandwidth of up to 492 kbps and improved portability via a broad selection of terminals, BGAN will also offer major opportunities for customers outside the traditional range of mobile satellite communication users. iDirect Partners with Envivio - iDirect and Envivio have announced a strategic technology relationship to increase the efficiency of satellite bandwidth used for the distribution of IP-based digital video, voice and data services. Envivio has joined iDirect's IP Alliance program after undergoing thorough interoperability testing with its MPEG-4 AVC products. Galaxy 15 Successfully Launched - on 13 October 2005 from Kourou on an Ariane 5GS, to be finally positioned at 133° W. Galaxy 15 is owned and operated by PanAmSat. Galaxy 15 is a 2000 kg Star 2 Bus model satellite with twenty four 36 MHz C band transponders and two L band transponders. The satellite will put out more than double the power of its predecessors, replacing Galaxy 1R, which has successfully served the US cable television marketplace from this orbital location since 1994. Galaxy 15 also carries an L band navigation payload as part of the US Federal Aviation Administration's Geostationary Communications and Control Segment (GCCS) program. It will relay GPS navigation to in-flight aircraft, providing highly accurate guidance to pilots at airports and airfields where there currently is no precision landing capability.

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