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Sat-na 26th May 1997
Sat-na
May, 26
1997
Telstar 5 successfully launched
Arianespace Board of Directors meet
Tee-Comm
Thor II successfully launched
TCM to launch weekly documentary series
APTV
Loral receives FCC authorisation
Fashion TV officially launches on EUTELSAT
TV/COM signs agreement with Telepiu to market
Russians to Gain Access to Globalstar
Advent Communications
Murdoch Still Seeks Partner
Judge Dismisses Part Of Suit
DTH providers seek changes
INTELSAT demonstrates video over TDMA
Upcoming Launches
New files and documents at our WebStand
In Brief
Telstar 5 successfully launched
Telstar 5 (97W) was successfully launched to a
geosynchronous transfer orbit at 11:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. U.S.
Eastern Time) Saturday from Baikonur Cosmodrome in the
Republic of Kazakhstan.
Telstar 5 has a total of 52 transponders -- 24 C-band
and 28 Ku-band -- is based on SS/L's three-axis, body-
stabilised FS-1300 bus.
On July 1, Telstar 5 will officially be turned over to
Loral Skynet. The programmers on T5 will include:
ABC and the Fox networks
AlphaStar and TelQuest, digital services
The SPACECONNECTION
GlobeCast (formerly Keystone Communications)
Broadcast Satellite International
Fifth Dimension Television
Telstar 6 and Telstar 7, two high-powered satellites
being built by Space Systems/Loral, are expected to be in
service in 1998 and 1999, respectively.
Arianespace Board of Directors meet
The Board of Directors of Arianespace has decided to
propose the nomination of Jean-Marie Luton as Chairman of
Arianespace S.A. to the annual Meeting of Shareholders on
June 16, after having already proposed Mr. Luton as Chairman
of Arianespace Participation on April 17, succeeding Charles
Bigot, whose term expires on July 1, 1997.
Tee-Comm
Tee-Comm Electronics Inc.reports that the Bank of
Montreal (Canada) has demanded immediate repayment of its
existing credit extended to Tee-Comm. The bank has appointed
an interim receiver In addition, the board of directors
resigned effective May 21, 1997.
Thor II successfully launched
Thor II, a communications satellite for Telenor of
Oslo, Norway, was successfully launched Tuesday.
Lift-off was at 6:39 p.m. EDT at Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station aboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta II rocket.
The spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle about 75
minutes later. About 8:09 p.m. EDT, the Castle Rock tracking
station in Colorado received Thor II's first signals,
confirming that it is operating normally.
Thor II is an HS 376 spin-stabilised satellite. Hughes
also built Thor I, which was purchased in orbit in 1992 from
British Sky Broadcasting. The two-satellite fleet will
deliver television and telephony/data services to five zones
stretching from Scandinavia across the north Atlantic to
Greenland, with the primary zone comprising Norway, Denmark,
Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states. Thor II will deliver
direct-to-home television by means of 15 active Ku-band
transponders, powered by 40-watt travelling-wave tube
amplifiers (TWTAs).
The satellite uses gallium arsenide solar cells to
generate more than 1400 watts of spacecraft power at end of
life, and will rely on nickel-hydrogen batteries for power
through eclipses. Thor II is designed to operate more than
11 years and will be located at 0.8 degrees West longitude.
Telenor also has ordered Thor III. It will be
collocated with the other Thor satellites and will add more
direct-to-home television programming to the Nordic
countries and Central and Eastern Europe.
The satellite will be delivered on orbit to Telenor by
August 1998. Hughes will provide a high-power HS 376 model
satellite, as well as arrange launch services and insurance,
upgrade the satellite control centre and train Telenor's
controllers.
Thor III will have 14 active 47-watt Ku-band
transponders. Service life is a minimum of 11.5 years. The
agreement contains an option for an additional satellite.
TCM to launch weekly documentary series
FILMS ON FILM will be seen Saturday nights at 8 p.m.
(ET), beginning May 31 and will debut with a special
presentation of MGM: When The Lion Roars, the Emmy Award-
winning, six-hour documentary chronicling the history of the
legendary Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio.
Following MGM: When The Lion Roars, the 13-hour
documentary series Hollywood: A Celebration of the American
Silent Film will run through September 6. Future FILMS ON
FILM will include: the acclaimed George Stevens: A
Filmmaker's Journey (1984); the award-winning documentary on
blacklisting in the industry, Hollywood on Trial (1976);
TCM's 1993 CableACE winner for Best Cultural Documentary,
Inside The Dream Factory; and documentaries from the
retrospective collection of TCM's sister service, Turner
Network Television (TNT), including Katharine Hepburn: All
About Me (1994); Jane Fonda's loving 1992 look at her father
Henry's career, Fonda on Fonda; Gary Cooper: American Life,
American Legend (1989); and more.
APTV
Associated Press Television (APTV), a world-wide news
co-operative, will tap into PanAmSat's upcoming PAS-5
Atlantic Ocean Region satellite to expand its news gathering
and news distribution operations within and between the
Americas and Europe. PAS-5's Pan-American coverage will
enable APTV to link together its bureau's throughout the
Americas and in London using just the one satellite.
APTV will use a total of 18 Megahertz on PAS-5's C-band
Americas beam. The capacity will be split to create an 8
Megabits per second (Mbps) digital video channel from APTV's
London headquarters to client broadcasters throughout the
Americas, and another 8 Mbps digital video channel for
contribution of material back to London.
Loral receives FCC authorisation
The FCC has granted Loral a license to build, launch
and operate CyberStar, a world-wide broadband satellite-
based digital communications system being designed and
developed by Space Systems/Loral.
The $1.6 billion CyberStar system is a geostationary
satellite-based digital telecommunications system that will
offer a variety of low-cost, high-speed, data and
telecommunications services world-wide from leased Ku-band
transponders satellites beginning in late 1997, and through
a dedicated constellation of geosynchronous Ka-band
satellites beginning in 1999.
CyberStar services will include high-speed Internet
access, broadband interconnection, real-time streaming,
video-on-demand, and other data services that will be
delivered to consumers, businesses and private networks
around the world through a network of local and regional
service providers.
Fashion TV officially launches on EUTELSAT
Fashion TV, the first theme channel in French dedicated
exclusively to fashion and haute couture, will officially
launch tomorrow, Wednesday 14 May, in Cannes. The channel
has been transmitting in the clear from the EUTELSAT
satellite Hot Bird 1 since 1 May. Fashion TV is broadcast as
part of the digital multiplex carried on transponder 5 of
that satellite.
Technical details are as follows:
" Satellite Hot Bird 1 at 13 deg E
" Frequency 11.304.75 GHz
" Polarisation horizontal
" Symbol rate 27.5 Msymbol/s
" FEC 3/4
" Transport Stream ID 500
" Service ID 103
" PID Video 123
" PID Audio 133
The channel can be seen by anyone with a digital
decoder connected to an antenna pointing towards EUTELSAT's
13 degrees East orbital position.
TV/COM signs agreement with Telepiu to market
TV/COM International Inc. has signed an agreement with
Telepiu, the Italian pay-TV company. Under the terms of the
agreement, TV/COM will supply DVB MPEG-2 digital satellite
receivers under the Hyundai brand.
The digital satellite receiver was developed for the
requirements of Telepiu. It will also store up to six
alternative networks, including MEDIASET and RAI.
Russians to Gain Access to Globalstar
GlobalTel (Globalstar Space Telecommunications), a
joint stock company founded by Rostelecom JSC, the largest
Russian telecommunications operator, and Globalstar LP, will
act as the exclusive provider of Globalstar services in
Russia. GlobalTel is the owner and operator of the
Globalstar ground segment, and will be responsible for
interconnecting the Globalstar system with Russia's existing
wireline and wireless infrastructure. GlobalTel will be
majority owned by Rostelecom.
GlobalTel expects to serve more than 150,000
subscribers in Russia by the year 2002. Russia's telephony
penetration rate is currently less than 20 percent. Some
40,000 rural Russian communities are in need of improved
telecommunications services.
Subscribers in Russia will use mobile terminals,
similar to today's cellular phones, with dual-mode
capability so users can switch from satellite telephony to
conventional cellular telephony as required. As well as
using mobile terminals, users in Russia's rural and remote
areas may make or receive calls through fixed-site
telephones, similar either to phone booths or ordinary
wireline telephones. Subscriber terminals will communicate
through a Globalstar satellite to one of Russia's gateways
(ground stations), which in turn will connect calls into
Russia's existing telecommunications network. Russia's
initial Globalstar gateway will be located at a site near
Moscow, and is due to be fully operational by the start of
Globalstar service in Russia in late 1998.
Advent Communications
TVB has recently acquired a dual band Mantis flyaway
system. The flyaway system is now based in Hong Kong and
will be used to provide news gathering services throughout
South East Asia. The system is capable of digital operation
in both the C and Ku bands and analogue Ku band operation.
It will be used to provide coverage, uplinked to PanAmSat 2,
of the ceremonies handing Hong Kong back to China on July
1st.
Murdoch Still Seeks Partner
Rupert Murdoch's is still looking for a partner for his
ASkyB service. Reports this week had Murdoch talking with
PrimeStar, DirecTv and companies not currently in the
satellite business. A PrimeStar/ASkyB service is considered
the best merger for Murdoch. A deal with somebody could come
within a couple of weeks.
Judge Dismisses Part Of Suit
A federal judge dismissed several of News Corp.'s
challenges regarding Time Warner Inc.'s refusal to carry Fox
News Channel. The judge also transferred the case to the
New York City-based Southern District because a separate,
but related Fox News Channel lawsuit is pending there. Both
cases will be heard separately by the same judge.
News Corp. sued Time Warner last fall for breach of
contract, fraud and antitrust violations, however, last
month withdrew breach of contract claim leaving only its
antitrust claims against Time Warner.
DTH providers seek changes
ExpressVu, AlphaStar CANADA and STAR CHOICE have
applied to amend a section of their broadcasting licences
that requires substitution of some programming under certain
conditions.
Currently, the CRTC requires DTH providers to
"...delete programming received by subscribers located
within the Grade B contour of a licensed Canadian television
programming undertaking, where the programming distributed
as part of the DTH undertaking is identical to the
programming broadcast by the Canadian television programming
undertaking;"
INTELSAT demonstrates video over TDMA
INTELSAT recently tested transmissions of MPEG-2
compressed video over its TDMA network. The tests used TDMA
terminals, manufactured by COMSAT/Aydin and Hughes Network
Systems.
The actual tests included an 8 Mbit/s video stream that
passed through an inverse multiplexer which deconstructed
the signal into four 2 Mbit/s streams. These streams were
transmitted over the INTELSAT 601 and then reconstructed
with another inverse multiplexer associated with the other
TDMA terminal. The uplinks and downlinks took place at the
Clarksburg, Maryland TT&C station.
Upcoming Launches
Next Atlas/Delta Launch Next Ariane Launch
Superbird C -- July 8, 1997 INSAT 2D/INMARSAT 3F4 --June
3, 1997
In Brief
" For the month of June, DSS owners can view HBO Family
programming on U.S.S.B at no cost. Also, HBO Family have
been added to U.S.S.B's HBO Plus and USSB Entertainment Plus
programming packages at no extra charge.
" DMX Inc. and TCI Satellite Entertainment will jointly
offer PRIMESTAR's television programming and DMX music
services to commercial customers.
" COM DEV will provide Matra Marconi Space UK Ltd. input
and output multiplexers, and integrated switch assemblies
for the ORION 2 satellite.
" Star Choice Television Network (Canada) has signed a
distribution agreements with Adventure Electronics Inc. and
RadioShack Canada.
" Sky Entertainment Services (Mexico) will add two of
NBC's cable news networks on its direct-to-home satellite
television service. MSNBC is available now and CNBC will
added next week.
" The launch of a Kosmos series military satellite ended
in a failure after lifting off from the Baikonur
cosmodrome.
Sat-na is sponsored by TELE-satelit International
http://www.tele-satellit.com
and produced by Satellite Journal International
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(c) Sat-na 1997
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