Sat-ND, 22.7.97

• from: owner-sat-nd@tags1.dn.net
• Date: Tue, 22 Jul 1997 23:51:18 GMT

 

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LAUNCHES

Arianespace to launch CD Radio satellites

The U.S. company CD Radio Inc. and the European launch provider Arianespace signed a launch services contract for two CD Radio satellites in Washington, D.C. today. The two spacecraft will be launched from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana (South America) in 1999.

Launch services for the two CD Radio satellites will be partially financed through a project finance loan provided by Arianespace Finance. This marks the first use of the supplementary service recently set up by Arianespace, which is primarily intended for new operators such as CD Radio.

The CD Radio satellites, which are being built by Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, California, will offer CD-quality radio programming to customers across the United States. They will be deployed at 80 degrees W and 110 degrees W, respectively.

CD Radio a publicly-traded company based in Washington, D.C., is the winning bidder for one of two FCC national satellite radio broadcast licenses. The company is building a 50 channel satellite-to-car radio service for the broadcast of music and other programming to motorists throughout the United States. "These launches will herald a new era for radio in America," said CD Radio Chairman and CEO, David Margolese.

Including the CD Radio satellites, Arianespace now has 46 satellites on order to be launched. The next launch, Flight 98, is now scheduled for August 7. An Ariane 44P will be used to place PAS-6 into orbit.

SATELLITES

Garuda almost ready ;-)

Nothing happens, really. Maybe that's why P.T. Asia Cellular Satellite (ACeS) thought it would be a nice occasion to issue a press release on the "program status of the company's ACeS system."

The project maybe better known for its first satellite, Garuda, which will be manufactured by Lockheed Martin. "It is planned that all of the satellite and ground segment critical design reviews will be completed by August 1997 and the program will be fully transitioned into the qualification and production phase of the program.

"The [Russian] Proton D1-e launch vehicle from Lockheed Khrunichev Enterprises has completed the preliminary design phase, after successfully incorporating the ACeS mission unique design and analysis requirements. All system integration, hardware interfaces and compatibility studies are complete and the system level verification tests have begun and will continue into 1998.

"The satellite is currently scheduled for a first quarter, 1999 launch and the ACeS system turn-key delivery is planned for the second quarter, 1999. These current dates reflect a four month slip on the original anticipated contract delivery date due to minor delays in refining elements of the satellite payload equipment, specifically the payload signal processor.

"P.T. ACeS is owned by three equal shareholders -- P.T. Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN)(Nasdaq: PSNRY), the Philippines Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), and Jasmine International Overseas Company Limited of Thailand. PSN is also the primary sponsor of ACeS.

"The ACeS system is a satellite-based, hand-held digital mobile telecommunications system intended to provide competitively priced telephone and data services to subscribers in the Asia Pacific region.

Thai spy again

Long-time readers of this, er... publication will be aware of Thailand's efforts to set up a spy satellite system.

Spy satellites -- what a nasty word. Let's call 'em observation satellites, shall we? Of course, you may as well use those gadgets to forecast natural disasters or to help form land development policies. Anyway, the Thai government went through some troubles in the process of planning the system.

For a start, a Canadian spacecraft will be purchased. Beginning in 2002, Thailand wants to launch its own satellites. They will be designed and developed in Japan by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and NEC Corp



A Mitsubishi Electric spokesman declined to disclose the terms of the contract with the Thai government but admitted that one satellite is estimated to cost about ¥10 billion. He added that the two companies will also develop technology on analysing observation data.

Landsat turns 25

If there were a competition for the best lead of a press release, this one would be the winner: "For thousands of years, mankind gazed up toward the skies. Twenty five years ago, the skies looked back."

On July 23, 1972, NASA launched ERTS 1, the world's first civilian Earth resources satellite. The launch of ERTS 1 -- later renamed Landsat 1 -- created what would become the world's largest and richest collection of imagery and geographic information about the Earth's surface. Landsat inspired the development of a host of new satellites that would regularly monitor changes to the Earth's land, water and atmospheric conditions.

Since it began, the Landsat program has had numerous accomplishments. For example, Landsat 5, launched by NASA in 1984, had a design life of just five years. However, in April 1997, the satellite was announced to have completed its 70,000th orbit of the Earth and is still performing its primary mission today.

Landsat also inspired the revolutionary commercialization of high- resolution satellite imaging in 1994, when the U.S. Department of Commerce enabled the private sector to develop and exploit satellite systems capable of collecting imagery that reveals Earth objects as small as one meter in diameter.

The idea of a civilian Earth resources satellite was originally conceived in the U.S. Department of the Interior in the mid-1960s. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) quickly embarked on the initiative to build and launch the world's first Earth monitoring satellite, and launched ERTS 1 in 1972. Since then, five additional Landsat satellites have been launched, each offering improved capabilities.

Several government and private organizations have shared in the management of Landsat. In January 1983, operations of the Landsat system were transferred to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 1985, the Landsat system was commercialized with a partnership between Hughes and RCA, a partnership that led to the development of a private company named the Earth Observation Satellite Company (EOSAT). EOSAT ultimately was acquired by Space Imaging, Inc. in November 1996.

Many organizations that are regular users of this imagery look forward to the availability of new, one-meter resolution satellite imagery which, for many applications, will be complementary to the existing Landsat products. This additional commercial capability is being spearheaded by Space Imaging EOSAT's IKONOS satellites, the first of which is scheduled to launch in December of this year.

LAW & ORDER

Dish ban in the USA?

Not really. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled against a Kansas town's regulation that restricted the installation of satellite dishes. It was the first such order issued under the new telecommunications law.

The FCC now has authority to pre-empt local restrictions that make it hard for consumers to install and use small satellite dishes (except when local rules are justified by safety or historic preservation considerations.) In this case, local regulation in Meade, Kansas, made it difficult for consumers to install satellite dishes or other antennas. It required an antenna user not only to obtain a US$5 permit but also to win city approval of the antenna's placement. The measure included "property setback regulations" which the FCC said were not defined, and a heavy fine for violators: US$500 per day.

DIGITAL

Digital terrestrial TV in Australia

Digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB) should be introduced into Australia as soon as possible, according to the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA.)

ABA chairman Peter Webb said in a statement that "The present analogue system will not meet the expectations and needs of viewers in the next century while cable and satellite television systems that use digital transmission are restricted by the lack of digital receivers in the home." [That seems to imply that decoders for digital terrestrial TV can be bought on every street corner in Australia.]

However, "DTTB will provide the foundations for television of the 21st century," knows Webb. And even though high-definition television (HDTV) is as dead as ad doornail in most parts of the world, he went on to explain that DTTB could deliver the (HDTV) pictures which were needed for those trendy monster-screen home theatre-style receivers. [Well, just go ahead and buy one if your living room is still to spacious and you have too much money anyway.] "HDTV makes an enormous difference to the viewing experience for both film and live productions such as telecasts of major sporting events," Webb said. [Oh yeah... imagine all those digital artefacts in high resolution!]

"Receiver manufacturers and broadcasters need clear direction on the need for HDTV capabilities to be provided in receivers," Mr Webb said. "This direction has been set in the USA and I am pleased to see recent initiatives in Europe to incorporate HDTV capabilities into the systems being developed there."

[Recent? Geez! HDTV has been subsidised by the European Union for centuries. Lots of production companies and broadcasters cashed in the money, but to my knowledge there is not a single real HDTV channel available in Europe.]

Alphastar on the move

The digital DTH service AlphaStar, which is due to appear in bankruptcy court next Friday, notified U.S. dealers and subscribers that it will move to Loral SkyNet's Telstar 5 satellite next Monday.

AlphaStar said its signals on Telstar 4 will cease at 2:15 a.m. Eastern Time on July 28 except for a small number of channels. Alphastar service on Telstar 5 will be available after 2 p.m. Eastern Time on that same day. This is, of course, an interesting development as Loral said it hadn't received payments from Alphastar, currently broadcast on TELSTAR 402R, since March.

Loral recently filed motion seeking to force Alphastar to "accept or reject" leases for transponders onboard the new TELSTAR 5 bird by August 1. Alphastar intended to use the bird for a 95-channel service. Alphastar's submissions to court indicated it would not do so.

It's unclear whether that will make the service more popular. "To access AlphaStar's Telstar 5 services it will be necessary to change the direction and angle of your dish antenna," AlphaStar told its subscribers, pointing out that dish repositioning is "the responsibility of each subscriber. Neither Alphastar U.S. nor Alphastar Canada shall be responsible for any costs, claims or losses incurred by a subscriber by reason of such relocating and/or re-aiming."

Meanwhile, observers still speculate whether the service and its assets will be sold. Possible buyers include Samsung Electronics in conjunction with still-to-be-found partners as well as former Tee-Comm executives. Other reports suggest uplink facilities and other operations in the United States and Canada could be sold separately to the highest bidders

BUSINESS

Microsoft invests in Real Audio

In the latest issue of the UK's Internet magazine, Rob Glaser, chairman and chief executive of Progressive Networks, was asked whether his company was a target for Microsoft to acquire. He didn't really answer the question -- now we know why.

Not only has Glaser worked for Microsoft over a period of ten years. He also probably knew that Microsoft Corp. would made a financial investment in the inventors of RealAudio, giving it a 10-percent non-voting stake in the company. It has happened now; and even though Microsoft won't be able to control the company, the investment is probably enough to keep them informed about what's cooking at Progressive Networks.

The two companies pledged to work together to develop new versions of Progressive's RealAudio and RealVideo formats and make them the industry standard. The agreement calls for Microsoft to integrate the streaming programs into the software giant's Internet Explorer browser and Site Server products. Interestingly, Microsoft also took a minority stake in VDOnet Inc., a streaming video competitor, last year.

Glaser in Internet magazine: "We have a better than average understanding of Microsoft's Maslovian hierarchy."

CHANNELS

CFI: No porn intended

Was it a hard-core movie or just an X-rated film that was shown by the state-financed French channel CFI? It doesn't matter -- the channel got kicked off from Arabsat as reported yesterday.

It was a mistake anyway, CFI said today in a statement and apologised for the technical error. "We deeply regret this unacceptable incident and we share in the high feelings prompted in Saudi Arabia and more widely in the Arab world," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jacques Rummelhardt told a daily press briefing.

CFI said the mistake took place at France Telecom's uplink where French television programs are distributed to satellites across the world -- among them Arabsat, which [as the name implies] broadcasts throughout Arab countries.

Instead of sending a scheduled feature for children, France Telecom aired a pornographic film from a private French station destined for clients in the Pacific. [Remember what I told you about bored uplink technicians and their private pleasures yesterday.]

Officials said French diplomats in Saudi Arabia had tried to smooth over what could be a disaster for France's efforts to reach audiences in the Arab world, where most Western programs are American-made. [No sex there, just healthy, gratuitous violence.]

Coca Cola kills kids

Children are absolutely unaffected by what they watch on the tube. At least, that's what the TV industry claims. Wrong! They copy even TV commercials -- with lethal consequences.

Coca Cola India, a fully-owned unit of Coca-Cola Co, withdrew a TV commercial featuring bungee jumping after a 10 year-old child died in Calcutta when aping the commercial. Actually, it was the second death of a minor trying to re-enact the commercial. A child died in Bombay in April 1996, when he jumped off a 10-storey building trying to reach a beverage truck at the bottom of the structure -- just as in the commercial -- except for the rope.

The commercial featured a model bungee jumping off a cliff to grab a bottle of a local cola brand owned by Coca-Cola off a delivery truck at the base of the cliff.

If commercials can kill your children, just imagine what regular TV programming [y'know, those tiny bits between all those commercials] can do to them.

RUPERTWATCH

by Dr Sarmaz

Rupert v/s India

Rupert Murdoch is taking the Indian government to court over its ban of DTH reception.

News Television filed its case in India's Supreme Court, according to company lawyer Kapil Sibal. Mr Murdoch's News Television India Ltd. had been expecting the government to license direct-to-home satellite broadcasts, but instead, the ban was announced last week. Sibal said the ban violates the right to information guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.

As reported, all individual satellite reception above 4,800 MHz has been banned. The regulation makes it unlawful to receive direct-to-home services such as that planned by Mr Murdoch. While the government gave no reason for the ban, officials have said privately they are concerned broadcasters could directly transmit programming considered "anti-India."

Rupert conquers N.Y.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Warner Inc. and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. have reached a tentative settlement of their dispute over carriage of News Corp.'s Fox News on Time Warner's New York City cable systems.

It's no surprise that the companies will drop their various lawsuits under the agreement. The city reportedly has agreed to turn over one of its government channels to Time Warner, which will use it to put on Fox News. Mr Murdoch's news channel will reportedly also be carried by other Time Warner systems throughout the country.

In essence, Time Warner is the loser as most of News Corp.'s claims have already been dismissed by a federal judge. On the other hand, the agreement is undoubtedly related to Mr Murdoch's digital deal with PrimeStar, a DTH service controlled by cable companies, among them Time Warner. It was expected that they in turn for selling valuable assets to PrimeStar, News Corp. for non-voting stock would gain access to more cable networks across the USA.

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