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Sat-ND,
More international mailings lists:
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The contract marks the first multiple transponder commitment on LMI-1, due for launch in December 1998, making Rostelecom the major anchor customer on the first western-built satellite dedicated to serve Russia and the CIS.
Rostelecom plans to utilise its LMI-1 transponders to establish a network of 26-30 earth stations to provide telecommunications services to remote and undeserved areas of Russia. The stations will be installed at all automatic switched communication nodes and in towns which do not receive digital flows via terrestrial facilities.
LMI is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Corporation and the Intersputnik International Organisation, established in June 1997. LMI-1 is a Lockheed Martin state-of-the-art A2100 satellite. Featuring 44 high-powered transponders in C and Ku band frequencies with a designated 15 year service life, LMI-1 offer capacity to all of the CIS, in addition to Eastern Europe, South Asia and Africa from its position at 75 degrees East.
The Czech Academy of Sciences said in a statement the satellite shut down following the failure of a solar array. More than one and a half years later, they managed to wake the spacecraft up by repeatedly transmitting telemetry command.
"Tests of on-board systems showed that all basic functions are in order, and the malfunction, which put the satellite out of order, was only temporary," the statement said.
Over the coming days, Magion-5 will be prepared to carry out its mission, which is to study the solar cycle.
I normally wouldn't mention this but many of you know NORAD as the supplier of Keplerian elements, i.e. data that describe the position and movement of satellites and debris in space.
On May 12, 1958, NORAD formerly came into being as a U.S./Canadian military command assigned with the key role of providing air defence for North America, NORAD said in a statement.
The current missions of NORAD are Aerospace Warning: The monitoring of man-made objects in space; and detection, validation and warning of attack against North America whether by aircraft, missiles, or man-made space vehicles; and Aerospace Control which includes providing surveillance and control (air sovereignty) of Canadian and American airspace.
NORAD: http://www.spacecom.af.mil/norad/
PanAmSat would use the satellite slot for a direct to home satellite system broadcasting to Mexico and the United States if it wins the concession. Satelites Mexicanos (Satmex,) which was privatised last year and bought by the U.S.-Mexican Lorel-Autrey consortium, is also interested in the slot.
Mexico has three more orbital positions at its disposal which also will be auctioned.
The company is the result of the merger of PerfecTV Corp. and Japan Sky Broadcasting Co. It will offer digital TV services under the name of SKYPerfecTV from July. Accordingly, the data service is called SKYPerfecPC.
It does not seem to be some kind of Internet via satellite. The service distributes stories from the Fuji tabloid evening newspaper, high-quality music and other data as well as software. Initially, most services are free of charge.
Full-scale services are due to start in October, the company said. The sale of PC cards necessary to receive the service has already started with cards offered by Sony and NEC. The latter costs 35,000 yen.
Fund-raiser Johnny Chung told Justice Department investigators that he passed along illegal campaign contributions from a female Chinese lieutenant colonel by the name of Liu Chao-ying who is also a China Aerospace International Holdings executive. Liu also was an aerospace company executive and daughter of General Liu Huaqing, then China's top military commander and a leader of the Communist Party.
Chung had arranged for Liu to be photographed with President Clinton, the newspaper said. [Just being photographed? I can hardly believe that; he's got so much more to make women happy.]
It was not known whether anyone in the Democratic Party or the Clinton administration knew the source of Chung's contributions, which were just a fraction of the total US$194 million the Democrats raised in 1996, the Times said. Yu Shu-ning, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy, denied that Beijing was behind the alleged contributions.
Judge Lenore Nesbitt of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against PrimeTime 24. A group of broadcasters, including CBS Inc. and Fox Broadcasting Co. filed the suit against PrimeTime 24 in 1996.
The broadcasters argued that the company was violating the Satellite Home Viewer Act, which permits network programmes to be sold to satellite customers only in markets where those customers cannot receive such network programmes off an antenna. The judge agreed.
The ruling applies to PrimeTime's distribution of CBS and Fox, but not of NBC and ABC, which did not participate in the suit. PrimeTime 24 will have to cut off service to ineligible subscribers who were signed up after March 11, 1997.
Eddie Fritts, president of the U.S. National Association of Broadcasters, in a statement said "we are also pleased the judge specifically held that the injunction applies to DirecTV and EchoStar, PrimeTime 24's biggest distributors."
Among the main opponents of the deal were the smaller German cable companies because it also involves the country's largest cable operator, Deutsche Telekom. Kirch and Bertelsmann have now reportedly offered to let other cable television operators market their digital TV platform.
European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert declined to comment on the latest proposal. "I'm waiting for the assessment from my services," he was quoted as saying.
German cable operators meanwhile said that some of the conditions of the latest proposal were still unacceptable, such as an obligation for cable operators to initially use the d-box. For his ill-fated DF1 digital service, Kirch had ordered a million of d-box digital receivers from Finland's Nokia and is now desperately trying to get rid of them.
The latest proposals also reportedly do not guarantee cable operators any payment for distributing the service. Apart from that, Kirch has detailed his proposals to sell 25 percent of his Hollywood film rights as well as 25 percent of BetaResearch, the company that owns exclusive rights to Kirch's decoder technology.
The Web site's features include continually updated news on Arianespace's launch campaigns, the latest company announcements and press releases, as well as on-the-scene updates from major international air shows, other key events where Arianespace is present, and even learn how to launch a satellite with Ariane.
Arianespace's monthly newsletter, "e.space," will also be posted on the Web site.
"Iridium is pleased that the FCC has proposed the adoption of an interim procedure for the approval of Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) terminals. The Commission's proposal will facilitate the prompt implementation of the GMPCS-MoU and the GMPCS-MoU Arrangements. The U.S. is a signatory to the GMPCS-MoU, as is Iridium. The interim procedures adopted today will allow the U.S., as well as GMPCS system operators and GMPCS equipment manufacturers, to commence implementation of the GMPCS-MoU Arrangements expeditiously, so that the objectives of the GMPCS-MoU may be realised while the FCC completes a formal rulemaking process to incorporate provisions of the GMPCS-MoU Arrangements into its rules. The U.S. has been active and supportive of the GMPCS industry throughout the process of the development of the GMPCS-MoU and Arrangements."
Did you get it? Congratulations, I didn't. However, I know from other sources that the whole thing is very simple actually: some 40 countries--including all members of the European Union, Japan, Korea, Canada, Kenya and the U.S.--have agreed to mutually honour equipment authorisations for satellite phones.
Vot? You want a real joke? Mark Phillips wrote "While not directly a satellite joke, I got this from the excellent cartoon show Dr Katz, shown only on satellite in the UK."
Knock Knock
Who's There?
The Interrupting Cow.
The Interrupt....
MOOOOOOO.
Mark also sent a quickie:
Q: What's brown and sticky?
A: A stick.
Definitely better than Monty Python's "What's brown and sounds like a bell?--DUNGGG..."
Okay, here's yet another shameless plug: Visit Mark's Web site at http://www.londonparade.co.uk/. It's got nothing at all to do with satellites, instead it's about the New Year's Day parade in London. [Mark, I'll give you the address to send the promised flight tickets to in a separate email, okay? Cheers!]
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