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Sat-ND,
More international mailings lists:
http://www.sat-net.com/ Over the next few weeks Sat-ND will be published sporadically rather than daily
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[I guess I won't have to explain what SeaLaunch is as there was an article about them in this so-called newsletter just yesterday.] SPREP said that while the project would bring significant benefits to the people of California, where the home port of the ocean-going launch platform is located, but no benefits and significant risks to the people of the Pacific. The launched site is located on the Equator at 154 degrees W.L. and just 340 kilometres southeast of Kiritimati Atoll in Kiribati.
An environmental assessment prepared by Boeing and the FAA earlier said the launches would not affect the quality of the human environment and recommended that no further environmental reporting be required. In its protest to the FAA it strongly objected to the "very little time for comment" between receiving the environmental assessment (EA) and the deadline for comment. SPREP and the Kiribati government received the assessment on April 30 this year and had until May 26 to comment.
"Pacific island countries have taken the stance ... that the Pacific should not be used as a dumping ground," SPREP said in a statement. "This fundamental philosophy is directly at variance with the Sea Launch proposal, which appears to have selected its Pacific Ocean site largely because it is a remote location far from population centres."
Notwithstanding, there are human safety concerns. According to SPREP, "the EA notes the Kiribati practice of fishing for ocean fish stocks to provide for nutritional needs. However, while there are plans to warn shipping of launch times, there is no mention of plans to warn Kiribati fishing boats of falling debris or potential kerosene slicks." The EA also didn't provide "details of contingency plans in case of accidental or catastrophic release of pollutants" and failed to provide detail of the potential impact on rare and endangered animal species.
Anik Fl will be built by Hughes Space and Communications in El Segundo, California, using its new HS 702 platform. It will weigh more than 4,500 kg at liftoff and will be equipped with 48 Ku-band and 36 C-band transponders. Located at 107.3 degrees West, Anik Fl will provide telecommunications services for North America during its projected design life of 15 years.
Anik Fl is the fourth satellite that Telesat has entrusted to the European launcher, following Anik E2, launched in April 1991, Anik El in September 1991, and MSAT 1 in April 1996.
Following this contract, Arianespace's order book now stands at 40 satellites to be launched.
Sat-ND has learnt that while there actually was a fire at such a chamber at Hughes' some time ago, it was not sparked off by testing a satellite but by some welding going on outside the room. However, the copper pipe that was being worked upon did not just get hot but also led into the chamber. You can guess the rest.
So all my sources finally agree that this is the first time they've heard of such an event. Sorry Hughes... congratulations Aerospatiale. Now I really understand why this has not been mentioned anywhere. It's just too goddamn embarrassing.
While PanAmSat can expect US$165 in insurance coverage, the amount does not fully cover the cost of building and launching a replacement (US$200 million to US$250 million.) Galaxy VI has meanwhile reportedly arrived at 99 degrees East to provide replacement capacity in the C-band.
This is more or less a u-turn as Lionel Jospin, who became French prime minister last June, on several occasions said that Aerospatiale would not be privatised. However, Aerospatiale and its main partners, British Aerospace Plc (BAe) and Germany's Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa)--who join Aerospatiale in the Airbus aeroplane consortium--are committed to building an integrated civil and military aerospace company to meet the threat from U.S. giants such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Both BAe as well as Dasa have demanded a privatisation as a condition for taking part in consolidation moves.
In a statement, the French government also said it had given Aerospatiale "a mandate to conclude rapidly strategic alliances necessary, notably in the sectors for fighter aircraft, tactical missiles and space launchers."
This does not directly apply to satellites, however, as Alcatel Alsthom is taking control of Aerospatiale's satellite business as part of a buy into defence electronics company Thomson-CSF. However, Alcatel is expected to deepen its ties with Aerospatiale.
Montreal-based Seagram, a major liquor [e.g. Absolut Vodka, as far as I know] and wine marketer, had begun accumulating Time Warner shares in 1993 and at one time owned nearly 15 percent of the media and entertainment concern. The stake was gradually reduced over the past few years after Seagram purchased an 80 percent stake in Universal Studios.
The sale of the remaining Time Warner stocks could bring Seagram more than US$725 million after taxes--not much compared to the US$4 billion it hopes to raise by selling its Tropicana Products juice business to the public.
Irdeto said in a statement he was invited by the organisers of the conference to present a paper on Tuesday, June 2nd during Session 3A which looks at consumer access: how it can be controlled and how to find the way among ever increasing possibilities in this area.
Wim’s paper concerns current trends in digital TV. The move from analogue to digital television fundamentally changes the broadcast industry. The emerging digital television market is driven by other factors. To be successful in this market requires a good understanding of the basic technological and commercial forces driving it.
Digital television shares an important property with other successful technologies such as faxes, mobile telephony and the internet; namely a tendency to over-estimate the importance of the technology for the short term, but under-estimate its impact for the long term. Wim aims to help his audience understand the digital television market by identifying some trends which drive the technology and the market, Irdeto said. MIH/Irdeto can be found in Hall 4, Stand no. 4C4-1.
Warning! The following joke, sent in by the "Family Federation for World Peace and Unification" is truly sick, totally pervert and barely legal.
Millions Participate World-wide Via Satellite
The marriage blessing that was once reserved for followers of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon is now available to couples from all religions, according to officials with the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), sponsors of the upcoming event.
"We've had a tremendous response from other religious groups," said W. Farley Jones, President of FFWPU-USA. "Of the 7,000 couples being blessed at Madison Square Garden on June 13th, about 5,000 of the couples will be previously married couples from all different religions."
The marriage blessing and rededication ceremony, called "Blessing '98" follows a similar event at Washington, DC's RFK stadium last November where 28,000 couples had their marriages blessed by a spectrum of clergy from the world's leading religions, including Rev. and Mrs. Moon. World-wide, 40 million couples rededicated their marriages centring on that ceremony.
Underscoring the inter-religious aspect of the June 13th event, a 1,000-voice chorus composed of an ensemble of choirs from New York City's churches will perform. In addition, religious leaders from the world's major religions will partake in a unity ceremony symbolising the ultimate oneness of all religions.
"The main purpose of this inter-religious event is to uplift the institution of marriage and to gather couples from all faiths into a single voice affirming the sanctity of marriage," said Jones.
"Blessing '98" represents the fulfilment of the first one-third of a 360 million-couple, world-wide blessing effort. In a short ceremony, couples from all countries and all faiths are being asked to affirm four simple vows: keep God at the centre of their marriage; never commit adultery or divorce; rear their children to save sex for marriage; and encourage their community to do the same.
Since the last blessing in November, more than 70 million couples world-wide have pledged these four vows. Many of these couples will partake in the June 13th ceremony via satellite from Madison Square Garden.
In Uganda alone, The Kampala Sunday Monitor newspaper reports more than 1.5 million couples have rededicated their marriages as of March. Sources in the article report, "It's spreading like wildfire" and all religions are "united in the desire to fight AIDS, achieve stable families and ensure peace."
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