[Prev][Next][Index]

Sat-ND, 30.07.1998





Sat-ND, 30.07.1998

Sat-ND, 30.07.1998
Don't read this, it's *YAWN* absolutely boring

This service is provided free of charge for personal use. It may be used and redistributed for non-commercial purposes only, provided the following notice is included: Copyright Sat-ND (http://sat-nd.com/)

Further information: http://sat-nd.com/
Comments and contributions: pck@sat-nd.com
Don't make it bad and unsubscribe right now!
This does not work with all browsers. For information on how to do it manually, have a look at the end of this message.


Sat-ND is sponsored by TELE-satellite International <http://www.TSI-magazine.com/>

Looking for a specific channel on satellite? Try http://www.satcodx.com/
Technical questions? Find the answers at http://www.drdish.com/

Contents

NEW MAILING LIST
LAUNCHES
First test of Russian rocket motor on U.S. soil
SATELLITES
Zhongwei in operation
LAW & ORDER
How to privatise Intelsat?
BUSINESS
BSkyB to install digital dishes
QUICKIES
Nickelodeon, Star Choice, PanAmSat



NEW MAILING LIST

Once again, here's a reminder that you will have to subscribe to a new mailing list if you want to continue receiving Sat-ND via email. To do this, you might want to click here. If your email client supports this method, you will see a message with the necessary stuff already in place. Just send it, that's all.

If that doesn't work, send an email to majordomo@sat-nd.com. The message body should contain a single line that reads

subscribe sat-nd-text

I expect to switch over to the new list next week. More information: http://sat-nd.com/announcement.html

However, for some other reason Sat-ND will be published less frequently than usual over the next few weeks. And, hopefully, I'll have a two-week break in the second half of August.





LAUNCHES

First test of Russian rocket motor on U.S. soil

Lockheed Martin Astronautics successfully conducted the first test firing of a Russian rocket engine at a U.S. government facility. An RD-180 engine with its prototype Atlas IIIA rocket booster stage was fired for 10 seconds at NASA's Marshall Space Flight centre in Huntsville.

Astronautics said it will use the RD-180 engine to power its new Atlas III rockets and the company's family of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV), being developed in co-operation with the U.S. Air Force. Two more tests are planned over the next two months. The duration of each of the subsequent tests will be 70 seconds.

The tests at Marshall are designed to demonstrate the performance of the engine and associated elements of the rocket including avionics, propellant tanks and feedlines, electronics and hydraulics. The RD-180 is currently undergoing additional testing at NPO Energomash facilities in Khimky, Russia. Nine developmental engines already have been successfully test fired for a total of more than 10,000 seconds. During a typical Atlas IIIA mission, the engine would operate for 186 seconds.

Lockheed Martin has established an international teaming relationship with the RD AMROSS, LLC joint venture that was formed by the Russian company NPO Energomash and Pratt & Whitney, an operating unit of United Technologies Corporation, to co-produce the RD-180 engines under exclusive contract for Lockheed Martin.

Compared to Lockheed Martin's Atlas IIAS model, the most powerful configuration of the current Atlas family, the new Atlas IIIA featuring the RD-180 reduces the number of engines that power the rocket from nine to two, reduces the number of parts by more than 15,000 and is simpler and less costly to build and operate. First launch of the Atlas IIIA is planned for early 1999.

Back to top





SATELLITES

Zhongwei in operation

Chinese news agency Xinhua said that Zhongwei I, a.k.a. Chinastar-1, was put into operation after going through several changes of orbit and positioning and in-orbit tests. The satellite was launched last May aboard a Chinese Chang Zheng 3B.

Reaching China and other countries in south, east, central and southeast Asia, Zhongwei I will provide telecommunications services such as live television transmission and special network access, the agency added.

An official with the China Orient Telecom Satellite Company, which is responsible for maintaining the Zhongwei I, was quoted as saying the in-orbit tests demonstrated that the satellite is in complete compliance with contracted performance requirements.

The satellite was manufactured by Lockheed Martin Company of the USA for the China Orient Telecom Satellite Company. The satellite has 24 transponders in the C- and Ku band each. Its designed service life is 15 years.

Back to top





LAW & ORDER

How to privatise Intelsat?

Last May, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on the privatisation of Intelsat, the International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation. The U.S. Senate will have to vote on a different bill that lacks some of the drastic measures contained in the House bill. Comsat, the U.S.' Intelsat signatory, has in general welcomed the new satellite reform legislation.

Betty C. Alewine, President and CEO of Comsat Corporation said "Although we believe that some provisions of this measure are unnecessary and restrictive, this proposal clearly provides a more balanced approach than the bill passed in May by the House.

"Significantly, the House measure's provision that would terminate Comsat's existing customer contracts is absent from this bill, and justifiably so. In its recent decision granting Comsat non-dominant status, the FCC reviewed these contracts and concluded that they do not impede competition. We also welcome the proposal to require the same regulatory treatment for all satellite providers.

While this legislation includes many positive improvements over the House-passed measure, we remain concerned about some provisions of this bill. One of these provisions could actually create an incentive for Comsat's competitors to slow the pace of privatisation for Intelsat and Inmarsat, hoping to force the U.S. to withdraw from these organisations. In addition, the provision requiring direct access to the Intelsat facilities owned by Comsat is not needed and should be removed from this measure."

Back to top





BUSINESS

BSkyB to install digital dishes

Mark Booth, Chief Executive of British Sky Broadcasting Group plc announced that Sky's 200-channel digital satellite service will be launched to new customers on October 1st. Reception equipment will as expected be heavily subsidised. BSkyB will even pay for the installation or the satellite dish. Analysts have cut their fiscal 1999 pretax profit forecasts for BSkyB following the announcement.

Sky Digital systems--dish, set-top box and remote control--will retail for £199.99 for new customers and £159.99 for existing customers. [At a rough guess, buyers would have to pay twice that much in the absence of any subsidies.] There will be a low cost finance deal available for as little as £5.99 per month.

The first of the set-top box manufacturers, Pace, is now in production. The other manufacturers--Amstrad, Grundig and Matsushita--will follow shortly. Booth said Sky expects there will be at least 200,000 boxes with the retailers for the Christmas selling period.

Sky will offer a professional installation service that will save customers up to 100 pounds. Booth noted that "Our research has shown that by removing installation costs people are four times as likely to make a purchase."

He continued: "There will be a significant cost to Sky--dependent on the speed of take up in the first couple of years--but we believe that the long term financial impact of this strategy is to increase our profit and cash flows. This strategy will establish Sky Digital in the market ahead of the competition with the aim of securing a 50% share of the industry-estimated 12 million pay TV homes by 2003."

On the programming side, BSkyB said it had secured cable and satellite exclusivity for Viacom channels including MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, adding to Sky's existing deals with Flextech and UKTV.

Pricing details for the various packages that will be available are to be announced, but Booth said that "we will be able to offer services for less than 10 pounds per month--significantly cheaper than in analogue."

The announcement has resulted in the price of BSkyB shares drop almost ten percent this afternoon as most analysts see BSkyB's 1999 pre-tax profits below £300 million. For 1998, £282 million are expected. The final results will be announced in August.

Back to top





QUICKIES

Nickelodeon, Star Choice, PanAmSat

A collection of announcements. Not really interesting.

Back to top




Copyright 1998 Sat-ND/Peter C. Klanowski, pck@sat-nd.com. All rights reserved. Peter C Klanowski shall not be liable for errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
To unsubscribe, send Email to Majordomo@tags1.dn.net (not to me, please, and not to any other address) and include the line
unsubscribe sat-nd
in the body of your message. If that does not work, append your email address, e.g.

unsubscribe sat-nd my.address@provider.com

Or have a look at http://sat-nd.com/info/mailer.html




[Other mailing lists]