World of Satellite-News Updates

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Swiss Company to Offer Satellite Air-Launch Service
April 5, 2013

A new Swiss company is planning to build a spaceport to offer cheap access to orbit for small satellites. Swiss Space Systems (S3) is working on an unmanned suborbital mini shuttle based on a previous European design called Hermes.

S3 is not planning to launch the shuttle using rocket launch vehicles but instead using an Airbus A300. The aircraft would take the shuttle up to about 33,000 feet of altitude where it would launch. The shuttle would then glide back to the spaceport in Switzerland to be prepared for its next flight.

This system will allow S3 to launch satellites weighing up to around 550 pounds at a total cost of approximately $10 million – a quarter of the current cost of a satellite launch. The company expects to have the system ready for launch by 2017.

S3 is using already developed European and NASA technology, the company expects to save money on research and be able to develop the system for about $260 million. The company has established partnerships with the European Space Agency (ESA), Dassault Aviation, the Von Karman Institute and Sonaca.

Initially, S3 will use the Swiss airport of Payerne as its spaceport but other countries such as Malaysia and Morocco have offered partnerships for this effect.

 

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Euroconsult Predicts Strong Performance for Ka-Band in In-Flight Connectivity
April 8, 2013
The take-up rate of in-flight connectivity services is proving to be lower than expected. Euroconsult recently released the “Prospects for In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity” report and Wei Li, senior consultant at the French firm told SatelliteTODAY.com that the biggest surprise to come out of this report were the take-up rates. “We were surprised by the current service take rate for equipped planes that is currently as low as 5 to 6 percent. While the evolution of in-flight connectivity will obviously also depend on how the service is offered, and a wide range of possible business models are being contemplated, it may still take years before the business becomes truly profitable for service providers,” he said

Euroconsult’s report forecasts that in 10 year there will be more than 2,700 Ka-band terminals operating in this area. The company also predicts there will be just more than 3,000 Ku-band terminals in operation in this area by 2022. In terms of whether these figures represent a good performance for Ka-band, Li said, “We do see Ka-band growing at faster rates than other technologies, which is partly due to the fact that there are very few Ka-band services available today. Inmarsat is not the only company that will provide Ka-band capacity. A number of regional operators such as Eutelsat and Viasat will also contribute to the takeoff of Ka-band in the aeronautical segment. However, Inmarsat will be a major Ka-band provider for the aero market, and the company is currently devoted to building a strong distribution network for this vertical. Whether our market projections are good news for the likes of Inmarsat is hard to say since the aero market is only one of many vertical market that Inmarsat and other will be addressing.”

The battle between solutions based on Ku-band and Ka-band will be one of the most interesting dynamics to watch as this market unfolds over the next few years. “The decision for airlines and service providers to choose one over the other will not be entirely based on the frequency band, but rather on the performance, efficiency and ultimately the cost of ownership for the various services and solutions proposed. A key driver will be the increasing need for higher bandwidth and system efficiency, and a key to achieving this will be multi-spot-beam, high throughput architectures, regardless of which frequency band. We believe that both Ka and Ku-band will have their place in the in-flight connectivity market, with a clear trend towards spot beams in both frequency bands,” said Li.

Euroconsult expects that over the next 10 years, more than 12,000 commercial and 16,000 business airplanes will provide in-flight connectivity to passengers. With a take-up rate of less than 5 percent, these services generated less than $300 million in revenue from airline passengers last year. The market is expected to grow to $1.3 billion by 2022. The company also predicts that over 29 Gbps of FSS capacity will be used in this market in 2022.

In terms of trends the company is seeing in the overall market. “The market will become more competitive as more networks will become available in the next two to three years. Airlines and passengers will have more choices and the amount of capacity available for the in-flight connectivity will dramatically increase. Satellite bandwidth requirements over oceanic regions will grow fast. The North Atlantic and North Pacific corridors will represent the largest oceanic regions for the aero communications. Although North America should remain the largest market for the next decade, the majority of airlines which will start to adopt the in-flight connectivity are expected to be from emerging regions,” Li said. “In terms of market share for different networks, we estimate that Ku and Ka-band based systems will stand for about half of the installations in the commercial airline sector, while L-band and ATG will share the other half. Besides the space segment, the airborne antenna segment is also expected to experience significant improvements.”

 

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C-COM to Deploy iNetVu Mobile Antenna on Yahsat's Yahclick Network
April 8, 2013
C-COM Satellite Systems has announced its iNetVuKa-98H mobile antenna system, combined with the HNS 2W Dual IFL Transceiver, is suitable to operate over the Middle East satellite operator Yahsat’s Yahclick network.

A number of these mobile antenna systems have already been deployed on Yahsat's recently launched Y1B new generation high throughput Ka-band satellite, which covers the Middle East, Africa and South West Asia.

The Ka-98H mobile antennas will be sold directly by C-COM to service providers who will be integrating them with their own solutions and reselling them to their customers over the Yahclick coverage areas.

"C-COM has also developed a number of unique features required for the YahClick Go service to operate seamlessly in the deserts of the Middle East and Africa. One of these is the ability of the iNetVu system to automatically respond to gradual shifting of the sand under the wheels of a vehicle, thus allowing the system to maintain satellite connections without any disruption in service. The product is now in full production and is available for immediate delivery," Bilal Awada, CTO, C-COM said in a statement.

 

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UKspace Selects SSTL CEO Matt Perkins as Vice-Chair
April 8, 2013
Matt Perkins, CEO of Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL), has been elected Vice-Chair of the U.K. Industry Association for Space (UKspace), the trade association of the UK space industry. He will take the place of Stuart Martin, who has been appointed CEO of the newly formed Satellite Applications Catapult in January.

UKspace aims to grow the UK space industry, promote awareness in government, media and the public, and act as a forum for discussion about industry challenges. It played an important role in the expansion of the Harwell Space Cluster, the establishment of a Satellite Applications Catapult Centre, and the increasing the UK’s commitment to European Space Agency (ESA) activities.

“This is a pivotal time for the UK space industry, with Government recognizing and supporting our high tech manufacturing and service industries to achieve economic growth and skills development. I believe the UK now has a strong foundation to make a big impact in the global space market and I am delighted that I have been appointed to lead this change during the next two years,” Matt Perkins said in a statement.

 

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KVH Introduces TracPhone V3-IP With Integrated Iridium OpenPort Broadband Service
April 8, 2013
KVH Industries has introduced its new TracPhone V3-IP satellite communications systems and announced the availability of an integrated service package that pairs its mini-VSAT Broadband service with the Iridium OpenPort broadband service. This service package allows the new TracPhone V3-IP to provide coverage throughout the extensive Ku-band mini-VSAT Broadband global coverage offering, with Iridium OpenPort service extending that to remote regions including the polar areas.

The integrated shipboard system, which combines an Iridium Pilot unit with a KVH TracPhone V3-IP terminal, provides voice and data connections from pole to pole by switching seamlessly between the mini-VSAT Broadband and Iridium OpenPort services. If mini-VSAT Broadband service is ever unavailable, the system immediately switches the onboard LAN and Wi-Fi networks to the complementary Iridium OpenPort broadband service, and back to mini-VSAT Broadband when it becomes available again, all without operator intervention.

"This integrated solution offers mariners an unbeatable combination of reliable, affordable broadband, shipboard communications, and seamless global connectivity," Brent Bruun, executive vice president of KVH's mobile broadband group, said in a satement. "The lightweight, compact antenna units offer the benefits of low-cost broadband communications for vessels ranging from tugboats to tankers."

 

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ATEME Innovative Encoder Enables Remote Production
April 8, 2013
ATEME has announced that Turner Broadcasting has used ATEME's Kyrion CM5000 encoder in its dual channel version for remote production. Turner used the dual channel encoder at a recent Hollywood film and television awards ceremony to simultaneously transmit the feeds of cameras pointing to the red carpet and those used for interviews. Production, including switching between two cameras, was done remotely in the Turner Broadcasting facilities.

Designed for broadcast contribution, the Kyrion CM5000 enables Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) to address all uses cases of IP and Satellite Contribution within one platform: single or dual channel, built-in modulation or not and support for all MPEG-2/MPEG-4 video compression standards and profiles.

 

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NASA to Invest $200 Million in Exoplanet Survey Satellite
April 8, 2013

NASA has announced a $200 million grant to fund the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) project. TESS will use telescopes to assess the sky and possibly discover new transition exoplanets in the habitable zones of nearby starts. The survey will cover 400 times as much sky as any previous mission, according to reports; it will specially focus on planets similar to Earth. TESS is expected to launch in 2017.

NASA also approved the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), which will measure the variability of cosmic x-ray sources (called x-ray timing) from the International Space Station.

Both the TESS and NICER projects will be included as part of NASA’s Explorer program, one of the agency’s oldest continuous programs designed to provide low-cost access to space. Satellite mission grants are capped at $200 million and space station mission costs are capped at $55 million.

 

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International Datacasting Appoints New CEO
April 8, 2013
International Datacasting (IDC) has appointed Doug Lowther as its new CEO. Lowther is expected to start his new role in late May. Previously, he had been Executive Vice President of Irdeto, and based in Beijing. Prior to joining Irdeto, Lowther was an independent consultant and strategy advisor. His previous positions include several executive roles with Nortel Networks.

 

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Via Satellite Asia Edition Preview: Top 10 Quotes
April 9, 2013
Via Satellite has launched its first dedicated edition for Asia. The issue will be distributed at the Asia Pacific Operators Summit (APOS) hosted by Media Partners Asia in Bali later this month, a blue chip event where many of the region’s top broadcasters and DTH players convene to talk about the market. Asia is a dynamic region for satellite services, with huge demands for satellite capacity.

The edition features in-depth analysis of key growth markets such as cellular backhaul, DTH in major markets outside of India, and in-flight connectivity. We also have guest columns from executives from Media Partners Asia, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and NSR.

As a special preview for Via Satellite Asia, we take the best 10 quotes from this edition:

“I regret to say the [piracy] situation has not improved, but is getting worse. The phenomenon that is making it much worse, much faster is online piracy. We are seeing it become far easier for Asian consumers to access illegal programming online. Governments in Asia are doing nothing to stop this. This is a mushrooming of online piracy.” – John Medeiros, CASBAA’s chief policy officers, admits the piracy problem in Asia appears to be spiraling out of control.

“What happens next for HTS in Asia-Pacific? Unfortunately, there is little tangible evidence of new initiatives in the region. Both India and China have discussed plans to develop their own domestic HTS, but these satellites are far from a reality.” – Patrick French, NSR senior analyst, talks about the prospects for High Throughput Satellites in the region.

“At end-2012, pay-TV subscribers totaled 2.4 million, 7 percent penetration of TV households and still only 10 percent of the addressable market for pay-TV. Monthly ARPU declined by 8 percent in 2012 to $12.5 while DTH was the major distribution platform with 87 percent market share.”– Vivek Couto, executive director, Media Partners Asia, discusses the potential growth prospects for DTH in Indonesia.

“The number of Ku-band satellite transponders required by the Indian DTH players is expected to rise from about 70 in 2012 to more than 220 in 2017. The demand projections are even higher when requirements for backup and redundancy are taken into consideration, especially for Ku-band.” – Smita Jha, head of the entertainment and media practice in PwC India, evaluates the demands for satellite capacity in India.

“Though in-flight connectivity is only one component of the total customer experience, we are very mindful of the ever changing lifestyle needs of our customers and the impact new technology has on work and leisure activities of customers. Work is already underway to bring the next generation of in-flight entertainment offerings to our customers.” – Chew Tai Lu, vice president, Product Innovation, Singapore Airlines, talks about the company’s ramp up of efforts in terms of in-flight connectivity.

“This [in-flight connectivity] is something new for everyone in this part of the world. This service is not available in neighboring countries. If you leave Thai airspace, there is no connectivity available over other parts of Indo-China, North Asia and the Middle East. There are key regulatory issues in the areas we are flying over, which we have to solve.” – Khun Krittaphon, vice president of Product and Service Development, Thai Airways, identifies some of the regulatory issues impacting in-flight connectivity services in the region.

“The number of licences that have been given out is just outrageous.” – Alex Lambeek, CEO, Aora TV, an Indonesian DTH player, believes the authorities have issued too many licenses for new start-up operators in the country.

“Cignal will soon be available on various platforms, on your smartphones and tablets. We will be launching an OTT service within year, probably within the third quarter. We are in the process of securing the license to offer Cignal over IP.” – Robert Galang, vice president, Sales, Cignal Digital TV, hints at how this DTH operator in the Philippines will look to launch an OTT service in the country.

“We are a major user of satellite capacity globally with more than 40 transponders, including Africa, and it is no surprise that going forward this will increase further as new data/video applications and broadband will drive this growth.” – Jagbir Singh, CTO and director, Network Services Group, Bharti Airtel, discusses the Indian telco’s demands for satellite capacity.

“In Malaysia, there is an issue of lack of capacity but I believe that new high throughput satellites will come to the region to alleviate the shortage.” – Sharuddin Salehuddin, executive director, Maju Nusa, talks about the capacity situation in Malaysia.

 

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Ball Aerospace Begins Integration Phase for DigitalGlobe's WorldView-3 Satellite
April 9, 2013
Ball Aerospace & Technologies has started integration for DigitalGlobe’s next generation commercial remote-sensing satellite. The WorldView-3 satellite, scheduled for a mid-2014 launch, is the third in a series to employ the Ball Commercial Platform (BCP) 5000 – the WorldView-2, launched in 2009, and the WorldView-1, launched in 2007, also use the platform.

The integration of the control moment gyroscopes (CMGs) and the propulsion module for the WorldView-3 is currently underway in anticipation of the ITT Exelis imaging sensor delivery expected for mid-year. The environmental testing of the finished satellite is scheduled to begin in this fall after sensor integration and checkout is completed.

WorldView-3 will offer 31-centimeter resolution panchromatic, 1.24-meter resolution eight-band multispectral, and 3.72 meter resolution eight-band Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) imagery. The satellite’s CMGs can reorient it over a desired collection area in 4 to 5 seconds, compared to 30 to 45 seconds needed for traditional reaction wheels.