World of Satellite-News Updates

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April 26th, 2013
Astrium GEO-Information Services... Get Your Head Into The Cloud (Webinars)

Easy access is the key to an efficient and effective use of your geospatial data.
Yet, while the number of data sources and the volume of data grows by the day, the related budgetary and personnel resources are often becoming more scarce. Astrium Services can introduce you to a simple and cost-effective data management solution that improves data access while reducing organization costs.

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May 16: An Introduction to Astrium Cloud Services
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September 12: Single Point Access and Custom-Branded Cloud Services—Understand how the Cloud simplifies the process of integrating geospatial business intelligence into your organizational workflows. Let us show you how you can view, distribute and monetize your content in your very own branded portal
November 14: Data Streaming and Geo-Processing—See how our Cloud technology enables 'anywhere, anytime' streaming of geospatial data and discover how the Cloud can make your geo-processing faster and more efficient
Sign up today for any or all of these webinars and see what's possible in the Cloud.

 

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April 26th, 2013

Here's Looking @ Earth... Paluweh Spewing (Imagery)

Sporadic eruptions from Paluweh Volcano have been sending...
...ash and volcanic gases into the air since late 2012. This natural-color image was acquired by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite on April 19, 2013.

 

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April 26th, 2013

ESA/Hubble...Feeling The Heat And Wind From Newborn Stars

Galaxies grow by accreting gas from the space surrounding them, and converting this gas into stars.
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have shown for the first time that bursts of star formation have a major impact far beyond the boundaries of their host galaxy. These energetic events can affect galactic gas at distances of up to twenty times greater than the visible size of the galaxy — altering how the galaxy evolves, and how matter and energy is spread throughout the Universe.

Artist's impression of a galaxy undergoing a starburst
When galaxies form new stars, they sometimes do so in frantic episodes of activity known as starbursts. These events were commonplace in the early Universe, but are rarer in nearby galaxies.

During these bursts, hundreds of millions of stars are born, and their combined effect can drive a powerful wind that travels out of the galaxy. These winds were known to affect their host galaxy — but this new research now shows that they have a significantly greater effect than previously thought.

An international team of astronomers observed 20 nearby galaxies, some of which were known to be undergoing a starburst. They found that the winds accompanying these star formation processes were capable of ionising [1] gas up to 650 000 light-years from the galactic centre — around twenty times further out than the visible size of the galaxy. This is the first direct observational evidence of local starbursts impacting the bulk of the gas around their host galaxy, and has important consequences for how that galaxy continues to evolve and form stars.

“The extended material around galaxies is hard to study, as it’s so faint,” says team member Vivienne Wild of the University of St. Andrews. “But it’s important — these envelopes of cool gas hold vital clues about how galaxies grow, process mass and energy, and finally die. We’re exploring a new frontier in galaxy evolution!”

The team used the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) instrument [2] on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to analyse light from a mixed sample of starburst and control galaxies. They were able to probe these faint envelopes by exploiting even more distant objects — quasars, the intensely luminous centres of distant galaxies powered by huge black holes. By analysing the light from these quasars after it passed through the foreground galaxies, the team could probe the galaxies themselves.

“Hubble is the only observatory that can carry out the observations necessary for a study like this,” says lead author Sanchayeeta Borthakur, of Johns Hopkins University. “We needed a space-based telescope to probe the hot gas, and the only instrument capable of measuring the extended envelopes of galaxies is COS.”

The starburst galaxies within the sample were seen to have large amounts of highly ionised gas in their halos — but the galaxies that were not undergoing a starburst did not. The team found that this ionisation was caused by the energetic winds created alongside newly forming stars.

This has consequences for the future of the galaxies hosting the starbursts. Galaxies grow by accreting gas from the space surrounding them, and converting this gas into stars. As these winds ionise the future fuel reservoir of gas in the galaxy’s envelope, the availability of cool gas falls — regulating any future star formation.

“Starbursts are important phenomena — they not only dictate the future evolution of a single galaxy, but also influence the cycle of matter and energy in the Universe as a whole,” says team member Timothy Heckman, of Johns Hopkins University. “The envelopes of galaxies are the interface between galaxies and the rest of the Universe — and we’re just beginning to fully explore the processes at work within them.”

The team's results will appear in the 1 May 2013 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. Notes

[1] A gas is said to be ionised when its atoms have lost one or more electrons — in this case by energetic winds exciting galactic gas and knocking electrons out of the atoms within.

[2] Spectrographs are instruments that break light into its constituent colours and measure the intensity of each colour, revealing information about the object emitting the light — such as its chemical composition, temperature, density, or velocity. More information

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

The research is presented in a paper entitled “The Impact of Starbursts on the Circumgalactic Medium”, published in the 1 May 2013 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

The international team of astronomers in this study consists of: S. Borthakur (Johns Hopkins University, USA), T. Heckman (Johns Hopkins University, USA), D. Strickland (Johns Hopkins University, USA), V. Wild (University of St. Andrews, UK), D. Schiminovich (Columbia University, USA).

 

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April 25th, 2013
Northern Sky Research...GEO Satcom Saving or Maximizing?

The GEO satcom community is currently enjoying a considerably widening array of technological choices (and less enjoyable longer trade-off analyses).

NSR believes those new technologies will accelerate the split of the satellites in two categories: one driven primarily by payload maximization and the other driven primarily by savings.

For the 3rd edition of NSR’s upcoming report on Satellite Manufacturing and Launch Services, NSR will release a propulsion-type forecast as well as a payload power forecast for GEO satcom. NSR identified the following 4 payload power categories:

< 6kW
6kW - 9kW
9kW - 14kW
> 14kW
Altogether, the first and second categories (<6kW & 6-9kW) represent less than 50% of the satellites launched/to be launched in the 2011-13 period. They used to represent much higher shares but as bigger satellites became available, proposing better cost per TPE, those power categories became less competitive. This shift was stronger for the 6 to 9kW category whose cost per TPE, its competitive advantage, used to be the best.

Nowadays, satellites in this range have a low payload capability and end-up with a higher cost per TPE. They obviously have their pros (such as their reactivity and low risk level—low CAPEX), and they still represent a decent share of the market. Typically those satellites are built to address a small & specific niche or limited market.

The third and fourth categories (9-14kW & 14kW+) represent more than 50% of the satellites launched/to be launched in the 2011-13 period. Both categories are recent (14kW+ is nascent) and have seen their share growing fast thanks to a better cost per TPE/Gbps.

Nowadays, satellites in this range have a large payload capability and end-up with a lower cost per TPE. Typically those satellites are built to address large markets, often in competition with other satellites. The third category (9-14kW) used to be the one with the best cost per TPE/Gbps but, in the long run, platforms in the 4th segment (14kW+) should grab this competitive advantage.

The new technologies available, and especially Electrical-Propulsion for on-orbit raising, should accelerate the split between the first & second categories and the 3rd and 4th. For example, Boeing’s 702-SP platform main competitive advantage is cost savings through the use of a cheap launch vehicle. But the payload power is limited (<7.5kW).

NSR believes that bigger satellites will use Electric-Propulsion (full or Hybrid) in a different way, by pushing the envelope, to deal with the launch vehicle bottleneck. Launch services’ choice for satellites weighting more than 6.2-6.5 tons is reducing to a monopoly situation above a certain threshold (a situation that most satellite operators will avoid). Satellites using a higher share of Electric-Propulsion could be considerably more powerful (bigger payloads), thus proposing a lower cost per TPE/Gbps, while featuring stable masses, thus avoiding the launch vehicle bottleneck. Thus, Electric-Propulsion could be used to maximize the payload.

Bottom Line

Both drivers are related to cost, but their paradigm and ultimate goals are different. One aims at decreasing the fixed costs of a project addressing a limited market. The other one, addressing large markets, aims at improving the product’s value (the throughput) through increasing its volume.

In choosing between Chemical, Hybrid or full Electric-Propulsion, satellite operators will be affected by a set of drivers, the strongest being the technology’s heritage and the satellite’s goal (replacement or new market?). Both have a strong impact in NSR’s forecast of GEO satcom propulsion-type.

 

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April 26th, 2013
Euroconsult... EO For Defense... (Analysis | Report)

According to Euroconsult's newly released research report...
...Earth Observation: Defense and Security, demand for data to support imagery intelligence (IMINT) continues to grow globally to support defense activities and military operations. However, as a result of the relatively high cost to maintain and launch EO defense satellites and the investment required to fund R&D, only 11 countries have developed EO defense capacity dedicated to supporting IMINT.

“Since only a few countries operate proprietary high-resolution satellites, the commercial sector is expected to make up a significant part of future demand for IMINT,” said Adam Keith, Director of Space and Earth Observation at Euroconsult and Editor of the report. “The number of unclassified defense and dual-use satellites launched by these 11 countries totaled 75 over the past decade. This figure is expected to rise to 100 satellites over 2013-2022, with a further three countries launching dedicated capacity. With costs remaining high, and budgets strained, development of dual-use systems is therefore expected to increase, with costs spreading across multiple government departments in order to fulfill the data requirements of numerous public sectors, such as engineering, infrastructure and resources monitoring. Further mechanisms to re-coup system costs and/or to support national industry will include commercialization of government satellites through dedicated data distribution entities, such as those already observed in France and Italy through the sale of data from their dual-use systems.

In 2012, 77 percent ($990 million) of the total $1.5 billion EO commercial data market was attributed to defense customers, realizing a CAGR of 20 percent over the last five years. Of this $990 million, close to 50 percent is attributable to the U.S. government, which, through the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (the NGA), represents the first customer of commercial EO data. The increased level of procurement by the NGA drove growth in the overall commercial data market from 2006 to 2010. However, following the award of Enhanced View contracts to U.S. operators and data providers (DigitalGlobe and GeoEye) in 2010, demand stabilized, and indeed, U.S. procurement is expected to drop in 2013, with Enhanced View impacted by austerity measures within the broader U.S. government, prompting the merger of the two companies.

Growth in the commercial data sector is now being driven by wider global sales to defense users, particularly by countries with high IMINT requirements and limited viable proprietary solutions. In order to meet these needs, commercial operators are finding success in providing direct access contracts to end-users, providing secure imagery access to defense clients. With continued high demand, revenues from commercial data sales to defense are expected to grow to $2.2 billion by 2022.

Over the last three years much has evolved in the wider defense environment. Continued global unrest drives requirements for satellite imagery to support defense applications, however this is being met by growing economic pressures in leading economies (particularly in North America and Europe) leading in the case of the U.S. to its support of the commercial sector being revisited. In the second edition of Euroconsult’s research report Earth Observation: Defense and Security, government attitudes towards imagery acquisition and satellite procurement are assessed in order to identify the preferred approaches to meeting defense requirements globally and to identify opportunities and risks for the commercial data industry in these challenging economic times

 

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April 26th, 2013
Simplestream... It's An Honor Just To Be Nominated... Seven Times... (SatBroadcasting™—Event)

Simplestream has been nominated for seven 2013 Streaming Media European Readers’ Choice Awards.
Its pioneering technologies Media Manager and CatchupTV are in the running to win awards for the best Streaming Innovation, Cloud Video Service, Media Asset Management System, Online Video Platform, Streaming Services Provider, Transcoding System and TV over IP Solution.

Simplestream has grown to become an industry-leading provider of Over-The-Top (OTT) technologies to broadcasters and media owners in the U.K. ‘Media Manager’, their modular, functionality-rich Online Video Platform (OVP), enables broadcast, media and content owners to manage their live streams, CatchupTV and VOD files and customise how they deploy, publish and syndicate their video to multiple platforms. Media Manager also includes bespoke elements, which can be configured to suit each client’s individual needs. ‘CatchupTV’, is a unique cloud based service powered by Media Manager that allows the rapid turn around and automated generation of high quality VOD assets with proprietary browser based editing software, comprehensive rights management and analytics to generate ‘Catchup TV’ assets from a linear broadcast feed. Commercial ad breaks are automatically removed.

Synapse, a joint venture between Simplestream and MHEG specialists Strategy & Technology, has also been nominated for the best TV over IP Solution. Synapse TV is an industry first, enabling broadcasters and media owners to stream live and on-demand content to both Freeview and Freesat compatible STBs and connected TVs over IP, while also simulcasting across multiple devices, all at a fraction of the cost of traditional OTA (Over-The-Air) broadcasting. The winners will be announced at the Streaming Media Forum, June 18th and 19th, 2013.

 

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April 26th, 2013
World Teleport Association (WTA)... Interview Insights... (Event)

World Teleport Association has released 22 new interview videos from its...
...Executive Dialogue Series shot at NAB 2013. WTA’s Executive Dialogue Series provides the top leaders of WTA member companies with the opportunity to share their viewpoints, experience and technical knowledge with a global audience. Among the list of interviewees featured in this series are:

Bill Tillson & Ed Horowitz, Co-CEO's, Encompass Digital Media
Lior Rival, Chief Marketing Officer, RRsat Global Communications Network
Richard Buchanan, Vice President & General Manager, Comcast Media Center
Roger Franklin, President & CEO, Crystal Solutions
Lisa Coelho, President, GlobeCast Americas
Rick Mortellaro, Senior Vice President, EchoStar Satellite Services
“The teleport industry is the connecting point for a vast percentage of the world’s contribution and distribution,” said WTA executive director Robert Bell. “At a time of tremendous change in the media marketplace, contribution and distribution technologies are also helping to shape today’s business strategies. The Executive Dialogues capture the insights of business leaders on a vital but often hidden part of the media marketplace.”

Also interviewed were:

Andrew Bond, Regional Sales Director, ETL Systems
Keith Buckley, President & CEO, ASC Signal
Gary Hatch, CEO, ATCi
Stefan Jucken, Director, Business Development, ViaSat
Jim Lyons, Managing Partner and VP, Strategic Development, Hawaii Pacific Teleport
Brian Morris, SVP, Media & Entertainment, Globecomm
Fred Morris, VP Global Sales Engineering, Comtech EF Data
Jaime Munera, Director of Product Development and IT, Newcom International
Joel Nirenberg, VP Strategic Solutions, ScheduAll
Diego Paldao, Vice President, Americas, NewSat Limited
Jose Sanchez, Director of Service Operations, Eutelsat
Steve Soenens, Director of Product Strategy and Product Management, Newtec
Mark Shadbolt, Sales Director, SIS Live
Martin Turner, Director of Media Business, Inmarsat
Jorge Villareal Schutz, CEO, Elara Communications
Elias Zaccack, SVP, Commercial, Americas, SES
All of the interviews are now available on WTA’s site. Videos will continue to be streamed on the WTA website for a full year following the event. All interviews will be provided to NAB for selected playout on their site as well. Video Coverage is generously provided by PSSI Global Services.

More interviews for the Executive Dialogue Series will be recorded on June 18-21 at CommunicAsia. If you would like to schedule an interview during this time, email Randall Barney at [email protected].

 

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April 26th, 2013
Telenor... Financially Speaking... (Business)

In the first quarter of 2013, Telenor Group reported revenues of NOK 24.7 billion.
EBITDA before other items was NOK 8.42 billion, EBITDA margin was 34 percent, and operating cash flow was NOK 5.6 billion. "The first quarter of 2013 is characterised by a solid operating cash flow of NOK 5.6 billion, strong margins in several operations and good progress in operational performance in India. The strengthened EBITDA margin of 34% is further supported by a higher share of bundled subscriptions and good network quality in the Norwegian operation,'' said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor Group.

"The organic revenue growth for the Group this quarter is weaker than previous quarters due to lower growth contribution from India and handset sales, as well as regulatory factors. However, we regard the underlying trends as positive. We see healthy mobile service revenue growth in our operations in Norway and Thailand contributing to solid margins, as well as strong customer acquisition in Bangladesh. Regulatory issues impacted our performance in Pakistan this quarter however we now see sales picking up. During this quarter, dtac in Thailand completed a nationwide network upgrade and is preparing for the launch of 3G services on the 2.1GHz frequency band in the second quarter. This will represent an important milestone in the transition from a concession to a licencing regime,'' said Baksaas.

"In Norway, we continue to invest to secure our customers' access to superior mobile network coverage and high quality of services. We have recently adjusted our mobile market offers to adapt to changing customer needs and the transition to data. We see positive effects from operational efficiency this quarter, and regard this as a key contributor to value creation going forward, " said Baksaas.

"To enable our customers to take advantage of the opportunities that the Internet offers, we need to be responsive to change. The growth in demand for data centric services requires significant investments in high-speed networks. It is therefore paramount that we continue to implement sustainable business models to secure long-term return on these investments," said Baksaas.

"Based on the performance in the first quarter and our estimates for the rest of the year, we adjust the 2013 outlook for organic revenue growth somewhat to 2-4 percent. At the same time, we maintain the outlook for EBITDA margin and capex/sales." said Baksaas.

 

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April 29th, 2013

Arianespace... FOURtuitous Events (Launches)


The Spaceport is operating to the rhythm of Arianespace’s launcher family, with four parallel...
...mission campaigns now underway in French Guiana for the heavy-lift Ariane 5, medium-lift Soyuz and lightweight Vega vehicles. Joining the activity this week are preparations for an Ariane 5 flight planned in the second half of July with the Alphasat and Insat-3D satellites. The mission is designated VA214 in Arianespace’s numbering system, and the assembly process for its vehicle began inside the Spaceport’s Launcher Integration Building with the placement of Ariane 5’s cryogenic core stage over one of two mobile launch tables available for the heavy-lift workhorse.

In parallel, another Ariane 5 is in the Spaceport’s launcher Final Assembly Building, where it is awaiting the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Albert Einstein payload for a liftoff scheduled on June 5th. The ATV to be orbited on this mission—designated Arianespace Flight VA213—is set to have a liftoff mass of 20,235kg., becoming the heaviest spacecraft ever lofted by an Ariane 5.

Also part of the launcher family activity currently underway are preparations for the fifth medium-lift Soyuz mission from French Guiana. Scheduled for June, Flight VS05 will carry four satellites for O3b Networks, which will initiate the creation of a spacecraft constellation to provide fast, flexible and affordable connectivity for emerging market customers. The four O3b satellites were delivered to French Guiana this week, while launcher preparations for Flight VS05 include the checkout of Soyuz’ Fregat upper stage in the Spaceport’s launch zone dedicated to operations of this Russian-developed vehicle.

Completing the parallel launch activity are preparations for the second lightweight Vega mission from the Spaceport’s SLV launch site. To orbit a three-satellite payload of the Proba-V, VNREDSat-1 and ESTCube-1 spacecraft, Flight VV02 is set for May 3rd. Its ESTCube-1 passenger weighs 1.3kg.—making it one of the smallest satellites to be orbited by Arianespace.

 

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April 29th, 2013

China...A Triple Micro Play (Launch)

China launched its first satellite to conduct high resolution Earth observation from the...
...Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province last Friday. The satellite was launched on a Long March-2D carrier rocket at 12:13 and marked the 175th launch in China's Long March series of rockets. Three microsatellites, developed by Turkey, Argentina, Ecuador respectively, were also aboard the rocket. The satellite will be able to acquire high-resolution data over vast swathes of terrain.

"The satellite flies and moves fast, and therefore has a wide coverage to collect data," said Chen Shiping, a chief designer of the high-resolution system project of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC). The satellite's successful launch marked a milestone in China's space infrastructure development.

China plans to launch five to six more satellites before the end of 2015 in order to build a spatial, temporal and spectral high-resolution observation system, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SATIND). The system is expected to provide service and support for major fields including modern agriculture, disaster prevention and relief, environmental resources and public securities.

"As natural disasters like floods, snowstorms and hailstorms usually cover large areas, the satellite will play a big role in remotely anticipating these disasters," said Bai Zhaoguang, another chief designer of the high-resolution system project of CASTC. Experts say that despite the vast potential market for the high resolution earth observation system, China is still in the early stages of researching and applying such technology. (Source: Emirates 24|7.)