World of Satellite-News Updates

[Red]

Inmarsat Hires Bill Petola to Expand Asia-Pacific Aviation Business
March 14, 2013
Inmarsat has announced the appointment of Bill Peltola as senior director for Aviation Services in the Asia-Pacific region. He will be responsible for developing market opportunities for the company’s satellite-based, aviation safety services in the region, and introducing Global Xpress (GX), Inmarsat’s high-speed mobile broadband service, delivered through Ka-band.
Inmarsat’s GX service will offer seamless global coverage with download speeds of up to 50Mbps. Services will be delivered over the company’s next generation of satellites, the Inmarsat-5s, with the first satellite scheduled for launch by the end of 2013. Global coverage is planned for the end of 2014.
“Bill’s strong background in aviation connectivity will be put to good use in the Asia Pacific region as we expand our already broad offering with the introduction of our unique, high bandwidth aviation services. Demand for aviation connectivity is expanding rapidly in this region and his experience will be extremely valuable to our partners and their customers as we launch our first GX satellite at the end of 2013,” Miranda Mills, vice president, Aerospace, Global Xpress, said on a statement.

 

[Red]

Orbcomm Expects Key Contributions from GlobalTrak, MobileNet Acquisitions
March 15, 2013
Enterprise global satellite and cellular data communications solutions Orbcomm has acquired value-added resellers GlobalTrak and MobileNet for a combined cash purchase price of nearly $8 million, including an undisclosed earn-out, the company announced with its 2012 fourth quarter earnings report.
GlobalTrak and MobileNet are expected to make valuable contributions to Orbcomm’s portfolio, including: run rate revenues of between $5 million and $7 million; significantly higher ARPUs; more than 4,000 net subscriptions; and an expanded presence in the heavy equipment, rail, and government sectors.
Orbcomm CEO Marc Eisenberg said the acquisitions support his company’s growth strategy of expanding its end-to-end solutions portfolio into key vertical markets and new geographic regions, as GlobalTrak sells into key markets such as the government sector and operates in the Middle East, Asia and South America.
“The addition of GlobalTrak’s advanced asset monitoring solution and its top-tier customer base adds to our diverse technologies and expertise serving the transportation market,” Eisenberg said in a statement. “It is an important next step in the evolution of our business as an end-to-end solutions provider, and brings with it significant differentiated technology solutions, such as container tracking, as well as new and important distribution channels.”
Commenting on the MobileNet acquisition, Eisenberg added that leveraging its turnkey offering would provide Orbcomm customers with significant operating advantages, as well as savings in development costs and faster time to market for implementing telematics solutions in the field.
“With MobileNet’s strong customer base and proven success as a solutions provider in this market, we believe the MobileNet product offering fits perfectly within our strategic initiative of strengthening our end-to-end solutions capabilities in key areas,” said Eisenberg.
News of the acquisitions came alongside Orbcomm’s fourth quarter 2012 fiscal report, which included a 51 percent year-over-year increase in adjusted EBITDA to $4.2 million and company record operating cash flows of $5.1 million. Revenues increased 18.5 percent from the same period in 2011 to $16.2 million.
Orbcomm’s net subscriber additions, however, were relatively weak compared to analysts’ projections. The company added 15,000 subscribers during the fourth quarter – well short of the market’s 29,000 net addition forecast, representing the company’s weakest total in seven quarters.
Raymond James Analyst Chris Quilty is wary of Orbcomm management’s expectations for sequential improvement in the first quarter of 2013, aided by its two newly acquired assets.
“Despite incremental contribution from GlobalTrak and MobileNet, we are holding our estimates largely unchanged due to the possibility that customers may delay orders while awaiting the availability of OG2 hardware and services planned for a September launch,” Quilty said in a research statement to SatelliteTODAY, adding that a successful launch should contribute to higher subscriber growth, ARPUs, and service revenues in 2014. “Although shares of ORBC have rallied approximately 60 percent since late-November, we believe stock has more room to run, buoyed by the launch of new OG2 satellites, recent accretive acquisitions and high operating leverage.”

 

[Red]

SATELLITE 2013 Kicks Off This Week in Washington D.C.
March 15, 2013
The SATELLITE 2013 conference and exhibition is set to kick off Monday, March 18 with full-day pre-conference sessions focusing on the industry’s latest technical and engineering challenges.
The 32nd annual conference will be held March 18-21 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. This year’s annual event will attract more than 12,000 delegates from 75 countries and features more than 350 exhibiting companies plus a full conference program led by more than 300 communications via satellite experts and innovators. The 2013 conference features focused forums on broadcast, enterprise, military and emerging regions.
The SATELLITE 2013 management group confirmed that this year’s show continues its streak of increased attendance rates. In January, the conference’s exhibition show floor was 93 percent sold-out with 80,000 net square feet of exhibit space. New participants include O3b Networks and Northrop Grumman, as well as Russian satellite manufacturer Reshetnev, Nigerian operator NigComSat, antenna technology developer Kymeta, RF equipment manufacturer Mini-Circuits, and other communications solution providers.
“SATELLITE 2013 presents a 360-degree view of the satellite communications marketplace providing a unique opportunity for anyone looking to comparison shop products, applications and technology in one convenient location,” SATELLITE 2013 Show Director Lindsey Fuller said in a statement. “There will be solutions that encompass the needs of the entire satellite community – from military and government officials to C-level executives, broadcasters, engineers, and telecommunications professionals.”

 

[Red]

Swiss Space Systems to Provide Satellite Launches for $10.5 Million
March 15, 2013
Swiss Space Systems has announced its plans to provide low-cost satellite launches at a quarter of the current market rates. The company said it targets to charge 10 million Swiss francs (8.1 million euros, $10.5 million) for a launch, using unmanned suborbital spaceplanes that could carry satellites weighing up to 250 kilos (550 pounds).
“Our aim is to democratize access to space by enabling emerging markets, countries, universities and research institutes to do what has not been possible for them up to know: deploy their own satellites,” Swiss Space Systems said in a statement.
According to the company, led by Swiss Astronaut Claude Nicollier, it has already secured technological cooperation deals with the likes of the European Space Agency, Dassault Aviation, the Von Karman Institute and Sonaca.
Swiss Space Systems counts with 225 million Swiss francs for the project. It aims to open the spaceport by 2015 at the Payerne airfield in western Switzerland, and begin test launches by 2017.

 

[Red]

ViviSat to Offer Tours of Testing Facility During SATELLITE 2013
March 15, 2013
ViviSat has announced the opening of the ATK Robotic Rendezvous and Proximity (RPO) testing facility to ViviSat clients at the headquarters of ATK's Space Systems Division in Beltsville, Md.
ViviSat will start offering tours of the facility to its clients during the SATELLITE 2013 Conference in Washington, D.C. next week. The RPO facility allows both ViviSat and ATK to demonstrate and verify critical enabling technologies for complex space missions. At the lab, docking mechanisms prototypes completed by ATK’s Space Systems Divisions will be used to validate contact dynamics and docking performance for ViviSat's Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV). The MEV, manufactured by ATK, is designed to dock with the orbiting satellite and serve as the propulsion and attitude control systems. This enables mission extension for satellites that have run out of maneuvering fuel yet still have healthy payload and power systems.

 

[Red]

YahLive Wins Satellite Services Provider of the Year Award
March 15, 2013
YahLive, the HD television satellite platform for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, was presented with the Satellite Services Provider of the Year award at the 9th edition of the Digital Studio Awards 2013 event on Mar. 13 in Dubai. The awards, organized by ITP Business, recognize ingenuity and creativity in the regional broadcasting industry.
YahLive, a joint venture company between Yahsat and SES, has created bouquet of 50 HD channels, which represents 50 percent of all HD channels broadcast in the MENA region. Channels such as Saudi TV, Dubai Media Incorporated, Abu Dhabi Media, Cartoon Network Arabia, and MBC are part of the line up, together with other channels from Europe that appeal to a diverse audience.

 

[Red]

Egypt Cabinet to Review Ban on New Satellite Channels
March 15, 2013

The Egyptian cabinet has decided to reconsider its ban on issuing licenses for the establishment of new private satellite channels, according to a Ministry of Investment press release on Thursday. The decision, made during a cabinet meeting on 6 March, comes as a response to Egypt's investment minister Osama Saleh's request to reassess the ban, active since 2011.

Saleh considers private satellite channels and the media as important areas of investment for the country, which he claims Egypt could not afford to discard in its current economic predicament.

 

[Red]

Satellite Shortages May Choke Off Military Drone Expansion
March 15, 2013

The bandwidth crunch is expected to worsen in coming years as the Pentagon increases deployments of remotely piloted aircraft for around-the-clock surveillance in many parts of the world. Anticipated requirements for satellite communications will far outstrip capacity, officials have predicted.

The Pentagon has its own fleet of satellites, which supply about 60 percent of the military demand. It augments capacity by leasing commercial bandwidth, but that supply will become tighter in the future as vendors pursue more lucrative business in the private sector.

Analysts had predicted several years ago that military satcom needs would diminish after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ended. But those projections were wrong, said William N. Ostrove, aerospace systems analyst at Forecast International Inc. Bandwidth demand will soar as the military deploys more drones in 24/7 surveillance operations, he said. Satellites offer an ideal form of communications links for unmanned aircraft because they provide global coverage. “It has been clear for a long time that the Defense Department is going to have to be creative to fill its bandwidth needs.”

 

[Red]

Arianespace’s Le Gall Scores Intelsat Launch Deal Before Heading to CNES
March 18, 2013
European commercial launch provider Arianespace has signed a launch services contract with FSS operator Intelsat that will send three of its satellites into orbit through 2017. The satellites will weigh more than six tons each at launch and therefore, be placed into their geo-transfer orbits by Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA heavy-lift rockets from Europe’s Space Port in French Guiana.
The three missions will include the launches of Intelsat’s high throughput EpicNG–class satellites, designed to address wireless and fixed telecommunications, enterprise, mobility, video and government applications that require broadband infrastructure.
Arianespace Chairman and CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall touted the deal as a major win for the company, especially in an expanding competitive market.
“We are particularly proud to be able to serve the world’s largest satellite operator and we thank Intelsat,” Le Gall said in a statement. “It is an honor to continue a partnership that goes back nearly 33 years. This new contract for three satellites—representing the 52nd, 53rd, and 54th satellites Arianespace will have launched for Intelsat— is for us a confirmation of the quality and the competitiveness of our launch services.”
Financial details of the launch were not disclosed.
Separately, Arianespace has made it official that Jean-Yves Le Gall will be leaving his post at the launch company to take up a new role as head of the French Space Agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), effective in early April.
Stéphane Israel, the chief of staff at Arnaud Montebourg, is poised to take over for Le Gall at Arianespace. Israel is no stranger to the launch industry and has served as an adviser to EADS Astrium’s board of directors.
Le Gall, a past Via Satellite Executive of the Year Award winner, joined Arianespace in 2001 before being named President and CEO in 2007. He was critical in the development of the Ariane 5 rocket, which has ten years of continued success since 2003 with 53 launches, as well as the expansion of the launcher’s portfolio to include the medium-size Soyuz and small-size Vega launch vehicles.

 

[Red]

Hughes Displays High-Throughput Satcom to Military Helicopters
March 18, 2013
Hughes Network Systems has successfully demonstrated high-throughput video and data transmission over satcom links on a variety of rotary wing platforms, employing its own advanced waveform technology.
The new communications-on-the-move (COTM) microsat system achieved zero packet loss on transmission and reception through the rotor blades over both Ka and Ku-band satellite channels. Hughes said the tests were conducted on a variety of military and commercial helicopters in both static and in-flight environments that included numerous pitch, bank and roll maneuvers.
“Our new microsat technology is ideal for C2 and ISR missions in all airborne as well as maritime and land environments, combining patented waveform design on a proven, and common platform for all applications—unlike other single-use solutions,” Hughes Defense and Intelligence Systems Division Vice President and General Manager Rick Lober said in a statement.