Focus: Telecom

[Satellite Today – 2-12-08] Hughes Network Systems LLC signed a contract with Russian broadband provider IPNet to implement a new HX system teleport in Moscow, Hughes announced Feb. 12.     "With scarce satellite capacity in Russia as in many regions of the world, the Hughes system … brings additional capacity where it was not previously...

[Satellite Today – 2-11-08] Thales Alenia Space has delivered SIRAL-2, the synthetic aperture interferometric radar altimeter for the CryoSat-2 mission, to prime contractor EADS Astrium, Thales announced Feb. 11.     CryoSat-2 will measure ice thickness around the globe to determine whether the polar ice caps are shrinking and help increase the understanding of the relationship...

[Satellite Today – 2-11-08] Eutelsat and Nissan Europe have donated a satellite communications-equipped four-wheel drive vehicle to Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF), the relief organization announced Feb. 8. The equipment will help TSF’s at disaster sites in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and enable TSF to strengthen its response to emergency situations.     The...

[Satellite Today – 2-7-08] Satellite’s prospects for playing a key role in the mobile TV market in Europe will be boosted by a high-profile demonstration at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona.     Major players from the digital video broadcasting-satellite services to handhelds (DVB-SH) ecosystem — Alcatel Lucent, DiBcom, Eutelsat Communications, Sagem Mobiles, SES...

[Satellite Today – 2-7-08] Israel’s Aerophone Ltd. has developed a communications system that will allow airline passengers to make mobile telephone calls from aircraft using satellite links, the company announced Feb. 7.     Calls are relayed by miniature GSM stations dubbed picocells installed on the aircraft to the satellite system. In smaller aircraft, the picocells...

[Satellite Today – 2-7-08] Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) has been awarded a patent that protects technologies relating to the reduction of interference, the company announced Feb. 6.      U.S. Patent No. 7,295,807, “Methods and Systems for Configuring Satellite Antenna Cell Patterns in Response to Terrestrial Use of Satellite Frequencies,” covers technology developed for MSV’s next-generation...

[Satellite Today – 2-7-08] The wholesale average selling price of GPS-enabled handsets will fall under $200 by 2010, according to a new report by ABI Research.     Currently, most handsets with integrated GPS are smartphones or high-end feature phones with wholesale prices in the range of $250 to $500. However, chipset manufacturers now have solutions...

[Satellite Today – 2-7-08] Iridium Satellite has upgraded the satellite phones used by Russian cosmonauts at the International Space Station, the company announced Feb. 7.     Russian authorities are replacing the older 9505 Iridium handsets, which have been in service since 2003, with new-generation 9505A units.      “The Iridium phones provide a critical safety link...

[Satellite Today – 2-6-08] Hughes India has signed a contract to supply 10,000 broadband satellite terminals to Comat Technologies in India, Hughes announced Feb. 4.     The Hughes-Comat consortium won the right to roll out the kiosks in rural areas of the country through a competitive bidding process for the government of India’s Community Services...

[Satellite Today – 2-6-08] Bigelow Aerospace and Lockheed Martin are in talks to use Atlas 5 launch vehicles to supply crew and cargo to a Bigelow-built space complex, Bigelow announced Feb. 5.     Bigelow Aerospace has launched two of its Genesis units that are designed to demonstrate the feasibility of its expandable space module technology....