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DirecTV Group will acquire Darlene Investments LLC’s share of DirecTV Latin America LLC, giving DirecTV Group full equity ownership of the Latin American satellite-TV provider, DirecTV announced Jan. 30. DirecTV Group will pay $325 million for Darlene Investments’ 14.1 percent share of DirecTV Latin America. The agreement also ends all pending litigation against DirecTV. DirecTV...

NDS, a supplier of conditional access (CA) and middleware to satellite pay-TV operators, has seen a double-digit increase in half-year revenues, the company announced. For the second half of 2006, NDS reported revenues of $329.2 million, an increase of more than 11 percent compared to the same period in 2005.

XM Satellite Radio has extended its exclusive relationship with American Honda Motor Co. through 2016, XM announced Jan. 30. American Honda, which markets Honda and Acura vehicles, has produced more than 1.5 million cars with XM factory-installed radios to date and projects production of 650,000 more XM units for 2007 model vehicles.

The latest Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft has been turned over to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for operational use, manufacturer Lockheed Martin announced. DMSP F-17 Block 5D-3, built under contract for the U.S. Air Force, was placed into orbit in November. DMSP provides weather forecasts that aid the U.S. military...

Global Satellite Broadcasting Corp. (GSBC) was asked by Paragon International Placements Ltd. Jan. 29 to delay its listing in the United States by a few days. The request was made "to allow us to wrap up the details of several corporate acquisitions we have negotiated for GSBC," Chris Cangi, a senior partner at Paragon, said...

SpaceDev Inc. will move the operations of its Starsys division from Boulder, Colo., to a new facility in Louisville, Colo., in March, SpaceDev announced Jan. 30. The 72,000- square-foot facility is located in the Colorado Technology Center and will incorporate features specifically designed to support Starsys spacecraft subsystem product offerings, SpaceDev said. SpaceDev completed its...

Sea Launch has reset the launch of the NSS-8 communications satellite for SES New Skies for Jan. 30, Sea Launch announced. The 37-minute launch window remains set to open at 6:22 p.m. EDT. For a fourth time, launch of the Boeing 702 spacecraft was delayed due to sea conditions at the launch site.

About 93.9 percent of households in Saudi Arabia own a satellite dish, Middle East telecoms consultancy Arab Advisors reported in “Saudi Arabia Media Survey 2007,” released earlier this month. Showtime, Orbit and ART provide direct-to-home services in the country. The survey is based on interviews with nearly 700 respondents in major Saudi cities such as...

TerreStar Networks Inc. plans to raise $450 million in funding through the sale of senior secured discount notes due in 2015, TerreStar announced Jan. 29. TerreStar, a majority-owned subsidiary of Motient Corp., intends to use about $72 million of its net proceeds from the offering to repay debt due to Motient, with the remainder reserved...

Intelsat plans sell its Silver Spring, Md., teleport, which includes the land, facilities and six antennas ranging in size from 3.8 meters to 10 meters, Intelsat announced Jan. 26. Intelsat plans to solicit offers in early February and hopes to close the sale with a single party during the second quarter of 2007.