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DigitalGlobe has acquired GlobeXplorer, a geographic data integration and publishing company, from Stewart REI Group, DigitalGlobe announced Jan. 8. The combination will make it easier for DigitalGlobe to offer its archive of satellite imagery to the public using GlobeXplorer’s Web-based search-and-delivery applications. “The acquisition of GlobeXplorer will enable DigitalGlobe to provide customers with the complete,...

EchoStar Communications Corp. introduced a mobile TV package Jan. 8. The MobileDish in-car satellite service uses a roof rack-mounted RaySat antenna to provide EchoStar’s Dish Network to customers in vehicles. The MobileDish technology is compatible with existing vehicles including most cars, recreational vehicles and truck, and performs at highway speeds. EchoStar expects to announce pricing...

Intelsat Ltd. plans to offer about $600 million of senior notes due 2015, the company announced Jan. 8. The net proceeds will be used, along with cash on hand, to repay Intelsat (Bermuda) Ltd.’s outstanding $600 million senior unsecured bridge loan.

KVH Industries introduced its TracVision M3 marine satellite TV system Jan. 8 in London. Now available to mariners throughout Europe, the small, stabilized marine satellite TV system is designed for installation aboard vessels as small as 25 feet in length. The system includes the TracVision M3 antenna, a multi-satellite control unit and an installation cable....

Telekom Serbia, a telecom carrier in Serbia, will deploy Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.’s SkyEdge broadband satellite hub and several hundred VSATs to serve residential and corporate customers, Gilat announced Jan. 8. To meet its universal service obligation requirements, Telekom Serbia will deploy SkyEdge VSATs at remote community centers throughout Serbia to provide telephony, fax and...

French pay-TV operator Canal Plus has finalized a deal to acquire its direct-to-home (DTH) rival TPS and create a new platform, Canal Plus France.   The merger reportedly makes Canal Plus the second largest DTH operator in Europe behind BSkyB. Canal Plus France has nearly 5 five million satellite pay-TV subscribers, roughly 1 million subscribers...

Measat Satellite Systems and Measat Broadcast Network Systems signed an interim transponder lease agreement under which Astro will lease five Ku-band transponders aboard the Measat-3 satellite, which is expected to begin commercial operations Feb. 1. The Jan. 4 agreement would enable the direct-to-home service provider to roll out new services and products for 2007, said...

GlobeCast signed deal with leading Bangladeshi broadcaster Channel S Television to strengthen the broadcaster’s presence the U.K. market. The deal will see GlobeCast deliver three of its channels — Channel S, Channel S World and Channel S Plus — to the Sky platform using GlobeCast’s capacity on the Eurobird satellite. The broadcaster’s eponymous flagship channel...

Boeing completed a live demonstration of the GPS ground station, which when fully operational will control the GPS constellation, the company announced Jan. 4. Boeing is under contract to migrate the current GPS ground control system, known as the Architecture Evolution Plan (AEP), to a distributed Unix-based system beginning in Apri l. The AEP conducted...

XM Satellite Radio added nearly 1.7 million new subscribers in 2006 to close the year with more than 7.6 million subscribers, the company announced Jan. 5. XM fell short of its goal of 7.7 million subscribers by the end of the year, a target the company had lowered from 9 million at the beginning of...