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In a move designed to signal an aggressive, new strategy to generate more national ad sales and revenue, DirecTV announced Nov. 7 it is streamlining its advertising sales division by bringing the entire operation in-house. DirecTV will combine its existing advertising sales team with a group of account representatives from the satellite-TV service provider’s former...

C2Sat announced Nov. 7 that it will equip a GG505 Polar vessel with a C2Sat stabilized VSAT antenna. "It is a revolution having the C2SAT system installed," Lars-Uno Bryngeld, captain of GG505 Polar, said in a statement. "The ship security is dramatically improved. Now we have on-line communication even in stormy weather, with other vessels,...

Echostar Communications Corp. posted a profit of $140 million on revenues of $2.5 billion in the 2006 third quarter, the company announced Nov. 7. In 2005’s third quarter, the satellite-TV provider recorded a profit of $209 million on revenues of $2.1 billion. The company posted a non-cash gain of $73 million in the quarter to...

Research and Markets announced the release of its "State of the Space Industry 2005" report on Nov. 7. Designed to provide industry, government, and financiers with an independent assessment of the trends and issues affecting the industry, "State of the Space Industry 2005" offers quantitative and qualitative analysis and commentary on developments in the space...

Raytheon Co. announced having reached two technological milestones: Its Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT) is the first advanced, next-generation satellite communications (satcom) system to successfully log onto and communicate with the U.S. government’s Milstar Satcom system using low and medium data rate waveforms, the company reported Nov. 7. The system will provide naval commanders and sailors...

Microsoft Corp. announced Nov. 6 the launch of Virtual Earth 3D, a new online mapping interface providing consumers with a three-dimensional (3-D) experience to search, browse and explore the real world online. Using hybridized satellite and aerial imagery, visitors to Live Search (http://live.com) can post a query and click on a "maps" tab to get...

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. cuts its third quarter loss as revenues improved 57 percent, the company announced Nov. 6. XM lost $84 million in the 2006 third quarter, which closed Sept. 30, down from a loss of $132 million in the same period a year ago. Revenues jumped from $153 million in the 2005...

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. signed a contract with the National Space Research and Development Agency of Nigeria for a small Earth observation satellite, Surrey Satellite announced Nov. 6. Nigeriasat-2 will be based upon a new generation of small satellite technology and will become part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC), Surrey Satellite said. Nigeria already...

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) upheld its earlier ruling that Canadian satellite-TV providers cannot include satellite radio services in their offerings, the CRTC announced Nov. 3. The ruling means that Expressvu and Star Choice cannot offer channels from Sirius Satellite Radio or XM satellite radio as part of their packages. The CRTC rules...

A Boeing Delta 4 rocket placed a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite into orbit for the U.S. Air Force, Boeing announced Nov. 4. The launch of DMSP-17 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., was the second West Coast mission for the U.S. Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.