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The People’s Republic of China has started to build its own satellite navigation system, Xinhua reported Nov. 2. The planned network, Compass — or Beidou, in Chinese — reportedly will include five geostationary and 30 medium-Earth-orbit satellites. The country is said to be interested in cooperating with other nations to develop its satellite navigation industry...

Cingular Wireless LLC and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. announced a partnership Nov. 2 to stream 25 XM music channels to Cingular handsets. Beginning Nov. 6, Cingular Wireless customers may choose among 25 audio streams of commercial-free music channels through the XM Radio Mobile service. Cingular Wireless, the largest U.S. wireless carrier with more than...

Globalstar Inc. priced its initial public offering at $17 per share, the company announced Nov. 2. The company has also added 1 million shares to the offering, bringing the total to 7.5 million shares. The stock has begun trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol GSAT. Globalstar intends to use the proceeds from the offering...

Qinetiq announced Nov. 1 it is launching a European satellite interference geolocation service intended to deter malicious or accidental disruption of satellite communications services while allowing customers to identify and locate the source of the interference. The service, based on Qinetiq’s SatID system, uses patented techniques to deliver the service. No equipment is required at...

The demand for commercial C- and Ku-band capacity will grow globally at an average annual rate of 3.2 percent, Northern Sky Research (NSR) announced Oct. 31. Between 2005 and 2011, capacity equal to nearly 900 additional transponders will be leased from a large variety of satellite services, pushing annual revenues for leased capacity from $6.7...

The commercial geostationary satellite transponder market produced total revenues of $708.5 billion in Latin America in 2005, and that figure will reach more than $1 trillion by 2012, Frost & Sullivan announced Oct. 31. Though the expansion of terrestrial networks such as fiber, wireless and mobile pose a challenge for the satellite market, the demand...

The World Teleport Association (WTA) announced Nov. 1 its rankings of the Top Teleport Operators of 2006 in three categories. The Global Top 20 includes satellite and fiber carriers operating teleports, led by Intelsat, SES Global and Eutelsat; the Independent Top 20 includes ground segment operators only and is topped by Globecast, Stratos Global and...

Datapath Inc., a provider of satellite and wireless communications networks, announced Nov. 1 the appointment of David Helfgott as president and COO, effective Nov. 15. A 20-year industry veteran, Helfgott formerly was president and CEO of Americom Government Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of SES Global S.A., that provides the U.S. government with commercial...

XM Satellite Radio and Sea Launch announced the Oct. 30 launch of the XM-4 satellite. Early data indicate the spacecraft is accurately positioned and in excellent condition. XM-4, built by the Boeing Satellite Development Center, carries a high-power S-band digital audio radio service payload provided by Alcatel Alenia Space. The spacecraft will be located at...

Technology ICG Introduces Cabin Telecommunications Unit For Business Jets International Communications Group (ICG) introduced its Aerocom 1100 cabin telecommunications unit, which provides an automated integrated package of telephone, fax and data services for small- to medium-sized business jets. The unit, which is compatible with Iridium and Inmarsat satellites, supports up to eight separate extensions, providing...