People

BALL AEROSPACE: Welcomes Legislative Liaison

Erin Hatch was hired as the legislative liaison for civil and commercial space government relations for Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. Prior to joining Ball Aerospace, she worked as a legislative assistant to Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), supporting him in his activities in science and technology, and in commercial and civilian space sectors.

HELIUS: Strengthens Management Team

Helius named Jeff Curtis senior vice president of sales and Mike Tippets senior vice president of marketing.

Previously, Curtis was vice president of North American sales for Phobos Corp., acquired in 2000 by SonicWall. Following the SonicWall acquisition, Curtis was director of western U.S. sales.

Tippets also joins Helius from SonicWall, where most recently he was responsible for worldwide channel marketing.

ILS: Enhances Sales Staff

International Launch Services (ILS) added additional senior marketing and sales personnel to meet increased customer demand.

Chuck Burch joined ILS from Arianespace Inc., where he was vice president for sales. He will be responsible primarily for customers in the Americas.

Ted McFarland will be responsible for business development in the Asia-Pacific region. Earlier he held business development and executive positions with General Dynamics, Hughes Electronics and Panamsat.

Scott Sobhani is responsible for business development in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. He previously held development positions for the Middle East at Astrolink and Hughes Electronics International.

Robert Twining moved to ILS from Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications (LMGT), where he was involved in LMGT’s investments in Intelsat and New Skies. He will be responsible primarily for business development with Intelsat.

Mesut Ciceker will head ILS marketing and sales activity in Europe. Ciceker previously worked for Arianespace and Orbital.

TANDBERG: Appoints Sales Director

Tandberg Television appointed Dario Wonjin Choi as sales director for North East Asia. He is responsible for overseeing the development of Tandberg Television’s sales and business opportunities in the region. He will also work with Tandberg Television’s existing business partners Matsushita Techno Trading Co. in Japan and Comtech Korea, Mereta Inc. and Sanam Technology in Korea.

Dario was previously with Skystream Networks as the managing director of Asia-Pacific.

Services

ND SATCOM: Opens Middle Eastern Branch

ND Satcom AG of Germany opened its Middle Eastern Branch in Abu Dhabi.

Ulrich Kiebler, president, Middle East, will head the new ND Satcom subsidiary, which includes sales and engineering support. ND Satcom decided to increase its presence in the Middle East due to the area’s potential for satellite communications solutions especially in the broadcast and vertical markets, such as the oil and gas industry and governmental networks.

TELENOR: Offers Maritime Communications Services

Telenor Satellite Services will be among the first to offer the complete family of Inmarsat Fleet maritime communications services. Telenor anticipates commercially launching both Fleet F55 and Fleet F33 services during the third quarter of 2003.

Fleet F55 will offer maritime customers high-speed data communications, at up to 64 kbs, in smaller equipment suitable for smaller vessels.

Fleet F33 brings the benefit of global voice and advanced data communications to leisure boats, fishing vessels and other small vessels.

Contracts

ALL MOBILE VIDEO: Acquires New Teleport

All Mobile Video (AMV) acquired the Vyvx National Gateway Teleport in Carteret, NJ.

The additional facility–newly named AMV Gateway Teleport–will expand AMV’s teleport facilities in San Diego, CA, and St. Petersburg, FL, as well as complement the six mobile Ku-band trucks and 11 multi-format mobile production units.

GLOBECAST: Seals Deal With Abu Dhabi TV

Globecast signed a long-term agreement with Abu Dhabi TV–the satellite channel of Emirates Media Inc.–to provide satellite delivery across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Globecast is providing Abu Dhabi TV with end-to-end service including turnaround, multiplexing, standards conversion, uplinks and satellite capacity. Five teleports, seven digital platforms and Globecast’s proprietary trans-world ATM fiber ring are being utilized to backhaul and transmit Abu Dhabi TV’s signal across the globe.

HISPASAT: Signs Agreement With Neo-Sky

Hispasat, a Spanish satellite communications operator and Neo-Sky, Iberdrola’s broadband operator, signed an agreement to provide broadband satellite access services to the Internet. This agreement means that Neo-Sky can provide such access services to the Internet and the transmission of data, video and applications for companies through Hispasat satellites, with standardized coverage and quality levels throughout the country, including the Canary Islands.

IDIRECT: Teams With Tamsco

iDirect Technologies teamed with Technical and Management Services Corp. (TAMSCO), an information technology company, to implement a TDMA satellite network to support the military efforts in Iraq.

TAMSCO designed a 27-node VSAT network with a hub and antenna site to be deployed in Wiesbaden, Germany providing deployed logistics personnel with connectivity to the STAMIS logistics network and to provide Army units maintaining force readiness with access to stock databases worldwide.

According to iDirect, by using the iDirect solution, all 27 nodes were able to share satellite bandwidth and take advantage of iDirect’s “iDS” software enhancements, designed to deliver more traffic and applications than competing satellite technologies. Additionally, iDirect’s technology enabled TAMSCO to design a network solution with fewer network components at each remote site, while simultaneously reducing the size of the hub and antennas.

MENTAT: Speeds Delivery Of NBC News

NBC News relied on Mentat’s SkyX Gateway product to enhance communications to its Middle East news bureaus during the war in Iraq. By improving the efficiency of its satellite- based communications network, NBC was able to speed the delivery of stories and images from the local bureaus to NBC News headquarters for use in its war coverage.

To support the war coverage, NBC News connected their local news bureaus in Iraq with the New York-based operations center over the Loral Skynet Telstar 12 satellite. This network provided voice and video communications, file transfers and computer connectivity. Adding SkyX Gateways to this network made it possible for reporters to transmit their stories quicker and allowed the support staff to communicate with the operations center more efficiently, according to Mentat.

PANAMSAT: Distributes STARZ On Galaxy 9

Starz Encore Group LLC expanded its use of Panamsat Corp.’s fleet to launch its new high definition and high resolution feeds of STARZ! and the hi-def service Sharper Movies HD.

Starz Encore will use two transponders on Galaxy 9 to distribute the new advanced video East and West Coast feeds of STARZ! HD and STARZ! Hi Res, as well as Sharper Movies HD, a new hi-def channel designed for the entry-level HDTV tier. STARZ! Hi Res will provide a bandwidth-efficient alternative to the hi-def feeds of STARZ! HD.

TECOM INDUSTRIES: Awarded Iridium Contract

Tecom Industries Inc., a TRAK Communications company, was awarded a major contract for $2.1 million by Iridium Satellite LLC in Arlington, VA. Under this contract, Tecom will produce a total of 30,000 antennas for the Iridium handset phones, used for both military and commercial applications.

Iridium’s wireless phones use both terrestrial wireless networks and the Iridium satellite network to allow a user to communicate from anywhere on the planet.

VIASAT: Wins Contract From EMI

Viasat Inc. received a contract in excess of $5 million from EMI Technologies of Las Cruces, NM, for four mobile telemetry tracking antenna systems. The White Sands Missile Range will use these systems for long-range missile test launches over ocean and land ranges.

These tracking and telemetry systems, from Viasat’s Satellite Ground Systems division, combine the ability to receive an L- and S-band telemetry data signal from land or from a sea-based platform stabilized to compensate for ship motion.

Technology

IDIRECT: Unveils Upgraded Software

iDirect Technologies unveiled its latest software, iDS v.3.2, with added features and capabilities including compressed real-time protocol (cRTP), 1.2 carrier spacing, enhanced QoS, dynamic committed information rate (CIR) and network management system upgrades.

According to iDirect, with the availability of cRTP, voice over IP calls over the satellite network will utilize 50 percent less bandwidth than other satellite technologies. In addition, the new 1.2 carrier spacing capability allows operators to reduce overall bandwidth consumption by as much as 14 percent. By adding the dynamic CIR feature, customers are assured rapid allocation of dedicated bandwidth on demand that can be triggered by specific applications. (iDirect Technologies, 10803 Parkridge Blvd., Reston, VA 20191; Tel: 703/648-8000; Fax: 703/648-8379; Web: http://www.idirect.net)

MICROWAVE FILTER: Introduces C-band Product

Microwave Filter Co. introduced the model 7893D low profile bandpass filter as a continuing part of a family of products designed specifically for the C-band market. The 7893D offers the lowest insertion loss available today for the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz receive band, according to the company. Typical insertion loss is less than 0.4 dB at center frequency with 0.5 dB roll-off at the band edges.

Rejection of 25 dB minimum at 3.65 and 4.25 GHz provides suppression of marine and altimeter interference frequencies. In addition the unit provides a full 60 dB rejection at 3.5 and 4.4 GHz. Group delay of less than 8 nS makes this unit useful for digital applications. (Microwave Filter Co., 6743 Kinne St., East Syracuse, NY 13057; Tel: 315/438-4700; Fax: 315/463-1467; Web: http://www.microwavefilter.com)

SEA TEL: Adds New Line Of Marine Satellite Antennas

Sea Tel added a 30-inch dish to their 98S Series, which already includes 18 and 24 inch models. Designed for vessels 60 feet in length or more, this addition now gives the mariner the option to select an antenna that will allow satellite TV reception further offshore as well as better coverage during inclement weather or in fringe areas.

All the 98S series units have a new dish and feed combination. By improving the dish and feed design, the gain and efficiency are increased, providing more satellite signal to the LNB and satellite receiver. The net result allows the user to travel further offshore and continue to receive the signal. (Sea Tel, 4030 Nelson Ave., Concord, CA 94520; Tel: 925/798-7979; Fax: 925/798-7986; Web: http://www.seatel.com)