SES and MNC Sky Vision Form DTH Partnership

SES 7’s South Asia Ku-band beam spans from the Middle east to Asia. Credit: SES

SES and MNC Sky Vision have reached an agreement to provide capacity on the SES 7 satellite to support Indonesian satellite pay-TV provider Indovision’s future Chinese-language Direct-to-Home (DTH) package.

The multi-transponder and multi-year deal provides Indovision with access to the Ku-band capacity aboard SES 7 at the orbital location of 108.2 degrees east. Indovision intends to offer more than a dozen Chinese language channels using the capacity, which would allow Indovision to reach a niche audience segment in Indonesia’s growing pay-DTH market, beyond its current base of more than 2 million subscribers.

SES 7 offers expansion opportunities to DTH and VSAT operators across South Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.

ABS Confirms New Satellite from Boeing

Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) confirmed the build of ABS 2A, a multi-beam, 48-transponder Ku satellite that will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2015 to ABSâ?? prime location at 75 degrees east. ABS 2A follows ABS 2, which is scheduled to be launched over Asia in late 2013, according to a written statement from ABS.

ABS 2A will cover the growing markets of Russia, India, Middle East, Africa, South East Asia and the Indian Ocean region, and will follow. With 2.6 GHz of Ku-band spectrum, the satellite nearly doubles the available Ku-band frequencies available at 75 degrees east. Together with ABS 2, the new satellite will deliver a total of 100 x 54MHz Ku-band capacity to this orbital location to a growing list of premium DTH customers, VSAT operators and maritime and mobility customers.

With 7.5kW of payload power, ABS 2A is the second of the four Boeing 702SP all electric satellites that ABS is purchasing from Boeing Satellite Systems International in partnership with Satmex. ABS 2A, along with ABS 3A, is part of the 702SP production line, an all-electric propulsion satellite that minimizes the spacecraftâ??s mass and maximizes available payload. It will be dual launched with its co-passenger Satmex 9, on SpaceXâ??s Falcon 9 rocket, in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Panasonic Partners with China Telecom for In-Flight Connectivity Solutions

Panasonic Avionics and China Telecom Satellite Communications will develop IFC solutions. Credit: Panasonic

Panasonic Avionics has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China Telecom Satellite Communications Limited to jointly develop, implement and support in-flight connectivity solutions for the Chinese market. The signing of the MOU will also make possible the first ever provision of in-flight connectivity to Panasonic’s 36 non-Chinese customer airlines when flying into and over China.

Both parties are working to complete their formal contract over the coming weeks and plan to begin offering commercial in-flight connectivity services in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Panasonic Avionics’ eXConnect system uses its global Ku-band aeronautical satellite network to deliver in-flight broadband connectivity.

Indian DTH Providers Select Broadcom for New Set-Top Boxes

Tata Sky and Dish TV India have selected Broadcom Corporationâ??s integrated system-on-a-chip (SoC) devices to power its upcoming generation of satellite set-top boxes (STB). The technology will enable Tata Sky’s first MPEG-4 standard definition (SD) STB, and allow Dish TV India to increase its high-definition (HD) content offering to its subscribers.

Key features include a highly integrated single chip SoC that incorporates tuner and LNA, cost efficient SD AVC STB for emerging markets.

SSTL to Collaborate with Kazakhstan

Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) and Ghalam LLP signed a contract for the collaborative design and development of the Kazak Science and Technology satellite system. Ghalam is a joint venture between JSC Kazakhstan Garysh Sapary (KGS) and EADS Astrium.

The new platform will be designed to provide more than 50W Orbit Average Power to a 50kg payload mission and it is intended that the platform and some of the new technologies will be used on future Kazak missions. Additionally, SSTL, Ghalam LLP and the Surrey Space Center at the University of Surrey will develop a cubesat carrying a payload for ionospheric research.