Really Rocket Science - Communications

Airborne Broadband Bacchanal

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:41:11 -0700

About a week after Labor Day, ARINC introduced new Caribbean coverage for SKYLink, an in-flight broadband service for business jets:

The new Caribbean coverage area means users of the SKYLink network will be able to fly from Europe to North America, across the Caribbean, and on to Central and South America, without losing access to important e-mail or Internet applications. To encourage customers to take part in the coverage tests, ARINC Direct suspended roaming charges in the new region through July 21, 2008. Customer feedback was used to adjust satellite coverage and to map signal strength across the region.
The new coverage includes the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles, Trinidad-Tobago; Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, northern Peru, northern Bolivia, Venezuela, Guyana, and part of Surinam.
eXchange with service by SKYLink is the only communications system for business jets offering true broadband Internet speeds—as high as 3.5 Mbps to the aircraft. Customers have access to e-mail, corporate intranet (VPN), the Web, flat-rate Voice over IP (VoIP) global telephone service, and videoconferencing. eXchange also provides e-mail and data capability for personal Wi-Fi enabled smartphones in the cabin.

Really cool how Rockwell-Collins integrates it all:

Business travelers will experience real-time, two-way broadband connectivity with secure access to e-mail services, Internet browsing, access to Virtual Private Networks (VPN), and options for Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone service and videoconferencing. eXchange also enables data connectivity to select Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, such as RIM's Blackberry models 8320 and 8820, providing travelers with access to e-mail and other smartphone data services.

Thanks to the AMC-21 satellite's dedicated Caribbean Ku-band beam -- and new mobile platform -- local satcom Internet companies like Caribbetech and mobile services like KVH have new opportunities to pursue.

3 Billion New Internet Users on the Way?

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:44:33 -0700

A start-up company, backed by some big names, is seeking to add 3 Billion new Internet users from poor, remote countries.

On Tuesday, O3b Networks Ltd., founded and run by 38-year-old telecommunications entrepreneur Greg Wyler, is expected to announce plans to launch as many as 16 satellites that could provide service to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Latin America by the end of 2010.
The undertaking, expected to cost about $650 million, has initial backing of about $60 million from investors that include HSBC Holdings PLC, Allen & Company, and Liberty Global Inc., in addition to Google.

Of course, the blogs are abuzz with the news that Google is launching 16 new satellites, especially after yesterday’s post about the GeoEye-1, but Google is only anteing up $20 million for the project.

The bigger news is about O3b, whose young CEO, Greg Wyler, has pulled together an impressive list of funders to tackle a very lofty goal.

This isn’t the first time that Wyler has launched an aggressive project to bring Internet access to the developing world. He also paired up with the Rwandan government in an effort to connect schools, government institutions and homes with low-cost, high-speed Internet service. The fate of that project contains some warnings for this venture. Rwandan officials say Wyler didn’t follow through on his promises:

Wyler says he sees things differently and that he and the Rwandan officials will probably never agree on why their joint venture has been so slow to get off the ground. But Terracom's tale is more than a story about a business dispute in Rwanda. It is also emblematic of what can happen when good intentions run into the technical, political and business realities of Africa.

The technology behind the latest venture is a low-earth orbit system, built by Thales Alenia Space.

Side Note: O3b is headquartered in St. John, Jersey, Channel Islands. Never heard of it? Officially the "Bailiwick of Jersey”, it’s located in the English Channel, off the coast of France.

Technorati Tags: google hsbc leo+satellite thales thales+alenia+space 03b teledesic skybridge

Uncommon Carrier

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:24:48 -0700

Clay T. Whitehead passed away last week. Former director of Nixon's Office of Telecommunications Policy, he was largely responsible for completely changing the commercial satcom business the U.S. and Europe. RCA, Hughes, PanAmSat and SES et. al. owe their success to his vision and work.

Excellent obituary by Adam Bernstein in the Washington Post:

Clay T. "Tom" Whitehead, 69, who helped the cable industry flourish by bringing competition to the domestic satellite market in the early 1970s, died July 23 at Georgetown University Hospital. He had prostate cancer.
During the Nixon administration, Mr. Whitehead became the country's first telecommunications policy adviser and championed free markets in the satellite business. He later revolutionized the way communications satellites were sold -- outright to cable providers instead of leasing them to those companies.
Starting in the mid-1980s, he challenged Europe's state-owned television systems by spearheading the first private Pan-European television satellite system, Luxembourg-based SES Astra. It became one of the continent's most popular and profitable private satellite systems.
Dr. Whitehead had degrees in engineering and management but little knowledge of communications when in 1970 he was appointed the first director of the old White House Office of Telecommunications Policy. Considered bright and able, he said his chief concern was trying to get the federal government to become "more anticipatory" in addressing rapid technological changes.
During his four years overseeing the office, he sough to demolish the monopoly model that had given tremendous power to large international corporations such as Comsat and Intelsat. He set in motion policies that allowed domestic satellite competitors to succeed, and far more cheaply.
His work had an enormous impact on the cable industry, which because of his efforts could get its own programming channels via satellites to a national audience. Before, that reach was impossible unless a cable channel wanted to lease land lines from the monopoly provider AT&T.
HBO, the Turner cable networks and C-Span were among the key beneficiaries of Dr. Whitehead's decisions.
Henry Geller, a Washington telecommunications lawyer and Federal Communications Commission general counsel, said Dr. Whitehead "changed the entire landscape of television in the United States and throughout the world" by advocating an "open skies" policy toward domestic satellites.
Geller said Dr. Whitehead "stopped the FCC cold, which was still promoting Comsat as a domestic monopoly. Satellite service became more competitive, allowing such companies as RCA and Hughes to achieve greater innovations more cheaply."
Dr. Whitehead was credited with formulating policies that gave more autonomy to local stations in the public broadcasting system, which was seen by some PBS executives as an attack on the service in large part because of Dr. Whitehead's early reputation for antagonizing the press.
He called network television news a haven for "ideological plugola" and "elitist gossip." His criticisms extended to the public broadcasting system, which he called a "fourth network" for alleged liberal biases.
He apologized before a Senate committee, saying his own comments "did not serve a very useful purpose."
Clay Thomas Whitehead, was born Nov. 13, 1938, in Neodesha, Kan., and raised in Columbus, Kan.
An early interest in astronomy led him to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1960 and doctorate in management in 1967.
He was a Rand Corp. economist before joining the Nixon team in 1968 as an expert on budget policies. He also helped create the Office Telecommunications Policy, which was folded into the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration during the Carter administration.
In 1979, Dr. Whitehead became the founding president of Los Angeles-based Hughes Communications, a satellite-manufacturing subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft Co. His greatest achievement was the Galaxy program of commercial communications satellites, which addressed the needs of a rapidly growing cable television market.
He likened the Galaxy program to a mall with an "anchor tenant," such as HBO. Each subsequent company would buy a piece of the satellite. This approach made enormous profits for Hughes, reportedly $200 million for the 24 transponders on the Galaxy I that launched in 1983.
"I suppose the thing I like to do most is set things up and make them run," Dr. Whitehead had once told the New York Times. He left Hughes in 1983 because he said he tired of working for a big company.
He spent the next two years laying the financial, technical and political groundwork for a $180 million enterprise that became SES Astra.
Some European politicians criticized the proposed system as "Coca-Cola satellite" and dismissed it as cultural imperialism, all to protect their government-run television channels.
"I think we're seeing wounded national pride," Dr. Whitehead told Forbes magazine in 1985. "There would be more European programming if a large commercial marketplace already existed there."
SES Astra, in which Luxembourg is a major stakeholder, grew tremendously. Its programming is beamed into more than 65 million homes, and its worth was estimated to be more than $1 billion.
A contractual dispute led Dr. Whitehead to sue SES Astra and the Luxembourg government for $600 million. He was consumed by the lawsuit for a decade, until prevailing in 2003. The final agreement was confidential.

Rapid TV News did provide a settlement figure in its write-up:

Unfortunately he spent some 10 years of his life in a legal squabble with SES Astra (and the Luxembourg government) claiming a total of $1.8bn and receiving some €30m as dividend payments in a Court-ordered settlement in June 2002.

And as far as the extent of ASTRA's reach in Europe*, the number are greater today than they've ever been:

At year end 2007, 117.2 million homes receive audiovisual broadcast and broadband services via ASTRA at 19.2º, 23.5°, 28.2º East or SIRIUS at 5.0º East.

The ASTRA Group** consolidated its position as the top European satellite fleet for DTH reception.

By end of 2007, 50.3 million homes receive ASTRA or SIRIUS services directly via satellite. A further 66.9 million homes receive services via ASTRA Group satellites in cable.

More than 4 out of 10 of all TV homes within the ASTRA Group footprint are now receiving digital services.

Satellite continues to be the most popular digital reception mode, with a 58% share of the total digital market.

81% of all ASTRA satellite homes are digital.

* 35 countries within the ASTRA Group footprint
** ASTRA Group reach includes ASTRA at 19.2°E, 23.5°E, 28.2°E and SIRIUS at 5.0°E

Technorati Tags: clay+whitehead whitehead ses panamsat comsat intelsat luxembourg rca satcom hbo c-span

SOCOM: Moving With Satcom

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:50:42 -0700

Carl von Clausewitz once famously observed that war is the extension of politics by other means.

So it seems fitting, at least in the sense that truisms are true, that the satcom-on-the-go platform that has been bringing the American people live coverage of the presidential election (which we blogged about here) is now being used by U.S. Special Forces in the Middle East.

We're speaking, of course, of the ArcLight Mobile Satellite Communication System by ViaSat. We've written before about how the broadcast networks use the system in moving vehicles, and how the same platform is being used by AMERICOM and KVH for maritime mobile broadband.

Now comes a press release announcing that ViaSat Airborne Broadband Ku-band satcom is being deployed by U.S. Special Forces for real time data and video communications:

The system is already in use in the Middle East and coverage areas will expand as more terminals and hubs are delivered. This new operational capability, an extension of the ArcLight® mobile broadband system, is installed on C-130 aircraft, primarily for sending high resolution video back to higher command authorities for further analysis and identification.

Here's a video of the type of real-world situations that the ArcLight system can help commanders in-field and at the United States Special Operations Command address. It's taken from an AC-130 Gunship observing insurgents in Iraq. (Warning: Video contains violence and may not be suitable for all viewers.)

The C-130 satcom system is built around the advanced ArcLight modem and networking technology using a spread spectrum waveform to enable the use of mobile satellite antennas as small as 29 centimeters in diameter. The antenna is enclosed in a radome attached to a redesigned emergency escape hatch. In a few minutes, operators can configure an aircraft for their specific mission without any permanent aircraft alterations, then quickly return the aircraft to its normal configuration when the mission is complete, while maintaining safety-of-flight integrity. The U.S. Air Force-certified hatch-mount terminal enables secure access to Department of Defense wide area networks at raw data rates up to 10 Mbps inbound and 512 kbps outbound while airborne.

Technorati Tags: spread+spectrum satcom viasat military special+forces air+force iraq warfare technology satellites socom arclight

Satellite Broadband Gets an Upgrade

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:35:41 -0700

If thoughts of super-fast satellite link-ups from spy movies have you considering satellite broadband service, we have some news you’d like to hear.

WildBlue, one of the top satellite broadband providers in the US, is upgrading its capacity to allow for 150,000 new customers. How are they doing it? Rather than launching a new bird, they’re upgrading their transmission link hardware and software to allow 50 percent more information bits through the same existing radio link.

Some are skeptical that these upgrades will actually lead to better service. But, if you live in an area where dial-up is your only other option, most reviews say jumping to satellite is worth it.

For those of us who live in urban areas and take it for granted that we can shop around for internet service, we should count ourselves lucky:

WildBlue estimates that there are over 11 million households in areas throughout the United States where DSL or cable broadband services are not available and that over 7.5 million of these households are still accessing the Internet through a traditional dial-up connection.

With WildBlue’s latest upgrades, they seem to be beating out their other major competitor in the satellite broadband space: HughesNet. In fact, in a Consumer Reports review of ISPs, HughesNet got the lowest possible rating in all categories. This customer seems to agree.

Technorati Tags: viasat satellite+internet hughesnet spacenet hughes ka-band wildblue surfbeam

Canadian Innovation

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:31:14 -0700

Some interesting news coming out of Canada recently, some of it satcom-related, and some not. Ciel Satellite received "approvals in principle" from Industry Canada to develop a half-dozen orbital locations over North America, right in the "sweet spot" for direct-broadcast satellite TV. Using the Ka-band for BSS spectrum (17/24 GHz) represents new capacity and will probably lead to more innovation. More HDTV channels? You better believe it.

We know RIM's BlackBerry represents Canadian innovation at its finest, and the Canadarm contribution to the space program is well-known, but we couldn't help but notice the news from Sky Hook International for a new transport system -- using blimps:

A Calgary company will team up with aerospace giant Boeing to build a giant dirigible-like craft capable of lifting heavy loads for the oil and gas, mining and forestry sectors.
SkyHook International Inc. president Peter Jess said the companies plan to build two prototypes of the JHL-40 rotorcraft -- a combination helicopter and blimp -- before proceeding with a production run of 50 to 60 units.
According to company officials, there isn't anything quite like it in existence and the prototypes will mark the commercial development of a whole new breed of aircraft.
"The list of customers waiting for SkyHook's services is extensive and they enthusiastically support the development of the JHL-40."
The patented craft will be capable of hauling 40-tonne loads up to 320 kilometres in areas without basic infrastructure such as roads.
Jess said the first two initial craft would be deployed in the Arctic.
Formerly with Dome Petroleum, Jess said he came up with the idea decades ago while working in the Far North.
Boeing will build the prototypes at its manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania while SkyHook will own, maintain and operate the aircraft on a worldwide basis.
The JHL-40 has yet to be certified by aviation authorities in Canada or the United States and won't come into service until 2012.

Innovation leads economic development in any business -- especially satcom.

Technorati Tags: boeing skyhook industry+canada telesat ciel ka-band

Satcom in Uganda

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:20:57 -0700

We've written extensively about efforts to connect Africa with the digital world (see Com in Africa: A Changing Marketplace, A Pan-African E-Network, With India's Technology, and Which Satellites Aid Oil Exploration in Africa?, for examples).

Now, East and Southern Africa are about to be connected to the global internet pipeline by undersea cable, and terrestrial networks are rapidly expanding in major towns.

But what about the more remote nations of Africa, such as Uganda, home of the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?

Like Nigeria, Uganda relies upon satellite for its principle mode of digital communications:

Satellite transmission remains the most apt mode of digital communication in Uganda and much of Africa where spotty infrastructure and geographical isolation still pose a formidable challenge to the deployment of fibre optic cables, according to an official from Afsat Communications ltd.

Afsat is Africa’s largest provider of Very Small Aperture Terminal, (VSAT) based internet services. At a June 19th media presentation in Kampala on the potential of satellite technology in bringing internet access, Afsat’s General Manager Job Ndege said VSATs were still the best and cost efficient means of bringing the Ugandan masses access to internet.

Currently Afsat is marketing its services in Uganda under the brand name iWay Africa and connects its clients to: “fast, reliable, efficient and cost effective broadband intenrt” and “Tailor designed and highly available intra-corporate connectivity solutions.”

The company is present in 28 sub-Saharan African countries and has installed about 5200 VSATs on both the broadband and intra-corporate platforms. Lately there has been a lively debate among the ICT industry analysts, policy makers and academics on the relevance of VSATs in the wake of efforts, now in advanced stages, to connect East and Southern Africa to the word’s fibre optic network.

Monitor Online has a good interview with Afsat’s Job Ndege, who notes that VSAT is immune to the problems of poor infrastructure "because it is possible to have a VSAT system that completely bypasses the local infrastructure.
This is a key advantage of VSAT as compared to other technologies."

For delivery of the digital connection, Afsat's iWay Broadband utilizes the Intelsat 10 (IS-10) and NSS-7 satellites.

Technorati Tags: africa technology satcom communications broadband development internet uganda parks vsat afsat satellites SES intelsat

Broadcast Boo-Boo in Basel

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:28:45 -0700

Are you kidding me? During a LIVE broadcast, ESPN's feed from Switzerland goes dark? That's right, rocket scientists, they lost the signal during the Euro 2008 semi-final match between Turkey and Germany. I missed one of the goals! And it wasn't only ESPN that lost the feed -- everybody lost it. Germans, Turks -- all the live broadcasts were depending on that pool feed from Basel, Switzerland (live webcam image above).

Why? Has the world gone mad? Where's my Swiss dependability? Perhaps I shouldn't trust those aerial trams and cable cars at ski resorts like I used to, owing to "Swiss dependability." Well, it's got nothing to do with "the Swiss." This was all UEFA: they decided to handle all the technical stuff themselves by forming UEFA Media Technologies SA, who was in charge of the International Broadcast Centre in Vienna, Austria. The operation is run by Alexandre Fourtoy, who used to run their Web site, uefa.com.

Apparently lightning struck the power source and knocked out the feed several times, via Canadian Press:

A violent thunderstorm swept across Austria and knocked out power at the International Broadcast Center in Vienna, from where television images of the match were beamed around the world.
With the match delicately poised at 1-1 in the second half at St. Jakob Park in the Swiss city of Basel, screens around the world flickered and went blank. Internet coverage also was hit by the blackout.
"Tonight the television signal in the International Broadcast Centre for the Germany-Turkey game has been interrupted several times in the second half due to technical reasons which are currently being investigated, in particular to evaluate the impact of the violent electrical storm over Vienna at that time," UEFA said in a statement.
As the thunderstorm raged over Vienna, the images came and went several times in the closing minutes.
In between the blackouts, Miroslav Klose gave Germany a 2-1 lead in the 79th minute off a cross from Philipp Lahm. But screens were blank when Semih Senturk pulled off what looked like another Turkey escape act with an 86th-minute equalizer, beating goalkeeper Jens Lehmann at the near post.
Images returned in time for viewers to watch Lahm eliminate Turkey with a goal in the last minute of regulation time.
The only broadcasters whose signal escaped the interruption were Swiss public TV company SRG in Zurich and Al-Jazeera, said UEFA, which couldn't immediately explain why those feeds were unaffected by the Vienna broadcast centre blackout.
However, SRG spokesman Daniel Steiner, said the broadcaster has access to an official feed in all Swiss stadiums, and they were able to tap into that when the connection went down. The Swiss broadcaster provided the feed to German TV station ZDF for 15 minutes, during which time the two goals were scored.
The heavy rain, high winds and lightning also sparked the evacuation of a fan zone in downtown Vienna and two people were injured after being trampled in the rush to leave the area, police said.
Authorities said they gave the order to close the fan zone at 10:15 p.m. local time after the storm unleashed winds exceeding 100 kilometers per hour.
While the disruptive storm hit Vienna, spectators watching the game at the ground in Basel remained dry and unperturbed throughout.

Look, this isn't some minor league game from Ukraine -- this is the European Championships, aruguably the second most important soccer (football) tournament after the World Cup. You're providing the satellite feed for hundreds of television networks. Where's your redundancy?

When Fox does an NFL game from the Los Angeles, for example, they buy three fiber and two satellite paths, and probably a couple of power generators (properly grounded) standing by. Nobody wants to break the news to Rupert they saved some money by not having an extra back-up on Monday.

So they switched to a feed showing the "fanzone" in the Muensterplatz. Actually, the match ended while we were watching that feed. I'm sure I was not the only one outraged by this. Al-Jazeera's feed was not affected? Dude...

We'll follow up on this one later.

The Guardian's live text coverage captured the moment well:

GOAL! Germany 2-1 Turkey (Klose 78): Goal! And I didn't see it! Rustu comes for a cross, makes a right pig's ear of it, and Klose heads home. So I'm told.

Technorati Tags: satcom euro+2008+feed lightning+strike espn ebu basel ibu uefa euro+2008 satellite+uplink media+technologies+sa

Shake, Shake, Shake

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:54:32 -0700

Mobile Satellite Ventures is proposing a system to help predict earthquakes in the U.S. Naturally, it's a satellite-based system:

Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) today announced that it has joined with the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC) to form a new satellite mutual aid radio talkgroup (SMART) dedicated to the preparation for and response to earthquakes throughout the central United States.
CUSEC is a partnership of the federal government and eight states most affected by earthquakes in the central U.S. including Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. The organization serves as the coordinating hub for the multi-state region and as a partnership of organizations to mediate disasters and save lives caused by earthquakes in the central U.S.

MSV is expected to shake things up with their new satellite, MSV-1, expected to launch in 2009 and based on Boeing's GeoMobile platform (like Thuraya, but bigger). Wait a minute: where's California? They have their own earthquake people. But central U.S.? There was an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale in the Wabash Valley on 18 April 2008, via The Southern Illinoisan:

An earthquake centered in southern Illinois rocked people awake across the Midwest early Friday, surprising residents unaccustomed to such seismic activity.
The quake just before 4:37 a.m. was centered 6 miles from West Salem, Ill., and 66 miles west of Evansville, Ind.
Initially pegged as a 5.4 earthquake, the U.S. Geological Survey revised its estimate to give it a value of 5.2.
West Salem is in Edwards County, and dispatcher Lucas Griswold says the sheriff's department received several calls about the earthquake but only reports of minor damage and no injuries.
``Oh, yeah, I felt it. It was interesting,'' Griswold said. ``A lot of shaking.''

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Australian Broadcasting is reporting a new satellite system for predicting earthquakes using ionospheric dimpling:

The theory suggests that much of earth's rock has soaked up water, which has later been exposed to extreme heat and pressure inside the earth. Those conditions break apart the water and create the electrically conductive crystals that exist inside most rocks, as well as byproducts such as oxygen.
As pressure builds before an earthquake, the oxygen molecules inside the rocks undergo chemical reactions, creating a positive electrical charge that radiates out toward the earth's surface.
"It's similar to how an electrical charge radiates through a battery," says Freund.
The charge creates a subtle fluorescent, infrared glow and a magnetic field one to two weeks before a major earthquake.
That light shines into space, the theory goes, where satellites can register the change.
Low-resolution thermal cameras aboard the proposed satellites would scan the earth to detect earthquake precursors, says Eves.
The positively charged magnet creates a dimple, up to 20 kilometres deep, in the earth's atmosphere by attracting negatively charged ions from as far away as 600 kilometres above the surface of the Earth.
To detect this ionospheric dimpling, the satellites would monitor the existing Global Positioning Satellite System with three small GPS antennas on its side. As each GPS satellite comes up over the horizon, its signal would pass through the ionosphere. Any dimpling would change that signal.
The theory is not without skeptics.
"As far as I know, there is no published research to suggest that this will work," says Dr Mike Blanpied, who is with the United States Geologic Survey's Earthquake Hazards Program.

This early-warning system was reported by the Wall Street Journal last month:

Early in May, NASA earth scientists monitoring infrared images of the earth noticed unusual patterns in southwestern China. One sent an email to colleagues, noting: Something is happening in Sichuan province.
For Friedemann Freund, a chemist-turned-NASA geophysics researcher, it was more support for his simple, though hotly contested theory: Earthquakes are the culmination of drawn-out physical processes that can be tracked sometimes more than a week ahead of the main event.

The main idea: Rocks put under enough pressure -- for example, when tectonic plates shift -- turn into batteries. The resulting electrical currents can travel miles into the earth, Dr. Freund says. The infrared images observed by NASA, for example, were concentrated several hundred miles from the epicenter of the roughly 8.0 magnitude earthquake that struck on May 12, killing at least 34,000 people.
Dr. Freund describes his discovery as simple, made at 2 p.m. on a Friday afternoon in early 2005 just before he and his graduate students finished packing up a temporary laboratory they had been using. For experiment No. 167, one for the road, they decided to use a copper contact to test whether a squeezed rock emitted a current. It did.
"This is something that should have been discovered 50 years ago," he said.
Certainly, people have tried. For more than a century, researchers have debated the pursuit of the "holy grail" of earthquake prediction. There is still no widespread support for linking electromagnetic signals, infrared emissions or atmospheric changes to an approaching quake.

Satellites are used to communicate seismic data, and transmitting videos, of course. The prospect of being able to predict such events many days in advance seems like a real possibility. Count on the Smithsonian to present it, probably based on a published piece by Dr. Ouzounov of George Mason University.

Technorati Tags: mobile+satellite skyterra msv usgs ouzounov richter+scale earthquake sichuan mss

Alaskan Business

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:38:51 -0700

Out in the bush, you need an airplane to get around effectively. You can get by with a snowmoble in the winter, but how much can you cover in a day? Alaska is a big state, spanning 663,267 square miles (that's 367 million acres, cowboy). Since the early 1970s, Alaska's telephone system has been using satellite, primary using AT&T Alascom's Aurora satellites (currently Aurora III; co-named AMC-8). Pretty extensive network, highlighted by the Alyeska Pipeline:

When Galaxy 18 launched in May, we didn't think they'd be cutting over some of the services from the Galaxy 10R spacecraft so quickly. End-of-life for G10R was originally projected to be 2015, but after a XIPS problem, it was cut short. One of the big customers on that bird, GCI, moved nine transponders of traffic yesterday:

GCI announced today that it successfully transitioned all of its rural telecommunication services last night to the Galaxy 18 satellite. This satellite will provide long-distance, Internet, distance education and telehealth services throughout rural Alaska for the next 14 years.
“The success of last night means rural Alaskans will stay connected to the most advanced network in Alaska,” said Ron Duncan, GCI president and CEO. “It also provides major businesses in Alaska and carriers in the lower 48 states the ability to directly touch customers virtually anywhere in Alaska.”
GCI owns nine transponders on Galaxy 18 and will take possession of a tenth transponder in approximately two weeks. GCI will lease the transponder capacity from Intelsat. However, GCI will be required to account for this arrangement as a capital lease. This will result in a capital lease obligation, and corresponding long-term asset, in the approximate amount of $98 million.

Hmm. At that price, it seems to work out to approximately $58,000 per month per transponder, and that ain't a bad price. I suppose if the oil keeps pumping, there will always be money to pay for satcom services. Keep us rocket scientists busy for years.

Here's where the oil ends up, in Valdez:

Technorati Tags: alascom gci alaskan+oil alaska+pipeline alyeska+pipeline intelsat galaxy+18

Blogging at 300 KM/H

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:26:24 -0700

No, the title of this post isn't a reference to the velocity of our Kerouacian prose -- it's what you could be doing if you took a train between Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne:

The first commercial application of the European Space Agency (ESA) “Broadband on Trains” initiative officially launched May 14 on six high-speed Thalys trains... Passengers on the trains equipped with “Thalysnet” have continuous Internet connectivity while traveling at 300 km/h via a satellite 36,000 km above the trains.

The satellite link uses a low profile tracking antenna on the train to provide a two-way connection to the Ku-band satellite system and a hub station connected to the Internet backbone. Terrestrial wireless is used to maintain a connection when the train is traveling through tunnels. The total bandwidth from the satellite shared among users on the train is 2 Mbps down and 512 Kbps up. Bandwidth across all trains in the fleet is allocated on demand according to the usage level.

The tracking antenna truly is low-profile. If a train passes you at high speed, you'd be hard pressed to see the little nub whizzing by you:

The ESA initiative to bring broadband to trains started nearly two and a half years ago; as of May of this year, Thalysnet is officially and commercially available to train passengers:

Thalysnet... was developed by a consortium lead by Nokia Siemens Networks, which combines satellite communications with conventional wireless data technologies to provide a continuous Internet connection on board trains travelling across national borders at 300 km/h. One of the companies in the consortium is the UK-based 21Net, which carried out a pilot project in 2005 under the European Space Agency's Broadband to Trains initiative.

21Net worked with leading railway operators such as RENFE (Spain) and SNCF (France), along with Thalys, to develop a solution combining bi-directional satellite communications with terrestrial wireless technologies.

With soaring gas prices leading to an increase in public transport usage here in the US, could an American equivalent of Thalysnet be far behind?

Technorati Tags: 21net thalysnet esa technology internet satcom broadband trains

Unfurling a Big Antenna in Space

Wed, 28 May 2008 08:23:35 -0700

The ICO G1, launched last month, is referred to as the "world's largest" by manufacturer Space Systems/Loral:

ICO G1 is a Loral-designed spacecraft that incorporates a 12-meter antenna reflector designed and built by Harris Corporation. The reflector utilizes a gold-plated mesh reflective surface and a unique new Harris design that allows a very large antenna reflector to stow safely and easily on the Loral 1300 satellite platform. The reflector size enables the increased performance typically required for mobile interactive media services.
ICO G1 is the largest commercial satellite launched to date, weighing nearly 15,000 pounds at liftoff, and measuring more than 27 feet high and over 100 feet wide, following solar array deployment.

Here's the animation simulating deployment:

Technorati Tags: ico+mim harris palo+alto loral ico

A Billion More Satellite Internet Users

Thu, 15 May 2008 21:05:46 -0700

Q: How do you connect 1 billion more Africans to the Internet by 2012?

A: By Satellite, of course.

According to a story by Efem Nkanga in This Day (Nigeria), that will call for launching 20 satellites to do the job:

One billion Africans located in under-served rural and urban areas across the continent are set to benefit from an initiative powered by a non profit association of the international satellite industry called Global VSAT Forum to double the number of earth station terminals operating in Africa by 2012.
The worldwide Global body of firms involved in the business of delivering advanced digital fixed satellite unveiled these plans to newsmen at the ongoing Telecoms Africa forum in Cairo. Mr. Jeremy Rose, Chairman, International Development Initiatives, Global VSAT Forum, who disclosed this initiative said that more than 20 satellites will be brought into service to connect Africa during the next five years to support this initiative. Rose added that to facilitate the industry's offering, complimentary capacity building will be delivered to governments in Africa by the GVF. These initiatives according to him are being unveiled to support ongoing plans by the International Telecoms Federation to meet Africa's connectivity goals set during Connect Africa Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda in October, 2007.
The GSM Association had announced that its industry members planned to invest $50 billion between 2008 and 2012 in networks in Africa, covering 90 per cent of the population.
The Association announced today that the number of mobile connections in Africa has risen 70 million in the past 12 months to 282 million.
Mobile operators have ramped up investment in the region, extending GSM coverage to reach an additional 550,000 square kilometers occupied by 46 million people.
This broadening coverage along with the falling cost of mobile communications has enabled millions of Africans to get connected.He added that the company's goal was to provide enhanced opportunities in connecting the next billion people.Earlier, stakeholders had made calls for Africa to have Broadband connectivity at affordable prices that would drive growth in the continent.One of the ways of driving this uptake of broadband was the call for optic fiber deployment across the length and breadth of the continent.A highlight of the formal opening was the Press launch of ITU's regional report, "African Telecommunication/ICT Indicators 2008: At a Crossroads". Following booming growth in the mobile telephony sector - which saw 65 million new subscribers in 2007- and an encouraging investment climate spurring economic development in the region, Africa is a continent on the move: the theme for ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2008.

That's quite a challenge from the GVF. If I'm still around in 2012, I'll do a follow-up post.

Look, I remember a forecast in June of 2001, by a market research company, that an addtional 500 geosynchronous satellites will be needed to satisfy demand. Nearly 7 years later, I don't see expansion of that magnitude.

Technorati Tags: gvf vsat+forum vsat africa satcom african+internet satellite+internet internet

Panasonic to Pursue Broadband at 35,000 Feet

Thu, 08 May 2008 19:17:20 -0700

We've long been fans of inflight broadband, ever since Ed blogged two years ago about his experience watching TV at 35,000 feet while reflecting on the use of Connexion by Boeing.

Way back in September of 2006, when Boeing shut down Connexion, we reported that Panasonic was looking to get onboard with inflight broadband. It took them longer than we expected to book their flight, as it were, but now Panasonic and Intelsat have announced that they are teaming up to bring broadband to air travelers:

Panasonic, known for delivering state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment technology, is introducing an advanced satellite transmission platform that will allow airline passengers the ability to access Internetbased information and entertainment. The service, Panasonic eXConnect, provides passengers Internet connectivity.

The platform will leverage Intelsat’s existing GlobalConnexSM Broadband service that is available on Intelsat’s global fleet of 53 in-orbit satellites, and regional teleport facilities. By utilizing Intelsat’s existing infrastructure, Panasonic will be able to introduce eXConnect in key regions around the world, providing an efficient and cost-effective means to scale the network capacity as demand grows.

Panasonic eXConnect enables two-way broadband connectivity that provides a wide range of applications useful to both the passengers and crew such as VPN, live TV, shopping, streaming media, tele-medicine, operational applications and personal devices integrated to the airline’s in-flight entertainment systems. With data rates comparable to ground public WIFI hotspots, eXConnect offers airlines the opportunity to further differentiate their in-flight product with a valuable service to their passengers.

ARINC is also working to put a wifi cloud up there with the regular puffy whites. They introduced their own inflight broadband service in Germany back in March:

ARINC’s Oi connectivity enables passengers to surf the Internet (by the hour, day, or flight leg), access e-mail during flight, chat over Instant Messenger, watch real-time news and sports flashes, hear bulletins—all on their own personal laptops. They can even watch and download the latest Podcasts. ARINC’s Oi technology makes optimum use of Inmarsat Swift satellite communication services.
Passengers merely switch on their PCs and can connect instantly via a wired or wireless cabin backbone to the Oi Web Portal. The Portal is fully customized to each airline’s requirements, supporting a combination of free view or paid applications. Oi will feature a range of price points to suit most budgets, and ARINC expects webmail prices will be under US$10 a flight, with larger attachments requiring an extra charge.

$10 bucks really isn't that bad for email access per flight leg, considering Sebadoh recently shelled out $3 for a mere half ounce of peanuts that lasted about 2 minutes.

What about the other services we've blogged about in the past, like the Row 44 platform being pursued by Alaska Airlines? We hear Row 44 is moving up, but it's not yet full.

Technorati Tags: arinc panasonic intelsat boeing satcom traveling aviation broadband

Polish Space Program

Wed, 07 May 2008 11:25:20 -0700

Came across this in a recent UPI news item that read "Baniak and de Cooker sign agreement" -- I know some Polish and the word "baniak" means "cooking pot" so I got a chuckle out of it.

But seriously, as the European Community expands, will the European Space Agency (ESA) begin enlisting new members? Yes they will, with Poland joining ESA's PECS (Plan for European Cooperating States) recently:

Europejska Agencja Kosmiczna dokonała ostatecznej selekcji wniosków na projekty w ramach Programu dla Europejskich Państw Współpracujących (PECS), realizowanego na podstawie Porozumienia o Europejskim Państwie Współpracującym między Rządem Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej a Europejską Agencją Kosmiczną (ESA), podpisane w Warszawie w dniu 27 kwietnia 2007 r.
ESA zaakceptowała ostatecznie 18 projektów jako spełniające wymogi włączeniado PECS oraz odnoszące się do jej bieżących lub planowanych działań. Podpisanie Karty działań PECS jest planowane na dzień 25 kwietnia 2008 w Ministerstwie Gospodarki.

Now in English, via the ESA:

On 28 April 2008 Poland reinforced its relations with ESA by signing the Plan for European Cooperating State Charter. This is a direct follow up to the signing of the European Cooperating State Agreement in April 2007.

The Plan for European Cooperating State (PECS) Charter was signed in Warsaw by Rafal Baniak, Secretary of State in the Polish Ministry of Economy, and Chris de Cooker, Head of the International Relations Department of ESA.
By signing the Charter, Poland now becomes the fourth European country to subscribe to PECS. Hungary signed the Charter in November 2003, the Czech Republic in November 2004 and Romania in February 2007.

The Polish scientific community has been active in space endeavors, with the most recent contribution was the development of the ARISS antenna on the Columbus module (an amateur radio set-up operating in the 1260 to 2400 MHz bands), mostly from Wrocław University of Technology. The Columbus module, as we blogged back in February, was launched aboard STS-122.

Korean astronaut Yi So Yeon Lee used the ham radio when she was at the ISS. Read and listen here.

Technorati Tags: nasa amateur+radio ariss iss columbus columbus+module sts-122 polish+space Wrocław Polskie+Biuro+Przestrzeni+Kosmicznej