It may be tiny but that doesn’t stop the Isle of Man, which has had a busy week in space. August 15 saw the AMC-21 satellite, procured by SES’ leasing company, SES Satellite Leasing Limited in the Isle of Man, successfully roar into space onboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle from the French Guiana Spaceport in Kourou. This was the third so called “Manx satellite” to be launched since November 2006, following on the heels of AMC-18 and Sirius 4.
AMC-21 will be establishing a new Ku-band enterprise and broadcast neighborhood in the North American arc at 125 degrees West. Anchoring the new satellite is the Public Broadcasting Service and several of their local broadcast affiliates. The satellite will also be used for new applications such as maritime mobile broadband.
August the 18th saw the successful launch of the 4 F3 satellite procured by Inmarsat Launch Company Limited, also in the Isle of Man. The 4 F3 satellite was on board a Proton M/Breeze M launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (which we just wrote about). 4 F3 will provide mobile broadband services, delivering enhanced voice and high speed data services to users on land at sea and in the air, around the world.
These two latest launches will bring the satellites procured through Isle of Man companies to a total of four since November 2006. The other development during the last week was the ruling in the High Court in London in favor of both the Office of Communications (Ofcom) and the Isle of Man over a long running dispute with Bermuda.
The background to the case involved ManSat Ltd, an Isle of Man registered company, which had made an orbital filing slot application for a specific orbital slot via Ofcom in the UK. Ofcom then processed the application that will be submitted to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) who registers all such orbital filing slot assignments.
Bermuda objected to the filing approval by Ofcom and is forwarding it to the ITU arguing that the satellite to be launched into the specific slot would interfere with a pre-existing frequency assignment relating to Bermuda. ManSat tried to allay Bermuda’s concerns but was unable to reach an agreement on the interference issue. Ofcom analyzed the proposal and came to the conclusion that the satellite did not adversely affect Bermuda.
Bermuda went on to apply for judicial review on the grounds that Ofcom’s functions, with respect to British Overseas Territories under section 22 of the Communications Act 2003, are solely representative and that Ofcom is obliged to follow the wishes of the government of the country in question. Bermuda argued that Ofcom had no power to determine independently whether the modified ManSat filing would interfere with pre-existing frequency assignments and that its decision to submit the proposal to the ITU, in the absence of Bermuda’s agreement, would therefore be unlawful and/or irrational.
Ofcom, supported by ManSat and the Isle of Man, contended that Ofcom did have the power to determine whether the ManSat filing would interfere with other assignments for which Ofcom was responsible. ManSat, the Isle of Man Government and Ofcom believed that all of the necessary procedures and consultations had been followed and that the ManSat filing would not cause any interference.
Justice Goldring at the High Court in London unequivocally ruled in favor of both Ofcom and the Isle of Man, awarding costs to both Ofcom and the Isle of Man and refusing Bermuda permission to appeal.
The beautiful Isle of Man has seven space/satellite companies on the Isle, and the satellite industry on the Isle was worth more than 25 million pounds in the last three years. The satellite industry on the Isle of Man is independently estimated to be worth another 14 million pounds in the next three years while the private sector is projected to receive income from the space industry over the next three years in excess of 317 million pounds. In addition, the Isle of Man is home to the International Space Universities’ International Institute of Space Commerce, and is home to Odyssey Moon, the first formal entrant to the multi million pound Google Lunar X-Prize.
