SatNews

Satellite Industry Intelligence Since 1983

ORBITZ

  • ESA's GOCE in clean room Launch — The European Space Agency has announced that the scheduled October 27th launch date of GOCE has had to be postponed to allow the inquiry board time to conclude its work. A new launch date will be announced as soon as possible. Photo is of GOCE in the clean room at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, and is courtesy of ESA.

  • Business + Regulatory — International Datacasting Corporation, who provides advanced solutions for the distribution of broadband multimedia content via satellite, has received an order from SSI Micro, based in Yellowknife, North West Territories (NWT), for receivers to upgrade its satellite delivered high speed Internet service to remote communities across Northern Canada. SSI Micro is the largest ISP in the region, servicing more than 60 Northern communities within Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. SSI Micro is upgrading its network to include the latest DVB-S2 technology and has purchased IDC’s SFX3101 DVB-S2 satellite receiver with advanced 8PSK modulation, which allows for significant improvements in bandwidth utilization.

  • Delivery — Newtec has been selected by Gateway Communications, the largest provider of carrier and business network solutions in Africa, to provide an end to end IP trunking solution to increase the bandwidth efficiency of its intercontinental data links between Europe and Africa. Previously, Gateway’s satellite links performed as independent SCPC point-to-point links using Turbo coding modulation products. By replacing these products with Newtec’s Elevation DVB-S2 system, Gateway has managed to achieve a 50 percent increase in satellite bandwidth efficiency. This success was made possible by combining several IP trunking signals for IP and GPRS services into one satellite carrier, allowing saturation of the transponder for maximum efficiency.

  • Financially Speaking — Orbital Sciences Corporation’s (NYSE: ORB) financial results finds revenues were $278.6 million in 2008, compared to $275.6 million in 2007. The company reported third quarter operating income of $21.0 million in 2008, compared to $21.6 million in 2007. Adjusted income from continuing operations was $13.1 million, or $0.22 adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, in the third quarter of 2008, compared to income from continuing operations of $14.7 million, or $0.24 diluted earnings per share, in the third quarter of 2007. Orbital generated $37.1 million of free cash flow in the third quarter of 2008 compared to free cash flow of $22.4 million in last year’s third quarter. To read the entire financial report, select this link.

  • Award — RigNet, Inc., a global provider of managed communication services for the upstream oil and gas industry, has been named one of Houston’s fastest growing companies by the Houston Business Journal. All of the companies on the list are headquartered within the ten-county Houston metropolitan area and have been doing business for a minimum of five years. RigNet made the “Houston Fast 100” list based on its revenue growth percentage from 2005 to 2007. With a revenue growth of 406.26 percent, RigNet ranked 9th on the list.