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Elektro Satellite Drawing Board Back Up And Running

July 25, 2007 / Spacecraft & Payload Technology

Named after Semyon Lavochkin who was this company’s head designer, NPO Lavochkin is a Russian satellite manufacturer who also engaged in aeronautical design and engineering and manufactures the Fregat space booster. The Russians have used this spacecraft as their landing stage for lunar missions such as Luna-16, as the braking stage to place Fobos-2 into orbit around Mars, and as an escape stage to launch units into interplanetary trajectories, such as the Venus and Mars Express probes.

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SNG Fleet & Rugby, HD Experiment Is “On”

July 25, 2007 / Satellite Communications

The spotlight on the 2007 Rugby World Cup is going to be the task of GlobeCast and their efforts to provide an uncompressed HD signal. This subsidiary of France Telecom, now celebrating its 10th anniversary, is going to provide end-to-end satellite and fibre contributions services for host broadcaster TVH and others and broadcasters.

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ORBITS: News Briefs…

July 25, 2007 / Exploration & Science Missions

-- School Days, New Phase, UofColo Wins Sat Instrument Contract -- Sea Launch Needed Gas Deflector, And That’s What They Finally Have -- TMF Associates Examines MSS Ops -- Housing Debacle Is Not Pleasant News For Satellite And Cable Giants, Either --

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Bringing Home Better Percentages

July 23, 2007 / Earnings & Financial Reporting

Mi Zeng Xin, the chairman of AsiaSat, stated it well, “The uplift in AsiaSat’s half-year performance was encouraging after a few years of sluggish trading in the Asian satellite sector amid a general economic strengthening across the region. Indeed, we have maintained our market leadership; remain debt-free and are committed to the future of satellite communication in the Asia-Pacific region. However, the recent launch of two new satellites in China poses a very real threat to AsiaSat’s business. As a result, the management of the Company will be adopting a cautious approach to the remainder of the year.”

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Unique Alliance Could Offer Solution For Safer Air Flight

July 23, 2007 / Military & Defense

Probably one of the most exceptional alliances you’d ever expect to hear to hear about was one that finds Raytheon and XM Satellite Radio as the best of buds as they go all out and bid on a contract to re tune air traffic control (ATC) in the United States. The Boston Globe is reporting the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) will award the contract for this makeover shortly, perhaps as early as next week.

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Bring Broadband Home, Regardless Where Home Might Be…

July 23, 2007 / Satellite Communications

Many would-be broadband consumers find themselves in a quandary, especially those in the more remote areas… they don’t enjoy dial-up connections… cable may be too expensive or non-existent… and whenever they enter their zip code into an alleged broadband provider’s website for a service check, their usual response has been “Checking… oops, sorry, no can do!”

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Hack ‘n Slash At Garmin, Pricing, That is…

July 23, 2007 / Startups & NewSpace Business

Price slashing, cost cutting, everyone loves a deal when it comes to the price of any item to be purchased. Garmin could become a European consumer’s best friend, as this company is involved in the design and manufacture of navigation, communication, and info devices, and they’ve decided to hack the price of two of their best-selling in-car nav-sat systems. Not by two percent or by five percent, but by 12 percent.

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Food For Thought From IWPC

July 23, 2007 / Events & Conferences

For those involved in, or have an interest in, antennas and antenna subsystems, base station equipment and the like, there is a workshop coming up you might wish to attend. The International Wireless Industry Consortium (IWPC) Infrastructure workshops have two events planned, both occurring in Stuttgart, Germany, from October 16th through the 19th.

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