Inmarsat introduces new Galaxy1 satellite communications technology

Inmarsat, a leading British satellite telecommunication company, is launching a new solution called Remote Terminal Manager, which aims to provide control and management over unmanned M2M terminals in the field.

With this new development, users of Inmarsat’s M2M portfolio services -- including BGAN M2M -- will now be able to control their devices remotely without the need to send teams for troubleshooting or manually rebooting terminals.

Using a map interface, the Remote Terminal Manager shows Inmarsat M2M users where their assets are located across the globe, as well as the status of those terminals. The tool also enables users to have control over the terminals.

The new solution makes use of technology licensed from Galaxy1, an independent satellite communications services provider and member of the Inmarsat partner community.

Orbital Science’s SORCE Satellite celebrates ten years in space

Orbital Sciences, a premier American company specializing in the manufacturing and launch of satellites, celebrated the tenth anniversary of Solar and Radiation Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite’s successful operation.

In 2003, SORCE satellite was sent into orbit aboard the Pegasus rocket of Orbital, in a mission that originated from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The initial plan for the satellite’s mission was to supply continuous solar climate science and Earth atmospheric data for a span of five years. Ten years after that, the program’s Mission Operations Center at the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is still receiving data that is shared with the science community all over the world.

“The SORCE mission is an ideal example of how academia, government and industry can partner to advance science investigations and our understanding of the world around us. The Principal Investigator model for developing and operating high-value science missions has proven to be very successful on programs like SORCE and NASA-funded Explorer-class missions,” Orbital Sciences Vice President of Business Development Rob Fulton said in a statement. “The SORCE program is an excellent example of this model, with the spacecraft and overall mission doubling the duration originally planned for the program.”

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Yamal 402 satellite reaches geostationary orbit

The Russian communications satellite, Yamal 402, has finally reached its geostationary Earth orbit and is now ready for operation, Thales Alenia Space said in a statement. The satellite was sent into space on December 8 by the International Launch Services (ILS) from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, but due to some technical glitches, it detached from its upper stage four minutes earlier because of a failure on the rocket’s Breeze-M booster, currently under investigation.

The 4,463kg (9,840lb) satellite built by Thales Alenia Space was subjected to a recovery operation using the satellite’s own fuel reserves and engine to take the spacecraft to its exact geostationary orbit and slot. The Russian satellite arrived at its designated orbit on December 15, but it was not until Wednesday, January 9, that it reached its final location.

Insured up to a value of €310 million ($406 million, the satellite carries a huge fuel reserve, but life-loss is anticipated to be four years.

Thales Alenia Space created the satellite for Russia’s Gazprom Space Systems to provide communication links over Russia, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Europe and Africa. It is equipped with 46 Ku-band transponders to perform its mission.

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Lockheed Martin Delivers Core Structure for Next-Gen GOES Satellite

Lockheed Martin has just delivered the core structure of the first next-generation geostationary weather satellite of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, where it will be subject to propulsion system integration.

The satellite, named Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R), will be outfitted with state-of-the-art instruments and technology to enhance the quality and timeliness in weather forecasting for the U.S and Western Hemisphere. The development of the spacecraft is reported to be moving on schedule for its planned launch in 2015.

The rigid core structure of the first GOES-R Series which will enclose the satellite’s propulsion systems and support the payloads, was designed by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Newtown, Pennsylvania, and manufactured by ATK Aerospace Group’s Space and Components Division in San Diego. The device weighs only 400 pounds, but it can support loads of more than 95,000 pounds in the thrust direction, and 1.8 million in-pounds in a bending moment.

The integration of the propulsion system in the GOES-R Series will last almost a year. During that period, the team will integrate GOES-R’s fuel tanks, lines, thermal controls, and other systems within the core structure. When the integration process is finished, the structure will be matched with the GOES-R system module, where the satellite’s advanced instruments live.

Aside from the spacecraft, Lockheed Martin is also building and designing the Solar ultraviolet Imager and Geostationary Lighting Mapper for the GOES-R satellite.

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Orbcomm settles $45 million term loan financing with AIG

Orbcomm, a company that offers global asset monitoring and cellular data communications, has recently completed a five-year loan agreement with AIG Asset Management worth $45 million that could diminish concerns on whether it could finance the OG2 constellation.

The loan has a fixed interest rate of 9.5 percent, which is payable on a quarterly basis over the duration of the loan. The expanded capital will build on Orbcomm’s unfunded capital expenditure commitment in the principal amount of $33 million for its OG2 satellite constellation that the company could cover with expected money generation through 2014. With the new term loan of Orbcomm, the company decided to cut off its $20 million vendor financing agreement with Sierra Nevada that was originally secured as part of Orbcomm’s $117 million satellite manufacturing contract with the company, due to expire this year.

Raymond James Analyst Chris Quilty said that aside from funding capital expenditures, the loan should allow Orbcomm to fund the creation of new products and services, grow its distribution, expand geographically and pursue potential acquisitions.

“While not exactly in T-bill territory, the interest rate nonetheless appears appropriate given Orbcomm’s operational risk profile with two high-profile launches on the horizon and the absence of meaningful covenants,” Quilty said in a statement.

With AIG’s loan agreement, it enables Orbcomm to acquire additional financing through a revolving working capital facility with other lenders for up to $15 million in the form of inventory and accounts receivable borrowing based loans.

“We applaud Orbcomm management’s effort to shore up the balance sheet and increase financial flexibility,” added Quilty. “Orbcomm’s borrowing costs should decline substantially over time, but the company should have plenty of opportunities to refinance its debt as the company becomes operationally and financially self-sustaining and levers up the balance sheet to an appropriate leverage ratio over time.”

In other news, Orbcomm said that the company had collected a payout worth $10 million from its insurance agent as compensation for the company’s loss of OG2 prototype satellite during a failed launch attempt last October 2012 by SpaceX -- the same mission that sent the launcher’s Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. The company said that the insurance payout was anticipated.

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Failure of Yamal-402’s Turbopump Bearing Results in Early Separation

Russia’s Roscosmos space agency reported that the initial failure of telecommunications satellite Yamal-402 to reach its predestined orbit was most likely brought about by the failure of a pump’s bearing.

Launched into space last December 8 from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan, Yamal-402 detached from its launch rocket four minutes early, causing it to fail from reaching the destined orbit. Thales Alenia Space, the company that constructed the satellite for Russia’s Gazprom Space Systems, later removed the satellite from its intended orbit with the help of its onboard engines.

Roscosmos space agency experts say that the damaged bearing inside the turbopump of the Briz-M launch rocket’s upper stage caused the early separation. Now, the service life of Yamal-402 telecommunications satellite will be reduced from 15 years to 11 years because of the emergency use of its fuel reserves.

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US Air Force satellite successfully launched

The United Launch Alliance or ULA - a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin - successfully launched the US Air Force’s X-37B, an Orbital Test Vehicle or OTV developed by Boeing. The unmanned spacecraft is a reusable vehicle which is launched into space via a rocket, but reenters earth as a spaceplane. ULA said the launch took place at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station via the Atlas 5 rocket.

Reports indicate the Air Force’s shuttle is classified and thus, the organization has not released much information about the launch’s mission. After the launch, a news and media blackout immediately followed.

Experts say the X-37B might be carrying specialized sensors that are being tested for possible use in future satellites. The space vehicle is about one fourth the size of NASA’s Space Shuttle, and are the first vehicle since the end of the shuttle program, to be runway-landing.

 

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