TT&C: On track and in touch To most people, satellites are ‘out of sight, out of mind’, but their operators need to keep tabs on them. Mark Williamson, independent space technology consultant, explains how it’s done. Click here for the full story

SATLYNX steps in to rescue stranded satellite broadband customers
Satlynx announced the launch of a rescue offer for customers of Ouranos Networks who have been without service for over six days. Satlynx’s rescue offer comes after a growing market awareness of loss of service six days ago, whilst the Ouranos web-site still reports a problem despite their promise of a resolution within 48 hours. The offer is designed to minimize the cost of transfer from one satellite technology to another and is available only from the Satlynx European VAR network in selected countries, subject to the terms of this special offer...

High quality maritime satellite broadband goes live acros North America
Cruise ships, luxury yachts and commercial tankers can for the first time benefit from terrestrial-quality high-speed broadband services across inland and coastal areas of the North American land mass. With this extended coverage, UK-based satellite communications provider NSSL is uniquely positioned to provide maritime broadband services covering North America, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Mediterranean, the North Sea and the majority of the Atlantic Ocean...

Asia Broadcast Satellite acquires the satellite operator, LMI, from Lockheed Martin
Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS), a newly formed satellite operator, has announced the acquisition of Lockheed Martin Space Communications Ventures, Ltd. (LMSCV) and Lockheed Martin Intersputnik, Ltd. (LMI) from Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications (LMGT)...

SNRT Morocco orders mobile broadcasting equipment
ND SatCom, an SES ASTRA company and a leading global supplier of satellite-based broadband VSAT, broadcast, government and defence communication network solutions, has announced that the Moroccan TV SNRT, formerly RTM, awarded a contract for a classicSNG vehicle and two Fly-Aways...

Satellite uniquely positioned to bring broadband Internet access to everyone
Providing broadband Internet access services everywhere was the subject of the Southern West Virginia Broadband Summit, hosted recently by Senator Jay Rockefeller as part of his ongoing commitment to bringing advanced telecommunications to southern West Virginia and the entire Mountain State...

Patriot Antenna Systems is pleased to announce the hiring of Dr. Chang Sik Kim as Senior RF Engineer
Patriot Antenna Systems is pleased to announce the hiring of Dr. Chang Sik Kim as Senior RF Engineer. Dr. Kim will be helping to oversee the design of antennas and related RF components. His duties will also include Consulting and advisement on RF components and Type Approval of Earth Satellite antennas...

FTMSC offers crew calling promotion for upcoming religious festivals
France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications (FTMSC) is offering customers of its pre-paid crew calling solution the possibility to make calls at the low-peak “Happy Hour” tariff during the upcoming religious festival period...

World Teleport Association elects new members of Board of Directors
World Teleport Association announced the election of Dr. Gerhard Bommas, Chief Technology Officer of ND SatCom, and Malcolm Warren, Director, Asia-Pacific for ViaSat, to its international Board of Directors. They will serve a three-year term that began on April 1, 2006...

EMC supports humanitarian efforts in the Middle East
Emerging Markets Communications (EMC) has just connected an EMC Quick Deployment in Beirut, Lebanon...

Space Adventures client, Anousheh Ansari, successfully launches
Space Adventures, Ltd., the world's leading space experiences company, announced that Anousheh Ansari and her crew successfully launched aboard a Soyuz TMA spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan en route to the International Space Station. Mrs. Ansari joins the Expedition 14 crew which includes NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin for her 10-day mission...

Lockheed Martin Solar arrays begin providing power to ISS
The second of four pairs of massive solar arrays and a Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ), built by Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] at its Space Systems facility in Sunnyvale, have been installed on the International Space Station by the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis. The two new solar arrays have been deployed and are generating electricity. When brought on line during the STS-116 mission in December, they will nearly double the power available to the Space Station. A second rotary joint and a third pair of solar arrays will be delivered to ISS on STS-117 in early 2007...

Nigerian Minister of Science and Technology to open WASC Summit
The West Africa Satellite Communications Summit, taking place in Abuja, Nigeria, 31 October to 2 November 2006 will be opened with a Welcoming Address by Professor Turner T. Isoun, Honourable Minister of Science & Technology of the Nigerian Federal Government...