The IS-27 UHF hosted payload provides capability to complement the existing UHF Follow-On (UFO) and future Multi-User Objective System (MUOS) satellites. The payload supports DAMA and IW operations, and is digitally tunable and completely interoperable with existing terminals.

“Intelsat has been providing commercial UHF services to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and our allies since the MARISAT and LEASAT programs. This payload continues that heritage and builds upon our current program with the Australian Defence Force,” said Don Brown, Vice President of Hosted Payloads for Intelsat General Corporation. “The IS-27 UHF payload will be functionally equivalent to the Navy’s UFO-11 satellite.”

In March 2010, the Navy submitted a UHF augmentation plan to Congress. A commercially hosted UHF payload was one of the solutions described to mitigate the shortfall in UHF capability. On May 10, 2010, SPAWAR issued a Sources Sought notice to industry requesting solutions for UHF augmentation. “Our intended customers for this payload are the Navy and DoD tactical users, as well as NATO and other allies,” said Kay Sears, President of Intelsat General Corporation. “The requirements outlined in the Sources Sought were at the forefront of our payload design process. Intelsat’s payload will arrive at a critical time and location to sustain warfighter communications.”

Sears continued, “We understand the military’s need for control and autonomy, and plan to offer our customers a variety of different contractual options for this UHF payload.” Intelsat signed an agreement with Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems for manufacturing of IS-27 earlier this month. Intelsat authorized Boeing to proceed with the UHF hosted payload in the second quarter of 2010 for longlead construction in order to meet a launch date in 2012.

Intelsat Fuchsstadt

BBC World News Signs Multi-satellite Deal for Program Distribution to Asia-Pacific and the Americas via the Intelsat Network. Intelsat has signed a renewal and expansion contract for satellite and teleport services to distribute its programming to its audiences throughout Asia-Pacific and the Americas regions.

Intelsat’s distribution solution includes satellite capacity on four satellites plus teleport and fiber services via its IntelsatONESM terrestrial network. To reach viewers in the Asia-Pacific region, BBC World News will utilize capacity on the Intelsat 8 and the Intelsat 5 satellites, located at 166º E and 169º E, respectively. For distribution into the Americas, BBC World News will use capacity on the Intelsat 9 and the Galaxy 13 satellites, located at 58° W and 127° W, respectively. Uplinking services will be carried out at Intelsat’s teleports located in Ellenwood, Georgia; Napa, California; and Paumalu, Hawaii.

Colin Lawrence, Commercial Director at BBC World News, said: “Being accessible to as wide an audience as possible is vitally important to us, whether that is via satellite or fiber services, so we’re very happy to increase our reach and deliver our programming to more viewers with this deal.”

“By leveraging our regional video neighborhoods, the BBC is able to efficiently deliver its programming to the top DTH and cable communities,” said Kurt Riegelman, Intelsat’s Senior Vice President, Global Sales. “Our ability to combine satellites with fiber and teleport services on our IntelsatONE network provides programmers and broadcasters a seamlessly integrated end-to-end solution that meets their global distribution requirements.”

“The growing global appetite for natural resources is rapidly driving mining concerns into emerging markets,” said Martin Creamer, Publisher of Creamer Media and Editor of Mining Weekly. “The need for cost-effective communications to support remote operations has never been greater. This agreement aims to strengthen understanding of how satellite and other complementary communications tools are being used to address critical mining challenges.”

“From workforce development and safety to remote monitoring and logistics, there are an increasing number of mining applications being addressed by satellite-enabled network solutions,” said David Hartshorn, Secretary General of GVF. “Through this agreement, Creamer Media and GVF intend to heighten awareness of innovative approaches that are producing positive results in the mining sector.”

Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly publication and MiningWeekly.com, which receives 43,000 unique visitors per week, will begin co-ordinating with GVF on industry news, event information, and special reports that reveal the impact of communications trends on each stage of the mining project life cycle, both for the majors and for the juniors.

In recent years, the satellite communications industry has experienced an escalation of signal interference, adversely impacting broadcast and telecommunication services. The Initiative has launched a multiple front campaign to combat this trend. The first aspect is a carrier ID working forum to pursue industry implementation of carrier ID: a means to identify interfering signals. The second aspect is the formation of the Space Data Association- an organization that will facilitate collecting and sharing interference event data amongst its satellite operator members. The third aspect is VSAT installer training.Installation by inadequately trained technicians is one of the main causes of interference identified by the Initiative. GVF has responded by enhancing the established VSAT Installer Training program to focus even more strongly on the skills necessary to avoid accidental generation of adjacent-satellite, cross-pol, and re-radiation interference.

As part of the Initiative, Intelsat has announcedtheir intent to train 400 installers per year through GVF for the next three years. SES has also formally adopted the GVF program, saying the training would help in its efforts to refocus the industry’s approach to managing and preventing interference. They have been joined by other satellite operators such as Eutelsat, Inmarsat, Telesat, Asiasat and others in endorsing the GVF’s new Basic Certification level and the associated online training course, GVF510, specifically targeted at delivering the core skills needed by field technicians to avoid creating VSAT-generated interference.

Whether it is mitigating uplink interference via the Basic Certification, providing solid knowledge and skills in VSAT installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting via the Advanced Certification, or gaining skills for installation, maintenance, and troubleshooting of specific equipment types via Specialist Certifications, the GVF Certification Program provides training for the knowledge and skills you need to be successful in the VSAT industry.

Intelsat and Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, the manufacturer of the IS-4, are working together to identify the cause of the anomaly. Launched in 1995, the Boeing 601 satellite was expected to reach its end-of-service life later in 2010. Intelsat previously disclosed that the IS-4 had experienced the failure of its satellite control processor (SCP) and was operating on its backup SCP.

Intelsat’s global fleet, the largest of any satellite operator, includes a number of other satellites which serve the regions formerly served by IS-4, providing a source of potential capacity for the restoration of affected customers. The failure of the satellite is not expected to impact significantly the company’s financial position or its planned capital expenditures.

As a result of the discontinuation, homes and business have found themselves without precious communication links. This could lead to potential loss of revenue and obvious frustration at the interruption of service.

The end-users have been offered services on the Telstar-11N satellite. However, services from this spacecraft are either not available in the affected African countries or will not work without further investment in hardware, which would prove costly. In addition, the implementation of new antenna equipment and its alignment are complex and can often only be carried out by a qualified installer who would have to travel through the desert to reach the customer.

atrexx is offering its support to those affected by the recent discontinuation of the service without any investment in hardware or requirement for dish re-alignment. Switchover to the atrexx iDirect iNFINITI service can be carried out within just 24 hours, enabling a speedy return to service. In addition, the professionals at atrexx are always at hand to offer help and support should it be required at any time.

Markus Schafer, Managing Director of Marketing and Sales for atrexx commented: “We are very happy to be in a position to offer this service to customers affected by this service shutdown on Intelsat 14, the former PAS1R. We realise the importance of communications and the implications that can arise when they are unavailable. atrexx can offer a very convenient, yet cost-effective solution to the problems that users in these West African regions face, and we look forward to assisting them.”

“We can provide the perfect solution to these requirements” said Jean-Claude Bisenius, Managing Director of atrexx. “We firstly evaluate the needs of the customer in order to propose an end-to-end solution using state-of-the-art SCPC equipment. We then calculate the link budget, procure the space segment required, program the modem, and help the customer to line-up the satellite with our teleport partners. When we are satisfied that everything is working to the end-user’s requirements, we pass over full control of the network to the customer. However, atrexx is always there to provide support and monitoring whenever it is needed.”

The complete, structured solution has several key advantages for the customer. It is scalable with small bandwidth increments, flexible and will grow as a business does. It also allows the customer to have overall control of the network without the involvement of any telecommunications or teleport provider – yet with the assurance of strong service partner support, should it be required. There is low latency, as all communications from headquarters to remote sites is via single hop. This is a strong benefit when compared to a traditional solution involving a hub station in Europe, resulting in double hop communication and thus double latency. The single hop solution proposed by atrexx only needs half the satellite bandwidth of a hub based alternative and thus is very cost-effective.

The service is made possible due to the use of new, high power satellites that lower customer’s investment. An antenna of typically 1.8 m in Ku-Band and 2.4m in C-Band is required at each side of the link. The hubless solution is thus as affordable to implement as a traditional VSAT network.

“Working across vast continents such as Africa, where conventional travel can sometimes be challenging, means large organizations need to maximize on the potential of communications technology,” said atrexx’ customer Olanrewaju Ore from KKON Technologies in Nigeria which have set up and provide support to a large bank network”. The bank needs to equal the efficiency across the world and atrexx has come up with a superb solution that allows us to achieve all this, and also to do it very cost effectively. The great support from atrexx has helped to have the complete satellite based corporate network up and running within days”, Mr. Ore continued.

The satellite, built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, will provide video and data services through its high power Ku-band payload. Once IS-15 is operational, it will replace Intelsat?s 709 satellite at 85º E, and is expected to have a useful life of at least 17 years.

Customers will use IS-15?s capacity to distribute in-demand services that include cellular backhaul, for wireless communications to remote locations; broadband networks for enterprise applications; IP trunking, for robust Internet connectivity; and video services, for DTH programming.

?IS-15 is our second launch of 2009, and the second in an 11-satellite launch campaign, the largest in Intelsat?s history. This spacecraft will have a satellite footprint that covers the majority of the Middle East, the Indian Ocean region and Russia, making it an ideal spacecraft for delivering services to customers operating in these regions,? said Dave McGlade, Intelsat CEO. ?This satellite is also supporting the expansion of government applications in the Indian Ocean region.?

IS-15 Payload to Strengthen SKY Perfect JSAT Broadband Offering Of the IS-15′s 22 Ku-band transponders, five are owned by SKY Perfect JSAT Corp.

?IS-15 will offer SKY Perfect JSAT the ability to provide direct broadband connections between Japan and the coastal countries and sea areas throughout the Indian Ocean region, delivering interactive mobile communications for ships and other vessels at sea,? said Masanori Akiyama, President and CEO of SKY Perfect JSAT.

The IS-15 satellite furthers the strong relationship between Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT Corp. Intelsat and JSAT International, the U.S. subsidiary of SKY Perfect JSAT Corp., jointly own the Horizons 1 and Horizons 2 satellites, delivering video and network services throughout North America.

Many requests come from governmental organizations or from banks and large companies that wish to provide telecommunication links from headquarters in a city to multiple offices within a country or outside it. This type of connectivity is possible using Single Channel Per Carrier (SCPC) equipment, even if your requirement is to link up to several locations.

atrexx can provide the perfect solution to these connectivity requirements. We will firstly evaluate your needs fully in order to propose an end-to-end solution using state-of-the-art equipment enabling a shared outbound carrier. We will calculate your link budget, procure the required space segment, program the modems (including routing for your network), and help you to line-up to the satellite with our teleport partners. Thereafter, atrexx will pass over full control of the network to you.

The solution has several primary advantages: There is low latency as remote sites communicate with headquarters in a single hop. It is cost-effective, as only half the bandwidth compared to a hub solution is needed, and the investment is comparable to a classical VSAT. It allows the customer to have overall control of the network yet with the assurance of strong service partner support, should it be required.