ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Space debris in low earth orbit will make satellite operations there increasingly difficult, possibly requiring some sort of device to catch the floating “dead bodies” and bring them back to Earth, said Wade Pulliam, a Tactical Technology Office program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The huge number of maneuvers to avoid conjunctions will continue to increase dramatically if launch schedules and compliance continue at the status quo, he told a American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference. Those maneuvers can reduce the lives of LEO satellites, he said. As a result, he said there are two options for the LEO satellites: Operators will need to increase the accuracy of maneuvers, making movements only when truly necessary to extend satellite life, or remove the space debris.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- While satellite manufacturers have the technical ability to provide modern broadband speeds, it isn’t clear yet if the economics are right for mass satellite broadband offerings, said Christopher Hoeber, Space Systems/Loral senior vice president of program management and systems engineering during the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference. Broadband satellites require about three times as much equipment as most other satellites, adding to their costs and power needs, he said on a panel. The difficulty of designing Internet protocols to deal with the inherent latency of the satellite broadband and the expense of modems also make satellite broadband a difficult business, he said.
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Arianespace will rely on a wider range of launch vehicles to give the company stability as the large satellite operators’ launch campaigns approach the tail end of launch cycles, said Clay Mowry, the U.S. president of Arianespace said on a panel at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference. While the company’s revenue has suffered in the past from the end of commercial satellite launch cycles, Arianespace is hoping that a bigger variety of launch vehicles to launch different types of satellites will help keep its manifest schedule full, he said. Maintaining a full manifest is the biggest challenge for the company, especially since it has so little effect on demand for launch services, he said.
ANAHEIM, Calif. - The highly specialized capacity the U.S. government often needs poses a difficult situation for satellite operators and manufacturers, which place more value on generalized capacity, said industry executives during a panel on satellite communications acquisitions. More generalized capacity allows operators to switch among private industry users once a contract is up or business plans change, something far more difficult for satellites made for government use, said Kay Sears, president of Intelsat General, at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference. “Once you start to introduce the anti-jamming or military frequencies, then it becomes a risk to sell,” she said. As a result, different types of acquisition models are necessary to make sure the capacity is always there for military needs, she said. One way to improve the process would be to allow long-term contracts for satellite capacity, she said.
Dish Network resumed talks with the FCC on revising former defaulter rules in preparation for coming spectrum auctions, a possible indicator the direct broadcast satellite provider is gearing up for spectrum bids. Dish asked the Wireless Bureau to refine bidding rules that require bidders with poor federal financial track records to put up significantly more money than those with unblemished record, said an ex parte filing. The commission is planning to auction off AWS-3 and 700 MHz spectrum in 2011 per the National Broadband Plan, though no official auction has been put in place and possible Congressional action allocating the D-block for public safety agencies (CD Aug 9 p3) could make an auction unnecessary.
Direct broadcast satellite providers and broadcasters disagree about the antenna standard that the FCC should use in defining unserved households eligible to receive distant signals, they said in comments to the commission. The agency is following through on parts of the Satellite TV Localism and Extension Act (STELA), and both sides replied Tuesday to a rulemaking notice on the standard (CD July 29 p11) in docket 10-152. The proposed rule would continue to use the outdoor antenna standard, which classifies consumers who can’t receive broadcast signals by outdoor antenna as unserved and so eligible to get distant signals by DBS. STELA doesn’t specify the type of antenna to be used in the predictive model and on-site testing that determine distant signal eligibility. Under the law, the commission must act by Nov. 23 to implement the act.
Consolidation in the wholesale satellite capacity market has made it less competitive than other satellite markets, said Spacenet, in comments to the FCC. The company was responding to the International Bureau’s public notice requesting information for the annual satellite competition report. The wholesale market is “dominated” by Intelsat and SES World Skies, which “now control some 83 percent of the data network services transponders serving the U.S.,” said Spacenet, which buys wholesale capacity from operators. New entrants to the market are unlikely since Intelsat and SES World Skies already control or have rights to 2/3 of the 31 orbital slots able to provide service to the U.S., they said. The agency shouldn’t treat all satellite capacity as “fungible” since a change in satellite providers is a difficult process, requiring major adjustments to terminals and earth stations, Spacenet said.
Dish Network plans to offer programming online at www.dishonline.com starting Tuesday. The new site marks the beginning of the company “tying the set-top box and PC together,” said Bruce Eisen, vice president of online content development and strategy. The site will offer some TV free to all and other programming only to Dish subscribers, he said in an interview. Users will have to log in at the site. Subscribers to premium packages will be able to watch programs from them and those subscribers with lesser packages will be told they need an upgrade to watch them, Eisen said. Users will be able to filter content searches by actor. Clicking on an actor’s identification will result in a listing of all shows and movies available on the site and programming that will be on TV in the user’s market, he said. Subscribers can run their DVRs and watch live TV over the website using Sling technology, made by Dish’s sister company EchoStar. Sling users can already watch their programming online, but the new service puts everything in one place at the new website, Eisen said. Subscribers can remotely choose on-demand movies to download to a set-top box, he said. Video-on-demand to the PC won’t be available Tuesday, but “stay tuned,” Eisen said. The online programming won’t be available for smartphones or tablets, but that should change “shortly,” he said. Smartphones and tablets such as Apple’s iPad have more-complex technological and licensing requirements because of the number of makers, Eisen said. The video industry and viewers of online video will have a “big problem” without net neutrality rules, he said.
Hughes Network Systems, WildBlue, EchoStar and Spacenet won some of at least $100 million in federal stimulus money that the Rural Utilities Service is giving to satellite projects to expand broadband’s reach. The funding came in the second round of the Broadband Initiatives Program (CD August 19 p1). Satellite projects may get additional money, said a RUS spokesman. Many winners learned of the awards Wednesday, but many of them said they're still waiting for details, including which of their applications was approved by RUS, executives said. The stimulus money can cover upfront equipment and installation charges and must reduce service fees to $50 a month or less.
The FCC should clarify important points when implementing the Satellite TV Extension and Localism Act of 2010 (STELA) to avoid unintended consequences during retransmission consent negotiations, said DirecTV and Dish Network. The comments were in response to a rulemaking proposing to allow direct broadcast satellite providers to transmit the HD signals of significantly viewed stations (SVS) only if they also transmit the local station network affiliate in HD, if available. DirecTV said the language changes in the law could be construed to require satellite-TV providers during retransmission disputes to lower the resolution of other broadcasts.