From: Satjournal@aol.com
9
Satellite Journal International
                                                 Volume Five
                                                   April, 28
                                                        1997
                   WITH CORRESPONDENTS IN:
     DALLAS-WASHINGTON-LOS ANGELES-TORONTO-LONDON-DUBLIN
       PARIS-BERLIN RIYADH-TOKYO-SYDNEY-RIO DE JANEIRO
     "Anyone who enjoys the privilege of publishing and
   broadcasting in open societies should demonstrate their
unshakeable belief in the universality of free speech should
they ever seek to broadcast in societies that are closed."
                              
  Atlas Rocket Successfully Launches Weather Satellite
  BT Will Use PanAmSat
  ICO/INDOSAT Contract Signing
  Indonesia Selects Ariane Again
  Orbital Successfully Launches Spain's MINISAT Satellite
  COMSAT Files for Non-Dominant Status With FCC
  CMT Network  Canada
  CanWest To Lead The Launch Of TV3 Ireland
  Skycom Datenfunk
  SES shareholders approve 1996 accounts
  Digital Video Broadcasting Project
  Integral Systems To Provide Shinawatra
  Groupe AB Reports Fire at AB Sat Facility
  COM DEV  announcement
  Upcoming Launches
  New files and documents at our WebStand
  In Brief
HOUSEKEEPING NOTES
NEW VERSION AVAILABLE
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Yet another announcement this week:
Satellite Journal Itl. is pleased to announce a new
affiliated web site at  http://satellite.miningco.com This
site also offers the latest in news and information and will
in the future have chat and message board areas.
The site is part of the Mining Company web site. The Mining
Company's intent is to sort through all the clutter on the
Internet and bring timely useful information by "guides"
that are recognised experts in their field.
This site is advertiser supported so please visit often and
leave feedback.
                              
    Atlas Rocket Successfully Launches Weather Satellite
     A Lockheed Martin Atlas I rocket, designated AC-79,
successfully launched the Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellite K - GOES K - into geosynchronous
transfer orbit from Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral Air
Station (CCAS), Fla. It was the 30th consecutive successful
Atlas launch from CCAS, the third launch of 1997 and the
last launch of the Atlas I configuration.
     The Atlas I had its first flight in July 1990.  That
flight was an important evolutionary step in the transition
from the basic NASA Atlas/Centaur vehicle that first
launched successfully in 1963 to Lockheed Martin's full
family of launch vehicles presently serving the commercial,
government civil and military launch industry.  Future NASA
missions are manifested to fly on Atlas IIA or IIAS,
starting with the launch next year of EOS AM-1 on an Atlas
IIAS from the new launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base on
the West Coast.  As Atlas I leaves the inventory, the newest
Atlas vehicle, the Atlas IIAR, is transitioning from
development to production and first launch late next year.
     The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite
(GOES) was built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) of Palo Alto,
Calif. The satellite will be designated as GOES-10 after it
achieves synchronous orbit.
     GOES-10 is the third of five advanced weather
satellites being built by Space Systems/Loral for the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to
improve tracking of hurricanes and severe storms.
     The first two Loral-built advanced weather satellites,
GOES-8 and GOES-9, operate in geostationary orbit over the
East Coast (75 degrees W.), and over the West Coast (135
degrees W.), respectively. GOES-10 will be stored on orbit
at 105 degrees West longitude and placed into operation when
needed as a replacement for GOES-8 or GOES-9.
     The advanced GOES-I through M satellite series has
ushered in a new era in U.S. weather forecasting.  The
satellites, the first three-axis, body-stabilised,
meteorological spacecraft to be used by NOAA, provide
simultaneous and continuous, independent imaging and
sounding.  Earlier GOES satellites were stabilised by
spinning and viewed the Earth only five percent of the time.
     The final two Loral-built advanced weather satellites
in the GOES series, GOES-L and GOES-M, will be launched as
required to support NOAA's dual-satellite geostationary
observing system.
                              
                    BT Will Use PanAmSat
     PanAmSat reported that BT Broadcast Services plans to
use more than 5,000 hours of capacity on PanAmSat's global
satellite system on an as-needed basis through 1999. BT
Broadcast Services will take advantage of a flexible
contract designed exclusively for the group, ensuring
satellite capacity, when available, for a variety of global
broadcast services applications, including part-time and
special events transmissions.
                              
                ICO/INDOSAT Contract Signing
     ICO Global Communications has signed a contract with
INDOSAT  to operate one of its twelve global Satellite
Access Nodes.  The multi-year contract with INDOSAT is
valued at approximately  USD 20 million.
     Under the long term agreement reached between the two
companies, ICO will establish a Satellite Access Node (SAN)
in Indonesia, and INDOSAT will provide ICO with a site
adjacent to its existing international earth station
facilities at Banyu Urip, 64 km north west of Surabaya, in
eastern Java.
     Work on the construction of the Banyu Urip SAN site
will start later this year. INDOSAT will be responsible for
site operation and interconnection with public  fixed and
mobile networks in Indonesia.
                              
               Indonesia Selects Ariane Again
     At a ceremony attended by the Indonesian Minister of
Tourism, Posts and Telecommunications, Joop Ave, the
contract signing for the launch of the TELKOM 1
telecommunications satellite was celebrated.  During this
ceremony, an agreement on rocket technology training was
signed by P.T. Telekomunikasi Indonesia President Director
A.A. Nasution and Arianespace Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Charles Bigot.
     Built by Lockheed Martin Telecommunications of
Sunnyvale, California, TELKOM 1 will weigh nearly 2,500 kg
(5,500 lb) at lift-off.  It is equipped with 32 C-band
transponders.  This new satellite will enable P.T.
Telekomunikasi Indonesia to offer voice and data
telecommunications services for more than 15 years.
                              
   Orbital Successfully Launches Spain's MINISAT Satellite
     Orbital Sciences Corporation's Pegasus XL rocket
successfully delivered Spain's MINISAT satellite into a near-
perfect low-Earth orbit.
     After an approximate 10 minute and 45 second flight,
Pegasus deployed MINISAT into an orbit of approximately 570
by 577 kilometres, inclined at 151 degrees to the equator.
Pegasus also carried a small payload from Celestis, Inc.,
which was also placed into its planned orbit.
     MINISAT is a 195 kilogram, Spanish-built satellite
designed to perform several scientific missions, including
the study of background radiation in the extreme ultraviolet
range, the behaviour of liquid bridges in microgravity
conditions and the investigation of low-energy gamma
radiation.
                              
        COMSAT Files for Non-Dominant Status With FCC
     COMSAT Corporation has petitioned the FCC to relieve it
from outdated regulatory burdens and allow it to compete on
an equal footing with other international telecommunications
carriers and satellite companies.
     COMSAT is the only U.S. international communications
carrier that is still regulated by the FCC as a dominant
carrier and required to conduct business under a public
utility-style, rate-base, rate-of-return scheme.
     The petition requests that COMSAT be allowed to change
its rates and introduce new services over the INTELSAT
satellite system on one-day notice.  It also requests that
limits on the company's rate-of-return and certain
structural separation requirements be removed.  The company
also is seeking to be reclassified immediately as a non-
dominant carrier in providing its services.
     COMSAT's market shares on voice and data traffic have
dropped from 70% in 1988 to 20% in 1996, and in the past
three years, the company's share of video traffic has fallen
from 80% to about 40%.
                              
                     CMT Network  Canada
     CMT (Country Music Television) will soon be the first
licensed Canadian specialty television service ever to be
headquartered in Calgary, considered one of the fastest-
growing markets for country music in Canada.
     CMT's new facilities will be located in SHAW Court, and
mesh with SHAW's market-leading Alberta country radio
stations:  Country 105 Calgary, CISN-FM Edmonton, and CKGY-
AM Red Deer.  The CMT sales and marketing team however will
continue to be based in Toronto.
                              
          CanWest To Lead The Launch Of TV3 Ireland
     CanWest Global Communications Corp. has entered into an
agreement with the Irish consortium holding the exclusive
right to become the Republic of Ireland's first private
sector national television broadcaster.
     CanWest will be the largest shareholder in a new
company to be established which will own and operate a
national free-to-air television service to be known as TV3.
     TV3, to be headquartered in Dublin, is expected to
launch in 1998.  The capital expenditure required to develop
the new operation is expected to be approximately IR (Pound)
15 million (CDN $32 million), which will be funded from
internal resources of the TV3 shareholders.
     CanWest's agreement is conditional upon several
outstanding matters, including the successful negotiation of
a broadcast contract with the IRTC, the Irish broadcasting
regulator.  Discussions with the IRTC have been progressing
over the past month and are expected to be successfully
completed in the next several weeks.
     
                              
                        Skycom Datenfunk
     
     Skycom Datenfunk S.A. located in Betzdorf, Luxemburg,
opposite to the uplink and ground control centre of the
ASTRA satellite operator Societe Europeenne des Satellites,
recently launched its new broadcast services DISCOS
MultyCast, DISCOS NetSat and TechniData SatText.
     This new data broadcast platform is based on the
digital audio subcarrier technology of the ASTRA satellite
system. Skycom Datenfunk S.A. is currently using transponder
10.964 Ghz/6,84 MHz on ASTRA satellite 1C.
     The DISCOS MultyCast service has especially been
designed for closed user groups and helps saving enormous
parts of the permanently occurring communication costs. The
system itself allows a high flexibility and can be adapted
to the special needs of every company.
     DISCOS MultyCast is a typical point-to-multypoint
transmission system and offers biggest advantages in
connection with the distribution of small.' middle or big
data quantities to an almost unlimited number of recipients.
     Typical contents for a regular transmission via DISCOS
MultyCast are press releases, price lists, catalogues,
photos and graphics, software updates etc.
     Presently the DISCOS MultyCast system can manage more
than 60.000 different closed user groups. In accordance with
the requirements of the user real- time-, just-in-time- and
store-and-forward-transmissions can be applied depending on
the importance and the urgency of the concerned data.
     The transmission capacity of the system allows the
broadcast of presently up to 80 MB per hour. Besides lowest
transmission costs the prices for the reception equipment
are extremely low as the reception system itself is based on
a common satellite receiving equipment.
     In addition to the DISCOS MultyCast system Skycom
Datenfunk S.A. offers the TechniData SatText for the
transmission of small data quantity. Due to the small
bandwidths of 300 Bits/sec. this system is an optimal
--- Msged/386 4.00
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