From: Satjournal@aol.com
9
Satellite Journal International
                                                 Volume Five
                                                     May, 12
                                                        1997
     "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."
                              
  Death-Star = Death-Sky
  First Five IRIDIUM Satellites Successfully Launched
  Delta II Launch of Thor II delayed
  GlobeCast adds four new occasional-use transponders
  Vyvx Installs Major Upgrades at Four Teleports
  Taiwan broadcaster selects PanAmSat
  British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC results
  INTELSAT inaugurates new Ku-band service
  AT&T Tridom continues VSAT network expansion
  Philips Wins MCPC Digital Satellite Video Contract in
  Xinjiang
  Sanders manufactures IRIDIUM satellite bus
  PowerTel TV, Ontario Hydro team up
  Hyundai-TV/COM and Grundig alliance
  Ziff-Davis Launches ZDTV
  La Chaine Histoire
  DIRECTV (GLA) officially in Panama
  SPAR Wins Contract
  Upcoming Launches
  New files and documents at our WebStand
  In Brief
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                   Death-Star = Death-Sky
     
     The latest in the ASkyB-Echostar merger this week saw
Echostar filing a lawsuit in a Colorado federal court
against News Corp. for $200 million it badly needs and
claims News Corp. promised under the terms of the satellite
deal.  News Corp. reaction  was it "believes there is no
merit" in the claim.
                              
     First Five IRIDIUM Satellites Successfully Launched
     The first five of 66 IRIDIUM satellites were
successfully launched on a McDonnell Douglas Delta II rocket
from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, USA.  The
launch marks an important step toward Iridium LLC's goal of
providing global wireless voice, paging, facsimile and data
services world-wide by late 1998.
     The Delta II lifted off the launch pad at 7:55 a.m.
Pacific Daylight Time placing the five IRIDIUM satellites
into transfer orbit.  All five satellites were deployed
beginning 63 minutes after lift-off.  The five satellites
will undergo in-orbit bus testing on the way to their final
target orbit (421.5nm) where the communications payloads
will be tested.  The five satellites will be located in a
slightly inclined (86.4 degrees) orbital plane and will form
part of the first orbital plane of the IRIDIUM
constellation.  Subsequent IRIDIUM satellites will be
deployed in six circular polar orbits, with 11 operational
satellites per plane.
     This first launch represents the first step in building
the IRIDIUM constellation.  These first five satellites are
functional and will be a part of the full 66-satellite
network.  After this initial launch, these first satellites
will be used to test satellite command and control
capabilities and basic hardware and software functionality.
                              
             Delta II Launch of Thor II delayed
     The Delta II launch on May 11 of Thor II for Telenor
Satellite Services of Norway has been rescheduled for May
18.
     The postponement will allow time for the launch team to
review flight data from the IRIDIUM launch that occurred on
May 5. During the IRIDIUM mission, after the satellites had
reached their planned deployment orbit, the second stage
attitude control system had higher than planned gas
consumption. The system uses nitrogen gas to orient the
second stage during the orbital coast periods. The mission
outcome was not affected, and all satellites were
successfully deployed.
     The team will be prepared for a May 17 date if Space
Shuttle Atlantis STS 84 launches on May 15 and the 17th
becomes available.
     
                              
     GlobeCast adds four new occasional-use transponders
     
     Globecast North America announced the addition of one
GE 1 and three GE 2 C-band transponders to its occasional-
use inventory. These four transponders, together with
existing Galaxy 4 and Galaxy 6 transponders for broadcast
services, create the largest U.S. domestic occasional-use
inventory available.
     GlobeCast North America, formerly Keystone
Communications Corp., with headquarters in Culver City, is
the largest U.S.-based provider of transmission services for
video, audio and broadcast data applications.
     
                              
       Vyvx Installs Major Upgrades at Four Teleports
     Vyvx, Inc. announced major upgrades at its four
teleports, including a 16-meter standard A antenna in the
Los Angeles area.  These improvements will allow for a
greater range of uplinking solutions, additional fibre paths
and redundancy for better service.
     Vyvx Upsouth Teleport in Atlanta has installed one 8.1-
meter Ku-band dish to serve international customers in the
Atlantic region.  International C-band antennas are under
construction, and expected to be operational in July.
Another 9.2-meter C-band dish has been added for domestic
service.  Upsouth is planning a new transmission facility
that will double its present capacity.  Switching into and
out of the facility has already improved with a new 128-by-
128 routing switcher.  Connectivity with the Vyvx fibre
network will increase substantially this summer with
construction of an OC-48 digital link.
     Vyvx's Denver Teleport in Colorado has expanded its
occasional use C-band capabilities with another occasional
use C-band transmit system.  The Denver Teleport also offers
full business television services, transmitting from any
location in Denver via microwave back to the teleport for
transmission over satellite or the Vyvx fibre network.
Denver Teleport is strategically located to cross from the
Atlantic to the Pacific ocean region satellites in a single
hop, which translates into more direct service for its
international customers.
     Vyvx Steele Valley Teleport in Los Angeles has
installed new 9-meter C-band and 8-meter Ku-band moveable
antennas for occasional use.  A new 16-meter standard
antenna is being installed and will be fully operational in
July.  The teleport has also installed a new 128-by-128
router directly connected to the Vyvx fibre network.  As
with the Upsouth teleport, the new router provides
additional connectivity for customers locally and directly
into the Vyvx fibre network via OC-48 digital fibre and 3
C/Ku-band receive- only antennas.
     Vyvx National Gateway Teleport in New York has
installed one 8.1-meter antenna fixed on the Orion 1
satellite offering full digital and analogue Ku-band
service.  The teleport is also installing an additional 8.1-
meter Ku-band antenna for digital and analogue occasional
and full time use, to provide additional uplinking options
onto the INTELSAT-K satellite.
     
                              
             Taiwan broadcaster selects PanAmSat
     PanAmSat reports that it is providing satellite
capacity to Taiwan's newest television operator. Formosa TV
will utilise capacity on PanAmSat's PAS-2 Pacific Ocean
Region satellite to launch two free-to-air channels for
viewing by cable and non-cable households across Taiwan.
The broadcaster received Taiwan's last available terrestrial
VHF license from authorities in February.
     Formosa TV will use 27 MHz on PAS-2's Ku-band China
beam for distribution of its two new channels.  The first
channel, primarily devoted to news, has already begun
broadcasting.  The second channel is scheduled to begin
broadcasting general-interest programming in June.  Formosa
TV, which operates five studios, seven post-production
facilities and two satellite news gathering (SNG) trucks,
will also use PAS-2 for SNG applications throughout Taiwan.
                              
          British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC results
British Sky Broadcasting Group plc announced its results for
the nine months ended March 31,1997.
"    Profit before tax up 21% to 215 million pounds (US$353
million)
"    Revenues up 24% to 913 million pounds (US$1.5 billion)
- Operating profit up 17% to 260 million pounds (US$425
million)
"    Earnings per share up 23% to 11.9p (19.5 cents);
earnings per ADR 117 cents
         Total paying subscribers up 121,000 in the quarter
to 6.2 million.
                              
          INTELSAT inaugurates new Ku-band service
     INTELSAT reported the inauguration of fully steerable
Ku-band monitoring capability from its monitoring site in
Bosque Alegre, Argentina. This upgraded capability will
enable INTELSAT to improve its service quality and
reliability in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and
Uruguay, which constitute the Mercosur region.
     The Bosque Alegre site is part of INTELSAT's existing
monitoring network, which consists of more than 40 antennas
at 13 locations around the globe. The enhanced monitoring
capability will be used in conjunction with INTELSAT's
Communications System Monitoring (CSM) and Remote Spectrum
Analyser Network (RSAN) systems to monitor Ku-band satellite
and customer traffic performance in the southern hemisphere
of the Atlantic Ocean Region.
     "This enhancement at Bosque Alegre will enable us to
easily and better monitor Ku-band service quality on the
INTELSAT 706 and 709 satellites," said Michael Wheeler,
INTELSAT's Communication Operations Manager. "This
monitoring capability will help further enhance our service
in the southern part of Latin America, where most of our
customers in the region are located, he added."
     The 706 and 709 satellites are located at 3070E and 310
deg E, respectively, and provide C- and Ku-band services
primarily to the Mercosur countries. The Ku-band beam on the
INTELSAT 706 satellite (which was procured in 1990) was
specifically designed to cover the complete territory of
Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, and currently
carries private network and video services for three of
these countries. The enhanced system will also monitor the
Ku-band Spot 2 beam on the INTELSAT 709 satellite which
serves Brazil.
                              
        AT&T Tridom continues VSAT network expansion
     AT&T Tridom announced three major contract wins worth
an estimated $12 million that will bolster Japan's disaster
recovery plan and China's communications infrastructure. The
projects, each involving installations of VSAT systems and
hubs, will expand the satellite communications provider's
global reach in the Asia-Pacific region.
     AT&T Tridom has installed two Clearlink VSAT (very
small aperture terminal) hub networks for NTT DATA
Corporation in Tokyo and Osaka, as part of Japan's national
disaster and recovery program in response to the 1994 Kobe
earthquake.
     NTT DATA will install AT&T Tridom Clearlink 400 VSAT
terminals at NTT DATA locations throughout Japan, using
small-dish technology to make vital communications possible
during major network outages. In addition, more than 30
mobile, emergency VSATs have been specially designed to fit
into customised backpacks, since they may have to be
delivered via motorised bicycle.
     In China, the Shanghai Post and Telecommunication
Administration (SPTA);Shangsat, the Shanghai Satellite
Communication Corporation; and SFTC, the Shanghai Foreign
Trade Corporation, have signed a contract with AT&T Tridom.
     AT&T Tridom will install a Clearlink Hub System in
Shanghai, China's communications hub that has a strong fibre-
optic and telecommunications network infrastructure. The
VSAT system, to be operated by Shangsat, will offer a range
of data communications services for national and
multinational organisations using the Ku-band frequency,
which became available recently with the launch of Intelsat
802.
                              
     Philips Wins MCPC Digital Satellite Video Contract in
                          Xinjiang
     Philips Digital Videocommunication System (DVS), a
business unit of Philips Business Electronics B.V. and the
Provincial Broadcasting Bureau of Xinjiang Autonomous Region
--- Msged/386 4.00
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