 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Sea Launch Sets Sail With Thuraya Bird Aboard
El Segundo - October 10, 2000 A turnkey satellite system that will expand mobile telephone services to 1.8 billion people in 100 countries is scheduled for launch Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2000 via a Boeing's Sea Launch ocean based rocket. Thuraya 1, the first spacecraft in the Boeing GEM (for geomobile) series, will be launched from the equator on a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket in the Pacific Ocean. The 45-minute window opens 11:00 p.m. PDT (2:00 a.m. Thursday Oct. 19, EDT, 6:00 a.m. Thursday Oct. 19, GMT). This will be the first launch for Boeing Satellite Systems. Thuraya-1, a high power geosynchronous satellite derived from the Boeing 702 (formerly the Hughes 702) model, marks the satellite manufacturer's entry into providing an entirely space-based communications system. The $960 million contract with Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company of the United Arab Emirates was signed by Hughes in 1997. It included the manufacture of two high-power Boeing GEM (formerly Hughes GEM) satellites, launch of the first spacecraft, insurance, ground facilities, and user handsets. The second satellite is a ground spare, and there is an option for a third. The Thuraya ground segment includes terrestrial gateways plus a collocated network operations center and satellite control facility in the United Arab Emirates. "Simply stated, we are providing one-stop shopping for a satellite-based mobile phone system," stated Tig H. Krekel, President of Boeing Satellite Systems. "Together with Hughes Network Systems, Inc., Boeing Satellite Systems is providing a turnkey mobile communications system including the spacecraft, the ground segment and user handsets to provide a range of cellular-like services over a large geographic region. "The satellite employs on-board digital signal processing to create more than 200 spot beams that can be re-directed on orbit, allowing Thuraya to immediately adapt to user demands. "The system can handle 13,750 simultaneous calls and allows calls to be routed handset to handset, or to a terrestrial network. The capabilities are unlike anything we've seen to date," he added. The Thuraya communications payload design was one of the most powerful ever undertaken by Hughes, and uses an enhanced active phased-array antenna design in combination with a company developed state-of-the-art, digital signal processor for beam forming, channel formation and switching. The digital signal processor, five times more capable than any previous digital processor produced by the satellite manufacturer, has more computing power than 3,000 Pentium III-based computers. Thuraya transmits and receives calls through a single 12.25-meter aperture reflector. The reflector transmits and receives signals for an L-band feed array. The reflector weighs 78 kilograms (170 pounds), and compresses into a compact package 1.3 meters (50 inches) diameter by 3.8 meters (150 inches) for launch. Solar power is derived from two wings of four panels each with dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cells. In orbit, the satellite measures 34.5 meters (113 feet) in length and 17 meters (55.7 feet) in width, and will weigh 3,200 kilograms (7,056 pounds.) Thuraya-1 will operate from a geosynchronous orbital slot of 44 degrees east longitude. BSS is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites. The company was formed in October 2000 when Boeing acquired the Hughes Electronics satellite manufacturing companies, which included Hughes Space and Communications Company, Hughes Electron Dynamics, Spectrolab, Inc., and Hughes Electronics' share of the HRL research facilities in Malibu, Calif. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Sea Launch Boeing Satellites SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express The latest information about the Commercial Satellite Industry
Stratos Steps Closer To Xantic Acquisition
Bethesda MD (SPX) Jan 5, 2006Stratos Global recently announced it had taken a step closer toward the completion of the acquisition of Xantic, having received positive advice from the Works' Council in the Netherlands, and executed a definitive agreement to purchase Xantic from KPN and Telstra Corporation. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
