Satellite News

Relations between BSkyB and Virgin Media (formerly ntl Telewest) seem to have hit an all time low, as Virgin Media issued a statement Feb. 23 saying that by the end of February it was unlikely to carry Sky’s basic channels, Sky One, Sky Two, Sky Three, Sky News and Sky Sports…

Mexico’s telecommunications regulator, Federal Commission of Telecommunications (Cofetel), has approved the rules for a Ka-band satellite license auction, the…

Rocket: H-2A; Payload: IGS Radar 2 (IGS 3B?), IGS Optical 3 (IGS 4A?); Date: 24 February 2007, 0441 UTC; Launch Site: Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. The satellites were successfully launched after three weather-related delays without any problem.

International Datacasting Corporation announced that their subsidiary Profline B.V. has been awarded a contract valued at over C$1.2 million (EUR0.8 million, US$1.0 million) to provide a new European satellite distribution network for a major broadcaster in Spain.

Spacehab, Incorporated announced that the company has filed for a formal dismissal with prejudice of all litigation against NASA relating to losses incurred by Spacehab as a result of the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident.

Vietnam plans to harness space technology by building its own remote sensing satellites in the next decade, a top space official has said. The country had earlier planned to launch the first such spacecraft in late 2007 or early 2008.

The U.S. Department of Defense is expected to seek bids for the first phase of the GPS III contract in mid-to-late March and announce a single winning team by late August, Candrea Thomas, a spokeswoman for the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center was quoted as saying.

Georgia Tech researchers have developed a new prototype xenon ion engine that allows satellites to take off with less fuel, opening the door for deep space missions, lower launch costs and more payload in orbit.