Satellite News

WorldSpace satellite radio says it will provide a free-to-air offering for listeners in Europe and north-west Africa while it tests its planned European mobile digital satellite radio service.

Eutelsat Communications announced the upcoming launch by AB Groupe of a new pay-TV platform called BIS, which will be broadcast from its two key video neighbourhoods for satellite television in France.

A consortium led by VEGA IT GmbH (VEGA) has been selected to undertake one of two parallel studies to perform the Phase A Analysis for the EUMETSAT Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) Ground Segment.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. has entered into an agreement to acquire privately held Alliance Spacesystems, LLC, located in Pasadena, California/USA.

Alliant Techsystems received a US$35 million contract from Orbital Sciences Corporation to continue providing Orion motors, and also celebrated the delivery of its 100th flight set of Orion rocket motors.

Kosmotras will launch Thailand’s first Earth observation satellite, THEOS, at the beginning of 2008, a company official said. The launch was previously scheduled for November.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced a date for the launch of the H-IIA F14.

A prototype of the P80 rocket motor, which will power the first stage of ESA’s new small launcher Vega, was successfully tested on 4 December at the Guiana Space Centre, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.