Satellite News

Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. has been selected by Mexico’s Grupo Elektra to provide a SkyEdge satellite hub station and 1,964 VSATs for use in several Latin American countries including Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, El Salvador, Panama and Argentina.

SES Astra said it was further extending the distribution of its high speed Internet access product Astra2Connect in Europe and has reached an agreement making the product available to consumers in Poland as of January 2008.

SES Astra has signed its third large framework contract to market its high speed Internet access product Astra2Connect to consumers in Germany.

Space communications protocols developed by the international Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) were recently employed to achieve a first-ever co-operation between the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. announced that Optus is expanding its network with two additional SkyEdge satellite hub stations and thousands of VSATs.

The Ciel Satellite Group announced that it has selected SED Systems, a division of Calian Ltd, to expand SED’s satellite control centre facilities in Saskatoon in preparation for the initiation of tracking, telemetry and control (TT&C) operations for Ciel-2, a satellite that is planned for operation by the first quarter of 2009.

Siano Mobile Silicon, a supplier of semiconductor solutions for Mobile Digital TV (MDTV), announced that it has signed a collaboration agreement with CMB Satellite, the Hong Kong based affiliate of EchoStar Communications Corporation , and Huaqi, a manufacturer of consumer multimedia products in China.

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.