Archive for December, 2009
Dec 31, 2009, post by Artur Ślesik
The use of space-based technologies can help achieve sustainable development in Africa, a capacity recently bolstered in that continent by creation of two regional space partnerships.
The third African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology for Sustainable Development was held on December in Algiers.
The conference was hosted by the Algerian Space Agency with the support of the United Nations Committee on The Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).
An outcome of the gathering was the signing of two regional space partnerships:
+ To support African efforts in disaster management by means of space-based technologies, the Algerian Space Agency and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) signed a cooperation agreement to establish a regional support office for the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response, a program created under the recommendations of COPUOS and implemented by UNOOSA.
+ The Governments of Algeria, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa signed an agreement on African Resources Management Satellite Constellation, a regional initiative that aims to develop a network of satellites to make space technology more accessible to end-users in areas such as food security, environmental monitoring, land use, water management and public health.
Dec 31, 2009, post by Artur Ślesik
The U.S. Air Force successfully launched a new-generation military communications satellite from here at 8:47 p.m. (EST), when a Delta IV rocket carried a Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) into space.
WGS satellites are designed to provide high-capacity communications to U.S. military forces. They will augment and eventually replace the Defense Satellite Communication System that has been the Department of Defense’s backbone for satellite communications over the last two decades.
This mission marked the third flight of a Delta IV rocket this year from CCAFS, a record for one year. It also was the second launch of a WGS this year from here. WGS-2 launched atop an Atlas V rocket here April 3.
First launched in 2007, WGS will be a constellation of five satellites that will supply service for military leaders to command and control their tactical forces.
Dec 31, 2009, post by Artur Ślesik
According to NSR’s market research and forecast report, “Government and Military Satellite Communications, 6th Edition,” users want “more capacity and coverage” as the gap between demand and transponder supply is growing.
The reports examines demand for all commercial frequencies (C-, Ku-, Ka-, L- and X-band) and for all mobile (aeronautical, UAVs, maritime, and land-mobile) and VSAT platforms. The analysis of government and military demand trends covers eight regions of the world for equipment and services, as well as demand for bulk transponder leasing, fixed VSATs, communications-on-the-move, communications-on-the-pause and narrowband mobile services.
NSR officials say their research shows this gap will shift the market towards either proprietary or commercial systems: “This gap should propel the commercial GMSC market alone from $3.5 billion in 2008 to $9.3 billion at the end of 2018, driven in large part by land-mobile narrowband units and revenues from unmanned aerial vehicles and communications-on-the-pause services.”
The research firm’s officials caution that “revenue does not tell the only story.” The NSR forecast sees growth in some markets and warning flags in others. “In an economic downturn that readjusted priorities in public spending and tightened the race for dollars, the government and military commercial satellite market has developed a growing following with bright spots related to future demand in key application markets,” says Claude Rousseau, Senior Analyst for NSR and author of the report.
The study found that replacements for cancelled programs such as TSAT will eventually be found; however, “commercial satellites will still be required to partially fill the gap in demand with capacity and new, innovative and flexible solutions.
source > TCMnet.com
