|
|
|
|
|
Alcatel to build Turksat 3A telecommunication satellite ALCATEL NEWS RELEASE Posted: February 27, 2006 Alcatel Alenia Space has announced that it has signed a turnkey contract with Turkish operator Turksat AS, for the construction and the in-orbit delivery of a new powerful telecommunication satellite, Turksat 3A. Alcatel Alenia Space has been Turksat's sole satellite provider with five satellites* awarded in more than 10 years. The Turksat 3A satellite will enable Turksat to offer telecommunication services as well as direct TV broadcasting over Southern Europe, covering Turkey, Europe and Central Asia. As prime contractor, Alcatel Alenia Space will be in charge of the satellite design, construction and test activities, all the way through in-orbit delivery, along with modernization of the ground segment. Alcatel Alenia Space will also provide training assistance to Turksat. Based on Alcatel Alenia Space Spacebus 4000B2, Turksat 3A will be fitted with 24 Ku-band transponders and will offer beginning of life power of about 8kW. Positioned at 42 deg E, Turksat 3A is due to start services at the beginning of 2008, replacing Turksat 1C. Turksat 3A is the tenth Alcatel Alenia Space Spacebus 4000** satellite ordered, among which four*** have been successfully launched and delivered in orbit. * Turksat 1A, 1B, 1C and 2A (Eurasiasat) ** Under construction: Chinasat 9, Chinasat 6B, Rascomstar-Qaf, Koreasat 5 and Syracuse 3B *** Already launched: AMC-12, Apstar VI, Syracuse 3A and AMC-23 Alcatel Alenia Space is the European leader in satellite systems, at the forefront of orbit infrastructures. Created in July 2005, the company brings together the vast experience and know-how of Alcatel Space and Alenia Spazio to form a new leading force in European space technology. Alcatel Alenia Space represents a worldwide standard for space development that impacts everybody's future: from navigation to telecommunications, from meteorology to environmental monitoring, from defense to science and observation. Alcatel Alenia Space is an Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) (67%) and Finmeccanica (Milan:SIFI.MI, FNC.IM) (33%) company. Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or employees. Alcatel brings its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks, applications and services, to help its partners and customers build a user-centric broadband world. With sales of EURO 13.1 billion and 58,000 employees in 2005, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. |
|
|
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
With two weeks until its arrival at the red planet, NASA and Lockheed Martin officials hold this Feb. 24 news conference on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The briefing explains how the MRO spacecraft will fire its engines to enter into orbit around Mars and the mission's scientific goals to examine the planet like never before.
Play video:
As part of Lockheed Martin's plans for the Crew Exploration Vehicle, the company has announced that final assembly and testing of the capsules will be performed at the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Checkout Building. Lockheed Martin officials, Florida's lieutenant governor, the local congressman and a county economic development leader held this press conference Feb. 22 to unveil the plans.
The space shuttle program performed its first dazzling nighttime launch with Challenger's August 1983 mission. A cockpit camera mounted beside commander Dick Truly captured amazing footage of night turning to day inside the shuttle from the brilliant flame of ascent. STS-8 also featured the first African-American astronaut, Guion Bluford. Challenger's astronauts tell the story of their six-day mission, which deployed an Indian satellite, used the robot arm to look at the orbiter's belly and examined the glow around the shuttle, during this narrated post-flight film.
The seventh flight of the space shuttle is remembered for breaking the gender barrier for U.S. spaceflight. Sally Ride flew into space and the history books with her historic June 1983 mission, becoming America's first woman astronaut. STS-7 also launched a pair of commercial communications spacecraft, then deployed a small platform fitted with experiments and camera package that captured iconic pictures of Challenger flying above the blue Earth and black void of space. The crew members narrate highlights from the mission in this post-flight film presentation.