Mark Posen's SatCom Blog

Eutelsat Communications

EUTELSAT Communications, the spin-off from EUTELSAT S.A., which was expected to see its IPO this week, has just announced that the flotation has been cancelled.

Last week EUTELSAT slashed the anticipated price of the IPO, but it seems that today they have given up, deciding that the volatile market would not be likely to reflect the true value of the company.

This must be a blow to the owners of the Paris, France based European satellite operator, which had been anticipating raising some €1.65 Billion from the sale of the business.

Read the press release (in French) here: Eutelsat Communications

An approximate translation (using Google) is here: Eutelsat Communications

3D Satellite "Tracking" from NASA

I just came across this very nice (and free) software tool from NASA.   You can select one of over 500 satellites and the program will display the satellite position, orbit track and ground track on a 3D globe model.   Great for trying to visualise the orbit of a satellite, especially for the more complex low-earth elliptical orbit scientific missions!

Try J-Track 3D here: NASA - Science@NASA J-Track 3D

South Asian Earthquake: Satellite Equipment Rushed to Pakistan by TSF

As the tragedy of the Earthquake in South Asia unfolds, it is good to see satellite communications technology being used to support the relief efforts in Pakistan.

The France-based NGO Telecoms Sans Frontiers (TSF) were able to put in place a number of teams almost immediately after the earthquake had struck.   The TSF website reports:

"Having satellite communications, the mission of TSF has as its objective to set up mobile satellite telecommunications centres available for use by rescue teams, local authorities and all other rescuers. These Telecoms Centres have data transmitters making Internet connections possible. They also supply telephone and fax lines, as well as technical assistance for computers and in telecommunications, in order to facilitate the coordination and exchange of information between the rescuers."

This work in Pakistan and other emergency locations (such as in Guatemala) is essential and deserves our support.   There is a link below where you can donate to TSF.

Read more about TSF's work in Pakistan here: Pakistan Earthquake: TSF strengthens rescue teams

Donate to TSF here: TSF Online Donations

CryoSat Mission lost due to launch failure

Mr Yuri Bakhvalov, First Deputy Director General of the Khrunichev Space Centre has confirmed that the CryoSat mission has been lost following an anomaly in the launch sequence.

Preliminary analysis indicates that launch vehicle's second stage main engine cut-off did not occur and as a result, separation of the second stage from the upper stage did not occur and thus the combined upper two stages, plus the CryoSat satellite fell back to Earth.   

More details from ESA here: ESA - CryoSat - CryoSat Mission lost due to launch failure.

CryoSat Lost?

Bad news from the European Space Agency who are reporting that they have no information about the status of the CryoSat satellite, following its launch earlier today.

The BBC is reporting that Russian officials have stated that the launch vehicle broke up and crashed into the sea, but this has not yet been confirmed by ESA.

The Cryosat mission was intended to monitor the effects of climate change through an examination of the Earth's polar ice caps.   Much was expected from the CryoSat mission, which had been widely publicised, and it will be a great setback to the scientific community if the mission has indeed been lost.

More news is expected from ESA soon (20.00 UTC).

Read the latest news on the ESA website here: ESA - CryoSat

Satellite Operator Eutelsat Prepares to Float Next Week

An interesting article in the UK's "The Guardian" newspaper reports speculation on the likely IPO of the Paris-based European satellite operator EUTELSAT.  Speaking to the Guardian, Giuliano Berretta, Chairman and CEO of EUTELSAT refused to confirm the IPO date, but the Guardian anticipates the ~€3bn floatation soon.

It will be interesting to see how the EUTELSAT float succeeds.   Recent IPOs of other satellite operators have not achieved their anticipated potential.

EUTELSAT was originally formed (back in 1977) as an intergovernmental organisation with the shareholders being the (largely monopolistic) national telecommunications operators, but in 2001 it was privatised through incorporation as a French company, and in 2004 many of the original investors sold their stakes, including my former employer BT (see my blog posting about this).   This IPO will mark the effective completion of the privatisation process.

Read the full article here: The Guardian | Satellite operator Eutelsat prepares to float next week.

Chinese Insurers Underwrite €10M Satellite Launch Insurance

Interesting to read on the Chinese "Peoples' Daily" website that a consortium of Chinese insurers has underwritten the launch insurance for the DMC+4 satellite.

The sum underwritten is around 100 Million Yuan (around €10M).   "This is the first time that Chinese insurers have independently offered service for satellite launch, making a further progress of China's aerospace insurance", according to the Peoples' Daily article.

DMC+4 is a disaster monitoring and high resolution mapping LEO satellite, being constructed for Beijing Landview Mapping Information Technology Ltd by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL).   There is an overview of DMC+4, including some nice graphics of the satellite here.   DMC+4 is expected to be launched in October 2005.

Link: People's Daily Online -- Chinese insurers secures hundred mln yuan contract for satellite launch

South Africa to launch second satellite

The SouthAfrica.info website is reporting that the country is planning to launch its second satellite before the end of 2006.   This would be a "home grown" project, the small low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellite being designed and constructed in South Africa, although it would be launched from a Russian vehicle.

It is interesting to see that more and more countries are turning to small LEO spacecraft as a means to get a foothold in the satellite community.   This project is viewed as the "beginning of a long-term space programme and establishing a South African space agency" according to the article.   The satellite will monitor land, vegetation and water resources and will contribute towards health programmes.

Read the full article here: SA to launch second satellite - SouthAfrica.info.