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Loral Spins A Giant Web In Space As First ICO Bird Comes Alive
Palo Alto CA (SPX) Apr 29, 2008 Space Systems/Loral and ICO Global Communications have successfully deployed the ICO G1 satellite's large antenna reflector on Saturday, April 26. ICO G1 is a Loral designed spacecraft that incorporates a 12 meter antenna reflector designed and built by Harris Corporation. The reflector utilizes a gold-plated mesh reflective surface and a unique new Harris design that allows a very large antenna reflector to stow safely and easily on the Loral 1300 satellite platform. The reflector size enables the increased performance typically required for mobile interactive media services. ICO G1 is the largest commercial satellite launched to date, weighing nearly 15,000 pounds at liftoff, and measuring more than 27 feet high and over 100 feet wide, following solar array deployment. On April 14, ICO successfully launched ICO G1, a geosynchronous satellite covering the United States. ICO G1 is specifically designed to deliver services to mobile users, and is the first commercial satellite to utilize a ground-based beam forming system, which allows for unprecedented flexibility in the technology it is capable of supporting. ICO is developing a mobile interactive media service, ICO mim?, which features mobile video, interactive navigation and emergency communications services to consumers. Alpha trials for ICO mim will take place later in 2008 in Raleigh-Durham, NC and Las Vegas, NV. "ICO G1 has performed flawlessly since our successful launch on April 14, 2008 and the Loral mission team has done a superb job. The solar panels deployed as planned and are producing proper current. The orbit raising was nominal and G1 is now on station at 92.85 degrees West Longitude in geosynchronous orbit," according to Bob Day, ICO senior vice president, space systems. "Last week, we deployed the 2.4 m Ka-band reflector and on Saturday, we successfully deployed the 12 meter reflector for the S-band antenna. We are on schedule and expect to make certification to the FCC by May 15, 2008 that ICO G1 is operational." "We are very pleased to report on the performance of ICO G1 to date," said John Celli, president and chief operating officer of Space Systems/Loral. "The successful deployment of the unfurlable reflector is the result of a very close team effort between SS/L, ICO and Harris." Related Links ICO Global Communications Space Systems/Loral Loral Space and Communications Space Technology News - Applications and Research
Broken Heart Image The Last For NASA's Long-Lived Polar Mission
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 29, 2008As far as endings go, this one's a real heart breaker. NASA's Polar satellite concludes its successful mission at the end of April with a breathtaking visible-light image of the colorful dancing lights of the aurora. The Polar team has dubbed this final image "The Broken Heart." |
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