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INSAT 3B LAUNCH DATE ANNOUNCED
The Indian Space Research Organisation
(Isro) has delayed the lift-off of its third-generation
satellite, Insat-3B to 15 February. Insat 3B, which
has both extended C-band and Ku-band transponders,
was earlier targeted for an October-November blastoff.
Isro says that it had delayed the launch to see how
the Ariane-5 series rocket fared with its launches,
before lifting off the Insat-3B on the Ariane 505
rocket. The Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
has already dedicated half a dozen of its transponders
for long-distance education.Insat-3B will be blasted
off from Kourou in French Guiana by satellite launch
company Arianespace.
CARTOON NETWORK PLANS TAMIL BLOCK;
UPS HINDI BAND
Turner Broadcasting System's kid's
channel Cartoon Network is to start a Tamil dubbed
block of programming from early next year. The company
is also doubling the number of hours it devotes to
Hindi dubs from four hours to eights hours daily.
The evening block of movies under the brand TNT is
also in for a rechristening and is to be called Turner
Classic Movies from next April.
FOX KIDS IS NOT FAR BEHIND
Fox Kids is to be launched in the Indian
market early next year. The Star TV India management
has been enthused by the success that Cartoon Network
has notched up.
ESPN DECIDES ON BATES
ESPN International has signed on Bates
Worldwide for its international branding assignment
which covers the key markets of Asia-Pacific, the
US, Europe, Latin America, Canada and west Asia.
WORLDSPACE LAUNCHES AFRICAN SATELLITE
RADIO SERVICE
Last week saw the launch of the long-talked
about digital audio broadcast service by Washington-based
satellite radio provider WorldSpace. Launched initially
in Africa, the radio service will have a bouquet of
25 channels (CNN International, Bloomberg, Kenya Broadcasting
Company, Egyptian Radio and Television, among others)
beamed via the Afristar satellite. The receivers for
the service have been manufactured by companies such
Hitachi, JVC, Sony, and Panadsonic. Asiastar - a satellite
to provide radio services for Asian markets is slated
to launch in February 2000.
TWO SUCCESFUL LAUNCHES AND A FAILURE
Two successful launches and a lost
satellite were among the major events that marked
the satellite industry last week. First, Arianespace
successfully launched the Orion 2 satellite for Loral
Space & Communications from Kuorou, French Guiana
for its Skynet service. Orion 2 has 36 Ku-band transponders
and is to be located at 15 degrees West. Its footrprint
will cover all of Europe, South America, the east
coast of North America and a spot beam of South Africa,
when it becomes operational in December.
The other successful launch was that of four satellites
for international telephony service provider Globalstar
from Kazakhstan into a low-orbit. The blastoff took
place from the Baikonur Cosmodrome using a Starsem
Soyuz rocket. Another Soyuz rocket will be lifted
off next month, to be followed by a Boeing Delta 2
Rocket in December. The service intends to deploy
more than 48 satellites .
The satellite loss was that of Brazilian research
satellite - Sac-1 - which was launched aboard a Long
March 4B rocket on 14 October but has not been in
contact with the ground since then.
ARIANESPACE REVVS UP
Satellite launch firm Arianespace is
to handle eight launch flights in the last four and
a half months of this year. It has drawn up such a
packed schedule to make up for the delays that left
the Kourou launch site without any liftoffs for several
months earlier this year.
NDS GOES TO NEW YORK
NDS has tied up with New York cable
TV system Cablevision Systems to provide it with its
Open VideoGuard conditional access solutions which
will be deployed next year. Cablevision has a potential
audience of more than 4 million homes which will have
access to its digital entertainment and broadband
communications service.
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