- SPACEWAY
The SPACEWAY system was originally envisioned as a global Ka band communications system by
Hughes Electronics [http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:QNPMnb251PcJ:66.91.152.34:8080/library/ptr/sept95/spaceway.html+fitzpatrick+spaceway&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4] [http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayNew.pl?/metcalfe/bm102896.htm] . When the project to build the system was taken over byHughes Network Systems headquartered in Germantown Maryland, USA [http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/vwapj/hughesapplication1.pdf/$FILE/hughesapplication1.pdf] , a subsidiary of Hughes Electronics, it was transformed into a phased deployment initially only launching a North American satellite system. This is in comparison to other more ambitious systems such asTeledesic [http://web.archive.org/web/20021002112448/www.teledesic.com/newsroom/articles/10-01-2002.html] andAstrolink [http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/314.pdf] which retained their full global nature and which subsequently failed to complete their systems. Hughes Network Systems working with Hughes Electronics subsidiaryHughes Space and Communications (and subsequently sold to Boeing and called Boeing Satellite Systems and later theBoeing Satellite Development Center ) [http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bss/factsheets/702/spaceway/spaceway.html] completed and built the North American SPACEWAY system [http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060515/dcm076.html?.v=5] meant to provide broadband capabilities of up to 512 kbit/s, 2 Mbit/s, and 16 Mbit/s uplink data communication rates [http://www.spaceway.com/] with fixed Ka-band satellite terminal antennas sized as small as 74 cm [http://www.etsi.org/services_products/freestandard/home.htm] . The broadband SPACEWAY system was standardized byTelecommunications Industry Association [http://www.tiaonline.org/standards/star/documents/star%202004.pdf] andEuropean Telecommunications Standards Institute as theRegenerative Satellite Mesh - A Air Interface [http://www.etsi.org/services_products/freestandard/home.htm] .After
News Corp purchased a controlling interest in Hughes Electronics (which was renamed toDirecTV Group ), the company sold off its controlling interest in Hughes Network Systems but retained SPACEWAY-1 and SPACEWAY-2 for use in the DirecTV satellite television subsidiary of Hughes Electronics [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45648-2004Dec7.html] . Boeing retrofitted the first two satellites forbent-pipe Ka-band communications for use in high definition television and disabled the regenerative on-board processing of the original system that was to be used for broadband satellite communications. [http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1345840/000119312506026457/ds1a.htm]SPACEWAY-1 is providinghigh definition television to DirecTV customers with its Ka band communications payload. DirecTV is not expected to make use of the broadband capabilities on SPACEWAY-1 even though it was originally built by Boeing for this purpose. [http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1345840/000119312506026457/ds1a.htm]The identically built [http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=127160&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=713981&highlight=] satellite called
SPACEWAY-2 has been launched and is also providinghigh definition television to DIRECTV customers.The third satellite in the series called
SPACEWAY-3 was launched on August 14, 2007 from Ariane Launch Complex 3 in the tropics of Kourou, French Guiana. This satellite is expected to be used byHughes Network Systems as part of its business and consumer broadband satellite service currently calledHughesNet . [http://www.spaceway.com]Despite statements to the contrary in the system's initial filings with the
Federal Communications Commission , none of the three satellites haveInter-Satellite Links connecting the satellites directly with each other in space. [http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bss/factsheets/702/spaceway/spaceway.html]Hughes Network Systems has an option to purchase and haveBoeing buildSPACEWAY-4 . [http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1345840/000119312506026457/ds1a.htm]ee also
*
HughesNet
*List of broadcast satellites
*Regenerative Satellite Mesh - A Air Interface
*SPACEWAY-1
*SPACEWAY-2
*SPACEWAY-3 References
External links
*
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.