Astrolink Flight 1 Payload Module Fabrication Ahead of Schedule; Astrolink Spacecraft On Track to Launch in the First Quarter of 2003.Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 10, 2001 ASTROLINK International LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control , a global broadband telecommunications company See telecom company. , today announced that the flight panels for its first satellite were completed six weeks ahead of schedule. Lockheed Martin For the former company, see . Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a leading multinational aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) delivered the flight panels to TRW TRW The Real World (TV reality show) TRW The Right Way TRW Tactical Reconnaissance Wing TRW The Retriever Weekly (University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD) TRW Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc Space Park in Redondo Beach Redondo Beach (rĭdŏn`dō), city (1990 pop. 60,167), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1892. Once a commercial port for Los Angeles, it is a residential and resort city with a protected harbor and an excellent marina. , CA to begin testing and integration. This marks a critical milestone for Astrolink, which is on schedule to launch service in the first quarter of 2003. Astrolink will provide state-of-the-art bandwidth-on-demand services over satellite to subscribers at broadband data rates as high as 1,000 times faster than conventional telephone dial-up capability. The flexibility and speed of the platform will enable Astrolink to deliver highly cost-effective broadband services tailored to the evolving requirements of the enterprise market. Astrolink will launch these services in multiple phases. The first phase will include Internet access/Internet service, point-to-point connectivity, multicasting, and IP virtual private networks (VPN (Virtual Private Network) A private network that is configured within a public network (a carrier's network or the Internet) in order to take advantage of the economies of scale and management facilities of large networks. ). "The service offering that Astrolink is planning to provide will have market appeal," said Nick Maynard, Yankee Group (the Yankee Group, Boston, MA, www.yankeegroup.com) A major market research, analysis and consulting firm founded in 1970 by Howard Anderson. It provides general consulting and strategic planning in the computer and communications field. analyst. "A wide range of enterprises, especially those with 100-1,000 employees, could benefit from this level of bandwidth offering." The satellite structure delivered by LMCSS will contain the on-board processors or switches being developed by TRW. These on-board switches will enable Astrolink to provide high-speed, any-to-any IP connections to enterprise sites around the world. Dave Rosener, Astrolink's vice president of space and launch systems, said, "We are excited about the progress to date in building Astrolink's space segment. Astrolink plans to be the first satellite Ka-band network to utilize next-generation technology, including on-board, switched processing and spot beams. This new technology will for the first time enable satellites to provide cost-effective broadband data services to business enterprises of any size." Photo available upon request. About Astrolink Astrolink is owned by Liberty Media, Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, Telespazio, and TRW. Based in Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda is an urbanized, but unincorporated, area in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, just Northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a church located there, the Bethesda Presbyterian Church, built in 1820 and rebuilt in 1850, which in turn took its name from , Astrolink will build and operate a global telecommunications network A telecommunications network is a of telecommunications links and nodes arranged so that messages may be passed from one part of the network to another over multiple links and through various nodes. that leverages state-of-the-art satellite technology. Astrolink will focus on the high-growth area of broadband data services, carrying traffic for Internet, intranet, multimedia, and corporate data networks. Small satellite dishes will be installed at businesses to quickly and cost-effectively connect them to high-speed networks. The service will be complementary and compatible with other broadband services like fiber optic transmission and fixed wireless technologies. Astrolink's web site is at www.astrolink.com. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion