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XTAR announced Wednesday that it has been awarded a contract with the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Telecommunications Service Program Office (DTS-PO), Fairfax, Va., to provide X-band communications services to embassies and consulates in Africa and Asia. The five-year contract has an estimated maximum value of up to $137 million. XTAR is a joint venture between Loral Space & Communications and HISDESAT. Bernard L. Schwartz, chairman and CEO, Loral Space & Communications, commented, "XTAR's agreement with the State Department will provide for the first use of XTAR by the U.S. Government, an important milestone in validating Loral's innovative investment in XTAR's commercial X-band service model. "Through our unique collaboration with HISDESAT, we're proud to be able to provide the U.S. Government with this new, previously unavailable commercial X-band service in such a critical part of the world." "XTAR is designed to offset a portion of the ever growing shortfalls in bandwidth for military and government agency communications by providing a cost-effective commercial augmentation to the government's X-band satellites," said Denis Curtin, chief operating officer, XTAR, LLC. "XTAR will allow DTS-PO to use its currently installed X-band terminals, maintain assured communication access and increase the system's performance through the powerful XTAR-EUR satellite." The Diplomatic Telecommunications Service provides communications services for U.S. Government activities at diplomatic and consular missions worldwide. The DTS Network provides responsive, reliable, secure, and cost-effective telecommunications services to users at more than 260 sites around the world, representing nearly 50 U.S. Government entities. Built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), XTAR-EUR was launched in February 2005 aboard an Ariane 5 ECA rocket. Located at 29 degrees East longitude, the satellite carries twelve 72 Mhz high-power X-band transponders that provide coverage from Eastern Brazil and the Atlantic Ocean, across all of Europe, Africa and the Middle East to as far east as Singapore. XTAR-EUR is expected to provide service for nearly 20 years. The XTAR-EUR satellite features traditional global beams as well as on-board switching and multiple steerable beams, allowing users access to X-band capacity as they travel anywhere within the footprint of the satellite. XTAR-EUR is designed to work with existing X-band terminals, as well as next generation X-band terminals that feature antennas smaller than 2.4 meters. Related Links XTAR Loral Space & Communications SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express 
Northrop Grumman Ships 23rd DSP Satellite To Cape For Launch
Redondo Beach (SPX) May 10, 2005Northrop Grumman shipped the 23rd satellite in the long-running Defense Support Program (DSP) series to the United States Air Force's Cape Canaveral Air Station for launch preparation. |
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