Both launches had been set for earlier in 2010, but ESA has encountered difficulties with the satellites, built by a consortium led by Astrium Satellites and Thales Alenia Space. Introduction of Russia’s Soyuz rocket at Europe’s Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, on the north coast of South America, has also been repeatedly delayed.

The European Union and ESA plan to select a builder for the remaining 28 satellites late this year. Final bids from 11 companies bidding for on six Galileo work packages are expected by November 11.

A few months ago, Surrey Satellite Technology  repositioned GIOVE-A, the first Galileo test satellite, to an orbit 113 kilometers above the orbit that the operational Galileo navigation satellites will occupy.

Since its December 2005 launch, GIOVE-A has achieved all of its mission objectives and remains in excellent condition well beyond its design life of two years, Surrey Satellite Technology stated. The test satellite secured the Galileo frequency filings with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), collected data to characterise the medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) environment, and flight-proved technologies such as highly accurate atomic clocks.

GIOVE-A remains fully operational, and has sufficient propellant remaining for further maneuvers.

Sources: ESA, Space Daily

After postponing a planned late-September launch of three new GLONASS-M satellites from the Baikonur space center, the Russian space agency Roscosmos set a new launch date of October 29. The launch was originally set for September 25 from the Bikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

Roscosmos’s head, Anatoly Perminov, earlier reiterated that all six satellites required to complete the GLONASS satellite grouping would be launched by the end of 2009.

The 18 satellites the system requires for continuous navigation services covering the entire territory of the Russian Federation are now in orbit. The six set to go up in two launches this year would bring numbers up to the 24 needed to provide services worldwide. The other three are reportedly set for a December 4 launch, also from the Baikonur space center.

A total of 9.9 billion rubles ($360 million at the current exchange rate) was allocated for GLONASS from the federal budget in 2007, and 4.7 billion rubles ($170 million) in 2006. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed an order on September 12, 2008, providing an additional $2.6 billion to develop the system.

Sources: RIA-Novosti, Roscosmos.

The European satellite operator achieved a further extension of its multi-year relationship with Cyfrowy Polsat, Poland’s leading pay-TV operator, with the renewal of a contract for three transponders at the HOT BIRD™ neighbourhood. This new lease with Eutelsat follows the contract for a fourth transponder inked by Cyfrowy Polsat in March 2009 to support the on-going expansion of Poland’s leading pay-TV platform with the launch of new TV services.

Launched in 2000 from Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD™ position, Cyfrowy Polsat currently broadcasts over 75 Polish-language channels to more than 2.8 million subscribers. In 2007 Cyfrowy Polsat launched HDTV in its platform and now offers six channels, including Polsat HD, Polsat Sport HD, Eurosport HD, HBO HD, MTVNHD and Discovery HD. In addition, Cyfrowy Polsat subscribers can access over 500 free to air television and radio channels which can be received in Poland from the HOT BIRD™ satellites.

In the European scenario,  Eutelsat Communications, has been selected by Hungary’s national public broadcaster Magyar Televízió (MTV), in a consortium assembling Magyar Telekom and eVision, to broadcast its Magyar TV2 channel across Europe using the EUROBIRD™ 9A satellite. The flagship general entertainment channel is now available on a free-to-air basis in both Standard Digital and High-Definition versions.

Within the framework of the consortium servicing MTV’s requirements, Magyar Telekom manages terrestrial activities, including fibre delivery of the broadcast signals to eVision’s teleport in Budapest. The signals are multiplexed and uplinked by e-Vision to one transponder on Eutelsat’s EUROBIRD™ 9A satellite for reception by satellite homes and terrestrial operators in Hungary and across Europe.

Coming to middle east, Eutelsat signed a multi-year capacity deal with satellite service provider Noorsat.
The contract is for the lease of three additional transponders on Eutelsat’s Atlantic Bird 4A satellite.
Noorsat, based in Manama, Bahrain, offers a broadcasting platform that delivers more than 170 free-to-air and subscription channels.
“By increasing our capacity at Eutelsat’s 7 degrees West neighborhood, Noorsat is able to offer its clients extensive coverage of DTH homes in the Middle East. Our expansion is based on the prospect of seeing the number of channels in the [Middle East and North Africa] region increase over the next three years. We are preparing for the expected introduction of HDTV channels and will be offering our customers the capacity they need,” Noorsat CEO Omar Shoter said in a statement.

Sources: Eutelsat, Via Satellite