http://news.yam.com/afp/life/200805/20080521500893.html
改善氣象預報功力 美法衛星下月升空
法新社╱盧瑞珠 2008-05-21 11:20     
 
 
（法新社華盛頓二十日電）美國國家航空暨太空總署（NASA）今天表示，美國和法國共同研發的偵測衛星，六月將發射升空，追蹤洋流及海平面上升高度，藉以改善氣象預報能力。

NASA位在加州的推進技術實驗室研究員傅立倫表示：「Jason 2衛星將協助建立首份全球未來幾十年的資料檔，以了解海洋在氣候變遷中所佔的重要角色。」

他強調：「這項新任務所取得的資料可以讓我們持續監測海平面變化。現階段這個研究領域的預測模式仍存在相當的不確定性。」

海平面上升是全球暖化的主要後果之一，也是氣候變遷的重要指標。

過去任務所得到的資料顯示，根據海洋測量結果，全球海平面自一九九三年起平均每年上升零點三公分，較整個二十世紀平均值還要多出一倍。

但科學家認為，過去十五年的資料仍不足以歸納出長期結論，因此需要Jason 2進行長達三年的偵測任務。

Jason 2將在六月十五日從加州發射升空。

Jason 2所進行的海洋表面地形圖任務，是由NASA、美國國家海洋大氣署、法國國家太空研究中心，和歐洲氣象衛星探測組織共同合作。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080520/sc_afp/usfrancespaceclimate_080520211116;_ylt=AhPgkAengZStIdRGuaSy6zPPOrgF
French-US statellite set for June launch to track sea levels

Tue May 20, 5:11 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US-French observation satellite due to track ocean currents and the rises in sea levels to help improve weather forecasts should be ready for launch in mid-June, NASA officials said Tuesday.
 
"Jason 2 will help create the first multi-decadal global record for understanding the vital roles of the ocean in climate change," said scientist Lee-Lueng Fu, from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

"Data from the new mission will allow us to continue monitoring global sea-level change, a field of study where current predictive models have a large degree of uncertainty," he added.

Rising sea levels are one of the major consequences of global warming and one of the main indicators of climate change.

Data from previous missions showed that sea levels have risen on average by 0.3 centimeters since 1993, or two times more than they did in whole of the 20th century, according to marine measurements.

However, 15 years of data is not enough to draw long term conclusions, scientists said, hence the need for the new three-year mission by Jason 2 due to launch from California on June 15.

The Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/Jason 2 mission is a partnership between the US space agency NASA, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, the French National Center of Space Studies (CNES) and the European satellite agency EUMETSAT.

"People in coastal areas will benefit from improved near-real-time data on ocean conditions, while people everywhere will benefit from better seasonal predictions resulting from the increased understanding of Earth system processes enabled by these measurements," said NASA's Michael Freilich, director of the Earth Science Division.

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/2008/515_ss_gps.html
U.S. Air Force Awards Lockheed Martin Team $1.4 Billion Contract To Build GPS III Space System

DENVER, May 15th, 2008 -- The U.S. Air Force today announced that a team led by Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has won the competition to build the next-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) Space System program, known as GPS III. 

This program will improve position, navigation, and timing services for the warfighter and civil users worldwide and provide advanced anti-jam capabilities yielding superior system security, accuracy and reliability.

“Lockheed Martin is proud to serve as the U.S. Air Force's partner on this critical national program," said Joanne Maguire, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.  "Our low-risk, back-to-basics solution is based on the team's outstanding record of success in developing and evolving navigation satellites and we look forward to building a next-generation system that will deliver enhanced performance for military and civilian users around the globe. "

Under the $1.4 billion Development and Production contract awarded today by Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and the Global Positioning Systems Wing, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., the team of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, ITT Corporation, and General Dynamics, will produce eight GPS IIIA satellites, with first launch projected for 2014.  The development contract will result in approximately 500 new jobs for Lockheed Martin.

Eight GPS IIIB and 16 GPS IIIC satellites are planned for later increments, with each increment including additional capabilities based on technical maturity.  When fully deployed, the GPS III constellation will feature a cross-linked command and control architecture, allowing the entire GPS constellation to be updated simultaneously from a single ground station. Additionally, a new spot beam capability for enhanced military (M-Code) coverage and increased resistance to hostile jamming will be incorporated.  These enhancements will contribute to improved accuracy and assured availability for military and civilian users worldwide.

As the program's Space System prime contractor, Lockheed Martin is leveraging its proven record of providing progressively advanced spacecraft for the current GPS constellation. The team designed and built 21 GPS IIR satellites for the Air Force and subsequently modernized eight of those spacecraft, designated GPS IIR-M, to enhance operations and navigation signal performance.

For GPS III, Lockheed Martin's program management and spacecraft development effort will occur at its facilities in Newtown, Pa, with final assembly, integration and test located in Denver.  The company's Sunnyvale, Calif operations will provide various spacecraft components and a launch support team will be based at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Lockheed Martin's flight-proven A2100 bus will serve as the GPS III spacecraft platform.

ITT, Clifton, N.J. will provide the navigation payload, and General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Gilbert, Ariz will provide the Network Communications Element (NCE) which includes the UHF Crosslink and Tracking Telemetry & Command (TT&C) subsystems.

"ITT is proud to be part of cutting-edge technology that will improve position, navigation, and timing services for warfighter and civil users worldwide," said Chris Young, president of ITT Space Systems Division. "ITT payloads have been aboard every GPS spacecraft--a span stretching more than 30 years--and we look forward to working on the next-generation of GPS satellites as part of the Lockheed Martin team."

“General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems is proud to be a member of Lockheed Martin’s strong GPS III industry team,” said Dennis Lowrey, vice president of space systems, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems.  “With our 30-year heritage of providing trusted communication subsystems to the GPS program, we are energized to continue our support to the U.S. Air Force for this next generation of GPS satellites.”

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 83,500 people worldwide and reported 2007 revenues of $27.2 billion.  The company is a market leader in business aviation; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and information systems and technologies.  More information about the company is available on the Internet at www.generaldynamics.com.

ITT Corporation (www.itt.com ) is a diversified high-technology engineering and manufacturing company dedicated to creating more livable environments, enabling communications and providing protection and safety.  The company plays an important role in vital markets including water and fluids management, global defense and security, and motion and flow control.  ITT employs approximately 40,000 people serving customers in more than 50 countries.  Headquartered in White Plains, N.Y., the company generated $9 billion in 2007 sales.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation reported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008-05/16/content_8184940.htm
洛克希德勝波音 獲得35.7億美元軍方訂單

2008年05月16日 12:25:33 　來源：新華網

新華網華盛頓５月１５日電 美國國防部１５日宣布，洛克希德－馬丁公司戰勝對手波音公司，獲得價值３５．７億美元的美國空軍訂單。該公司將負責生產１２顆下一代全球定位系統（ＧＰＳ）衛星。

據報道，美國國防部的新一代ＧＰＳⅢ系統共由３２顆衛星組成。此次國防部授權制造的１２顆衛星為首批訂單，之後還將授權另外兩份訂單。美國空軍ＧＰＳ部門指揮官戴夫﹒馬登上校表示，空軍方面希望與同一家公司合作制造全部的３２顆衛星。

波音公司和洛克希德－馬丁公司目前共同生產現役的ＧＰＳⅡ衛星系統，而波音方面出現了技術、成本以及交貨問題。業內人士認為，這是此次波音公司痛失巨額訂單的主要原因。

首批ＧＰＳⅢ的１２顆衛星將於２０１４年發射，全部３２顆衛星預計將於２０２２年進入運行軌道。

（責任編輯: 林杉 ）
 

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3532006&c=AME&s=AIR
Lockheed Wins GPS III
By gayle s. putrich
Published: 15 May 20:40 EDT (16:40 GMT)

Lockheed Martin will build the U.S. Air Force's next-generation GPS navigation satellites, beating out Boeing for the $1.5 billion contract, the Pentagon confirmed late on May 15.

Lockheed is already building the GPS IIR-M satellites, the sixth of which was launched March 15. The last of the IIR-Ms, which will include the L5 demonstration signal for improvements to civil use, is expected to go up in late June or early July.

The GPS III contract - worth an estimated $1.5 billon but expected to grow - is for the development of two initial research and development satellites. Though considered "R and D birds," they will be fully operational satellites, said Col. Dave Madden, commander of the Air Force's Global Positioning Wing.

The new GPS constellation, with 500 times the transmission power of the current one, will resist jamming and provide better accuracy with faster clock update rates. Stronger signals will also benefit civilian agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration, which is expected to use the satellites' signals to improve air-traffic control in U.S. skies.

The contract includes five options of two space vehicles each for a total of 12 possible Block A satellites, including the two initial birds, with an overall price tag of $3.568 billion.

From there, the Air Force plans to buy eight Block B satellites, which will have crosslinking abilities, and 16 Block Cs, which will have "spotbeams," allowing operators to boost the signal to 100 times greater than the Block Bs.

The Air Force has long said it intended to develop a long-term relationship with one prime contractor on GPS III – getting what could be as many as 36 spacecraft from the same vendor. While the current contract does provide the Pentagon more than on out should Lockheed run into problems, having only one GPS III vendor is still the intent, service officials said.

"Our primary intent is to establish a long-term relationship with a single prime," Madden said. "However we kept the option available...it is kind of nice to have options."

Still, it would seem the May 15 award leaves Boeing out in the cold on GPS for years to come.

"Boeing is disappointed by this loss, for we assembled a great team that submitted a solid proposal for the GPS III program," said a company statement. "We look forward receiving the debrief from the United States Air Force."

The decision was another in a string of blows to Boeing, which lost to Northrop Grumman and its European partner, EADS, in the $35 billion, 179-plane tanker contract earlier this year and has spent nearly two years fighting to hold onto the air service's $15 billion combat search-and-rescue helicopter contract.

Boeing protested the tanker award – a highly unusual move for the aerospace giant – but when questioned about a GPS III protest, company officials simply stated they were awaiting the formal Air Force debrief.

Past performance was a major factor in the decision, service officials said, weighed equally with mission capability and risk.

Boeing is building the GPS IIF satellites, which will serve as the bridge between the current constellation and GPS III, but is it not going well. Though that contract was awarded in 1996, Boeing has not yet launched any satellites; in 2000, the Air Force shrank its order from 33 to 12. Program managers were replaced in 2006, after Boeing was forced to forfeit $21.4 million due to delays and cost overruns. The first of the IIF sats are now expected to launch more than three years behind the original June 2005 goal.

But the IIF contract was not the only facet of past performance.

"We looked at five years of past performance from both contractors... probably upwards of 20 contracts to come up with overall picture of past performance," Madden said.

http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200805/20080520471595.html
美將提供中國道路橋樑因川震受損衛星影像
法新社╱張佑之 2008-05-20 05:20     
 
 
（法新社華盛頓十九日電）美國國防部今天說，該國將為中國提供四川省水庫、道路和橋樑遭地震損壞的衛星影像。

國防部發言人惠特曼說，如果天氣狀況許可，「國家地理空間情報局」預期將在今天為中國提供第一批這類影像。

惠特曼說：「他們已向美國索取一些水庫、道路和橋樑受損的影像，國家地理空間情報局現正動用資源，來為他們提供這方面的支援。」

中國在週末期間已為雙方提高合作程度做好準備，允許美國空軍兩架C─17運輸機載運食物、飲水、容器、毛毯、發電機和各種手工具飛抵成都。

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080519/pl_afp/chinaquakesatellite_080519184648
US giving China satellite images of quake damage: Pentagon

Mon May 19, 2:46 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is providing China with satellite imagery of reservoirs, roads and bridges damaged in the earthquake that devastated southwestern Sichuan province, the Pentagon said.
 
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is expected to provide the first of the unclassified imagery on Monday if weather permits, in what officials believed to be an unprecedented step.

"They have asked the United States for some imagery of damaged reservoirs, roads, and bridges and the National Geospatial-Intelligence agency (NGA) is providing resources to give them that type of support," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

China paved the way for the heightened level of cooperation over the weekend by allowing two US Air Force C-17 transport planes to fly in to Changdou, China with food, water, containers, blankets, generators, and various types of hand tools.

An estimated 71,000 people are dead, missing or buried a week after a powerful earthquake struck southwestern China.

A spokesman for the NGA said the agency was providing annotated images and maps to Chinese authorities through diplomatic channels.

"This event appears to be the first time that NGA, or one of its predecessor organizations, has provided unclassified imagery-derived products to the PRC (Peoples Republic of China) in support of disaster relief efforts," said NGA spokesman David Burpee.

But he said unclassified textual reports derived from imagery may have been provided to China before in disaster relief situations.

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2008/q2/080408a_nr.html
Boeing and TEAM TSAT Confirm Readiness of Advanced Satellite Electronics

ST. LOUIS, April 08, 2008 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and its TEAM TSAT industry partners have successfully demonstrated the readiness of the advanced electronics that will be used in the Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT).

Tests of the TSAT Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) demonstrated the microchip's functionality, speed and suitability for spaceflight. The tests, completed in late 2007 at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, simulated the most challenging radiation environment TSAT will experience during operation.

"The success of these tests emphasizes TEAM TSAT's strategy of transitioning proven operational terrestrial technology to space," said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "This accomplishment demonstrates TEAM TSAT's world-class engineering and our commitment to designing and delivering solutions that fully meet the U.S. Air Force's requirements."

These successful risk-reduction tests are the result of more than 10 years of partnership between Boeing and IBM. The TSAT ASIC chip is the fourth generation of IBM terrestrial ASIC technology qualified for space use. The first appeared in 2001 in a Boeing-built satellite-based mobile communications system.

"IBM has a strong history of positive investments in the field of microelectronics," said Anthony Yu, vice president, IBM Systems & Technology Group. "This renowned expertise and commitment to research and development has been a cornerstone in our collaboration with Boeing over the past decade and complements our drive for innovative products and services."

TEAM TSAT used ASIC chip designs that represent the most challenging functions required of TSAT. The tests simulated the harsh environment of space with a cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator that accelerates electrons using a high-frequency alternating charge.

Boeing's TEAM TSAT consists of Cisco Systems, Hughes, IBM, Harris Corp., Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., LGS Innovations, Raytheon, General Dynamics C4 Systems, L-3 Communications, BBN Technologies, EMS Technologies, SAIC and Innovative Communications Engineering. The team submitted its TSAT Space Segment proposal to the Air Force on July 30, 2007. The Air Force is expected to announce the winner of the multibillion-dollar contract later this year.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080409/us_nm/space_usa_dc;_ylt=At8GotzWK.JjBfKyNjmURq6HgsgF
Military's space demands keep topping supply

By Jim Wolf
Wed Apr 9, 7:37 PM ET

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Reuters) - U.S. military demand for satellite services will continue to outrun supply as the United States fleshes out a global information "mosaic," the Air Force's top civilian said Wednesday.
 
"We are entering an age when warfighters want more of what space has to offer," Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told a conference here known as the National Space Symposium.

"And I think demand will continuously outstrip supply for the foreseeable future," he said, referring to such satellite-enabled gains as pinpoint targeting, secure communications and battlefield awareness.

Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co, Northrop Grumman Corp, Raytheon Co and other U.S. defense contractors are vying for billions of dollars of work on advanced military communications, navigation and other satellite systems that will boost U.S. signal-processing power as much as 10-fold compared with systems being replaced.

In the meantime, closely held Intelsat and Americom Government Services, a unit of Luxembourg-based SES, provide as much as 80 percent of the bandwidth, or communications pipelines, to the U.S. military, according to Futron Corp, a Bethesda, Maryland, aerospace consultancy.

Since 2001, funding for Air Force space programs has nearly doubled, Wynne said, for everything from monitoring weather to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Working with commercial providers, "we are extending this global information mosaic in a very new and very powerful way," he said.

Gen. Robert Kehler, head of the Air Force Space Command, said meeting U.S. forces' ever-growing bandwidth needs, including video from the growing fleet of remotely piloted surveillance aircraft, would be a challenge "for a long time."

So great is the demand that new systems like Boeing's Wideband Global Satcom and Lockheed Martin's Advanced Extremely High Frequency may not much change the extent to which the military relies on commercial providers.

Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel, commander of the Space Command's satellite-buying Space & Missile Systems Center, said military demand was now basically double the supply.

"We're getting the job done, but it's really not being done in a way that meets our users' needs," he told reporters after a speech to the symposium. He said compromises were constantly made because of the crunch.

Also adding to the growing demand was commanders' wish to provide Internet services as a morale-booster to their troops in remote spots.

"They want to see YouTube. They want to do MySpace," said Peggy Slye, an expert on space and telecommunications at the Futron consultancy.

Such Internet access is now available to deployed forces thanks to devices using National Security Agency-approved encryption designed to secure communications from prying eyes.

Wynne told the symposium the United States also must do more to protect space assets on which it relies for a large and growing list of commercial and civilian needs.

His prepared text referred to China's January 2007 use of a ground-based ballistic missile to destroy an aging satellite in polar orbit without alerting other nations in advance, though he dropped the reference when he spoke.

"While we have made considerable progress in fielding space capabilities, we have not sufficiently addressed space survivability among many of our space systems," Wynne said.

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2008/new/apr/12/today-int1.htm
自由時報2008年4月12日

天價547億 美新世代軍事衛星上路
〔編譯胡立宗／路透科羅拉多科羅拉多泉十日電〕美國新一代軍事通訊衛星系統ＷＧＳ下週即將正式上路，新系統每一枚衛星資料傳輸量都是現有「國防通訊衛星」（ＤＳＣＳ）的十倍，號稱四枚ＷＧＳ衛星，就可滿足美軍及盟國全球通訊需求。

傳輸量10倍

全稱為「寬頻全球衛星」（ＷＧＳ）（見圖，同型衛星示意圖，取自美國空軍太空指揮部網站）的新系統，是由波音集團承造，總價十八億美元（約合台幣五百四十七億元），二○○一年訂約時僅規劃建造五枚ＷＧＳ衛星，但澳洲在去年決定加入後，總數增為六枚。

澳洲自第一枚衛星開始運作後，即可分享十％的頻寬，不過軍方拒絕透露澳洲佔總金額的比例，也不願說明是否還有其他國家會加入。

負責西太平洋通訊的首枚ＷＧＳ衛星，去年十月就已升空，嚴格測試三個月以確定性能正常。按照計畫，第二和第三枚ＷＧＳ將在八月及十二月發射，其餘三枚也將在二○一二年前全數就位，以逐步汰換現有的ＤＳＣＳ衛星。

首枚負責西太平洋通訊

美國空軍太空指揮部主管衛星通訊的沃爾夫上校表示，太平洋軍區司令基廷要求「儘快充分利用ＷＧＳ」，軍方下週就會開始將通訊管道由ＤＳＣＳ轉移到ＷＧＳ，控制權也將逐步轉移給太平洋軍區。

http://news.yam.com/bcc/international/200804/20080411031469.html
美超強軍用通訊衛星下週太平洋上空上工
中廣新聞網╱夏明珠 2008-04-11 07:24    

美國一枚功能超強的新型軍用通訊衛星，將從下個禮拜開始，在太平洋上空開始運作，這是美國計劃建構的一個新衛星通訊網裡面的第一枚衛星，單單是這一枚衛星，它的資訊傳輸量，就比即將淘汰的十枚舊衛星加總還要大。

這枚由波音公司製造的寬頻全球衛星，預訂下個星期開始上工，澳洲也在去年加入這項計畫，透過分擔經費，來分享資源，這個通訊網最終將擴充到六枚衛星，衛星總造價18億美元，預定在2012年以前建構完成。

寬頻全球衛星網是美國空軍和陸軍共有的計畫，目的在為美軍與盟軍及其他合作夥伴，提供必要的通訊服務。

第一枚衛星是去年十月發射，下個星期將在地球同步軌道上開始運作。第二和第三枚衛星，預定今年八月和十二月升空。