Direct TV which is in the thick of a merger with Echostar is going to see the addition of another satellite to its constellation when an Ariane 4 rocket (Flight 146) launches DirecTV-4S into space (26 November 9:35 pm, French Guiana Time, 27 November morning India time).
A Boeing 601HP satellite, it is the largest of its type built by Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) and will be the sixth Boeing-made satellite launched this year. In all, it will be the 61st Boeing 601 spacecraft launched to date built by Boeing Space and Communications, the world‘s largest satellite manufacturer.

The Ariane 4 rocket that will take the satellite into geostationary orbit at 101 degrees West longitude carries two solid and two liquid strap-on boosters. DirectTV-4S has five antennae, and features highly focused spot beam technology, the first in the DirectTV fleet to have this capability. This technology reuses the same frequencies on multiple spot beams to reach the major television markets where DirecTV delivers the signals of local network affiliates.

The satellite is designed to provide the DirecTV digital satellite television service with more than 300 channels of additional capacity to deliver additional local channels and to strengthen the redundancy of its existing in-orbit fleet of its earlier five satellites.

DirecTV-4S will also be the world‘s first commercial satellite to employ high-efficiency solar arrays with triple-junction gallium arsenide solar cells built by Spectrolab a BSS subsidiary. These solar cells are called triple-junction because they employ a three-layered structure, with each layer able to capture and convert a different portion of the solar spectrum.

The DirecTV-4S solar cells will be able to convert 24.5 percent of the sun‘s energy into electricity. The spacecraft‘s two solar arrays are together designed to deliver 8.3 kilowatts of power at the end of its 15-year design life.

The mission is scheduled to lift off during a 38-minute launch window that opens at 9:35 p.m. local time (7:00 am, IST, 4:35 pm PST, 12:35 am GMT, 27 November) from Arianespace‘s Guiana Space Center on the northeast coast of South America on 26 November.

At least 20 British broadcast, cable, satellite and telecom companies will participate in the eighth Middle East International Cable, Satellite, Broadcast & Telecommunications Exhibition (CABSAT 2002) from 5-7 March.

Organised by the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) at its exhibition complex, CABSAT 2002 will offer a platform for companies and professionals across the world to make inroads into the west Asian market.

Says DWTC international project manager Vijay Menon: "The larger UK presence at the show this year highlights the level of confidence the exhibitors have in the event and the excellent business networking opportunities the show offers in the region."

The UK pavilion at the CABSAT 2002 will include Motorola, one of the world‘s leading mobile phone providers, which recently launched its Global Packet Radio Service (GPRS)-enabled mobile handsets in west Asia and North Africa. The GPRS service with new digital compression techniques enhances data transfer speeds more than ten times as compared to GSM technology.

Encoda Systems will exhibit solutions for programme planning, airtime sales and multi-channel delivery, while Quantel will showcase the latest editing technologies including multi-format, multi-resolution post-production platforms. Rydex/CDT, manufacturers of telecommunication and data network cable for switching, transmission and wireless applications will exhibit their latest protocol and exchange equipment.

168 exhibitors representing 21 countries participated in the exhibition in 2001, attracting 4,500 trade professionals from the region.

Pearson, the owner of The Financial Times, the paper which has been itching to launch its India edition for the past decade but has been stopped from doing so, has managed to do so in China.

The country that has resisted overseas media influences for years, finally opened its doors to its first overseas alliance spanning television, broadband services and publishing this week. That should give some food for thought to Indian mandarins and politicians, considering the issue of foreign direct investment (FDI) in print media. Indian bureaucrats have often cited a 1956 Cabinet decision which had decided that FDI is a no-no.

The reason China decided to open up to Pearson: the 2008 Beijing Olympics. CTV Media, the multi media production arm of China Central Television (CCTV) has announced a joint venture with the London based media and education company. The alliance will centre on English language training as China prepares to greet the world in English at the Olympics, seven years from now.

The new Beijing-based company, Pearson CTV Media, will provide education and consumer content across television, broadband services and publishing for China?s 350 million television households. As part of the cross media effort, CCTV will provide Pearson CTV Media with unprecedented distribution across its television network, which reaches more than one billion viewers every day.

Pearson already has a presence in India through Penguin India Publishing and Fremantle India, a production house which has been behind such TV series such as Kricket, Family Fortunes, Born Lucky, Let‘s Make a Deal and Small Talk in India