• Chinese president meets Chinese, Nigerian businessmen

Mobile L-band satellite radio service is another area being explored for the European market. AAS already supplies the payloads for the US XM satellite radio service. Work is also under way in Ka-band applications, particularly for emergency services. Other potential growth areas are high-definition TV and local TV services (spot beam broadcasts for limited audiences - less than 100,000 people).
Jaeger shares the view that the market will pick up slightly this year, particularly in view of the replacement needs. He is also convinced that there is a huge potential market with institutional users, which has yet to translate into firm contracts. Nonetheless, he feels that awareness is growing, particularly in military circles. The ESA ministerial council meeting in Berlin saw some encouraging declarations, but these will need to be transformed into concrete operations. On the positive side, the Alphasat programme is in progress, as well as ESA's small GEO platform (Artes-11). Germany has invested Euro(s)32 million in the latter effort, just over half of the total funding commitments to date. Berlin's main objective, however, is to help OHB System to develop the Lux platform, which will compete directly with Astrium and AAS offerings.
Among the US manufacturers, only Boeing emerged from 2005 empty-handed. Lockheed Martin (A2100 platform) booked orders for two small satellites (AMC-18 and Bsat-3a) and two medium birds (Sirius-4 and JCSat-11). AMC-18 for SES Global, which is due to be launched this year, was built as a ground backup under an earlier contract. Bsat-3a, for Japanese operator Bsat, is slated for a 2007 launch. Sirius-4, for Nordic Satellite AB (NSAB), which is also due to be launched in 2007, is an A2100AX platform with 52 Ku-band and two Ka-band transponders. Also scheduled for lift-off in 2007 is JCSat-11 for Japan's Jsat Corp. This will be an A2100AX platform with a hybrid (C/Ku band) payload.
For Loral Space & Communications, the highlight of the year was the company's emergence from bankruptcy in November. Space Systems/Loral (FS1300 platform) booked orders for four satellites - XM-5, Galaxy-18, ICO-GEO and TerreStar-1. The latter two are for geostationary Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) applications. ICO-GEO, being built for ICO Satellite Management LLC, is an FS-1300 platform with a 2GHz payload, which will be positioned at 91° West. TerreStar-1, for TerreStar Networks Inc (61% owned by Motient Corp, a provider of terrestial wireless data solutions) likewise features an FS-1300 platform with a 2GHz payload, and an 18m antenna. It will be the first satellite capable of communicating with standard cell phones, thanks to Ancillary Terrestial Component (ATC) technology. It will also be the most powerful commercial telecomsat, with the ability to generate hundreds of beams to cover the USA, Canada, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. It will be placed in a Canadian orbital slot licensed to TerreStar's Canadian partner, TMI Communications. Launch is set for late 2007, with entry into service to follow by the end of 2008. The contract includes an option for TerreStar-2.
Boeing made up for a disappointing 2005 by sealing its biggest order in nine years in early 2006 - three GeoMobile satellites for Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV), the former parent of TerreStar. Though the two companies now operate independently, MSV and TerreStar are both owned by the same group of investors. MSV, which already operates the two MSAT satellites, will also use ATC technology. All three of the new satellites will feature 11kW BSS-702 platforms with a 22m antenna for L band, and a 1.5m antenna for Ku band. The first two satellites will cover Canada, the US, Mexico and the Caribbean, while the third (MSV-SA) will add services to South America. Launches are scheduled for 2009-2010.
Orbital Sciences, finally, had a vintage year, with four contracts (PanAmSat-11, Horizons-2, Thor-2R and Measat-1R).
In Russia, the new federal programme includes 62 satellite launches over the period 2006-2015 under the Express, Luch-5A, Yamal, Gonets, Sadko, Gnom, Mayak and Tundra-K programmes. National operator RSCC will account for 15 of these launches (Express series). NPO-PM has already sold several small Express-1000 platforms - Iran's Zoreh satellites, the Luch-5A relay satellite, and Europa-1 for RTRS. The first platform is set for lanch in 2007. Khrunichev is developing the small platform Express-MD. RKK Energia signed a contract for two Yamal-300 satellites at the Moscow Air Show in August 2005. They are due to be launched in 2007. The only constellation in service in Russia today is the Gonets-D messaging and position-finding system.
The major news from Japan last year was the order for the Superbird-7 commercial telecom satellite, which, in a ground-breaking move, was awarded to a Japanese firm, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. This satellite will be based on a DS-2000 platform, already selected for MTSat-2. Weighing in at 5.0t, Superbird-7 will carry 28 Ku band transponders. It is due to be launched in early 2008.
China is poised to bring its new DFH-4 platform into service. The new platform is due to go into orbit this year on Sinosat-2 and NigSatcom-1, and will probably also be used on Venezuela's Simon Bolivar satellite. In December, the Indian government signed an order for Insat-4E/Gsat-6, which will offer mobile multimedia service - Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (S-DMB). The 2.1t satellite will carry a Band-S payload. Launch is scheduled for early 2008.
Israeli operator Spacecom ordered the Amos-3 satellite from the MBT division of Israel Aircraft Industries. This $170 million craft will feature a hybrid (Ku/Ka band) payload supplied by Alcatel Alenia Space. It is due to be launched at the end of 2007.
Operator consolidation
The consolidation wave continued to wash over the satellite operator sector in 2005. PanAmSat acquired Europestar from Alcatel Space, giving it access to orbital slots at 45° and 47.5° East. Europestar-1 has been renamed PAS-12. Then PanAmSat was itself bought by Intelsat in a $3.2 billion deal that created the world's largest operator of telecom satellites, ahead of SES Global, which had been formed by the merger of GE Americom and Europe's SES Astra.
Intelsat, established in 1964, is the oldest international telecommunications satellite operator in the world. Following the creation of New Skies Satellite (NSS) and privatisation in 2001, the organisation was purchased for $5 billion in October 2004 by Intelsat Holdings, an entity formed at the direction of funds advised by or associated with Apax Partners Worldwide LLP, Apax Partners, Inc., Apollo Management V, L.P., MDP Global Investors Limited and Permira Advisors, LLC. It currently operates a fleet of 28 satellites and reported annual sales of $1.04 billion in 2004. Including PanAmSat, the company operates a fleet of 53 satellites and has pro forma annual sales of $1.9 billion. Intelsat has one satellite on order (IA-9), while PanAmSat has four (Galaxy-16/17/18 and PAS-11). Many observers expect Intelsat to divest part of the PanAmSat fleet.
No sooner had the market digested this mega-merger, than the number two operator, SES Global, announced the acquisition of number eight, New Skies Satellites, in a $1.16 billion cash-only transaction. The latter, spun off by Intelsat in 1998, had inherited five Intelsat satellites, to which it subsequently added NSS-6 (ex-Intelsat-KTV) and NSS-7 (ordered from Lockheed Martin). The company was acquired by The Blackstone Group, a private investment firm, in 2004 for $954 million in cash. The company successfully completed an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2005. NSS recently reported revenues of $240 million (+14%) for 2005, along with a 31% increase in Adjusted EBITDA, to $157 million. SES Global announced sales of Euro(s)1.258 billion (+16.7%), and EBITDA of Euro(s)787 million (+11.9%).
SES Global plans to launch six satellites over the period 2006-2008 - Astra-1KR (Atlas-5, April 2006), AMC-14 (Proton, 2006), AMC-18 (Ariane, 2006), Astra-1L (Ariane, 2007), Sirius-4 (Proton, 2007) and Astra-1M (2008). NSS plans to launch NSS-8 on Sea Launch this year.
Eutelsat eventually proceeded with its IPO in December, after calling off an initial operation planned for October due to market conditions. The IPO was the culmination of a process that got under way in 2000, when the European Commission approved the restructuring proposals transferring the assets of what was then an intergovernmental treaty organization to a privatized entity incorporated in France. Within the company's ownership structure, players from the telecoms community have gradually been replaced by financial investors. The IPO now opens the way to increased flexibility in financing. Says Deputy CEO Jean-Paul Brillaud: "We have achieved the transformation while conserving our commercial effectiveness and pursuing growth. We are satisfied. Now we are in a stronger position to pursue our operational and commercial activities."
For the fiscal year ending 30 June 2005, Eutelsat reported sales of Euro(s)750 million and a backlog of over Euro(s)4 billion. The company predicts growth of around 2% for the year ahead. Brillaud comments that the global market has been stagnant since the Internet bubble burst in 2001, but that the company has maintained growth in excess of 4%. The drop to 2% is not expected to last longer than the "transition year" from analogue to digital broadcasting. "The following three years should see growth back at an annual average 4%," he explains.
Growth is seen coming from continued development of digital TV, the arrival of HDTV in Europe, along with broadband and other added value services. The emerging markets are in central and eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and North and sub-Sahara Africa. Eutelsat is cautious on HDTV prospects, aligning itself with the analysts' predictions of around 150 channels in Europe by 2009. Others feel that HDTV could take off more rapidly, spurred by major events such as the football World Cup in Germany this summer. In the broadband sector, the Dstar service offered by the company's Italian subsidiary, Skylogic Italia, is experiencing rapid growth. New services, such as TV for cell phones, are still in their infancy.
Hot Bird-7A (launched on March 11) and Hot Bird-8 (scheduled for April/May) will ensure continuity of service at 13° East, increase capacity of the Hot Bird position (two transponders), provide a backup in case of transponder failure or even a total loss of a satellite and to provide a contingency in the event of a launch failure. Eutelsat also has plans to redeploy a first-generation satellite to 7° West to provide additional capacity for Nilesat over Egypt.
Eutelsat plans to add three new satellites this year - W-2M, W-7 and W-2A. Three separate RFPs have been issued, and contracts will be negotiated for each individual satellite. Following the incident affecting W-1 in August 2005 (50% of capacity lost), top priority has been given to W-2M - a medium-size bird (28/29 transponders) due to replace W-1 at 10° East. The alliance between EADS Astrium and Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was recently selected to supply the W-2M satellite. EADS Astrium is prime contractor in charge of overall programme management and will build the communications payload. ANTRIX/ISRO will build the satellite bus, based on the I-3K model, integrate and test the spacecraft. ISRO will also be in charge of early in-orbit operations.
Next in line is W-7, the largest of the three, which will be used to reinforce Eutelsat's position at 36° East, where it will replace W-4 and Sesat. This very successful position has become a hot spot for eastern Europe and Africa. W-2A, finally, will replace W-2 at 16° East.
Market activity so far in 2006 has included the sale by Norway's Telenor of a 4.8% stake in Inmarsat (just over half of its total shareholding) for Euro(s)109.4 million. The company retains a 4.6% stake.
Military users
Military users are also making a significant contribution to telecom market growth. In the UK, the Ministry of Defence is increasingly relying on satellites to communicate with its forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. As of October 2003, MoD communications are handled by a private operator, Paradigm Secure Communications, a subsidiary of EADS Space Services, which supplies turnkey services under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract. Traffic is currently carried by the existing Skynet-4 series; the first Skynet-5 (5A) is scheduled for launch in June 2006, followed by Skynet-5B in 2007. The designated launcher is Ariane, with Sea Launch as a backup. The MoD and other users (including NATO, Canada and Portugal) have expressed their satisfaction with the service being provided by Paradigm ... so much so that a third satellite, Skynet-5C, has been ordered from EADS Astrium. The duration of the contract has also been extended by two years, to 2020.
According to Paradigm, there is no cost increase to the MoD when comparing the common 15-year baseline periods of the old and the new deals. Savings from insurance costs and a cutting-edge refinancing scheme are at the heart of the approach. A three-satellite constellation means better performance, more efficiency, longer services availability, with a concession period extended from 2018 to 2020, the company explains.
Paradigm is also ordering the partial build of a fourth satellite, to be held in reserve. If required, in order to maintain the assurance strategy of having three satellites in orbit, the fourth satellite would be completed and launched in the event that any of the first three satellites were not successfully commissioned after launch. The company notes that the new agreement will also provide the potential for other customers to benefit from increased coverage and capacity. Skynet-5C is scheduled to be launched in 2008.
GOOD VINTAGE FOR INSURERS
2005 was a good year for the space insurance sector. There were no launch failures, only a small number of on-orbit incidents, which do not represent significant sums.
The number of launches insured in 2005 was slightly up from 2004 and is expected to pick up slightly in 2006 - 25-30 launches insured. However, despite this slight pickup in activity, the total volume of premiums is not expected to vary substantially, as the launches essentially involve medium-size satellites, normally insured at around $250-300 million. Useable capacity, on the other hand, is expected to increase from around $400-410 million in 2005 to $470-480 million in 2006. This in turn should bring pressure to bear on launch policy rates, which had already started to ease in 2005. This trend should continue, assuming no major losses.
In spite of this, the overall on-orbit market performance has been negative for the past 10 years, and it will be several more years before things get back into positive territory. However, results for the past two years have at least been moving in the right direction.
ESA, Cnes sign Alphabus agreement
On Thursday 15 March, at the headquarters of the European Space Agency, a co-operation agreement was signed between ESA and the Centre National d'Études Spatiales for the development of Alphabus, Europe's next generation of telecommunication satellites.
The signature of this co-operation agreement follows the signature of a contract in June 2005 between the European Space Agency (ESA), the Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES), EADS Astrium and Alcatel Space (which has since become Alcatel Alenia Space) who jointly committed to the Alphabus development programme and to the production of the first flight model around 2009.
The Alphabus programme is supported jointly by ESA and CNES. The agreement which has just been signed establishes the arrangements for cooperation between ESA and CNES in relation to the development and the qualification of a generic line of large platforms for geostationary telecommunication satellites, the provision of a flight model from this generic line and its validation in orbit.
This agreement specifies that CNES will manage the development of this new platform line, with ESA co-financing, the development of the selected European equipment. ESA is therefore the first client for the Alphabus line, thanks to the provision of the first flight model of this platform.
Approved by ESA Member States during the Ministerial conference at Edinburgh in November 2001, Alphabus is the result of the work of an integrated team - ESA/CNES and EADS Astrium/Alcatel Alenia Space- which has designed a product intended for the upper segment of the telecommunication satellites market.
ESA, CNES, EADS Astrium and Alcatel Alenia Space have pooled their technical and financial resources for a joint development programme.
Alphabus will offer Europe reliable solutions matching world demand for very high power satellites and will be commercialised jointly by EADS Astrium and Alcatel Alenia Space starting in 2007.
The Alphabus platform is designed for telecommunication satellites having a payload power consumption of between 12 and 18 kW.
Satellites based on Alphabus will have a lift-off mass of between six and eight tonnes and will be optimised for the European launcher Ariane 5 ECA and the new generation of commercial launchers with a fairing diameter of 5m.
The first flight model of the Alphabus platform, which will be available in 2009, will be offered by ESA to telecommunication satellite operators for their contribution to its in orbit validation. After a call for candidates and a first selection, a definition phase for the first mission of the satellite, named Alphasat, based on this first flight model of the Alphabus platform, will be started with each of the three operators selected (Eutelsat, Inmarsat and Telespazio).
A final selection at the end of 2006 will allow the Alphasat satellite configuration to be frozen for a launch around 2010.

68304201.xml
GOOD VINTAGE FOR INSURERS
Document IBZT000020060809e2310005j
Article

Tide of technology pours into China.

Murray Hughes

2,087 words

1 March 2006

Railway Gazette International

RAILGI

149

English

(C) Reed Business Information Limited, All rights reserved.
More than 1000 locomotives are being built under technology transfer deals to augment Chinese Railways' fleet of high-horsepower traction. Murray Hughes finds that both North American and European companies are reaping the rewards - although Chinese products may soon be rolling west
noneMore than 1000 locomotives are being built under technology transfer deals to augment Chinese Railways' fleet of high-horsepower traction. Murray Hughes finds that both North American and European companies are reaping the rewards - although Chinese products may soon be rolling westnone
CHINA is exerting a growing influence on the world railway market. Not only is western expertise and technology flooding into China, but China's own railway products are flowing the other way - and they could arrive soon in Western Europe.
Exporting railway equipment from China is not a new phenomenon. Chinese engineers helped build the Tanzania-Zambia Railway in the 1970s, and more recently Chinese locomotives and other rolling stock have been exported to Nigeria and Namibia. Iran uses Chinese-built main line, suburban and metro coaches, including double-deckers, while Pakistan has received locomotives and coaches from China. Last year Cuban Railways took delivery of 12 Chinese diesel locos, while the railways in Kazakhstan have a technology transfer agreement to build Chinese-designed diesels.
Europe may be next in line for Chinese exporters. British franchisee Serco-NedRail is giving serious consideration to a proposal for acquisition of Chinese-built DMUs to replace four-wheeled railbuses that trundle around on rural and suburban services in parts of northern England. Last year there was a plan to acquire 200 vehicles, but this was later cut to 140. The latest proposal is for a pilot fleet of 50 diesel multiple-unit cars.
While China's rolling stock industry has limited experience with DMU construction, it has developed expertise in many other areas. This is growing rapidly as more and more western companies sign up to supply rolling stock and other equipment under deals that include a technology transfer element.
Back in the mid-1980s, US builder General Electric secured a contract to supply 420 diesel locomotives rated at 4000 hp to Chinese Railways, and these contributed in no small part to modernisation of the motive power fleet. Similarly, electric traction expertise arrived from France when Chinese Railways began to electrify its trunk lines in the 1970s and 1980s.
Since then Chinese Railways has expanded its network dramatically, and the Ministry of Railways is now deploying all its efforts to try and keep pace with demand. High on the agenda are massive imports of western expertise and technology.
This includes a huge injection of motive power, not least from GE. The American giant signed an agreement in November 2004 for 78 diesel locos of 4 000 hp with AC traction motors to be built at Erie, Pennsylvania. This was followed a year later by a further agreement to supply 300 diesel-electric locos in 2007-09. These will be 6000 hp units for China's heavy haul freight routes, and will be built in conjunction with Qishuyan Locomotive Works.
But GE is not alone. In September last year rival Electro-Motive Diesel signed a contract for another 300 high horsepower diesels. These too will be rated at 6000 hp, and Dalian Locomotive Works will assemble them under a licensing deal, with the first appearing in 2007. They will feature AC transmissions and EMD's 265H Series engines that meet the US Tier 2 emissions regulations.
China represents a valuable outlet for both GE's and EMD's high-horsepower technology that has not found universal favour in North America. EMD Chairman Jerry Greenwald commented at the time 'that the Chinese locomotive market has terrific opportunities for future growth and joint development'.
Another US supplier to benefit from Chinese co-operation is The Greenbrier Companies. In December 2004 it signed a long-term co-operation agreement with Zhuzhou Rolling Stock works which provides for the US company to use Chinese parts in its North American and European wagon plants. Zhuzhou builds around 6000 wagons a year.
European electrics
China has turned to Europe for expertise in boosting capacity on its electrified lines. Electrification has progressed to the point where the length of network under wires is longer than in Germany, and for heavy haul traction the Ministry of Railways is working with Siemens and long-standing partner Alstom.
A batch of 150 Type 8K twin-unit electric locos was supplied by the 50Hz Group from the Alsthom factory in Belfort in the 1980s, and these were deployed on CR's heavy haul coal line between Datong and Qinhuangdao. With capacity on this and other heavy haul routes at a premium, new motive power is urgently needed.
Alstom has cornered a further slice of the market, and a co-operation agreement signed in June 2004 with Datong Electric Locomotive Co provides for the partnership 'to compete in future calls for tender for locomotives in China'. Initially, Alstom will build heavy freight locos derived from the Prima design for SNCF (below). Later, the partnership will build locomotives for 'regular freight and for high speed passenger service'.
At the end of 2004, Siemens inked a deal with Zhuzhou Electric Loco Works for another 180 heavy haul electric locos. Rated at 9600 kW, these will be based on 20 Type DJ1 twin-units supplied by Siemens in 2001, the first three of which were built in Austria. These too are intended for service on the Da-Qin coal line, where traffic last year was expected to approach a record 150 million tonnes.
Handling such high tonnages requires specialist knowledge and expertise, and in April a group of 20 senior officials from the Ministry of Railways will visit Queensland Rail for training in heavy haul technology and management. This will be provided by consultancy iQR, which has arranged a six-day study tour for the visitors. This will include training in train operations management, track and structures, environmental, safety and risk analysis and visits to two universities. The Chinese delegates will also visit QR's driver simulator training centre and the coal handling facilities at Gladstone.
Track technology too
The Ministry of Railways has designated four 10 km sections of its emerging high speed passenger network on which various ballastless track designs are to be tested. One of these will be located on the Beijing - Tianjin high speed line, where German supplier Max B"gl is to provide the technology (p156).
Rival company Pfleiderer, now owned by Vossloh, also signed a contract with the Ministry of Railways on January 25 for transfer of Rheda 2000 ballastless track technology. This provides for Pfleiderer 'to act as prime contractor within a group of European companies that intend to support the implementation of Rheda 2000 ballastless systems in the People's Republic of China'. The company plans to set up a local subsidiary and will provide training in Europe and in China.
The first major project where Rheda 2000 technology will be used is a high speed line from Wuhan to Guangzhou. This double track alignment stretches for 989 km, 'the majority' of which will use the ballastless technique. Pfleiderer said it represents by far the largest ballastless track project to be carried out in China. Handling the scheme is a consortium of Pfleiderer, Eichholz, Heitkamp and the Dutch BAM Group, which expects to have the line ready for opening in 2010.
The Wuhan - Guangzhou line will require over 2 million sleepers, and Pfleiderer is providing its production plant technology to Chinese sleeper suppliers. This