Transeurosat
participates in and organizes events explaining the uses of satellite communications
and related technologies. In early 2008 Transeurosat backer Systemics Network
International partnered with the Belgian village of Mont-Saint-Guibert and
the Belgian wireless network specialists SpecterCAT to stage a demonstration,
accompanied by press conference and an exhibition day in the Commune on
18 April 2008. Further details on this successful project and outreach initiative
can be provided on request. Click here
to go to the Triplenet site for details on the experimental system, which
received material support from Eutelsat, G4Securicor and others demonstrating
their systems and applications. It is intended that the demonstation will
be repeated in Rwanda with the participation of local organizations and
a further event will be staged then.
Transeurosat's
first workshop, in 2003, remains the best example of the talent Transeurosat
can bring together. It provided a deep practical insight into how satellite
technology works in practice under sometimes very difficult operating conditions
yet to high expectations. The case studes Transeurosat and its colleagues
looked at revolved around:"Using
Satellite to Serve International Corporate Operations and Diplomatic Missions"
The
event took place at the British Embassy in Brussels and was attended
by members of the international corporate and diplomatic communities, for
whom satellite is a natural option to consider. It was organized with the
aid of the British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and the participation
and support of, the British Embassy in Belgium, Vitrociset, DataSat,
Intelsat, New Skies Satellites, and the European Space Agency. Though technology
has moved on, the quick deployment of a satellite station at the British
Embassy in a couple of hours remains indicative of the speed at which a
system can be deployed, while the benefits satellite offers remain and have
been enhanced (especially in terms of reduced cost). Sadly, some of the
regulatory barriers also remain. For these reasons, we have chosen to leave
the record below on our site.
Guy
Harrison, First Secretary of Commercial Section, British Embassy
in Belgium (on the left) welcomed the Workshop participants on behalf
of the British Ambassador in Belgium, His Excellency Gavin Hewitt.
Dr
Kevin Madders and Pierre Bartholomé (right), Transeurosat,
introduced the workshop by explaining the basic features of satellite
networks and their applications.
The
main part of the workshop then revolved around two comparable real
life examples showcasing the use of satellite for reliable global communications
to high security requirements
John
Stanton of Intelsat (left), Brian Scott of Datasat (UK Teleport) and Derek
Blackburn of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office presented the first
case study on establishing and operating the worldwide satellite data network
for FCO. The challenge for Intelsat and Datasat was to to configure a network
precisely meeting the communications requirements of FCO interconnecting
its offices in over 100 countries of the world and to provide a reliable,
technically advanced and cost-effective service eliminating reliance on
local, national and international public infrastructures. Datasat also had
to overcome quickly regulatory barriers in each country. As a result, the
system is operational now at a 99.97% reliability rate. The investment which
FCO made in its satellite newtork amortised within months, even weeks. The
FCO international telephone bill at one location shrank from £7,000
a quarter to £300 as all communications were billed at a rate of simple
national calls.
Nigel
Gibson of New Skies Satellites (right)
presented the second case study, on deployment and management of satellite
data networks for the global network of the Australian
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (ADFAT). The network had to include
the Americas, Europe and the Middle East and to be controlled through the
Canberra hub of ADFAT. New Skies Satellites designed an end-to-end solution,
including provision of space capacity and ground segment, and delivered
the project on time and within budget. The New Skies service to ADFAT includes
the option to increase bandwidth as required and to re-allocate existing
bandwidth where necessary. It also assures excellent network security, reliability
and cost-effectiveness.
New
developments and capabilities were introduced by David Andrews of European
Space Agency and Peter Jones of Vitrociset (left) who spotlighted the
advanced features of the Redu satellite centre in Belgium and its satellite
operators and data network customer services. The European Space Operations
Centre (ESOC) supports missions of the European Space Agency and carries
out R&D to maintain flight operations expertise. It relies on several
ground stations in Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia-Pacific Region. Its
ground station in Belgium, in Redu is operated by Vitrociset and is one
of the most technologically advanced ground stations providing such services
as satellite monitoring, in-orbit testing,
Questions
were fired from representatives of South Africa, Ireland, Mozambique and
from private companies. The ensuring discussion showed what a wide range
of expertise had been assembled. In one exchange on the reliability of satellite
systems, a question was bounced from the satellite controller (Vitrociset),
to ESA as a space agency coordinating with other agencies worldwide to control
space debris, to a satellite designer (Pierre Bartholomé of Transeurosat)
who earlier was responsible for the design of most of Europe's satellite
fleet, to Intelsat and New Skies for business risk assessment. In fact,
the consensus of the experts was that risks were very low indeed in the
geostationary orbit, which is the one used for commercial satellite communications.
On the other hand, satellite has distinct advantages over cable, which can
be broken by fishermen's nets! On the cost of systems, Transeurosat was
also able to provide information on rough pricing parameters for implementing
a satellite network.
The
Workshop was followed by champagne with strawberries and cream and further
dicussions and exchange of views among the workshop participants.
1.
(left) Steven Carne, Intelsat and Francoise de Jongh, NCI les Centres d'Affairs
in a lively conversation.
2.
(right) Nick Larter, SNI, Catherine
Lumsden, Embassy of Ireland in Belgium, David Whyte, Transeurosat and Kevin
Madders, Transeurosat.
3.
(left) Kevin Madders, Transeurosat, and Miroslav Slezak, Embassy of Czech
Republic in Belgium.
4.
(right) Ricardo Grazi, Gian Carlo Coletta of Vitrociset talking with Timothy
Howell, EC.
5.
(left) Workshop participants during the reception.
