USA Department of Homeland Security uses Iridium

The USA Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Detention and Removal (DRO) has selected Iridium-based vehicle tracking and mobile resource management systems for deployment under a major initiative to optimize efficiency.

The tracking equipment and hosted Web software will improve asset readiness, enhance mission effectiveness, reduce fleet costs and coordinate compliance with Federal Property Management Regulations (FPMR). DRO is installing in its vehicles a GPS tracking device, which transmits position, direction and speed and other telematic data for user-specified events and reporting. DRO promotes public safety and national security by ensuring the departure of all removable aliens from the U.S. through the fair and effective enforcement of the nation's immigration laws.

Source: Iridium Satellite LLC

Student scientists tweet with BGan

Student scientists in Siberia are using BGAN to keep the world up to date about their daily research.

The Polaris Project at the Northeast Science Station in Siberia is a US-Russian initiative that enables a team of scientists to conduct field courses to enhance undergraduates' research into climate change.

Through blogging and tweeting, the latest group of undergraduates and their tutors - resident scientists from various institutions - are finding contact with the outside world much easier this year, thanks to BGAN connectivity.

Hightlighted on Twitter
A blog entitled BGAN from a barge - also highlighted on Twitter - was sent by ecologist Andy Bunn from a boat located in Cherskiy on the banks of the River Kolyma in northern Siberia.

You can follow their 'tweets' here.

Source: Inmarsat

Iridium and Boeing team up

Iridium and Boeing have achieved two major milestones to further develop and demonstrate capability enhancements to the High Integrity Global Positioning System (GPS) program for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

The first milestone, completion of an Enhanced Narrowband (ENB) software modification to computers on Iridium satellites, enables second-generation GPS-aiding signals to be broadcast through the entire Iridium constellation. These broadcasts will enable rapid, more accurate GPS position fixes than are available with current technology. The GPS-aiding signals will provide appropriately equipped warfighters significantly improved capabilities for quickly locking on and maintaining a GPS signal, even while operating in restrictive environments such as urban areas, forests, mountains and canyons, as well as under enemy jamming attempts or amid battlefield radio frequency noise.

The second milestone was a demonstration of the acquisition of a GPS signal under substantial jamming while moving in a vehicle.
"When a military GPS receiver is jammed, it cannot obtain a position fix, and movement only makes the situation worse," said David Whelan, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems chief scientist. "Even from a cold start, it took only minutes for the High Integrity GPS-aided receiver, in a moving vehicle, to receive the GPS signal while being jammed. Without assistance from the High Integrity GPS system, a position fix would never have been obtained."


The team includes Iridium, Boeing Phantom Works' Advanced Network and Space Systems, Rockwell Collins, Coherent Navigation and experts from academia.

Source: Iridium Satellite LLC

First European operator to install FB150

A German coastal vessel, Saxum, has become the first ship in Europe to switch to Inmarsat's new FleetBroadband 150 service.

The Saxum was fitted with a Thrane & Thrane Sailor 150 FleetBroadband system when it arrived at a stopover in its home port of Leer in Germany.

News about the installation comes just days after the Miclyn Enterprise became the first vessel in the world to adopt the service.

Return on investment
Piers Cunningham said "I believe that we will receive a return on our investment in less than 12 months."
Later this month, Briese Schiffahrt will fit an FB150 to one of its container ships -the Langeness.

Source: Inmarsat

FleetBroadband Sailer 250

SAILOR 250 FleetBroadband offers affordable, reliable IP communications for all types of small to medium size vessels. It provides constant access to simultaneous voice and high-speed data services, delivered through a compact, robust antenna.

FleetBroadband 150

"It took just 15 minutes for installation of the Thrane & Thrane Sailor 150 FleetBroadband system onboard the multi-purpose offshore support vessel, at the Jalan Brigjen Katamso shipyard in Batam, Indonesia.
The FB150 service, which is engineered for small and medium-sized fishing, merchant and leisure craft, gives vessels access to the internet at up to 150 kbps and also high quality voice calls and SMS."

"FleetBroadband will enable our crew onboard to have access to emails at faster speed and lower cost. This will improve efficiency in communication with our offices worldwide."



Source: Inmarsat

Emergency Communication

"Shortly after the World Trade Towers were struck, [the phone company] lost all service from their West Street Central switching office. My cell phone was essentially useless, as was our land line home line. I walked out to a clear area on our street and turned on my Iridium handset. It quickly responded with 'Registered' and the signal came up. It meant more than I can say to have that call go through at that moment. I can carry my Iridium handset regardless of how short a trip may be. Your service is an indispensable communications tool."
-Gerals Anzano, ING Asset Management.

When disasters hit such has floods, hurricanes or even terrorist attacks one needs to take into account that the usual communication equipment may not be in working order. Governments need to be more aware of the need for reliable, global and even portable communications systems. Iridium offers a range of products for first responders in these situations.

The products can handle different applications such as Fixed or Mobile communications, asset tracking, short message service (SMS), E-mail and so on.
The equipment used to cover the above can range from handheld portable phones, docking stations, vehicular mount antennas, solare chargers and so on.

Finally all of the above brings on various benefits:

• Global Coverage - the only system that works everywhere in the world


• Quick setup and rapid deployment


• Calls transit inter-satellite links meaning less reliance on ground infrastructure


• Iridium to Iridium calls go directly from satellite phone to satellite phone, never relying on ground transport


• Instantly available when relief workers first arrive on site.


• Real-time tracking and communications with critical assets

Source: Iridium Satellite LLC

Iridium Openport Video

"Around The Americas" Sailing Expedition

Iridium Press Release -

Iridium Satellite LLC (Iridium) will be providing satellite communication equipment and services for the “Around the Americas” sailing expedition, which got underway from Seattle on May 31, 2009. An Iridium OpenPort® high-bandwidth marine satcom system has been installed on the expedition’s 64-foot steel-hull sailboat, Ocean Watch. The system is providing voice and high-speed data connections throughout the 13-month, 25,000-mile circumnavigation of the North and South American continents.

Around the Americas is a research expedition that will collect scientific data and test new methods and equipment – all to raise awareness of the precipitous changes that are occurring in the earth’s oceans and to promote solutions to mitigate those changes.

Ten scientists from the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory (UW-APL), the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO), RMR Co., MIT Sea Grant, NASA and Western Washington University have placed a diverse suite of instruments onboard Ocean Watch to monitor polar science, weather, jellyfish populations and solar-energy reflection, among other conservation projects.

“Since Iridium is the only service that can provide voice and data coverage throughout our entire voyage, Iridium OpenPort will serve as our primary communication device and critical lifeline to the outside world,” said Around the Americas expedition leader Mark Schrader. “This high-performance system will give us access to enhanced-bandwidth satellite voice and data links between ship and shore during the course of our voyage/expedition. The Iridium OpenPort terminal will enable us to transmit reports, blogs and images to the thousands of people who will follow our voyage on the Internet, as well as speak to our families during this long journey.”

Greg Ewert, Iridium’s executive vice president, Global Distribution Channels, said, “Iridium OpenPort is a breakthrough product for the maritime market, as it is the only truly global high-bandwidth mobile satellite system. The Iridium OpenPort system has gone through a rigorous testing program, both onshore and afloat on a variety of platforms. As a result, it has a robust, proven system that operates reliably in the marine environment, even on smaller vessels with high-dynamic rolling and pitching motions.”

Ocean Watch will sail around the American continents in a clockwise direction, transiting the Northwest Passage, sailing down the East Coast, around Cape Horn, and back up the West Coast, returning to Seattle in July 2010. Notably, this will be one of the first times a sailboat has navigated through the Northwest Passage from west to east.

Over the course of the voyage, Ocean Watch will visit 30 ports in 11 countries where the crew will host media events and educational programs for local schools to educate citizens about issues affecting conservation of the earth’s oceans. A real-time map of the voyage can be found at www.aroundtheamericas.org, as can information on Ocean Watch, the crew, the expedition’s partners and more.

The Iridium OpenPort terminal has three independent phone circuits and a separate high-speed data port with scalable rates of 9.6 to 128 kbps. The lightweight, omni-directional antenna array is about the size of a typical small boat radar radome. It contains no moving parts, which greatly reduces cabling, installation and maintenance costs.

Source: Iridium Satellite LLC

Streaming video at a low cost

I have spoken about the streambox in one of my first posts. Streambox allows you to stream video via satellite at a much cheaper price due to the video being compressed or only sending what needs to be sent across therefore only needing to use slower Internet connections. If you combine this technology with the BGan unit then you have a very strong combination.

“With a compact and rugged design, advanced video compression, and ability to transport high-quality pictures over a variety of low-bandwidth IP networks, the Streambox solution gives our newsgathering staff much greater flexibility in delivering live coverage from around the globe. Using this flexible, yet powerful kit, our first response teams will be able to get set up quickly and transmit better-quality pictures, faster than before, as events unfold.”

— BEVAN GIBSON
Technology Executive
Sky News, British Sky Broadcasting

View the review of the SBT-9500 encoder

Iridium 9601 SBD Modem

This is a small satellite modem designed for embedded applications. Easily integrates into a wide variety of applications that require remote access. Ideal for monitoring, alarms, and tracking. Includes RS 232 serial interface and optional developer kit. Low latency for delivery. Available to registered Iridium partners.

Features:
Small form factor
RS 232 Serial interface
Global coverage
340 bytes per message
SMA Antenna Connector to connect to small omni directional L-band antennas
Simple AT Command interface

Specifications:
Length: 106.4mm
Width: 56.2mm
Height: 13mm
Weight: 117g
Operating temperature range: -30 C to +60 C

More info

Iridium Executive Appointed Multiple Leadership Posts

Iridium Press Release:

Iridium Satellite LLC (Iridium) announces that Donna Bethea-Murphy, vice president of Regulatory Engineering for Iridium, was elected chairman of the board of the Satellite Industry Association (SIA), the leading trade association for the satellite industry. Bethea-Murphy already serves as a board member of the Mobile Satellite Users Association (MSUA), a trade association advancing the interests of the mobile satellite industry, and was recently appointed as vice chair of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) World Radiocommunication Conference Industry Advisory Group 3.

“Iridium’s strong regulatory position in the U.S. and internationally significantly contributes to our ability to meet our customers’ needs,” said Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium. “Donna leads our regulatory and policy efforts at the FCC, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other key forums. In this new leadership position within the SIA, she can play a key role in shaping national legislation and policymaking that not only supports the goals of Iridium but of the entire satellite industry.”

Prior to joining Iridium, Bethea-Murphy was senior director of Spectrum Policy at PanAmSat Corporation. Before that, she served as director of Technology and Regulatory Affairs for AirTouch Communications, and has held key positions at the FCC with responsibility for domestic and international satellite and terrestrial wireless policy.

Source: Iridium

Tweet Tweet

More and more people are starting to use Twitter which is a micro blogging social networking platform. According to Inmarsat, users of BGan are starting to 'Tweet' from remote locations on some interesting topics ranging from US troops in Afghanistan to hikers in the Amazon jungle.

"CNN's Mike Boettcher and his son Carlos are embedded reporters with US troops in Afghanistan - both are sending short messages on Twitter to support blogs and other reports."

"From the depths of the Amazon jungle, to the highest paved road in North America, BGAN also supported the tweeting of Dan Terdiman on his latest road trip."

Twitter users are also comparing notes about BGAN and the applications from partners it supports. And you can now catch up on the latest tweets from Inmarsat on Twitter too.

Sources: Inmarsat on Twitter, CNN's Mike Boettcher on Twitter, Amazon Walkers on Twitter.

Inmarsat turning 30

On 16 July 1979, Inmarsat was created by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to ensure mariners had reliable communications at sea, we have been recognised internationally as pioneers.

They introduced their first land mobile services in 1989, followed by aeronautical services in 1990. The same year they launched the first of their own satellites, now part of an 11-strong fleet.

Always connected
Today their mobile broadband voice and data services, delivered globally over their latest-generation I-4 satellites, allow you to stay always connected, wherever you are on land, at sea or in the air.

And Inmarsat continue to be innovators, looking ahead to the launch of our Alphasat I-XL satellite, currently expected in 2012, and beyond to the next generation of Inmarsat satellites, the I-5s.

Source: Inmarsat

More about Satellite Phones

Land-line phones have many limitations. You need to attach it to a line installation, you can’t take it with you when you leave your house. This is the reason why we all embraced the introduction of mobile phones. They allow a wide range of mobile use in many parts of the world.
Most people think that cell phone coverage is pretty good in most areas of the world but certain portions of the Earth remain to be inaccessible by cell phone transmitting stations. Good thing there are satellite phones that can provide absolute worldwide coverage.

A satellite phone is very much the same as the mobile phone. The difference is that instead of cell land stations, satellite phones are linked to a satellite that is orbiting in space. The coverage provided by a satellite phone depends on the server network to which it is connected. Some networks have global coverage while others revolve around a specific region only.

Iridium network has a constellation of 66 satellites. It has a more expansive coverage than any other satellite network. Iridium satellite started operation in 1998.

There is also the Inmarsat Satellite Phone Service that commenced operation in 1979. It has an excellent coverage of the entire planet however with exceptions of the North and South Pole areas.

The Thuraya Satellite Phone Service is the baby of all phone satellite systems in the sense that it was established only in 2001. It has limited coverage mostly of Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia.

Satellite phone models are very similar to cell phones. The first of its kind models were bigger and heavier but in time they evolved to be as handy as your latest cell phone model. Nowadays there are satellite phones being sold at very affordable prices.