 España is also counting on a satellite from startup operator OverHorizon of Sweden as an AmerHis customer. OverHorizon has selected Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., and Thales Alenia Space to build the satellite, but questions remain over whether the project has cleared the necessary regulatory and financial hurdles.
A satellite being designed by the Norwegian and Spanish defense ministries as part of a project called Hisnorsat is also slated to carry an AmerHis payload. Hisnorsat has received support from the Spanish and Norwegian governments, and a contract for the satellite’s construction is expected before the end of the year.
The addition of an AmerHis payload covering the Middle East, Central Asia and northern Africa — probably aboard Hisnorsat or OverHorizon — is likely to make the service more attractive to military users than the current AmerHis over the Americas, Ortega said. But he added that the Amazonas-1 processor, despite being experimental, has won customers in Mexico and Argentina among operators of VPNs, or virtual private networks.
Satellite operators have long acknowledged the commercial potential of on-board processors, whether they be the kinds built by Cisco or Thales Alenia Space, or the processor furnished by Boeing for the three Spaceway satellites owned by commercial operators DirecTV and Hughes Communications of the United States.
But these operators have shied away from adopting the technology in part because it is new, and in part because it adds a substantial cost to the capital investment needed to build the satellite.
Ortega acknowledged this, and said the hardware needs to be made less expensively. But he said its advantages to ground customers in efficient use of bandwidth are a compensating factor.
“By recovering more of the signal in error-free transmissions, we can double the bandwidth available to a user and give that user up to seven times the transmission speed,” Ortega said.
Commercial	militaryMissionsSatellite TelecomU.S.One of the coolest parts about August coming early was that Nana and Grandpa were able to meet him. What we thought would be a visit at the end of my pregnancy ended up being a visit to a week old little August. God planned it all just so perfectly.
It was so fun to have them here, relaxing around the house with us, reading to the kids, and just being able to enjoy them. What a treat! I think it was my favorite visit of theirs to date.
I love this picture….because it is so them. Mom always the teacher, Dad and his side smile. Love them so.
Then just two days later we were surprised by a visit from my sister Danielle! She was out in California on business and with her heart of gold she drove 3 hours down from LA after a long travel day to come meet August and see our house for the first time! We talked, snuggled baby, and hung out like old times…it was such a fun gift to have her come!
TRANSPORT Commissioner Neil Kinnock’s plans to subject Europe’s ports to closer competition scrutiny are opening up a north-south rift within the sector.
Kinnock’s Green Paper calls for port charges to be related to costs, subsidies to be properly scrutinised for the first time and services to be opened up to competition. It also argues that all new port projects should be made to pay their way.
“The current diverse arrangements for port financing and charging involve a number of distortions to competition,” states the document.
These suggestions have, however, raised suspicions in large southern ports such as Marseilles, Genoa and Barcelona that their northern rivals are trying to dictate the European Commission’s agenda.
Europe’s southern ports have been struggling to maintain their volume of business over recent years, while cargo traffic in the main northern ports has surged. The southerners fear that any Commission proposals which follow the Green Paper will consolidate the advantages enjoyed by their more modern rivals such as Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg.
In response, the southern ports have joined forces to attack what, according to the president of the port of Marseilles Henry Roux-Alezais, appears to be a selective use of “Anglo-Saxon” competition principles.
The French association of autonomous ports (UPACCIM) admits that the Green Paper contains many positive ideas but claims its proposals smack of an over-hasty analysis and ideological approach. It adds that stricter Commission rules could work in favour of already developed ports and against regional harbours.
The European Sea Ports Organisation ESPO, representing Europe’s biggest ports, has welcomed Kinnock’s initiative but is concerned about opening the door to over-regulation.
Until now, local, regional and national governments have been given an almost free hand to spend money on new port infrastructure and charge what they liked for its use and for related services.
However, a rising number of complaints from shipping lines about ‘sweetheart’ deals between rival companies and ports, and protests from ports themselves about subsidies to others, have forced the Commission to take a hard look at the sector. The new, tougher approach was demonstrated this week by a decision to launch an investigation into suspected French government aid to Brittany Ferries.
The probe will examine whether cuts in port charges were structured in such a way as to favour the struggling ferry company.STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — The defense might be as good any Stanford has had during its recent run of success.
The offense has dazzled, at times, but also struggled for prolonged stretches.
Heading into the bye week, the Cardinal know how dangerous they could be if both sides played at an equally high level.
Kevin Hogan threw for 216 yards and four touchdowns, and No. 15 Stanford rebounded from a frustrating loss to Southern California with a 35-0 win over Army on Saturday.
"I think the defense is exactly where we want it to be," Stanford coach David Shaw said. "Offensively, we're close. We hate being close."
Devon Cajuste caught a career-high three touchdowns and finished with 52 yards receiving, and Ty Montgomery had two TDs to help the Cardinal (2-1) overcome a sluggish start on offense. Stanford led 14-0 at the half before overwhelming the Black Knights (1-1) in the final two quarters.
"I feel we're in a great spot right now," linebacker Blake Martinez said. "Obviously, there's going to be mistakes that we made today that we're trying to get corrected. We're jelling pretty well."
Army ran for 341 yards and seven touchdowns in a 47-39 victory against Buffalo in its opener under new coach Jeff Monken, but couldn't crack the Cardinal's physical defense.
A.J. Schurr ran for 65 yards on six carries, and Larry Dixon had 60 yards rushing for the Black Knights, who completed 3 of 5 passes for just 9 yards.
Army held the ball for more than 33 minutes behind its triple-option offense, which was stuffed on fourth-and-1 from the Cardinal 2-yard line in the final minutes to preserve Stanford's shutout.
"The last play of the game was a perfect example. It was a good play, but we can't block them," Monken said. "They knocked us back. That happened too often."
Montgomery helped lead the way for Stanford, catching eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a short score as a wildcat quarterback.
Barry Sanders — the son of the Hall of Famer with the same name — added a career-high 92 yards rushing on nine carries, including a 44-yard scamper to set up Cajuste's third touchdown catch. The Cardinal finished with 199 yards on the ground.
Army's unusual offensive formation — by today's standards, anyway — gave the Cardinal more trouble than expected at West Point last season. The Black Knights led 6-0 early and kept the game close most of the way before Stanford pulled ahead for a 34-20 victory.
But Stanford had few problems defending Army's triple-option this time. Instead, it was the offense that looked out of rhythm at the start.
Stanford punted on four of its first six possessions. Montgomery fumbled a punt return that the Black Knights recovered in the second quarter, and Stanford had a touchdown wiped away for the second straight week when David Bright was called for holding on Kelsey Young's TD run.
The defense gave Stanford's stagnant offense a jolt just before the half. Alex Carter jarred the ball loose from Dixon, and Kevin Anderson recovered at the Army 15-yard line.
Three plays later, Cajuste caught his second touchdown pass from Hogan — a short fade in the corner of the end zone — to give the Cardinal a 14-0 lead.
Stanford put together a nine-play, 98-yard TD drive on its first drive of the second half that ended with another catch by Cajuste. Stanford stopped Army's fake punt on the next possession to set up Montgomery's 4-yard touchdown run, and the Cardinal's do-it-all playmaker caught a 32-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinal improved to 8-0 after losses under Shaw and haven't dropped consecutive games since 2009. Stanford's next game is at Washington on Sept. 27.
"We're not where we want to be," Hogan said. "It was a good day today executing, but we know we can get better. We stalled there in the first half. We have to find a way to continue those drives and put more points on the board."Audience Response Systems (ARS) are used t … Audience Response Systems (ARS) are used to achieve active learning in lectures and large group