Page 27: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 15, 1974)

COMSAT Gen'l. Orders

Shipboard Terminals

For Satellite System

COMSAT General Corporation,

Washington, D.C., has awarded a contract to Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., for 100 shipboard antennas and associated terminal equipment as part of a major program to pro- vide improved communications via satellites to commercial ships at sea. The amount of the con- tract is expected to exceed $2 million.

Two multifrequency satellites are scheduled to be in operation early next year to form the space segment of a two-ocean MARI-

SAT System. The satellites, sta- tioned in geostationary orbits at 22,300 miles altitude over the

Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, will be capable of providing ship-to- shore voice, teletypewriter and data communications with ves- sels equipped with complete ship- board terminals. The U.S. Navy will use capacity in the system, utilizing its own ship and shore stations, for communications with its Atlantic and Pacific fleets at separate frequencies.

The contract calls for delivery of 100 shipboard terminals to

COMSAT General, with options to purchase up to 300 additional terminals. A separate contract will be awarded later for commu- nications equipment for intercon- nection with the Scientific-Atlanta terminal units.

The complete facilities will be capable of providing reliable, full- time communications services via satellites at assigned L-band fre- quencies. Once installed aboard commercial vessels, they will per- mit 24-hour-a-day operation for high-quality voice and data com- munications.

In addition to solid-state re- ceivers and transmitters, the ter- minals being purchased under this initial contract include a four-foot-diameter antenna, pro- tected by a radome, which is mounted on a stabilized platform to keep the antenna pointed at all times toward the satellite de- spite movement of the ship. Con- tinuous communications can be maintained in heavy seas and under extreme environment con- ditions.

John A. Johnson, president of

COMSAT General, said the ship- board terminal contract with Sci- entific-Atlanta (headquartered in

Atlanta, Ga.) is "a major step toward providing greatly im- proved and expanded communi- cations services to the maritime industry. This program repre- sents a promising new applica- tion of satellite technology. It will totally change maritime com- munications by offering for the first time modern, dependable and continuous communications throughout entire ocean areas."

The space segment for the

MARISAT System, together with communications earth stations on the U.S. East and West Coasts— as distinct from the shipboard terminals—are to be owned and operated under a consortium ar- rangement currently being nego- tiated among four carrier com- panies. COMSAT General would have an interest of approximately 80 percent in the consortium;

RCA Global Communications, ITT

World Communications, and West- ern Union International would participate as joint owners with a total interest of about 20 per- cent.

The satellites for the system are under construction. The launch of the first spacecraft is scheduled for early 1975. The

U.S. earth stations which will serve the MARISAT System are being built at Southbury, Conn., and Santa Paula, Calif. i

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July 15, 1974 27