March 24 News Items

Hope Fades for OrbView-3 Recovery (Source: Space News)
Imaging satellite operator GeoEye expects to file a $40 million insurance claim for what is now expected to be the total loss of its OrbView-3 satellite, whose main camera malfunctioned without warning March 4, company officials told financial analysts March 19.

NASA Shirking its Educational Duties, Union Says (Source: Government Executive)
NASA's largest union complained in a letter to congressional appropriators that the space agency is "shirking its outreach and educational responsibilities." On Friday, Lee Stone, vice president for legislative affairs at the Ames Research Center chapter of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, said that as a scientist, he is most concerned about the deterioration of a post-doctoral fellows program that had recruited much of NASA's talent in the past. "Twenty years ago, people like myself and [many senior staff in his division] were brought in as post-doctoral fellows," said Stone, a human factors researcher. "The funds for that have almost completely dried up." The union called on appropriators to give NASA about $1 billion more than President Bush proposed for fiscal 2008, or a total of $18.3 billion.

Some Sea Launch Customers Jumping To Other Options (Source: Space News)
Intelsat has switched the launch of two of its telecommunications satellites — and Horizons-2 — from Sea Launch to Arianespace in the hope of placing both of them into orbit this year, industry officials said March 23.

Music Publishers Suit Claims Copyright Abuse by XM Satellite Radio (Source: Space News)
A group representing music publishers is suing XM Satellite Radio, saying that XM violates copyright laws by giving users the ability to store and replay songs on certain devices.

Northrop Studying Space Surveillance Role for STSS (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman Space Technology of Redondo Beach, Calif., is studying the potential of a constellation of missile tracking satellites it is designing to perform space surveillance as well, according to a U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) official.

Sirius Says Merger With XM Would Allow for Lower-Priced Options for Subscribers (Source: Space News)
Satellite radio customers will get the option to pay a lower price for just the channels they want if the industry's two big providers are allowed to merge, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. said Wednesday in a securities filing of its bid to buy XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Chair of U.S. Senate Antitrust Panel Expresses Skepticism on Sirius-XM Merger (Source: Space News)
The chairman of a U.S. Senate antitrust panel expressed skepticism Tuesday regarding claims by two satellite radio companies that their merger would not eliminate competition or lead to higher prices.