USN Wins Coriolis Contract
Win for commercial ground station network
by Peter Wainwright
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 2, 2000
UNIVERSAL SPACE NETWORK, INC. WINS CONTRACT FOR CORIOLIS WEATHER MISSION
HORSHAM, Pa. -- Universal Space Network, Inc. (USN) announced that they recently won a new contract to provide data communications services for the upcoming three-year Coriolis space mission--a joint US Navy/Air Force mission that will study ocean surface winds in order to help better predict global weather patterns, and thus greatly improve weather forecasting.
USN will provide high rate X-band communications services as a supplement to existing US government assets. USN facilities in Alaska and USN partner Swedish Space Corporation's facilities in Kiruna Sweden will support Coriolis.
"USN is pleased to be selected for the Coriolis mission, as it is one of the first Department of Defense missions to use commercial data services," said Tom Ingersoll, USN's Chief Executive Officer. USN officially began work on its Coriolis contract in early February. The contract, with options, is expected to exceed US$4 million.
Coriolis will collect continuous data to help scientists better understand Earth's weather. The goal is to learn how to more effectively predict weather, as well as observe and report ongoing weather conditions. The mission, slated for launch in December 2001/2002 from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a Titan II rocket, is named for the French mathematician, Gaspard Coriolis, who first described the "Coriolis effect". This effect, which is a consequence of the rotation of the Earth and its coupling with the atmosphere, is one of the three major factors that cause our weather.
Founded by the late aerospace pioneer and Astronaut Charles Pete Conrad, Jr., USN has built a multi-user, commercial, non-government, satellite-tracking, ground-station network. The mission of USN is to provide cost-effective satellite management services to support virtually any type of earth-orbiting asset, including scientific research, earth study, and global communications satellites. USN currently owns three ground-tracking stations and operates four additional stations with worldwide partners.
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: Bruce Hicks, Stacy Saraul,t Griffin Marketing
(281) 335-0200, or Joanne Swank Universal Space Network, Inc. (215) 328-9130
UNIVERSAL SPACE NETWORK, INC. WINS CONTRACT FOR CORIOLIS WEATHER MISSION
HORSHAM, Pa. -- Universal Space Network, Inc. (USN) announced that they recently won a new contract to provide data communications services for the upcoming three-year Coriolis space mission--a joint US Navy/Air Force mission that will study ocean surface winds in order to help better predict global weather patterns, and thus greatly improve weather forecasting.
USN will provide high rate X-band communications services as a supplement to existing US government assets. USN facilities in Alaska and USN partner Swedish Space Corporation's facilities in Kiruna Sweden will support Coriolis.
"USN is pleased to be selected for the Coriolis mission, as it is one of the first Department of Defense missions to use commercial data services," said Tom Ingersoll, USN's Chief Executive Officer. USN officially began work on its Coriolis contract in early February. The contract, with options, is expected to exceed US$4 million.
Coriolis will collect continuous data to help scientists better understand Earth's weather. The goal is to learn how to more effectively predict weather, as well as observe and report ongoing weather conditions. The mission, slated for launch in December 2001/2002 from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a Titan II rocket, is named for the French mathematician, Gaspard Coriolis, who first described the "Coriolis effect". This effect, which is a consequence of the rotation of the Earth and its coupling with the atmosphere, is one of the three major factors that cause our weather.
Founded by the late aerospace pioneer and Astronaut Charles Pete Conrad, Jr., USN has built a multi-user, commercial, non-government, satellite-tracking, ground-station network. The mission of USN is to provide cost-effective satellite management services to support virtually any type of earth-orbiting asset, including scientific research, earth study, and global communications satellites. USN currently owns three ground-tracking stations and operates four additional stations with worldwide partners.
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: Bruce Hicks, Stacy Saraul,t Griffin Marketing
(281) 335-0200, or Joanne Swank Universal Space Network, Inc. (215) 328-9130
