For immediate release: June 2, 1997

Contact: Joe Sedlak at 703/276-1800

or by e-mail: jsedlak@vita.org <mailto:jsedlak@vita.org>

PoSAT-I fills gap for Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA)

Arlington, VA. Henry Norman, President of Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA), announced today that VITA and Consortio SAT of Lisbon, Portugal have signed an agreement permitting VITA to use PoSAT-1 on an interim basis. He said, "We are very pleased that we will be able to resume communi-cations services to the developing country organizations that have been using UoSat-3 until recently. UoSat-3 failed about 3 months ago, and, after many attempts to restart the on-board computer, it apparently cannot be restored. We are grateful to Consortio SAT who are providing the use of PoSAT-1 in a spirit of cooperation."

VITA plans to use PoSAT-1 until VITAsat-Ir is launched later this year. VITAsat-Ir is a transponder in FAISAT-2v con-structed by Final Analysis Incorporated of Lanham, Maryland. FAISAT-2v will be launched from Russia within the next several months. While VITAsat-Ir will be used primarily by VITA for humanitarian and development communications servic-es, Final Analysis will use half of the capacity of VITAsat-Ir for commercial purposes.

Norman said, "We expected to be using a new satellite in 1995, but were disappointed when the launch had to be aborted. And the failure of UoSat-3 is another disappoint-ment. We are very pleased that Consortio SAT is providing the use of PoSAT-1 so that VITA can continue providing critical communications services. This is a generous and cooperative action for which we are very grateful."

Orlando Martins, President of Consortio SAT said that he is "satisfied with the agreement and for this opportunity to offer his contribution, in the name of Consortio SAT, to a humanitarian cause." He also espressed satisfaction "for the birth of a cooperative alliance between users and suppliers of small LEO satellites in order to stimulate and facilitate communications for everybody even in very isolated regions. This is a first step in an expected long journey of mutual collaboration between VITA and Consortio SAT."

Consortio SAT includes Marconi (Companhia Portuguesa Radio Marconi), EFACEC (Empresa Fabril de Maquinas Electricas), INETI (Instituto Nacional de Engenharia e Technologia Industrial), OGMA (Oficinas Gerais Material Aeronautico) of (Industria Aeronautica de Portugal).

PoSAT-1 was built at the University of Surrey within a collaborative program between Portuguese academia and industry, and Surrey Satellite Technology, Ltd. It was launched along side HealthSat-2 in 1993. PoSAT-1 is cur-rently used for "store and forward" messaging, and other experiments including earth imaging, star sensing, GPS navigation, on-board cosmic ray analysis, and digital signal processing.

Since 1990, VITA had linked 24 ground stations in 14 coun-tries to UoSat-3 for health, education, disaster, refugee settlement, child development, and administrative communica-tions. It demonstrated its unique value during the Ebola crisis in Zaire (now, Democratic Republic of Congo) when it was the principal means of communications from the stricken area. UoSat-3 communications have been linked to Internet at VITA’s host since 1993.