Avanti Communications Share Discussion Threads

[greyseal] 26/11/2010 13:26

Looks like Aegon have been adding just before the launch :o)

[backmarker] 26/11/2010 12:44

have been following AVN for some time since it was tipped in RHPS.
it sounded like a great story.

didn't have any funds to invest back then, so could only manage a couple of quid on a spreadbet.

however, in the last couple of weeks the Red Rocket RRR has delivered and I have been using some of my profits to invest in the rocket here.

my reasoning is that even if this launch were to go pear-shaped, it is a "temporary" set-back. the insurance will pay for a new satellite and HYLAS-2 is already on the move. the potential will still be there, just a bit longer to achieve. so long-term I believe it's still a "safe" bet.

interesting MM shenanigans. plenty of scope for moving the share price wildly to shake the weak and suck in the excitable. if you hold spreadbets make sure you have deep stops or you make get stopped out all-of-a-sudden. it's happened to me before in a number of stocks.

glta, and let's look forward to an exciting and successful launch !

[yorgi] 26/11/2010 12:42

All good publicity Peetle. AVN's marketing/media/promotion department have been doing a pretty good job of recent.

I bet David Williams is excited today, with a hint of nerves no doubt !

[peetle] 26/11/2010 12:31

BBC News covering it now:



Nothing we don't already know but it's not doing the profile any harm.

[deadsceptical] 26/11/2010 12:28

The systematic selling of 25,000 every 90 minutes by one trader is continuing. Does anyone know when this unloading will stop because the price must surely rocket once this speculative heap has gone.

[adorling] 26/11/2010 12:23

Share-Shark, thanks for that posting which has all the timings in it. I have a big holding of AVN in my SIPP pension so am keen to follow launch and deployment of the Hylas-1 34 mins and 51 seconds after launch!

At least we are still blue in a sea of red today on the markets!

[lebondy] 26/11/2010 12:20

hmmmm...now do I put a spread bet on today...yes I know it is gambling but will make watching tonights launch a bit more interesting...

[share_shark] 26/11/2010 12:14

Hre are some of the answers to your questions re time frames.
















Rocket: Ariane 5 ECA
Payload: Intelsat 17 & HYLAS 1
Date: Nov. 26, 2010
Time: 1839 GMT (1:39 p.m. EST)
Site: ELA-3, Kourou, French Guiana

Preview story

Our Ariane archive













Ariane 5 launcher ready for another dual-payload flight
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: November 26, 2010


An Ariane 5 rocket is due for launch with two spacecraft Friday, hauling into orbit a traditional fixed communications satellite for Intelsat and an adaptable broadband Internet services payload for U.K.-based Avanti Communications.


The Ariane 5 rocket rolled to the launch pad Thursday. Credit: Arianespace


Both satellites will be ejected from the launcher about a half-hour after liftoff, kicking off months of commissioning and testing before officials press the spacecraft into service.

Intelsat 17 will park itself in permanent position 22,300 miles over the equator at 66 degrees east longitude, moving in range of customers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India and other parts of Asia.

The 12,214-pound spacecraft was built by Space Systems/Loral and is designed for operations lasting at least 18 years. Intelsat 17 carries C-band and Ku-band transponders for video distribution and other communications services. It will replace Intelsat 702, which launched in 1994 and has surpassed its original design life.

Intelsat 17 will separate from the rocket first, followed more than seven minutes later by the release HYLAS 1, an innovative satellite testing new technological and institutional methods.

HYLAS 1 is the product of a public-private partnership involving the European Space Agency, EADS Astrium, Avanti Communications of the United Kingdom and an Indian contractor.

The spacecraft weighs 5,666 pounds at launch and includes eight Ka-band and two Ku-band transponders. HYLAS stands for Highly Adaptable Satellite, denoting the craft's unique capability of allocating bandwidth and power to meet the ever-changing demands of the marketplace.

HYLAS 1's mission is to beam broadband Internet services to rural areas across Europe from an orbital location at 33.5 degrees west longitude.

Liftoff of the Ariane 5 rocket is scheduled for 1839 GMT (1:39 p.m. EST) from the ELA-3 launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana. The launch window extends until 2154 GMT (4:54 p.m. EDT).

The 166-foot-tall rocket is tailored for dual-payload missions, and Friday's flight will be the Ariane 5's fifth commercial launch so far this year.

Final countdown procedures are scheduled to begin at 0709 GMT (2:09 a.m. EST). A check of electrical systems is expected around 1109 GMT (6:09 a.m. EST), and the launch team will begin fueling the rocket with super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants at 1349 GMT (8:49 a.m. EST).

Chilldown conditioning of the Vulcain 2 first stage engine will occur at 1519 GMT (10:19 a.m. EST), and a communications check between the rocket and ground telemetry, tracking and command systems is scheduled for 1729 GMT (12:29 p.m. EST).

The computer-controlled synchronized countdown sequence will begin seven minutes before launch to pressurize propellant tanks, switch to on-board power and take the rocket's guidance system to flight mode.

The Vulcain 2 engine will ignite as the countdown clock reaches zero, followed by a health check and ignition of the Ariane 5's solid rocket boosters seven seconds later to send the 1.7 million-pound launcher skyward.

Five seconds after blastoff, the rocket will begin pitching east from the ELA-3 launch pad, surpassing the speed of sound less than a minute into the mission. The Ariane 5's twin solid rocket boosters will jettison 2 minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff.

Once above the dense atmosphere, the launcher's payload fairing will fall away at an altitude of nearly 70 miles. The Ariane 5's first stage will shut down at 8 minutes, 56 seconds, followed moments later by stage separation and ignition of the hydrogen-fueled cryogenic HM7B upper stage engine.

The rocket's upper stage will fire for nearly 16 minutes, accelerating to a velocity of 5.8 miles per second to reach an orbit with a planned high point of 22,236 miles and a targeted low point of 155 miles.

The release of Intelsat 17 is scheduled for 27 minutes, 29 seconds. The rocket's barrel-shaped Sylda 5 dual-payload adapter will be jettisoned a few minutes later.

HYLAS 1 will separate from the lower portion of the payload stack at 34 minutes, 51

[julcester] 26/11/2010 12:12

Peetle - 26 Nov'10 - 11:56 - 1487 of 1492


08:44, 10:19, 11:45 - someone's dumping every 90 minutes...

yorgi - 26 Nov'10 - 11:56 - 1488 of 1492


Must be nervous then....



...or eaten too many prunes.

[yorgi] 26/11/2010 12:08

I would have thought Meljohn's thoughts most likely. I would have thought shorting would be far to risky here at the moment.

[share_shark] 26/11/2010 12:03

i think its called shorting ?.

[meljohn] 26/11/2010 12:02

May well be an insti and so reluctant to take any launch risk. It they've been in a while they'll be taking a decent profit.

[yorgi] 26/11/2010 11:56

Must be nervous then....

[peetle] 26/11/2010 11:56

08:44, 10:19, 11:45 - someone's dumping 25k every 90 minutes...

[yorgi] 26/11/2010 11:53

In that article Share Shark it mentions not being online until next year.....it's not as if that is far away anyway.

I believe someone posted yesterday that they were going to contact the comapany regarding time scales for when the company would know that Hylas1 was fully operational ?

[share_shark] 26/11/2010 11:28

LOL yorgi .;-)






Could the arrival of satellite broadband be the answer for the UK's rural internet users?by Rob Clymo on Thursday 25 November 2010 Comment
Avanti, a leading communications company, will launch its Hylas 1 satellite this Friday amid adventurous plans to deliver satellite broadband to much of Europe. With a proposed download speed of up to 10Mb, the satellite will be able to keep up to 350,000 broadband users connected at any one time.

With the exception of Scandinavia, the Hylas 1 satellite will be able to offer coverage the majority of Europe. Although the launch is scheduled for this coming Friday, satellite broadband services are not expected to be online until the beginning of next year. The scheme has so far been helped along thanks to £24 million of funding from the European Space Agency.

However, Avanti is keen to develop the potential of satellite broadband still further, subject to government's coming on board and supporting the concept. Although the UK government has pledged to deliver a minimum of 2MB broadband to every home in the country, it has so far not invested anything towards the project. Neverthless, the obvious potential for delivering high-speed internet services to many hard to reach rural areas is clear to see.

In the meantime, Avanti hopes to sell the satellite broadband service to internet service providers, which may well allow them to deliver high-speed internet to those hard to reach areas not already served by traditional ADSL, cable or even mobile broadband due to geographical location and technical limitations.

[yorgi] 26/11/2010 11:26

Blimey Share Shark you must count slow :-)

[share_shark] 26/11/2010 11:22

Minus 10 and counting !.

[dil] 26/11/2010 11:15

Something to get you in the mood.


Final Countdown

[dil] 26/11/2010 11:09

Cheers guys.

[peetle] 26/11/2010 10:36

Ariane's flight lasts 49 minutes but that's just to to Geostationary transfer orbit. The satellites have to convert this to geostationary orbit - it takes several hours to get from LEO to Geostationary orbit; it's 22000 miles up after all, and then they have to circularise the orbit. Then they have to check out the satellites systems which will take a while.

But they'll find out quite quickly if it's working and obviously the launch itself is probably the riskiest step.

[goneawol] 26/11/2010 10:19

Dil,

49 minutes?

"During the 49 min. flight, Intelsat 17 will be released first, followed by HYLAS 1."