2007


Land a Lunar Rover, Win Money

A new X PRIZE competition, sponsored by Google, began in 2007. The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million competition designed to stimulate entrepreneurial activity and investment. The prize will be awarded to the first team able to land a privately funded robotic rover on the lunar surface capable of roaming 500 meters and sending still images, video, and other data back to Earth.

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Deep Space Probes from the Far East

In 2007, a number of robotic probes and planetary landers were launched as several nations developed their space exploration programs. Among these launches were the first lunar orbiters from Japan and China.

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Virtual Private Networks from Space

New technologies allow satellites to play a key role in Virtual Private Networks (VPN) — the ability to have secure network communications over the Internet. This provides a relatively inexpensive solution to management and communications challenges of geographically dispersed companies.

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Personalized Advertising Distributed Through Satellites

The Space Report 2006 noted the increasing trend of retail stores delivering advertising content through digital signage. Recent market research has shown that digital signage, or narrowcasting, is becoming increasingly popular and is on a path to sustainable growth.

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Record Where You’ve Been

GPS receivers are being integrated into mapping and camera equipment. “Geotagging,” a complementary application for digital photography, records coordinates from a GPS receiver in the metadata of photographs.

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The Mobile Phone That Switches Between Satellites and Cell Towers

Inmarsat, a provider of mobile satellite services, released the IsatPhone in summer 2007, a handheld voice and data phone that overcomes some of the disadvantages of traditional satellite phones, such as the lack of coverage indoors and in urban canyons, by its ability to communicate via standard cell phone networks.

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Satellite TV in a Suitcase

DIRECTV, one of two major direct-to-home (DTH) providers serving North America, unveiled a portable satellite TV in January 2007. The portable TV unit houses a 17-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) screen in a carrying case that resembles a briefcase. An antenna, rather than a dish, receives signals from DIRECTV’s satellites.

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Expanding Missile Defense to Europe and Space

The United States’ proposal to develop a European Missile Defense shield also stirred international discussion. The proposed European shield would field a limited-capability defense using a series of radar stations to track ballistic missiles, and ground-based interceptor missiles.[

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