Contact Information:
Janet Roberts, Alan Herman & Assoc.
949-443-1695
janet@ahamar.com
Quintron DICES III Communications System – A Necessity for the
Success of the Sea Launch Rocket Mission
Santa Maria, CA (November 7, 2006) – Quintron, the recognized leader in advanced interoperable voice systems and physical access control/intrusion detection systems, announces that its DICES III system was the communications system of choice for the Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket launch on October 30, 2006 to deploy the XM 4 satellite nicknamed “Blues.” The XM satellites serve seven million subscribers in the United States and Canada, beaming signals to special radios installed in their cars and for portable units. The October 30th flight was the 23rd for Sea Launch since 1999, all of which relied on the Quintron DICES III system for its communications.
Quintron supplied two systems, one for the Assembly Command Ship (ACS) and another for the Launch Platform (LP). “Both vessels needed a ‘launch grade’ control center communications system,” said David Wilhite, Vice President of Quintron’s Telecom Systems Division. “The Quintron DICES III system was selected following an extensive evaluation by SEMCO (supplier of all shipboard communications) of multiple options.” A key discriminator in favor of Quintron was the availability of the Subsystem Multiplexer (Sub-MUX) product line, which includes operator communication panels certified for operation in extreme hazardous operation areas for fueling of the rocket and satellite sections.
An additional advantage was the selection of control room operator panels, including rack mount and desktop designs. The American control room section was designed for rack mount and the Russian section was more suited for desktop. Thus, a single system solution provided both of the key launch partners with their preferred operating equipment design. Another unique feature was the ability to support multiple system management and configuration terminals (essentially PCs with DICES III management software) that allowed a central control point in the communications room under normal operations and a second control point in the launch control center under actual launch operations.
The two DICES III systems were delivered to SEMCO in 1997 for installation in Europe (Norway for the ACS and Russia for the LP). Quintron engineers assisted in the final start-up and testing in 1998, just before the vessels were moved to Long Beach for the beginning of operations. The ACS system is the larger, supporting 176 operator communication panels of four different styles (109 hazardous certified). The LP system supports 84 communication panels of three different styles (70 hazardous certified). Both systems have been in continuous use since delivery with no major updates required and complete mission support success.
For more information and to schedule a demonstration of the Quintron mission critical communications or physical access control/intrusion detection systems, please visit www.quintron.com or call 805-928-4343.
About Quintron
For over 36 years, Quintron has provided high technology and cost effective solutions to government and industry in support of mission critical communications and security requirements for command and control applications. No other company offers the depth of expertise found at Quintron in fault tolerant, interoperable communications, and security systems. In addition to providing advanced products and systems, Quintron’s professional technical service capability provides a superior level of customer satisfaction. Quintron’s engineering services provide off-the-shelf solutions to requirements or custom engineering solutions to solve the toughest of challenges facing customers. Find out more about Quintron at www.quintron.com or by calling 805.928.4343.
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