Space Data International (SDI) received FCC authorization Wed. to...
Space Data International (SDI) received FCC authorization Wed. to operate on time-share basis 4 NASA Tracking & Data Relay satellites. SDI wants to provide services to seismic exploration vessels surveying ocean floor. It said it believed technology would facilitate…
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development of new oil and gas resources. Survey vessels locate oil and gas deposits by taking soundings of surveyed areas, recording soundings on computer storage tapes and transporting tapes to land-based data processing centers by ship. Process can take 6 weeks to several months. SDI proposes to transmit information to data processing center by satellite. SDI estimated service would reduce cost of each individual survey up to $4.1 million. Plans call for SDI to place earth station on each survey vessel, with survey data transmitted via TDRSS satellite to NASA’s facility in White Sands, N.M., and then to data processing center in Houston by landlines. SDI said it must use TDRSS satellites to provide service because commercial satellite systems didn’t have technical capabilities, geographic coverage or capacity necessary.