Energetics Satellite Corp has picked Unisys Corp’s McLean, Virginia-based Defense Systems unit as its partner on a project to build and operate a satellite system that is to offer commercial position finding, messaging and remote equipment monitoring services in a deal that could be worth $250m to Unisys over 10 years. The system will be aimed at companies that own rental cars, railway trucks, lorries, railers, or container and cargo ships. Vehicle or vessel locations can be found in two minutes and pinpointed within 50 feet for stationary objects and the direction of a moving object can be plotted every four to six minutes, the partners say. Unisys will design, develop, install and operate the system’s ground stations and supply software, hardware and parallel processors for the Satellite Tracking Radiolocation and Communications system. Intraspace Corp, Salt Lake City will produce the satellites and Houston-based Space Commerce Corp will provide launch services using Soviet Proton launch vehicles, subject to US government approval, at a cost of $56m for eight launches. The aim is to have two of the satellites operational in the mid-1990s.
