Successful launch of first WorldSpace radio satellite'AfriSta' (9806A)

A new star in the African sky

Freiburg, October 28, 1998 - Today, at exactly 23.15 hours CET, the Ariane 4 launch rocket completed a successful lift-off from its launchpad in Kourou, French Guyana, putting the first of three WorldSpace satellites into orbit. The countdown to the"radio of the 21st centur" also represents a milestone for the Freiburg chip manufacturer MICRONAS INTERMETALL, who is closely involved in the development of this ambitious radio project.

The aim of the WorldSpace project is to provide more than four and a half billion people in developing and threshold countries, many of them cut off from modern mass media, with information, entertainment, and educational programs. For this purpose, a satellite radio system with three geostationary satellites is scheduled to go into service by the beginning of the new millennium. The programs can be received throughout most of the southern hemisphere by newly-developed, portable radio receivers.

Because of the new digital broadcasting system and the difficulties presented in some cases by the reception conditions, it was virtually necessary to re-invent the radio. Along with one other semiconductor manufacturer, MICRONAS INTERMETALL, a pioneer in digital signal processing, as well as digital audio signal decompression, was given the task of developing the microchips for the WorldSpace radio receiver.

The receivers themselves are being built by four well-known Japanese manufacturers, three of whom have chosen the INTERMETALL chips, which are now ready for full-scale production, as the technical basis. MICRONAS INTERMETALL, therefore, have a substantial involvement in the added value of the project. According to WorldSpace estimates, it is anticipated that 15 million receivers will be sold over the next ten years.

When'AfriSta' has been commissioned and the up-links have been set up, the African section of the WorldSpace service is scheduled to go into regular service in April next year. At the same time, the first mass production run of receivers will be delivered, equipped with microchips from MICRONAS INTERMETALL.