Free Republic

US Army 'jammed' Swiss and French satellitesBern: The US Army mistakenly jammed the satellite signal of a number of news organisations earlier this year - including the French and Swiss national news agencies - in an attempt to shut down an Iraqi TV station, according to a Swiss newspaper. Daily Tages-Anzeiger reported in yesterday's edition that the incident occurred on January 23 and lasted about 24 hours, affecting a large number of radio, television and internet services, including those of Agence France Presse (AFP) and its Swiss counterpart Schweizerische Depeschagentur (SDA). An internal SDA memo states that "the loss of...

Paris-based satellite company Eutelsat is investigating "unidentified interference" with its satellite broadcast services that temporarily knocked out several television and radio stations. The company declined to say whether it thought the interference was accidental or deliberate. The problem began Tuesday afternoon, blocking several European, Middle East and northeast African radio and television stations, as well as Agence France-Presse's news service. All transferred their satellite transmissions to another frequency to resume operations. Theresa Hitchens of the Center for Defense Information think-tank in Washington DC, US, says there have been cases of deliberate satellite jamming in the past, but it is hard...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Boeing's Delta 4 rocket successfully delivered its first satellite into Earth orbit on Wednesday. Lifting off at 5:39 p.m. EST (2239 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the 20-story rocket began its mission to loft the Eutelsat W5 spacecraft into Earth orbit. The mission, accomplished 37 minutes later, was greeted with cheers and applause by company officials who had waited seven years to launch the rocket that is their contribution to the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. "This is a new day and I think that we, Boeing, have proved a lot...