Microwave Radio Communications said its newly launched Advent NewSwift 1.8m Integrated Satellite System eventually will be used for a real-life launch—helping ABC affiliate WFTV-TV in Orlando (DMA no. 19) with its local HD coverage of the blast-off of Space Shuttle Atlantis. (The revised launch is now scheduled for sometime in January after two postponements due to technical glitches in the past week.)
WFTV-TV plans to use the uplink system both to capture the launch itself for its own local coverage, and to provide live coverage to some other ABC affiliate stations around the country. According to MRC, based in North Billerica, Mass., the purpose of the mission will be to deliver the European Space Agency’s science research laboratory (known as “Columbus”) to the International Space Station.
The Advent 1.8m NewSwift system (installed in an ENG/SNG truck at the launch facility) is designed to provide automatic pointing and acquisition capabilities, as well as multiple uplink channels.
Along with producing its own coverage for central Florida, WFTV-TV plans to provide 720p feeds to some of ABC’s biggest affiliates: WLS-TV in Chicago (DMA no. 3), KABC-TV in Los Angeles (DMA no. 2), and WFAA-TV in Dallas (DMA no. 5) under a partnership contract with ABC’/Disney’s NewsOne service.
