Two companies racing to be first to deploy an operational constellation of maritime traffic monitoring satellites for the world's coastal authorities both reported successes with newly launched spacecraft but ongoing delays in future satellite launches.Orbcomm of Ft. Lee, N.J., and ex-actEarth of Cambridge, Ontario, a subsidiary of Canada's Com Dev, also face the prospect of new competitors entering the Automatic Identification System (AIS) market, some with government backing.All ships above a certain weight class are now required to carry AIS packages that transmit information such as their position and heading. Satellites are used to relay that data to coastal authorities.
展开▼
