THE OPTUS D SERIES SATELLITE PROGRAM

The Sydney Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics &
Astronautics (AIAA) and the AIAA Student Branch at the University of
Sydney proudly presents

THE OPTUS D SERIES SATELLITE PROGRAM

by Mark Blair and Dr Gordon Pike - SingTel Optus, Satellite Engineering Group

Date: Monday 8th March 2010 at 6:00pm for 6:30pm start
Location: Lecture Theatre, Mechanical Engineering Building, Faculty of
Engineering, Off Shepherd St, University of Sydney, Darlington

FREE pizza will be served prior to the lecture

Please RSVP for catering purposes by 5th March to aiaa.sydneysection@gmail.com

This public lecture is FREE and all are welcome.

Talk Summary:

The Optus D series satellite program consisted of three communications
satellites built and launched over nearly six years - the last in late
2009. These satellites provide communications capability to Australia,
New Zealand and - for the first time ever - continuous coverage to
parts of Antarctica. This talk will cover the background and
implementation of the overall program as well as include a
presentation of a typical D series launch campaign.

A map of the venue can be found online at
http://db.auth.usyd.edu.au/directories/map/building.stm?ref=l22p27
The entrance to the building is at grid reference N25. On street
parking is available on Shepherd St and paid parking is available in
the Seymour Centre Carpark, which is off Shepherd St.

Brief biographies of the speakers are below and a flyer with all the
details is also attached. Feel free to forward details of this event
to others who may be interested. Apologies if you receive this more
than once.

About Mark Blair:

Mark Blair obtained a BE(Hons.) in Mechanical Engineering from Monash
University in 1990 and joined the Defence Science and Technology
Organisation (DSTO) where his research work involved the design,
evaluation and application of missile propulsion systems for the
Australian Defence Force (ADF). Mark was the founding Chairman of the
Australian Space Research Institute (ASRI) and, whilst standing down
as Chairman in 1999, he still maintains the positions of Director and
CEO. This position involves the coordination of a national educational
space technology program. Mark is the current Chairman of the
Engineers Australia National Committee on Space Engineering and was
awarded the 1996 National Young Professional Engineer of the Year
Award for his contribution to space technology education and
development within Australia. Mark is currently employed by OPTUS as a
Technical Specialist in the Satellite Engineering Group. In this
position Mark has been an on-site resident at Space Systems Loral (CA,
USA) for the joint OPTUS/Defence C1 ComSat Program and at Orbital
Sciences Corp (VA, USA) for the D1-D3 ComSat Program. Mark is
currently working on the ST-2 ComSat acquisition Program and is based
in Sydney, Australia.

About Dr Gordon Pike:

Gordon Pike retired from Optus in late 2009 following a 30 year career
in the satellite communication industry. This included responsibility
for many of the satellite related activities of SingTel Optus in
Australia - including the project management of most of the 10
commercial communications satellites built and launched since the
first in 1985. Gordon is a graduate of the University of Adelaide
(1971) in Mechanical Engineering and has a PhD from the University of
Sydney (1976) in Aeronautical Engineering. Initial employment included
an appointment as a Research Scientist at the (former) Weapons
Research Establishment in Adelaide specialising in high speed
aerodynamics and ballistics. He later moved to England where he worked
at British Aerospace (now EADS Astrium) on a variety of aircraft and
space projects. He joined the newly formed Aussat Pty. Ltd. in Sydney
in 1982 and spent six years as part of the on-site team at the Hughes
Aircraft Company in Los Angeles during the construction and launch of
the six Aussat A and B communications satellites. This was followed by
a further project leadership role on the large Optus C1 program and
most of the three D series satellites – the last of which was launched
in August of 2009. His special interest is launch systems and he has
spent extended periods at major launch facilities in China (Xichang),
South America (French Guiana) and the USA (Kennedy Space Center,
Florida). In 1986 he became a founding member of the Institution of
Engineers Australia National Committee on Space Engineering and was
the Chairman for 1993/95. From 1994 to 1998, he was the Vice-Chairman
of the Australian Space Industry Chamber of Commerce. He was
re-elected to this role for 2007/2009.

For information about the AIAA Sydney Section visit
http://www.aiaasydneysection.org