Space Data's SkySite® Network Takes Off Over South-Central U.S.
Company Delivers Telemetry Services to Oil and Gas Industry
Odessa, Texas; October 19, 2004 — Space Data Corporation, a company providing wireless data services in rural and remote areas, today announced the immediate availability of its wireless telemetry services across the majority of the oil and gas producing regions of the south-central United States. The expansion of the company’s balloon-borne SkySite Network provides energy companies with a reliable, cost-effective alternative for their low to medium rate data communications needs, no matter how remote the location.
“There’s a need out there for a reliable, easy-to-use communications alternative, especially with analog and CDPD service shutting down,” said Kirk Mehaffey of Superior Optimization, an end-to-end automation provider and Space Data partner. “Our customers need a service that’s less expensive than satellite and doesn’t demand the infrastructure commitment that radio systems require. We’ve started to automate and monitor sites that our customers couldn’t afford to communicate with before and they’ve been very happy with the SkySite Network service.”
Energy companies are now using Space Data’s two-way data communications services for applications such as wellhead automation SCADA, compressor and tank monitoring, and pipeline cathodic protection monitoring. The company also has initiated trials of its upcoming tracking service that will provide GPS location information for fleet and service vehicles in the field.
“We estimate that there are more than 350,000 oil and gas wells, millions of miles of pipelines and tens of thousands of compressors, tanks and service vehicles within the SkySite Network coverage area” said Mark Davis, Space Data’s director of marketing. “The companies that own those assets now have the ability to monitor, control and track them with a service that is unmatched in its combination of large coverage footprint, low price and high reliability” Davis said.
The SkySite Network is unique in its ability to provide reliable, affordable data communications to rural and remote areas. Building on decades of success by weather service organizations around the world that have used balloon-borne systems to gather meteorological data, the company has developed a command and control system that enables the management of a large “constellation” of SkySite Platforms. The SkySite Platforms deliver reliable, digital signals over hundreds of miles. At an altitude of 100,000 feet, a single SkySite Platform can provide service to an area the size of Oklahoma. The SkySite Network provides 24x7 two-way data communications coverage across Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, as well as portions of New Mexico, Arkansas, Arizona, California and the Gulf of Mexico.
Representatives from Space Data will be describing their system and its applications to the oil and gas community at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Odessa today through October 21 in Booth D110/111.
For more information about Space Data Corporation, visit www.spacedata.net.
Editors Note: Space Data and SkySite are registered trademarks of Space Data Corporation.
Public Relations Contact: Tim Ayers
Office: 202-857-9734
Cell: 202-422-5048
Email: tim@ayersassociates.net