Month: April 2018

Ruag Space has signed an agreement to become York Space Systems’ sole supplier of separation systems for the S-Class spacecraft platform. As part of the collaboration, Ruag will develop a customized separation system for York’s first mission, Harbinger, which will be launched later this year. The partnership will further enable York to offer commercial companies...

The United States Senate has finally voted to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee for NASA administrator, Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., in a 50-49 vote. Bridenstine’s long-stalled nomination was initially opposed by senators who objected to having a politician run what has traditionally been a nonpartisan agency. Notably, Republican senators Jeff Flake from Arizona and Marco Rubio...

The United States government is putting the finishing touches on a new space traffic management policy designed to protect U.S. national security and commercial spacecraft amid growing congestion in space, Vice President Mike Pence announced April 16. The National Space Council, which Pence chairs, will soon send the proposed policy to President Donald Trump for...

Eutelsat has sold its stake in Spanish satellite operator Hispasat for just more than 300 million euros ($371.24 million). Eutelsat had held a 33.69 percent stake the Spanish operator. The announcement brings to an end one of the most interesting European satellite operator collaborations in recent years. The transaction concludes an agreement reached in May...

SpaceX successfully launched the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) for NASA from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. TESS, built by Orbital ATK, will perform a survey of the entire sky to identify planets ranging from Earth-sized to Jupiter-sized, orbiting a wide range of stellar types and in various orbital...

Intenational Launch Services (ILS) announced the successful launch of a Russian military payload into orbit the Baikonur Cosmodrome. This was the first launch for the Proton launch vehicle in 2018. The payload, Blagovest 12L, is the second of four planned Blagovest communications satellites for Russia’s Ministry of Defense, built by ISS Reshetnev. The first of...

Globalstar is bringing a new product, the Sat-Fi2, to the United States and Canada, which it hopes will prove a hit to enterprises across the region. Particularly, the company is targeting a wide range of consumer, enterprise and government markets including oil and gas, marine, alternative energy, government, emergency management, forestry, construction, commercial hunting and...

Comtech Telecommunications announced that during its third quarter of fiscal 2018, its Tempe, Arizona-based subsidiary, Comtech EF Data, which is part of Comtech’s Commercial Solutions segment, received a $59 million Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract from the U.S. Naval Warfare Systems Command. The first delivery order for $7.9 million was received and related production has...

Spire Global, a space to cloud analytics company that uses proprietary satellite data and algorithms to provide advanced maritime, aviation, and weather tracking, has announced its participation in the Esri Partner Network. Spire’s datasets collected from its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation can now be integrated into the ArcGIS platform. Esri Silver Partners are...

iDirect Government has unveiled a key new software release, Evolution 4.2, as it looks to take advantage of opportunities in the defense market. Evolution 4.2 brings the full capabilities of the 9-Series satellite routers, defense line cards and tactical hub. Evolution 4.2 also continues to support existing 8-Series satellite routers and eMxDx line cards. Evolution...