Government/Military

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft landed at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico on Sunday, bringing an end to NASA‘s Orbital Flight Test, which missed its objective to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) because a necessary orbital burn did not happen after the launch on Friday, Dec. 20. The uncrewed mission for NASA’s...

The government of Luxembourg and Canadian technology company NorthStar Earth and Space signed a letter of intent on Thursday to create a Centre of Excellence for Clean Space in Luxembourg. The entities also agreed to consider a contribution to NorthStar with the goal of promoting the safe and sustainable use of outer space. The Centre...

NASA has selected United Launch Alliance (ULA) to provide launch services for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-T (GOES-T) mission, the agency announced on Wednesday. The GOES-T mission aims to provide advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s weather, oceans, and environment, real-time mapping of total lightning activity, and improved monitoring of solar activity, and space...

Inmarsat Government has ordered a Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT) 46WGX from Orbit Communications Systems, the companies announced on Thursday. The order comes after the two companies signed a co-development agreement in March.  The new 18-inch Ka-band multi-purpose terminal is intended to meet the need for worldwide connectivity with Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Delivery of the satellite...

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded Centurum Information Technology a $89.9 million single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, performance-based service contract utilizing cost-plus-fixed-fee task orders. The contract is for satcom services and provides technical sustainment support, sustainment engineering, engineering support, logistics support, and modernization support for integrated and non-integrated shipboard and ashore installations of satcom systems.  ...

Lockheed Martin delivered the capsule-shaped aeroshell that will protect NASA‘s Mars 2020 rover to the Kennedy Space Center, in Titusville, Florida, on Dec. 12. The aeroshell will encapsulate the Mars 2020 rover during its deep space cruise to Mars, and protect it from the intense heat as the entry system descends through the Martian atmosphere...

Capella Space, which provides Earth observation imagery, has signed a contract with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), to study the integration of its Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery into the NRO’s national ground architecture. Capella is the first U.S. commercial SAR provider to work with the NRO to explore opportunities to integrate commercial SAR to...

Data Analytics satellite company HawkEye 360 won a commercial RF survey study contract from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the company announced Dec. 11. HawkEye 360 will examine the integration of commercial RF capabilities and products into the NRO’s geospatial intelligence architecture. The company will be responsible for performing assessments, demonstrations, and analysis to validate...

The 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19), a “death-by-a-thousand-cuts” experience for the satellite industry held every four years by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), has just wrapped up its latest get-together in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. The event, attended by 3,400 delegates from around the world, produced less-than-optimal results for satellite operators. Let’s start with the...

Envistacom was awarded a $47.8 million, three-year award to support the Deployable Ku-Band Earth Terminal (DKET) program managed by the U.S. Army’s Product Manager Satellite Communications (PdM SATCOM). The task order was awarded under the Deployable Adaptive Global Responder Support (DAGRS) indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract worth up to $480 million over five years....