Government/Military

Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved SpaceX’s request to fly more than 1,500 of its Starlink satellites at an altitude of approximately 342 miles (550 kilometers) — an orbit lower than before. The FCC also authorized SpaceX to slightly reduce the number of satellites in the constellation, and to include the use of Ku-band...

Robert Lightfoot, a longtime NASA executive who served as both the agency’s acting administrator and highest-ranking civil servant, will join Lockheed Martin Space as vice president, Strategy and Business Development, effective May 6. In his new role, Lightfoot will lead strategic planning, advanced technology concepts, and new business strategy for the corporation’s Space business area....

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions recently received a $12.6 million Command, Control, Communication, Computing, Combat, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) System production contract award from a national security-related customer. Kratos supports C5ISR Systems including Patriot, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), other missile and radar systems, unmanned aerial systems, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive Materials...

NASA awarded a contract to PathFinder Digital to study the feasibility of developing a transportable research and test platform to facilitate the design of Free Space Optic (FSO) satellite networks. The study focuses on the development of Optical Ground Stations (OGS) and their interoperability to Optical Space Terminals (OST).  The study also focuses on the...

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will deliver the welcome address at SATELLITE 2019’s Via Satellite Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, May 8th at 12:00 p.m. The Administrator will kick off the luncheon proceedings with a speech about new commercial satcom partnership opportunities on NASA space exploration, science, and sustainability projects. “Administrator Bridenstine has been an ardent supporter...

The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) awarded Slingshot Aerospace a $6 million contract to rapidly prototype and deploy Machine Learning (ML) capabilities to augment a wide variety of Enterprise Space Battle Management mission needs. Slingshot’s toolset, known as Orbital Atlas, aims to help enable warfighters to pivot from traditional Space Situational Awareness (SSA) focusing...

Boeing will build the 11th U.S. Air Force Wideband Global Satcom (WGS-11) communications satellite. The company was awarded a not-to-exceed $605 million firm-fixed-price modification (P00109) to previously awarded contract FA8808-10-C-0001 for the production of the Wideband Global Satellite Communication Space Vehicle 11. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California, and is expected to be...

Iridium Communications was awarded a new contract by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to continue supporting the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Enhanced Mobile Satellite Service (EMSS) gateway. The contract, valued at $54 million over 4.5 years, for Gateway Maintenance and Support Service (GMSS), will help ensure that this dedicated ground site continues to...

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence  will deliver a special keynote address on Monday, May 6th at the SATELLITE 2019 conference taking place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The Vice President’s remarks will begin at 1:15 p.m. during the event’s Monday Keynote Luncheon. SATELLITE 2019 Chair Jeffrey Hill said that the show team is...

Northrop Grumman successfully launched its Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus spacecraft yesterday at 4:46 p.m. EDT from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A on Wallops Island, Virginia, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. The launch marks Northrop Grumman’s 11th cargo mission carrying supplies to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. Following the release of...