Government/Military

The Russian space agency Roscosmos is planning to issue a manufacturing contract to the Research and Production Association of Machine-Building for a new remote-sensing satellite worth $147 million, the Russian News Agency TASS reported July 6. The sensing satellite will be based on an upgraded new model of the Kondor-FKA S-band radar spacecraft and due...

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) selected Radiant Solutions, a Maxar Technologies company, for its Janus Geography Program. The contract is worth $920 million and may last up to 10 years. Radiant Solutions integrates knowledge of NGA’s mission, multi-source data harvesting, and production processes with advanced technologies, and will provide Janus Geography with human geography data...

Airbus completed construction and integration of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Characterising Exoplanet Satellite (CHEOPS) at its Madrid-Barajas facility in Spain, putting the satellite on track for its scheduled launch on an Arianespace Soyuz rocket later this year. CHEOPS will now be sent to France, Switzerland and The Netherlands for a comprehensive test campaign that...

Airbus will provide free payload space and expanded accss to hosting platforms and Earth observational data solutions to United Nations (UN) member states after signing a five-year, renewable Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). Airbus said the agreement will give UN member states the opportunity to participate in...

The U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) will aggressively seek commercial satellite industry partnerships to meet nearly all of its future needs for the Protected Tactical Satcom (PTS) system, according to Air Force SMC Chief of International MilSatCom Deanna Ryals. Additionally, the PTS system acquisition process could present new and unexpected benefits...

The often-delayed launch of the James Webb Space Telescope has slipped another 10 months based on the findings of an independent review board, NASA announced June 27. The launch, which was previously slated for May 2020, is now scheduled for March 30, 2021, the agency said. Former aerospace industry executive Tom Young, the review board’s chair,...

Bambu Wireless has signed a multiyear contract with Eutelsat for capacity on the Eutelsat 172B satellite. Commercialized under the brand BambuSat, the capacity will be used for broadband, maritime, and government services across the Philippines’ 6,000 inhabited islands. Bambu Wireless will leverage Ku-band capacity on Eutelsat 172B to offer a wide range of connectivity solutions...

Cloud Constellation Corporation and Arabsat have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a go-to-market strategy for enterprise and government customers in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Central Asia. Cloud Constellation’s SpaceBelt Data Security as a Service (DSaaS) is a patented, scalable, space-based cloud service for securing high-value and highly sensitive data...

Northrop Grumman has contributed to an advanced weather satellite that enables improved weather prediction capabilities, leading to more accurate and timely forecasts, watches and warnings. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) – R Series is managed by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). GOES-S, the second satellite in the series, launched from Cape...

A satellite communications gateway managed by DataPath and the U.S. Air Force was selected for a U.S. Defense Information System Agency’s (DISA) Facility of the Year award. The facility, located at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, was previously recognized as the outstanding small satellite communications gateway for DISA Europe. DataPath installed a fixed Earth terminal at...