Government/Military

A unit in the Pentagon has put out a call for algorithms that can be used to analyze high-resolution satellite imagery. The contest, called the xView Detection Challenge, will award $100,000 to entrants who can develop more efficient ways to interpret geospatial data. Read more at Wired >>

With an eye toward future deep space missions, Aerojet Rocketdyne and NASA powered up the RS-25 main engine for the agency’s heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) to its highest thrust levels yet. During a 260-second hot fire test on Feb. 21, the RS-25 engine throttled up to 113 percent of its original design thrust level....

At the second National Space Council Meeting, members agreed on a number of new recommendations to reform commercial space regulatory frameworks at the Departments of Transportation and Commerce. According to Vice President Mike Pence, the council’s chairman, under the new regulations the Department of Transportation would require a single license for all types of launch...

Australia and Singapore-based rocket company Gilmour Space Technologies has entered into a Space Act Agreement with NASA to collaborate on various research, technology development and educational initiatives. Under the reimbursable agreement, Gilmour Space will work closely with NASA on rover testing at Kennedy Space Center, and may explore other potential future activities in areas of...

Comtech Telecommunications announced that during its second quarter of fiscal 2018, the U.S. Army awarded the company an initial $11.7 million order to provide several thousand of its MT-2025 Mobile Satellite Transceivers in support of the Army’s Blue Force Tracking 2 (BFT-2) system. The order was received pursuant to a firm fixed-price contract from ADS....

Iridium Communications announced that Comsat has signed an agreement to become the Iridium Certus service provider for U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) users. This long-term deal will allow Comsat to provide Iridium’s global satellite broadband connectivity for mobile voice and data services to DOD beginning in mid-2018. Comsat will bring its full suite of value-added...

Just as the early railroads transformed the American West and spurred an economic boom across our then young nation, commercial activity in space is blossoming. Expansion of these activities, especially in-space manufacturing, will expand human activity outward and lead to new American economic booms. While the promise of commercial activities in space may be as...

In the proposed budget for fiscal year 2019, the U.S. Air Force has introduced a new “Rocket Systems Launch Program” that will allocate funds for smallsat launch services. The budget proposal reflects the military’s intent to maintain its leadership position in the space warfighting domain, potentially ensuring a reliable customer base for newly emerging smallsat...

Avanti Communications Group has signed a minimum commitment contract valued at $500,000 with Global Radiodata Communications (GRC), which develops and supplies mission-critical communication products and solutions to provide Ka-band satellite communications to defense and commercial operations. Following successful trials, Avanti and GRC will deploy secure high data-rate communications across Avanti’s High Throughput Satellites (HTS), Hylas...