Government/Military

The U.S. Air Force Space and Missiles Center (AFSMC) has awarded Orbital ATK a contract to build the Long Duration Propulsive Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) space platform, or LPDE. The platform, positioned between the launch booster and a primary space vehicle, will be used to carry small payloads or deploy...

SSL has partnered with a team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the University of Michigan (UM) to conduct a Phase A mission study under NASA’s Explorers Program. SSL’s role in the mission, called the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE), is to provide a ride beyond Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) for a constellation...

Orbit Communications announced that an undisclosed Asian defense organization ordered aeronautical telemetry systems for approximately $7 million. The turnkey solution — including several shipborne 1.8-meter S-band antennas, full ground stations and a mission control center — will be used for test range applications. Orbit expects delivery of the high-precision systems to continue until 2020. According...

The Colombian Ministry of Defense has signed an agreement with Eutelsat for capacity on the Eutelsat 115 West B satellite. The multi-transponder contract, the first between Eutelsat and the Colombian Ministry of Defense, follows the signature of a government-to-government agreement between France and Colombia designed to encourage cooperation in the context of the France-Colombia Year....

Intelligence experts have been unnerved by North Korea’s recent Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) tests amid a tense and uncertain geopolitical environment. But according to one analyst, the U.S. government should be equally concerned about the potential of a nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack from space. Read more on The Hill.

From Via Satellite’s Executive Editor Jeffrey Hill: Of course, Amazon is on top of its cybersecurity game and, of course, this is all happening behind the scenes. The “AWS Top Secret Region” project receiving rave reviews from the CIA is the most Amazon-y bit of information in the article. Also, check out that pic from...

As part of its efforts to provide broadband for 70 percent of the country’s households, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced it is pursing three significant infrastructure projects. Most notably, the Chinese government is deploying 5G networks in at least five cities and is also establishing a quantum communications network near the Yangtze...

Representatives from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), and Orbital ATK recently completed a successful spacecraft Critical Design Review (CDR) for Joint Polar Satellite System 2 (JPSS 2), which demonstrated that the program met all system and schedule requirements. Also evaluated was Orbital ATK’s responsibility for integrating five government-furnished instruments, and supporting the...

Cybersecurity expert Josh Hartman has spoken at length about the benefits of disaggregation when it comes to military space systems. U.S. Air Force Gen. John Hyten, head of U.S. Strategic Command, seems to agree, stating publicly that he opposes the development of large, expensive satellites. And yet a launch service agreement the Air Force is...

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has coalesced a group of organizations to mock up new rules governing commercial on-orbit satellite repair and refueling. Its Consortium for Execution of Rendezvous and Servicing Operations (CONFERS) seeks to set standards that will ensure on-orbit activities do not endanger the long-term sustainability of the satellite servicing industry....