Government/Military

Raytheon has completed an upgrade and final testing of the data transport and processing system for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Common Ground System (CGS), which provides weather and environmental data used by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the agencies’ international partners. The Raytheon-built...

Space Systems Loral (SSL) announced that it has signed and executed an agreement with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop advanced capabilities for servicing and maintaining spacecraft in geostationary orbit. For DARPA’s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program, the agency has tapped SSL to provide a spacecraft to carry the...

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO) has awarded UltiSat a Commercial Satellite Communications (COMSATCOM) task order to provide C-band and Ku-band bandwidth capacity to the U.S. Air Force. UltiSat will provide bandwidth support the Air Force Space Test and Training Range (STTR) for focused training activities. This task order...

Reconstruction of Launch Pad 39B should be completed by August, said Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana at the 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado last week. Furthermore, after the pad is back in operation, Cabana said NASA hopes to support up to 45 launches a year from the cape. Most of the activity...

Roccor announced it has finalized an agreement with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Space Vehicles Directorate to license patents of High Strain Component (HSC) technology. The patents will enable Roccor to build a large number of Solar Array Development Systems (SADS) to support mega-constellations. Roccor recently expanded its facility in Longmont, which allows for...

Comtech Telecommunications announced that during its third quarter of fiscal 2017, its Orlando, Florida-based subsidiary Comtech Systems received a follow-on order for its shipboard troposcatter system to meet the U.S. military’s growing requirement for offshore, beyond the horizon communications for ships underway. Total orders received for this product during fiscal 2017 have aggregated $1.6 million....

Japan and Canada are making significant changes to how their national space agencies operate, while Australia is examining whether there is a need for national space agency at all. Speakers from each had time to dig deeper into their respective countries’ space industry plans during the 33rd Space Symposium last week in Colorado Springs, Colorado....

SES and the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs announced that they have extended a contract to maintain and support Satmed, an e-health satellite platform, until 2020. Under the new contract, SES will continue to develop the Satmed platform and its medical applications, support the platform’s data-hosting facility, and provide full user support with...

Advantech Wireless announced it has received follow up orders from military customers for its X-Band line of Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology-based Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) and Block Up Converters (BUCs) designed for tactical mobile military applications. According to Advantech, the latest generation of SSPAs and BUCs are suited for harsh environments, Satcom on the...

The U.S. Air Force is going to appoint a three-star deputy chief of staff for space to represent the Air Force Space Command at the Pentagon, said Gen. John Raymond during his remarks at the 33rd Space Symposium. According to Raymond, the new appointment will help improve the integration of space assets in multi-domain military...