Government/Military

U.S. Air Force Space and Missiles System Center has awarded Orbital ATK a contract to provide payload integration and support services for Space Test Program Satellite 6 (STPSat-6). The multipurpose satellite will operationally demonstrate advanced communication capabilities, collect space weather data and support nuclear detonation detection in the Earth’s atmosphere or in near space. STPSat-6...

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) has delivered a Space GPS Receiver (SGR-20) to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to be integrated as part of the pointing control system for NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) mission. OCO-3 will collect space-based measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide and solar-induced fluorescence. Once launched, OCO-3 will be installed and operated...

Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., defended intervening in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program because he didn’t want the program, and its potential commercial capability, to denigrate into the bitter feud that permeates the United Launch Alliance (ULA) versus Space Exploration Technology (SpaceX) battle. Bridenstine told an industry...

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions announced that the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CYTA), an international telecommunications hub in the Eastern Mediterranean, has selected Kratos’ end-to-end network management suite of products to support its expanding satellite ground operations. The network management suite will help CYTA scale its international operations by automating network functions and managing customer services...

The words I wrote some eighteen months ago ring as true today as they did then. The satellite and space industry, along with the rest of the telecommunications industry, is desperately trying to figure out what the Trump presidency will mean for it. So much and so little has happened over the past eighteen months...

Boeing and the U.S. Air Force recently signed a Global Positioning System (GPS) sustainment agreement that will ensure the navigation capabilities millions of military and commercial users relied upon remain robust for years to come. Under the agreement, Boeing will support GPS 2A and 2F satellites currently on orbit for the next five years. Boeing,...

As part of the EU SatCom Market framework contract, which the European Defense Agency (EDA) recently awarded to Airbus Defence and Space, the company is delivering satellite communications systems for EU military Training Missions in Somalia (EUTM Somalia) as well as for the European Union Capacity-Building Mission (EUCAP) Sahel Niger and EUCAP Sahel Mali civilian...

Advantech Wireless has received a multi-million dollar contract from an unnamed NATO-member country to provide its ruggedized military-grade satcom terminals, including the new advanced line of Gallium Nitride (GaN)-based Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPA) with minimal Size Weight and Power (SWaP). Advantech Wireless is providing complete terminals for the tactical environment based on its proprietary...

Airbus Defence and Space has delivered a propulsion test module to NASA for the Orion program. The Propulsion Qualification Test Model (PQM) will be used to check that the Orion European Service Module (ESM) spacecraft’s propulsion subsystem functions correctly. On behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), Airbus Defence and Space is prime contractor for...

Raytheon has completed factory acceptance testing of the flight operations system for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). With seven times the light-collecting power of its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, this next-generation telescope will gather data and images of dust clouds, stars and galaxies deeper into space. More than 800 requirements were successfully verified...