Government/Military

[Via Satellite 05-23-2016] NASA has extended Harris Corporation’s five-year Space Communications Network Services (SCNS) program contract through two one-year options, adding $384 million of contract ceiling. Harris will continue to support SCNS, which provides most of the communications and tracking services for a wide range of Earth-orbiting spacecraft, such as the International Space Station (ISS),...

[Via Satellite 05-23-2016] iDirect Government has released its Evolution 3.4.1 software, which powers the company’s 9-Series portfolio of remotes and defense line cards. Evolution 3.4.1 boosts the security, performance and efficiency of iDirect’s 9-Series product line in support of the company’s defense and government customers. The software supports the 950mp, 900 and 9350 remotes as...

[Via Satellite 05-20-2016] As part of the U.S. Air Force’s GPS 3 Space Vehicles 11+ Production Readiness Feasibility Assessment, Lockheed Martin is planning demonstrations of its GPS 3 design over the next 26 months. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the first batch of GPS 3 satellites. The Air Force has opened up future...

[Via Satellite 05-20-2016] Comsat and Inmarsat announced that the companies supported U.S. and Republic of the Philippines forces in the Balikatan 2016 (BK 16) exercise, which took place in the Philippines from April 4 to 16. Comsat, a Value-Added Reseller (VAR) of Inmarsat’s Global Xpress services, worked with U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, which organized...

[Via Satellite 05-18-2016] LGS Innovations has been awarded a contract to develop a prototype pair of lightweight, low-power optical communication terminals for communication between micro-satellites in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) based on light. Under the terms of the contract, LGS will be responsible for developing a pair of laser communication terminals to be launched on two...

[Via Satellite 05-18-2016] Comtech Telecommunications has received a $2.3 million funded order from a prime contractor to continue to provide managed network services for the United States Department of Defense (DOD) through May 2017. The company’s government solutions segment received the contract during Comtech’s fourth quarter of fiscal 2016.

[Via Satellite 05-17-2016] SES is providing two anchor stations for the Danish Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) to enable Danish armed forces to communicate through the United States’ Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) system. Under the agreement, SES Techcom Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES, will provision and maintain two WGS anchor stations — one...

[Via Satellite 05-17-2016] The United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded UltiSat the “Contingency Satellite Services Project.” This task order is part of the Future Comsatcom Services Acquisition-Custom Solutions 2-Small Business (FCSA-CS2SB) contract. UltiSat will provide FEMA with satellite services to support operational communications requirements for response and recovery missions. This support will...

[Via Satellite 05-17-2016] The International Space Station (ISS) completed its 100,000th orbit on May 16, NASA announced yesterday. The orbiting research platform has travelled more than 4.2 billion kilometers (2.6 billion miles) while circling the planet — a distance almost equivalent to the space between Earth and Neptune (4.7 billion kilometers, or 2.9 billion miles), or...

[Via Satellite 05-16-2016] To land communications traffic from the recently relocated Skynet 5A satellite, Airbus Defence and Space has opened a new purpose-built ground station in Adelaide, Australia. The Australian facility extends an existing chain of teleports in France, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States, providing global coverage in both fixed and...