Government/Military

[Via Satellite 12-30-2015] The Department of Land Resources at India’s Ministry of Rural Development has accepted a proposal from the Chandigarh Administration for using satellites to map city properties, according to The Indian Express. The project is expected to start next month and has a deadline of one year. Satellite-based technology known as Geographic Information...

[Via Satellite 12-29-2015] Visiona Tecnologia Espacial, responsible for the integration of the Geostationary Satellite of Defense and Strategic Communications (SGDC) system in Brazil, announced the completion of a key program milestone. On Dec. 14, the mating between the satellite platform and the communication module was successfully performed, marking the beginning of the integration and testing campaign. The mating...

[Via Satellite 12-29-2015] Avanti Communications is deploying Gilat Satellite Networks’ Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs) to provide the fast broadband Internet access to rural households throughout the United Kingdom. Avanti has been contracted by the Broadband Delivery UK government initiative, which subsidizes the deployment of broadband to meet U.K. national connectivity objectives. Gilat is supplying...

[Via Satellite 12-28-2015] The French defense procurement agency Direction Generale de l’Armement (DGA), part of the French Defense Ministry, has selected the consortium formed by Thales Alenia Space (65 percent) and Airbus Defence and Space (35 percent) to build and deliver the military satellite communications system, Comsat NG. The Comsat NG contract covers the construction...

[Via Satellite 12-23-2015] The French defense procurement agency, Direction générale de l’armement (DGA), part of the Defense Ministry, has selected a consortium formed by Thales Alenia Space (65 percent) and Airbus Defence and Space (35 percent) to build and deliver Comsat NG, the country’s new military satellite communications system. The Comsat NG contract covers the...

[Via Satellite 12-22-2015] The Japanese government has agreed to support the International Space Station (ISS) until 2024, extending the nation’s participation through the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module and future cargo missions with the Kounotori spacecraft. The U.S. and Japanese governments cemented the decision, which had been progressing throughout the year, through a new cooperation framework...

[Via Satellite 12-21-2015] The United States Air Force Space Command’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) has passed a major milestone for the new ground system for the Space-based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellites. For the first time, the new system, Block 10 Increment 2, simultaneously commanded the full missile-warning constellation of Defense Support Program (DSP)...

[Via Satellite 12-18-2015] Japan’s political shift to enable greater non-aggressive defense capabilities could further spur the country’s competencies in space, and tighten relations with the United States, experts believe. In a panel discussion hosted Dec. 10 by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, influencers in U.S. and Japanese space policy pointed out ways Japan’s new...

[Via Satellite 12-15-2015] Japan is enthusiastic that changes being implemented through its most recent “Basic Plan on Space Policy” are showing the first fruits of revitalizing and stabilizing the country’s space industry. Speaking Dec. 10 at a Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation event in Washington, D.C., Yoshinori Komiya, director general of Japan’s Office of National...

[Via Satellite 12-14-2015] U.K.-based Inmarsat and EM Solutions of Australia have teamed up to develop a maritime satcom terminal capable of linking with both Milsatcom and Global Xpress (GX) systems. The new terminal is scheduled to receive full Inmarsat accreditation during the second quarter of 2016, and will be submitted for Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) certification....