Government/Military

[Via Satellite 12-09-2015] Earlier this fall, Raytheon reached the final marker, Milestone C, for the Family of Advanced Beyond Line of Sight Terminal (FAB-T) program, paving the way for Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP). The terminals, designed for the United States President, senior military advisors, and combatant commanders to have sustained communications in extreme conditions,...

[Via Satellite 12-10-2015] The French Space Agency CNES and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat) have signed a cooperation agreement for the development of a new generation of Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometers (IASI-NG) to be flown on three successive Metop SG A satellites of the EUMETSAT Polar System of Second Generation...

[Via Satellite 12-09-2015] Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has successfully completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) of its STPSat 5 satellite for the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) Space Test Program (STP), confirming that the satellite will meet mission requirements and is sufficiently mature to begin fabrication. Administered by NASA’s Ames Research Center for the DOD...

[Via Satellite 12-07-2015] The United States government has restored the Export Import Bank of America (Ex-Im Bank) with the recent passage of the “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act,” which President Obama signed on Dec. 4. The legislation, focused primarily on transportation infrastructure such as roads, bridges and railways, also included Ex-Im Bank’s authorization, but...

[Via Satellite 12-03-2015] The fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite finished on-orbit testing on Nov. 30, and has been accepted by the U.S. Navy. Launched Sept. 2, MUOS 4 is the latest addition to a network of orbiting satellites and relay ground stations designed to modernize secure communications for mobile military forces. Once fully...

[Via Satellite 12-01-2015] Outcomes from the International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU) 2015 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-15) turned out to be more favorable than many feared leading up to the event, which took place in Geneva, Switzerland from Nov. 2 to Nov 27. The four-week conference, attended by roughly 3,300 participants and 162 of the ITU’s 193...

[Via Satellite 12-01-2015] The Australia Defence Force (ADF) and the United States military partnered with Hughes Network Systems’ Defense and Intelligence Systems Division (DISD) at Talisman Sabre 2015 to test the company’s advanced Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) waveform technology. The Australian Defence Force used the Hughes HX System with advanced waveform technology during the...

[Via Satellite 11-30-2015] SES and Commission Electorale Nationale Independante (CENI), the official electoral body of Burkina Faso, partnered to enable secure digital transmission of the results of the Nov. 29 Burkinabe Presidential Election from 368 locations across the country. Electoral district offices across Burkina Faso connected to the central CENI office in the capital Ouagadougou,...

[Via Satellite 11-24-2015] NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., is working on a concept for a network of space-based sensors called FireSat in collaboration with Quadra Pi R2E, form San Francisco, Calif. FireSat would be a constellation of more than 200 thermal infrared imaging sensors on satellites designed to quickly locate wildfires around...

[Via Satellite 11-24-2015] The Satellite Applications Catapult has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with JAMSS America Inc. (JAI) to create a framework of activities between the two organizations. Under the terms of the MOU, Catapult and JAI will cooperate to stimulate further commercialization of their respective space applications technologies and facilities. The agreement will...