Government/Military

[Via Satellite 11-04-2015] iDirect has signed a framework agreement with the Danish Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO), a specialized procurement center and logistics authority, to deliver hardware, software, and services to the Danish Armed Forces. In order to carry out a wide range of missions, the Danish Armed Forces require a communication system that can...

[Via Satellite 11-02-2015] United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully launched the U.S. Air Force’s Global Positioning System (GPS) 2F 11 satellite Oct. 31 aboard an Atlas 5 rocket. The satellite is the 11th of 12 Boeing-built GPS 2F satellites, which provide improved signals for military and civil applications. The Air Force’s GPS constellation is comprised of...

[Via Satellite 11-02-2015] The International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU) 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) kicked off today in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference, which the telecommunications industry has been preparing for, takes place from Nov. 2 to 27, and will review and revise the international regulatory framework for radio communications. More than 3,000 participants, representing more than 160...

[Via Satellite 10-30-2015] Astro Aerospace, a Northrop Grumman company, has received a contract from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to design and manufacture the radar antenna for its NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite. A joint project between the United States and India, NISAR will be the first radar imaging satellite to use dual L-band and...

[Via Satellite 10-28-2015] NASA has selected the Chair and Professor of Ohio State’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Joel Johnson to lead an agency program to help mitigate the impact of manmade Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). The agency awarded the university $5.6 million for the CubeSat Radiometer RFI Technology Validation (CubeRRT) mission, which aims...

[Via Satellite 10-23-2015] TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) has received $5 million in incremental funding from the U.S. Army for sustainment of the AN/TSC-198A SNAP (Secret Internet Protocol Router (SIPR) and Non-classified Internet Protocol Router (NIPR) Access Point) Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs). Ruggedized and designed for transport, the TCS SNAP VSATs provide secure communications for voice, video and data. Combined with the...

[Via Satellite 10-19-2015] Leadership forming the U.S. First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) is encouraging satellite companies to step up and play a role in building the nationwide public safety network. Representatives from FirstNet said Oct. 2 in a conference call with media that in order for the network to provide ubiquitous coverage throughout the country,...

[Via Satellite 10-16-2015] Orbital ATK has delivered the service module for its Cygnus spacecraft to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the next International Space Station (ISS) cargo mission, scheduled to launch on Thursday, Dec. 3. The Cygnus spacecraft will be assembled at Kennedy and launched aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket in...

[Via Satellite 10-16-2015] A U.S. military contractor has awarded Norsat International a $2.7million contract for its Ku-band and Wideband Global Satcom (WGS)-certified X-band marine VSAT terminals. Under the agreement, Norsat will supply its MarineLink COM12 1.2m and MarineLink COM15X 1.5m dual antenna maritime VSAT terminals for seafaring vessels, including naval ships. Additionally, Norsat’s proprietary Low...

[Via Satellite 10-15-2015] NASA has awarded contracts to Firefly Space Systems, Rocket Lab and Virgin Galactic to provide Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) for CubeSat missions to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The awards will fund demonstration missions with dedicated SmallSat launch vehicles from each company, with a deadline of conducting the launch by April 2018....