Government/Military

[Via Satellite 10-05-2015] French space agency, the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have signed a revised cooperation agreement to promote and organize joint actions in the peaceful use of outer space. The agreement also enables exchanges of personnel with a view to forging closer ties between the agencies,...

[Via Satellite 10-01-2015] Lockheed Martin has approval to start building the U.S. Air Force’s Space Fence, having successfully completed a three-day Critical Design Review (CDR). Government officials reviewed Lockheed Martin’s S-band radar system design at the company’s Moorestown, NJ facility, deeming the project technically mature. “Completion of CDR marks the end of the design phase...

[Via Satellite 09-28-2015] AQYR Technologies received a $100 million Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) production contract to provide Global Broadcast Service (GBS) Rucksack Portable Receive Suites (AN/PRS-12) and Suitcase Portable Receive Suites (AN/PRS-11), spares, training, support, and engineering services to the U.S. Air Force and other branches of the military. This sole-source award is the result of a Small Business...

[Via Satellite 09-25-2015] SES Government Solutions (SES GS) will support the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) on the ground as well as in space. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems selected of SES GS to build two GEO Uplink Subsystem stations to support the next generation of the WAAS network. The uplink...

[Via Satellite 09-24-2015] TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) won a competitive five-year contract extension (a base plus five option periods), valued at approximately $68 million, to provide the U.S. Department of Defense‘s (DOD) personnel with curriculum development and training delivery services to support the government’s cybersecurity workforce development. TCS will leverage its Art of Exploitation (AoE) cybersecurity portfolio, which includes training...

[Via Satellite 09-23-2015] Asian governments will likely stand with the satellite industry in defending a “no change” stance toward the reallocation of C-band — such is the hopeful expectation of the Asia Pacific Satellite Communications Council (APSCC), a non-profit international association of public and private satellite entities. The pressing return of the World Radiocommunication Conference this...

[Via Satellite 09-22-2015] A third satellite deal with a U.S. manufacturer has fallen through after the lapse of Export-Import bank authorization. Orbital ATK Regional VP for Business Development and Global Communications Ted McFarland said Sept. 21 that the company had a contract underway with Azercosmos, the national satellite operator of Azerbaijan, but that the agreement...

[Via Satellite 09-21-2015] Military satellite communications needs are shifting toward a greater emphasis on mobility and on throughput, according to the latest research from NSR. The research firm projects that, despite a disputed spending environment, retail revenues from this sector will surpass $8 billion by 2024, accounting for more than 80 Gbps of High Throughput...

[Via Satellite 09-21-2015] Orbital ATK’s wholly owned subsidiary Alliant Techsystems Operations has received a Research and Technologies for Aerospace Propulsion Systems 2 (RTAPS2) contract from NASA to provide advanced space propulsion system technologies. Under the contract, an Orbital ATK team consisting of more than a dozen technology partners and small businesses will research and develop...

[Via Satellite 09-17-2015] A new joint company formed by Eclipse and NSSLGlobal, Aerosatcom, has been launched to address the needs of the government airborne satellite communications market. According to the company, the airborne satellite communications sector has recently received a great deal of focus in military and government markets. In recent years, the market for...