Government/Military

[Via Satellite 03-13-2015] Lockheed Martin has revealed its proposed cargo resupply solution for NASA’s Commercial Resupply Service 2 (CRS-2) contract. The solution uses a reusable space-servicing vehicle dubbed Jupiter based on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) science satellite currently in orbit around Mars, and a cargo carrier coined Exoliner, derived from the European...

[Via Satellite 03-13-2015] France’s Direction Générale de L’Armement (DGA) has selected Thales and Airbus Defence and Space to work together as co-prime contractors for a trio of military satellites. The companies were awarded to build the Capacité de Renseignement Electromagnétique Spatiale (CERES) or Space Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) capacity, which will use three satellites in close...

[Via Satellite 03-12-2015] The United States Air Force sees now as the opportune time to pursue more creative paths with future satellite designs. David Madden, director of the Military Satellite Communications Systems Directorate at the Air Force Space Command (USAF) Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) said that the current momentum the U.S. has with satellites...

[Via Satellite 03-11-2015] The United States Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) performs the critical work of establishing and managing commercial satellite communications (comsatcom) contracts for the Department of Defense (DOD). With an eye to the future, the agency is already planning what comes next after the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) system draws to a conclusion...

[Via Satellite 03-10-2015] Inmarsat Government has announced a new agreement to make Honeywell the service provider to the U.S. government aeronautical market for the Global Xpress constellation network. Under the new agreement, Honeywell will provide the terminal hardware enabling aircraft connectivity to Inmarsat’s Global Xpress constellation network. Inmarsat’s new agreement with Honeywell expands the aerospace...

[Via Satellite 03-09-2015] Boeing announced an equity stake in Softbank Satellite Planning Corp., a division of the Tokyo-based Softbank Group, to help create concepts for a national satellite-based disaster response communications system. Softbank plans to evaluate concepts from Boeing and propose them to Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. “As we’ve seen with hurricanes,...

[Via Satellite 03-06-2015] Publishing the outcome of a 3-month spaceport consultation with a range of interested parties, the U.K. government confirmed widespread support for its plans. This paves the way toward making commercial spaceflight operations in the U.K. a reality. The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had shortlisted a number of possible locations for the...

[Via Satellite 03-04-2015] Inmarsat Government announced that its new L-band Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (LAISR) service has completed successful customer airborne testing and will be available for U.S. government customers by June. This new LAISR service will meet the high-speed, Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) connectivity requirements of Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (AISR)...

[Via Satellite 03-02-2015] The United States Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) completed a three-day test of the Increment 2 ground system for the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS). SMC and the 460 Space Wing, operator of the SBIRS missile warning satellites demonstrated transmit and receive to and from each of the satellites individually....

[Via Satellite 02-27-2015] DigitalGlobe signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) to collaborate on applications of Earth observation (EO) technologies for economic, social, and scientific benefits, with an emphasis on developing countries. Together DigitalGlobe and UNOOSA plan to create an online platform that streamlines access to...