Government/Military

[Via Satellite 01-09-2015] CNES, the French space agency, and CEA, the French atomic energy and alternative energies commission, have signed a new framework research agreement to step up cooperation between the two agencies in science and technology. Under the new agreement, priority fields of research concern astrophysics, climate and environmental sciences, fluid physics, radiobiology and...

[Via Satellite 01-08-2015] To support the international response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa, the U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) has releases a series of Image City Map products created with satellite imagery and human geography data sets from DigitalGlobe. Through NGA’s EnhancedView program, military and civilian health workers, international partner nations and...

[Via Satellite 01-07-2015] As the 2015 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-15) draws nearer, the satellite industry is preparing again to defend its use of C-band spectrum. The International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) industry, which pushed for access to the lower portion of C band at WRC in 2007, has upped its demands for the entirety from 3.4...

[Via Satellite 01-07-2015] Versar’s joint venture with Johnson Controls Federal Systems has received a $6.1 million award to repair electrical, water transmission and compressed air systems at Kaena Point Satellite Tracking Station in Hawaii and Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas. The Design/Build/Repair task orders came through the Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization (S/R&M) Acquisition Task Order...

[Via Satellite 01-06-2015] Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has recently received several new modifications and an option exercise under an existing contract from the U.S. Air Force, totaling approximately $41.5 million in value. Work under these new awards will be performed over the next 36 months. Kratos products and services have supported more than 85...

[Via Satellite 01-06-2014] The French Space Agency CNES has selected Thales Alenia Space to build the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a joint demonstration mission between CNES and NASA. Thales Alenia Space is creating a new platform for the satellite that enables a controlled atmospheric reentry at the end of the spacecraft’s life,...

[Via Satellite 01-05-2015] The Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning announced that the nation’s satellite avoided collision with a space object, reversing its previous expectations from Saturday, according to Korea Times. Korea Times reported that the Korean science ministry said earlier on Saturday that the space object, part of the debris created during a...

[Via Satellite 01-05-2015] To enable NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission to meet its accuracy needs while covering the globe every three days or less, SMAP engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. designed and built the largest rotating antenna that could be stowed into a space of only 1 foot by 4...

[Via Satellite 01-05-2015] NASA has awarded Exelis a $3.5 million contract that supports research to improve understanding of climate change by tracking how weather systems transport carbon dioxide, methane and other gases in the atmosphere. As part of the Atmospheric Carbon and Transport-America project, Exelis will modify its Multi-Functional Fiber Laser LIDAR (MFLL) for integration into...

[Via Satellite 12-31-2014] Exelis has received an order worth $30 million from a long term international customer for RT-1702 Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) radios. The order includes technological upgrades made to the SINCGARS radios, of which Exelis has sold more than 600,000 worldwide. The fifth-generation SINCGARS is half the size of...