Government/Military

[Via Satellite 12-09-2014] Tom Stroup, former CEO of Shared Spectrum Company (SSC), has been selected as the Satellite Industry Association’s (SIA’s) new president, effective Dec. 15. Stroup fills the void left by Patricia Cooper, who joined Intelsat this summer as VP of government affairs and policy. Prior to SSC, Stroup served as president of the...

[Via Satellite 12-09-2014] Northrop Grumman has delivered the payload for the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) 4 satellite, approximately four and a half weeks ahead of schedule, to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The companies are using a hybrid satellite integration and test approach developed by Lockheed Martin and the United States Air Force Space and...

[Via Satellite 12-05-2014] The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has unconditionally cleared ATK’s Aerospace and Defense Group to merge with Orbital Sciences. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and DOJ also terminated the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period. Orbital Sciences and ATK announced plans to merge in April 2014 to create Orbital ATK. Once complete, ATK’s...

[Via Satellite 12-05-2014] XTAR, a commercial X-band satellite operator, is providing an X-band space segment for NASA’s Ka-band Objects: Observation and Monitoring (KaBOOM) project. KaBOOM is a high-power Ka-band radar system under development to track and characterize Near Earth Objects — primarily asteroids, but also orbital debris around the planet. The X-band capacity XTAR is...

[Via Satellite 12-04-2014] Communications and Power Industries (CPI) Radant Technologies Division has received a $6 million follow-on order for radomes and reflectors designed for shipboard satellite communications. The radomes are for a military satcom program for which CPI Radant Technologies has received more than $45 million in orders. CPI’s military customer is using the radomes...

[Via Satellite 12-02-2014] Lockheed Martin has finished thermal vacuum testing on the United States Navy’s fourth Mobile User Objective System satellite (MUOS 4). The next step is Final Integrated System Testing, ahead of launch in the second half of 2015. Once MUOS 4 is in orbit, the constellation will reach operational status providing global coverage...

[Via Satellite 11-26-2014] The United States Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded a cost-plus-award-fee modification worth nearly $41 million to Lockheed Martin Space Systems for a previously awarded contract. The modification provides additional funding for logistics and sustainment support of the Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) and Milstar Military Satellite Communications Systems. The U.S. Air...

[Via Satellite 11-25-2014] Northrop Grumman has provided the AstroMesh reflector to Vandenberg Air Force Base for NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite. The device, which has a 19-foot aperture when deployed, will provide a conically scanning antenna beam covering a swath of 621 miles to map the planet every two to three days. Northrop...

[Via Satellite 11-25-2014] The United States Air Force has awarded Airbus Defence and Space with a system evolution and maintenance contract for its five Eagle Vision ground stations. Eagle Vision is a lightweight deployable, commercial satellite imagery downlink ground system. Under the contract, Airbus Defence and Space will provide 24/7 support, spares management, preventative maintenance,...

[Via Satellite 11-25-2014] NASA has opened the registration process for its Cube Quest challenge, a CubeSat competition focused on developing space exploration technology. Competitors will vie for a piece of the $5 million prize along with a chance at launching their CubeSat to the Moon and beyond as a secondary payload on the first integrated...