Government/Military

[Via Satellite 10-24-2014] Raytheon has received a $131 million contract from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) Dual Frequency Operations (DFO) Segment 1. WAAS augments GPS data for use in providing more accurate navigation information for pilots, which use it for highly precise approaches requiring vertical guidance, along with...

[Via Satellite 10-24-2014] Northrop Grumman has received a $121 million award from NASA for the Joint Polar Satellite System 2 Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS). Under the sole source contract modification, Northrop Grumman will build the instrument using the same design employed on JPSS 1 and the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite. ATMS...

[Via Satellite 10-22-2014] Intelsat General has partnered with Braxton Technologies to study the use of commercial systems for Tracking, Telemetry and Command (TT&C) of government satellites for the U.S. Air Force. Currently, the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) uses 15 ground-based TT&C antennas located at seven different sites globally to operate government satellites. While...

[Via Satellite 10-22-2014] The U.S. Air Force has awarded a $6.4 million Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) to improve the flight path safety system currently in use by the military. MDA developed the system in 2004 to design flight paths for aircraft with ground-based navigation equipment. The update...

[Via Satellite 10-21-2014] The World Bank has reached out to the German Aerospace Center (DLR) to map Pakistan’s potential for solar energy. The agency will use 15 years of satellite imagery data, complemented by ground measurements to identify the optimum locations for solar power generation. DLR will lead a team effort with spin-off company CSP...

[Via Satellite 10-20-2014] The Qatari Armed Forces have selected Thales to supply a military satellite communications (satcom) system following a yearlong bid-process. The company will provide a Network Operations Center (NOC) and the systems needed for transmitting communications and processing data on the ground. Thales plans to use its System 21 technology for secure, high-data-rate...

[Via Satellite 10-20-2014] The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) has concluded a Detailed Design Review of KhalifaSat, the first satellite to be fully manufactured in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The KhalifaSat bus will resemble DubaiSat 2, but with room to support a more developed camera. “The technologies for KhalifaSat were enhanced...

[Via Satellite 10-17-2014] Oleg Ostapenko, the head of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, recently visited the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur region of Russia. During his visit he evaluated progress on the future spaceport’s technical complexes for rockets, the substation power supply system, and the industrial and construction base. Ostapenko also swung by the Tsiolkovsky...

[Via Satellite 10-16-2014] The United States Air Force is keen to use the $495 million Hosted Payloads Solutions (HoPS) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to begin consistently including hosted payloads in future architectures. Speaking on a panel at the Hosted Payload and SmallSat Summit yesterday, Lt. Col. Mark Brykowytch of Air Force Space and...

[Via Satellite 10-16-2014] The Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM), a collaborative demonstration project between NASA, the U.S. Air Force, Ball Aerospace and Aerojet Rocketdyne, will now carry three military hosted payloads. The Department of Defense (DOD) Space Experiments Review Board (SERB) chose payloads they anticipate have a strong chance of improving or creating new capabilities for...