Government/Military

[Via Satellite 10-15-2014] Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), manufacturer of Orbcomm’s Second Generation (OG2) satellites, has received a contract to build the STPSat 5 demonstration satellite for the United States military. NASA’s Ames Research Center awarded the contract. The satellite is part of the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) Space Test Program (STP), and will carry four scientific...

[Via Satellite 10-14-2014] The seventh Global Positioning System (GPS) 2F satellite has completed in orbit checkout and control has been transferred to the United States Air Force, according to Boeing. Both the Air Force and Boeing conducted the initial activation and system checkout following the Aug. 1 launch. Boeing transferred control of the satellite on...

[Via Satellite 10-14-2014] Raytheon has released its most enhanced anti-jamming capability for Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. Named Landshield, the new system simultaneously provides anti-jam capability for the L1 and L2 GPS frequencies. Landshield includes an integrated antenna array based on a proven Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). Raytheon intends to deliver systems to the...

[Via Satellite 10-13-2014] Exelis has received a task order from the U.S. Army Contracting Command for a limited quantity of SideHat Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) applique radios based on an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) award received in April this year. The Army hopes to obtain the required material release for SRW applique fielding based...

[Via Satellite 10-13-2014] NASA is seeking ways to complement a conceptual mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa with small satellites that could fly with a primary spacecraft as auxiliary payloads. The agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has selected 10 U.S. academic institutions to draft potential CubeSats that would support a possible future mission known as Europa...

[Via Satellite 10-10-2014] General Dynamics C4 Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, recently completed a four-day satellite communications (satcom) demonstration using AN/PRC-155 radios over the United States Navy’s Mobile User Objective System (MUOS). During the test, MUOS-enabled radios provided secure voice and data communications, as well as in-flight position and location data, from a...

[Via Satellite 10-10-2014] The United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) regarding “hardware/software payloads and potentially novel platform components” for a joint UKSA-Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) 3U Nano-Satellite: Alsat 1N. The agency intends to release a full announcement of opportunity in December, and the satellite is expected to launch in...

[Via Satellite 10-08-2014] Inmarsat and TECOM, designer and manufacturer of antenna systems, have established a Memorandum of Arrangement (MOA) to manufacture Global Xpress aviation terminals for the government market. TECOM’s initial offering for the government aviation market is the recently developed Ka-5000 SATCOM antenna system. This terminal will allow government aeronautical customers access to the...

[Via Satellite 10-07-2014] As Intelsat prepares for EpicNG, its next generation High Throughput Satellites (HTS), a key focus will be on gaining strength in the military market. This sector has presented a challenge to Intelsat recently, as sequestration and contract consolidation led to reduced government spending. With the first EpicNG satellite, IS-29e, slated to launch...

[Via Satellite 10-07-2014] Inmarsat, in partnership with its Value Added Resellers, has started providing wideband communications capability to U.S. government customers through its Global Xpress service carried over the first Inmarsat 5 satellite. Using 72 fixed beams in commercial Ka-band, along with military Ka-band capacity available on its high-capacity steerable beams, Global Xpress is now...