Government/Military

[Via Satellite 12-31-13] United Arab Emirates (UAE) prime minister and VP Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced that the UAE will launch its first locally-constructed satellite in 2017. The country’s two existing Earth observation satellites DubaiSat 1 and DubaiSat 2 were both built in Seoul, South Korea, in a partnership with Satrec; they are...

[Via Satellite 12-31-13] China has put into service its high-definition Earth observation (EO) satellite Gaofen 1. The satellite was launched on April 26, 2013 using a Long March 2D rocket. Since launching, the satellite operators have tested its systems, including covering natural disasters and monitoring pollution. China’s Land and Resources, Environmental Protection and Agriculture Ministries...

[Via Satellite 12-30-13] On Friday Dec. 27, 2013, United States President Obama signed into law the FY2014 National Defense Authorization Act, which has broad implications for the space industry. One salient impact comes from Section 913, which now requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to provide briefings to congress on strategies for multi-year procurements of...

[Via Satellite 12-30-13] The U.K.’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is investing approximately $7.6 million in a space weather forecasting system to protect technology from severe solar activity. Strong solar flares, space storms and solar wind can disrupt satellites, GPS, power grids and radio communications. BIS expects to have reliable space weather forecasts...

[Via Satellite 12-27-13] NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have selected a launch window on Thursday Feb. 27, 2014 from 1:07 p.m. to 3:07 p.m. EST (3:07 a.m. to 5:07 a.m. JST Friday, Feb. 28, 2014) for a Japanese H 2A rocket carrying the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory satellite from JAXA’s...

[Via Satellite 12-26-13] As satellite industry leaders concentrate more of their resources on capturing market share in different economies, a potential stumbling block in their efforts could stem from no wrongdoing of their own. Government interests in satellite, along with government needs, make it a very influential actor in the market. With fiber and satellite...

[Via Satellite 12-23-13] Australia’s Joint Project 2089Ph2A Tactical Information Exchange (TIE), has selected ViaSat to provide the Small Tactical Terminal (STT) KOR 24 for installation in its tactical data link (TDL) Network Monitoring and Management Systems. TIE systems, including TDL, are a key enabler for ensuring that tactical information is created, processed and shared among warfighters....

[Via Satellite 12-20-13] Exelis is supporting Japan’s weather forecasting capabilities with the delivery of its first advanced weather satellite payload to Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. The AHI is an Advanced Baseline Imager-class sensor similar to the one that will be integrated onto the NASA and NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R (GOES R) Series. “AHI provides...

[Via Satellite 12-19-13] ViaSat has successfully demonstrated full-mesh multi spot beam (fan in/fan out) operations over the government-owned WGS 1 satellite with LinkWayS2 equipped Earth terminals configured with the WIN-T software baseline. This demonstration was a collaboration between the U.S. Army and ViaSat aimed at improving the efficiency of multi spot beam operations over the...

[Via Satellite 12-18-13] A Lockheed Martin team has completed the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) instrument that will make crucial solar measurements when it flies on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‘s (NOAA) next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) satellite missions, known as the GOES R series. The team is on track for instrument delivery in...