Government/Military

[Via Satellite 12-18-13] The latest version of Geoforce’s GT1 satellite GPS tracking device has received IECEx/ATEX Zone 0 certification — making it the world’s first satellite tracking device with that rating. The Zone 0 classification means that the GT1 can operate safely for unlimited periods of time in extremely hazardous environments like those found in...

[Via Satellite 12-17-13] Xtar has been awarded a $5.6 million contract renewal from L-3 Communication Systems-West to provide X-band satellite connectivity to the U.S. Army for manned Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (AISR) mission support. “Even as the U.S. military proceeds to withdraw from areas of major conflict, the appetite for satellite bandwidth is on...

[Via Satellite 12-17-13] South Korea’s Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning has released Kompsat 5 images acquired for the purpose of calibration. During the early operation and calibration phase, all the functionalities of satellite have been verified and now it is under calibration of payload system. The released images were acquired for the verification...

[Via Satellite 12-16-13] The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin more than $200 million in contract options to complete production of its fifth and sixth next-generation Global Positioning System satellites, known as GPS 3. In February, the Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a fixed price $120 million contract to procure long lead parts for...

[Via Satellite 12-16-13] Astrium and Arianespace have signed a contract worth more than $2.75 billion for the supply of 18 additional Ariane 5 ECA launchers. The contract follows on from the framework agreement signed with Arianespace on Sept. 17, 2013, which enabled Astrium and its industrial partners to begin work on manufacturing the additional launchers....

[Via Satellite 12-16-13] Arianespace and Visiona Tecnologia Espacial have signed a launch contract for the next Brazilian government satellite, the Geostationary Defense and Strategic Communications Satellite (SGDC). The satellite will be launched in 2016 using an Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. Visiona Tecnologia Espacial is a joint venture...

[Via Satellite 12-12-13] Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract with Visiona (a joint venture between Embraer and Telebras) for the Geostationary Defense and Strategic Communications Satellite (SGDC) program. This contract is key to space development plans by the Brazilian Space Agency, and to meeting the Ministry of Defense‘s strategic requirements. It satisfies two primary...

[Via Satellite 12-13-13] Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has been selected as the contractor to supply the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) with the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite 2 (GOSAT 2) satellite system, which is slated to launch in 2017. Mitsubishi Electric expects to be formally authorized to proceed with the development in April, after completing an...

[Via Satellite 12-13-13] Signalhorn received the necessary final approval from the Polish government required to proceed with its long-term agreement with Wojskowe Zakłady Łączności, a government-owned entity. After more than two decades of producing advanced military command and control field operation communication units for the Polish Ministry of Defense, Signalhorn and WZL will now be...

[Via Satellite 12-12-13] ATK has successfully completed the last major technical milestone in its contract from the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center Defense Weather Systems Directorate. The company worked on a yearlong study of network-centric small satellites as an element of future weather satellite systems for a possible next generation operation system....