Government/Military

[Via Satellite 12-06-13] Building on a previous sale, Comtech Telecommunications Corp.’s Florida-based subsidiary, Comtech Systems, received a $6.3 million add-on contract from a domestic prime contractor. The purpose of the add-on is to furnish additional equipment in connection with the next phase of a telecommunications system for use in a North African government’s communications network....

[Via Satellite 12-05-13] Ball Aerospace has completed the primary bus structure of the first satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS 1). JPSS 1 is the follow-on in a series of next generation satellites and is scheduled for launch in early 2017. Procured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through the National...

[Via Satellite 12-05-13] In an effort to optimize Alaskan air control operations, Harris CapRock Communications has been awarded a 10-year, $46 million contract from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to continue providing satellite services for the Alaskan Satellite Telecommunications Infrastructure (ASTI). The contract includes a two-year base period, with eight one-year options. Harris CapRock...

[Via Satellite 12-04-13] A new era for MSS operator Inmarsat will officially begin this week when its first Global Xpress Satellite will likely launch this Sunday. Inmarsat and ILS confirmed the launch date on Dec. 2. The operator has been busy ahead of the launch of Global Xpress (GX), its new constellation of satellites. In...

[Via Satellite 12-04-13] Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract with the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) for the ground segment of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) program. Thales Alenia Space will lead a consortium of industrial partners to build the Instrument Data Processing Facility (IDPF), giving the company a driving...

[Via Satellite 12-2-13] After completing a battery of tests, ESA’s newest Galileo satellite was removed from the Phenix chamber at the ESA’s ESTEC test center in the Netherlands. The thermal vacuum testing was used to assure that Galileo’s two dissimilar atomic clocks, which are accurate to a few billionths of a second, will still work...

[Via Satellite 12-2-13] Visiona Tecnologia Espacial and Telebras formally signed a contract to supply the Defense and Strategic Communications Geostationary Satellite (SGDC) system to the Brazilian government. The $553.4 million contract provides for the satellite system to be delivered by the end of 2016. The project involves the Ministries of Communications, Defense and Science and...

[Via Satellite 11-27-13] U.S. budget and government spending difficulties are nothing new in recent years. With significant drawbacks in spending occurring in 2013, many government suppliers saw revenue streams run thin or dry up altogether. Boeing, however, is still planning to sell capacity in the government market. After working extensively with Inmarsat on the Global...

[Via Satellite 11-27-13] Following the success of the propulsion system built for NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), Space Systems/Loral (SSL) was awarded the next phase of hosted payload accommodation development for the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), which recently completed the important Preliminary Design Review (PDR) process. The LADEE spacecraft depended on the...

[Via Satellite 11-26-13] Boeing’s Defense Space & Security division’s Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals (FAB-T) development program has completed the functional qualification-testing phase for the protected wideband satellite communications system. FAB-T will be used in the command and control of U.S. nuclear forces. Boeing’s tests verified operational capabilities required for the ground and airborne...