Government/Military

[Via Satellite 09-18-13] SES and KVH Industries have signed an expanded capacity agreement to provide connectivity to luxury, government and commercial ships across the Caribbean and beyond. The deal will benefit the U.S. Coast Guard and its mission-critical use of reliable mobile broadband throughout North America. KVH’s agreement with the government homeland defense agency represents...

[Via Satellite 09-13-13] Exelis has revealed a system to allow continued communications in a heavily jammed battlefield environment. The small, lightweight Integrated Protection and Transmission System (iProTxS) can be integrated with existing radios and electronic countermeasure (ECM) equipment on both mounted and dismounted platforms. The use of jamming on the battlefield by coalition forces has...

[Via Satellite 09-11-13] Governments and militaries in more than a dozen countries around the world have successfully trialed or are currently evaluating Inmarsat’s recently launched L-TAC service for communications-on-the-move. Militaries that have trialed the service have praised its voice quality, ease of use and speed of set-up. Inmarsat also announced that two of the world’s...

[Via Satellite 09-09-13] Raytheon is moving forward with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on the agency’s Persistent Close Air Support (PCAS) program, whose software could enable ground troops to receive close air support sooner by improving coordination among joint terminal attack controllers, airborne sensors and weapons. Originally designed for the A 10 Thunderbolt,...

[Via Satellite 09-09-13] Hughes Network Systems, a provider of broadband satellite solutions and services, has advanced in rotary wing Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLOS) SATCOM capabilities by successfully demonstrating data throughputs of up to 10 Mbps through rotor blades and over geostationary satellites to a remote HUB. The advanced Hughes communications-on-the-move (COTM) microsat system is capable of transmitting...

[Via Satellite 09-3-13] The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) recent loan of $105.4 million to Israeli satellite operator Spacecom is further evidence of the bank’s growing support for the aerospace industry in the United States. This loan will finance SpaceX’s launch of the Amos 6 communications satellite, the purchase of American made-solar...

[Via Satellite 08-30-13] A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta 4  Heavy rocket successfully placed a confidential payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Dubbed NROL 65, the mission is in support of national defense. The spacecraft was launched aboard a Delta 4 Heavy configuration Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), which featured a center common booster...

[Via Satellite 08-29-13] JIB antennas from Northrop Grumman‘s Astro Aerospace business unit will help provide a new maritime identification capability for Canada’s three Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM) Earth observation satellites, which are planned for launch in 2018. Astro Aerospace will provide 13 self-deploying, monopole JIB antennas as part of an Automated Identification System (AIS) being...

[Via Satellite 08-29-13] TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) signed a contract with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to provide managed satellite services, Ku satellite bandwidth, terrestrial support and 24-hour support services for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Tactical Satellite Communications Network. The initial funding on this award is $12.8 million for the base 12-month period that began...

[Via Satellite 08-27-13] Hughes Network Systems, a provider of broadband satellite solutions and services, has received the Federal Government Distance Learning Association’s (FGDLA) Pillar Award, given to an individual and organization not affiliated with the federal government, in recognition of outstanding service or significant contribution to the FGDLA. The awards were presented on August 15,...