Government/Military

Scientists monitoring Asteroid 2012 DA14, which will pass closer to Earth on Friday than any other known object of its size, have ruled out it could pose any threat to orbiting satellites.

[Satellite TODAY 02-12-13] Newtec has signed a Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) with the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) to streamline the process for acquisition of Newtec satellite equipment and ensure NATO countries have accelerated access to Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) hardware, software and services.    Newtec’s satellite communications equipment offers solutions for intelligence...

[Satellite TODAY 02-12-13] The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has awarded TrustComm a contract and inclusion on its IT Schedule 70, the federal government’s largest and most widely used acquisition vehicle. The award enables the federal government to purchase COMSATCOM solutions directly from TrustComm.    Under Special Item Numbers (SINs) created by the GSA and...

[Satellite TODAY 02-12-13] MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) has signed a $4.3 million contract with OGSystems (OGS) to develop a prototype surveillance solution for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Army Geospatial Center (AGC).    Under the contract, MDA will develop a mobile ground station small enough to be quickly deployed anywhere around the world...

[Satellite TODAY 02-11-13] ViaSat has won a follow-on contract with the United States Marine Corps Systems Command to continue engineering advanced information security for commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) mobile devices.    The move will allow users to communicate securely over 3G/4G/LTE cellular and Wi-Fi networks using regular smartphones and tablets. Additionally, it will be safe to...

The United Kingdom is getting ready to launch the world's first satellite run entirely using a mobile phone.

[Satellite TODAY 02-07-13] Commercial X-band operator XTAR has announced it is planning to expand its reach into international markets beyond Western Europe. The company has retained Mercury Swift Solutions as an Authorized XTAR Representative in the United Kingdom to help expand its business by serving allied military forces, specifically in Africa and Asia where the...

[Satellite TODAY 02-07-13] The Satellite Design Lab at the University of Texas has been awarded the first place in the national University Nanosatellite Program competition. Ten universities across the United States participated by designing a building a satellite no bigger than a load of bread over a two-year period.    A team of UT’s graduate...

[Satellite TODAY 02-07-13] Lockheed Martin has announced a milestone in the development of flight software for the United States Air Force‘s Global Position System 3 satellites. The flight software is critical to control the spacecraft in orbit and monitoring satellite’s subsystems.    The Software Item Qualification Testing for the satellite’s spacecraft bus flight software was...

[Satellite TODAY 02-06-13] The Sicilian regional government in Italy has announced its decision to revoke permission for the United States to build a ground station for a satellite defense system due to health concerns.    Despite U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s declarations, the Sicilian government said they don’t have sufficient studies that assure the safety...