Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 11-01-12] The second U.S. Air Force Space Command Space and Missile Systems Center’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications satellite successfully completed its on-orbit testing on Sept. 24, the USAF announced Nov. 1. The on-orbit testing consisted of a period of single-satellite testing followed by a period of crosslink testing between AEHF-1...

[Satellite TODAY 10-29-12] SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft returned from the International Space Station and has safely splashed down to Earth approximately 250 miles off the coast of southern California, the launch company announced Oct. 28.    The Dragon’s CRS-1 mission for NASA launched Oct. 7 on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force...

[Satellite TODAY 10-29-12] Amos satellite operator Spacecom has been awarded two contracts by DRS Technical Services – one for C-band capacity on Amos-5 and another for Ku-band satellite capacity on Amos-3, the operator announced Oct. 29.    The contracts are for the delivery of commercial satellite communications capabilities to the U.S. Department of Defense. Amos-3...

[Satellite TODAY 10-29-12] The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) has postponed its third attempt to launch a South Korean satellite into space due a glitch discovered in the rocket booster just five hours before the scheduled lift-off, several regional news outlets reported Oct. 26.    The booster in question was manufactured in Russia. KARI President...

With an investment of $3.5 billion, the U.S. Air Force is looking for a new upgrading contract for its Space Fence program.

[Satellite TODAY Insider 10-25-12] Operational improvements and capital deployment actions helped Raytheon increase its earnings-per-share 15 percent in its third fiscal quarter of 2012 compared to the same period last year, the company announced in its latest financial results issued Oct. 25.    Raytheon Chairman and CEO William Swanson said the company’s effort to make...

[Satellite TODAY 10-25-12] The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has exercised a $4 million, one-year option on its satellite imagery contract with Canadian essential information solutions provider MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), the company announced Oct. 25.    The option allows MDA to continue providing NGA with apparent changes in global land-cover. MDA said it...

[Satellite TODAY 10-25-12] Hughes Network Systems has partnered with managed network and application services provider ThinKom Solutions to demonstrate ultra-low profile antennas and a manpack for global communications-on-the-move (COTM) missions, the companies announced Oct. 25.    The ThinKom products include: the ThinSAT 300 ultra-low-profile Ku-band COTM antenna; the ThinPACK KKA100 manpack Ka-band antenna; and the...

South Korea will attempt to launch an experimental satellite aboard its KSLV-1 rocket for the third time Friday.

A new study from NASA has found that the Antarctic surface has been growing for the past 30 years.