Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 10-01-12] The Chinese state-run Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center has sent a second satellite built for the Venezuelan government into orbit on a Long March rocket, China’s Xinhua News Agency reported Sept. 30.    The Venezuelan spacecraft VRSS-1 is a remote sensing satellite that aims to provide images for tasks such as mapping croplands,...

[Satellite TODAY 10-01-12] The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration temporarily substituted the non-functional (NOAA) GOES-13 weather satellite with the backup GOES-14 satellite as engineers work to fix the satellite’s issues, NOAA announced Oct. 1.    GOES-13 has waited in a fixed orbit over the eastern United States since the satellite went out of service...

[Satellite News 10-01-12] Attendees at the Hosted Payload Summit in Washington last week were given a detailed look at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) efforts to extract valuable components from $300 billion in retired, non-operating GEO satellites for use in new hosted payload space systems, as well as panel sessions discussing how hosted...

[Satellite News 09-28-12] New hosted payload activities, initiatives and milestones by the Hosted Payload Alliance and the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Command (SMC) center took center stage at the second annual Hosted Payload Summit in Washington, D.C.    Hosted Payload Alliance Chairman Don Thoma opened the one-day event by announced a new initiative...

[Satellite TODAY 09-28-12] TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) has received a combined $5.5 million in satellite systems delivery orders from the U.S. Army, the company announced Sept. 28.    The combined orders were for equipment, field services support and maintenance of Secret Internet Protocol Router and Non-secure Internet Protocol Router Access Point (SNAP) Very Small Aperture Terminal...

   TeleCommunication Systems (TCS), Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin have entered into a partnership to produce low-cost satellite terminals for protected fixed communications and communications-on-the move, the companies confirmed Sept. 26.    The three partners will operate under a collaborative agreement signed earlier this year for TCS to manufacture, market and sell Low Cost Terminal (LCT)...

[Satellite TODAY 09-26-12] Semiconductor-based components and subsystems provider Emcore has been awarded a solar panel manufacturing contract by Orbital Sciences for NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) mission targeted for launch in early 2016, Emcore confirmed Sept. 26.    Solar panels populated with Emcore’s ZTJ triple-junction solar cells will power the Orbital Sciences-built...

[Satellite TODAY 09-26-12] Canadian space hardware subsystems provider Com Dev International has been awarded a contract valued in excess of $4 million to provide satellite equipment for an unnamed U.S. military customer, the company announced Sept. 26.    Com Dev will provide switch and multiplexer equipment operating in multiple commercial and military satcom frequency bands....

[Satellite TODAY 09-25-12] The commercial industry will supply 68 percent more satellite capacity to government and military users over the next decade despite near term uncertainty driven by troop withdrawals and budgetary challenges, according to an NSR research report issued Sept. 25.    Government and military budget reductions will impact some markets more than others,...

[Satellite TODAY 09-25-12] Lockheed Martin has delivered the propulsion core module for the first U.S. Air Force Global Positioning System 2 spacecraft to the company’s GPS Processing Facility (GPF) in Denver, the company confirmed Sept. 25.    The propulsion core includes the integrated propulsion system and serves as the structural backbone of the satellite. The...