Government/Military

[Satellite News 07-03-12] Technology manufacturer ITT Exelis has completed its acquisition of Space Computer, a privately owned signal processing systems, software and algorithms developer, in an effort to strengthen its presence in military and intelligence sectors, the companies confirmed July 3.     Space Computer was founded in 1987 and has built a contract portfolio that...

[Satellite TODAY 07-02-12] Nonprofit organization B612 has contracted Ball Aerospace to build the first privately funded deep space telescope that will be launched into orbit around the sun to map the asteroids flying through the inner solar system, Ball Aerospace announced June 29.    The Sentinel infrared telescope will be designed and built by Ball...

[Satellite TODAY 07-02-12] United Launch Alliance (ULA) has successfully placed another U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellite into orbit on a Delta 4-Heavy rocket, the company confirmed June 29.    The unmanned rocket lifted from Cape Canaveral, Fla., after the mission was delayed for a day because of weather conditions caused by Tropical Storm Debby...

[Satellite TODAY 07-02-12] Hughes Network Systems has received Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 Security Level 1 validation for its Spaceway Crypto Kernel (HSCK) from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Hughes announced June 29.    The validation is a cryptographic hardware and software accreditation. The HSCK is a common cryptographic engine employed...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 06-29-12] The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) program is at risk of running over its projected cost and schedule estimates, according to a report published June 28 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-R program aims to replace aging weather satellites with four...

[Satellite TODAY 06-29-12] GeoEye has received a $111 million EnhancedView cost-share payment from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), GeoEye announced June 28 – just days after learning the NGA’s plans to cease funding its program contract.    GeoEye successfully passed a milestone in their GeoEye-2 satellite’s development in early June that triggered the cost-share payment....

[Satellite TODAY 06-29-12] Com Dev has received a follow-on contract from Boeing Satellite Systems to supply filters, switches and ferrite components for use in NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) program, Com Dev announced June 28.    The TDRS System is a constellation of satellites that aim to provide high bandwidth communications services for...

[Satellite TODAY 06-27-12] President Barack Obama has authorized the U.S. Export-Import Bank to extend a $125.9 million loan to Vietnam’s state-owned company Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) to buy a U.S.-made telecommunications and television satellite, the White House announced June 26.    U.S. Export-Import Bank officials said the approval was needed because Vietnam is...

[Satellite News 06-27-12] The 49 commercial satellite production programs and 419 individual communications satellites produced between 2012 and 2022 will be worth a combined $52.7 billion, according to a Forecast International study published June 27.    The firm’s “Market for Commercial Communications Satellites” study included surveys of high-speed broadband Internet, digital television and video broadcasting,...

[Satellite TODAY 06-26-12] Canadian space and satellite company MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) has been contracted by Israel Aerospace Industries to supply a communications payload solution for the Amos-6 satellite, MDA announced June 25.    The contract is valued at more than $90 million and scheduled for finalization by the end of July. MDA said...