Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 04-30-12] Astrium U.K. has won a 300 million euro ($397.8 million) contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to build the Solar Orbiter satellite at its facilities in Stevenage, United Kingdom, Astrium confirmed April 27.    The Solar Orbiter satellite will travel closer to the Sun than any spacecraft to date after it...

[Satellite TODAY 04-30-12] Thales Alenia Space Deutschland has signed a contract with Thales Alenia Space France to develop and validate operations and provide payload data generators and a Satellite Simulator (SATSIM) for the Meteosat Third-Generation (MTG) weather satellites, the companies announced April 27.    The Thales Satellite Simulator (SATSIM) will serve as a designed a...

[Satellite TODAY 04-27-12] NASA and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station have approved a request from commercial launch provider SpaceX to set a May 7 target launch date for the upcoming Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) 2 mission, SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Grantham confirmed April 26.    SpaceX’s second demonstration launch for NASA’s COTS program was...

[Satellite TODAY 04-27-12] The first two Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) satellites launched by Arianespace in October 2011 are working perfectly and have commenced with full in-orbit operations, the satellites’ manufacturer Astrium confirmed April 26.    The satellites are the first two of four IOV satellites developed by Astrium for the Galileo system, which aims to...

[Satellite TODAY 04-27-12] Nitronex, an RF solutions developer for high-performance applications in the defense, communications, cable TV, industrial and scientific markets, has been awarded a Phase 1 SBIR contract from the U.S. government to develop a 20-Watt X-band GaN power amplifier that will be used in long-range RF telecommunications, the company announced April 26.  ...

[Satellite News 04-26-12] The United States’ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is hoping to take a lead role in the space sustainability conversation by hosting a June 26 conference at DARPA’s Arlington Conference Center. This will serve as an open dialogue within the international space community regarding on-orbit satellite servicing. The agency is adopting...

[Satellite TODAY 04-23-12] The first of 14 Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) navigation payloads has been shipped from U.K. manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) to prime contractor OHB System in Bremen, Germany, the European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed April 19.    The payload provides Galileo’s precision positioning measurements and services to users and is...

[Satellite TODAY 04-23-12] Northrop Grumman has donated $375,000 to build a science center and teaching lab at the Space Foundation’s Colorado Springs, Colo. world headquarters, the company announced April 20.    The facility, which will be named the Northrop Grumman Science Center, will include a “Science on a Sphere” laboratory and a teaching facility that...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 04-19-12] Raytheon’s Space Fence system, which aims to reduce the danger of space debris in orbit, recently completed a comprehensive Preliminary Design Review (PDR) that demonstrated its S-band radar’s ability to detect and track “space junk” objects, Raytheon announced April 18 at the National Space Symposium.             The PDR was held during...

[Satellite News 04-17-12] China has taken a significant launch market lead in 2011 by successfully lofting 19 rockets into orbit by the end of the year – one more than the United States, which launched 18 missions in 2011, according to an April 17 report from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the nonprofit...