Government/Military

United Launch Alliance (ULA) has been awarded a $1.5 billion firm, fixed-price contract to launch nine rocket missions for the U.S. Air Force through June 2014, the Pentagon announced Jan. 12.    According to the terms of the contract posted on the Pentagon’s website, the Air Force procured five Atlas 5 launches and four Delta 4 launches from...

Encompass Government Solutions has been awarded a Schedule 70 contract for information technology services from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Encompass confirmed Jan. 11.    Encompass currently offers a range of mission-critical managed services including fiber solutions, space segment, full-time and occasional-use transmission services and IP voice, video and data to government agencies.    Under the...

A.I. Solutions has signed a five-year contract to provide program management and engineering services in support of NASA, U.S. Department of Defenseand other government and commercial spacecraft launch activities.    The company confirmed Jan. 11 that the deal holds a potential value of $138 million.    A.I. Solutions will work on the Expendable Launch Vehicle Integrated Support...

Thales Group expects their acquisition of privately held RF and microwave developer Tampa Microwave to close in early 2012 following regulatory approvals, the company confirmed Jan. 3.    Thales initially signed the agreement to acquire Tampa Microwave for an undisclosed amount in early December.    Tampa Microwave will operate as a subsidiary of Thales Communications – a U.S.-based...

Commercial-off-the-shelf blue force and blue personnel tracking (BFT/BPT) specialist Track24 Defense has integrated SkyWave’s IsatData Pro service to its SCC Titan solution to allow its clients to broadcast mission-critical data and collapse time scales, Track24 announced Dec. 21.    SCC Titan is designed to provide beyond-line-of-sight command and control via satellite devices specifically designed for military use. IsatData Pro...

Raytheon has successfully tested its U.S. Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT) with the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite to provide secure communications for the U.S. military and international partners, the company announced Dec. 19.    Raytheon’s U.S. Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT) is the second operationally fielded terminal to interoperate with an on-orbit AEHF satellite after the recent successful...

The government and military satellite industry will need to provide higher-level solutions for less cost in order to capitalize on a market set to nearly double in the next decade, according to an NSR report issued Dec. 15.    The analyst firm projects government and military satellite communications revenues to grow from an estimated $4.0 billion in...

Iridium Communications has expanded its board of directors from ten members to eleven members and has appointed Retired U.S. Navy Adm. Eric Olson as the additional director, the MSS operator announced Dec. 7.    Olson previously served as commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and was responsible for the readiness of joint special operations missions worldwide....

[Satellite News 01-17-12] LightSquared is disputing a Jan. 13 letter statement from the National Space-Based Positioning Navigation and Timing Committee, which reached a unanimous conclusion that the company’s plan to use Inmarsat lower frequency signals would still affect spectrum utilized by the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system.    “It is the unanimous conclusion of the...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 01-16-12] The Pentagon has awarded Lockheed Martin a $238 million contract to produce the third and fourth satellites in the next-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation, GPS 3, for the U.S. Air Force, the company announced Jan. 13.    The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin an initial contract to design, develop and...