Government/Military

Inmarsat subsidiaries Stratos Government Services (SGSI) and Segovia have been awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract by the U.S. Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization (DITCO) to provide satellite communications infrastructure and service for the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) Next Generation Wideband (NGW) program, the companies announced Nov. 4.    A $315 million...

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Ambassador Gregory Schulte asserted the U.S. Department of Defense’s intentions to cooperate with commercial satellite companies in leveraging hosted payload capabilities at the Oct. 4 Hosted Payload Summit in Washington, D.C.    U.S. military procurement procedures and the enactment of policy to support hosted payload and other private-industry space...

The U.S. Coast Guard has issued a five-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract to Stratos to provide connectivity solutions to Coast Guard cutter vessels, Stratos’ government division SGSI announced Oct. 27.    SGSI will provide the Coast Guard with Ku-band satellite airtime, installation support, teleport equipment and service, network operations center support and training. SGSI’s...

Canada could be the United States’ latest Wideband Global Satellite (WGS) ally as the nation’s government revealed plans Oct. 28 to spend as much as $477 million to participate in the U.S.-led military program. The announcement follows Canadian Parliament authorizing Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay permission to pay the sum to ensure Canadian participation.   ...

While satellite and aerospace manufacturer Orbital Sciences exceeded its financial expectations by reporting a strong 2011 third quarter, Chairman and CEO David Thompson forecasted a satellite slowdown in 2012 while speaking to reporters and analysts during an Oct. 20 conference call.    Thompson predicted that Orbital would see flat 2012 satellite revenues following two years...

X-band satellite operator Xtar has been working to expand its sales opportunities in new markets worldwide while making inroads into technology challenges faced with government customers always operating under stringent budget environments. Some of its strategies include developing its fleet to support the needs of current and future military requirements and supporting developments in government...

Harris Corp. has received a $51.5 million delivery order for advanced satellite terminals under the U.S. Army’s Modernization of Enterprise Terminals (MET) program, Harris announced Oct. 18.    The contract will see Harris supply large fixed X- and Ka-band terminals and transportable X- and Ka-band terminals. The order also includes equipment racks, spares to support...

Earth imagery solutions provider DigitalGlobe has received a one-year, $37.9 million value-added services contract from the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) under the NGA’s new Enhanced GEOINT Delivery (EGD) program, DigitalGlobe announced Oct. 5.    The contract will see DigitalGlobe provide value-added support to NGA to meet the agency’s advanced imagery requirements and provide final...

Comtech Xicom Technology introduced its new compact 20-Watt solid-state Ka-band block up converter (BUC) for commercial and military Ka-band satellite communications uplinks, the company announced Nov. 8.    The XTS-20KaL-B1 was designed to provide high data-rate satellite communications uplinks and is available covering 29.0 to 30 GHz, or 30 to 31 GHz. The unit features...

Vizada Networks is expanding its personnel outsourcing and consultancy operations and is now offering technical recruitment and consultancy to its defense sector customers, the company announced Oct. 31.    Vizada said it ramped up its recruitment efforts in order to meet future demands, with specific focus on personnel to support customer requirements in deployed locations...