Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY Insider 06-16-11] The U.S. military made significant progress in its efforts to expand its Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Sharing Program in 2010 and will accelerate the establishment of data-sharing agreements with commercial companies and other countries in 2011, according to the Space Security 2011 report published June 14 by Space Security Index (SSI)....

[Satellite News 06-15-11] LightSquared revealed early results of tests it has been required to undertake by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which show that the network’s hybrid ground- and satellite-based antennas could interfere with GPS and other signals.             The testing, which was supervised by the U.S. National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning produced...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 06-14-11] The U.S. House of Representatives is making alterations to the U.S. Air Force budget in a defense spending bill that is expected to reduce the budget for the GPS space and ground segments from $463.1 million to about $413 million. Congressional appropriators also are expected to slim the Air Force’s $390.9...

[Satellite News 06-13-11] Honeywell is in the process of acquiring wireless product developer EMS Technologies for about $491 million in cash in an effort to expand its presence into the mobile and satellite communication industries.     The boards of directors of both companies entered into a contractual agreement that will see Honeywell commence a tender...

[Satellite TODAY 06-10-11] Canadian information solutions provider MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) signed a contract in excess of $8.1 million with an unnamed customer to provide a multi-satellite ground station solution, MDA announced June 9.    MDA will develop, integrate and install the multi-satellite ground station solution at the customer’s site in the first...

[Satellite TODAY 06-09-11] NASA space observatories observed an “unusual” solar flare that could possibly cause minor disruptions to satellite communications and power on Earth in the next day or so, NASA officials announced June 8.     The agency said the sun unleashed an M-2 solar flare, an S1-class radiation storm and a coronal mass ejection...

[Satellite TODAY 06-08-11] Raytheon has successfully completed the third major communications upgrade at McMurdo research station in Antarctica to support future U.S. scientific and environmental satellite missions for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Raytheon announced June 7.      The third communications upgrade at McMurdo supports several missions that use the station for satellite downlink, including...

[Satellite TODAY 06-08-11] A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket is set to launch the Argentine SAC-D satellite and a hitchhiking NASA instrument June 9 from the Vandenberg U.S. Air Force Base, NASA confirmed June 7.    The Argentine SAC-D observatory carries a primary NASA instrument, dubbed Aquarius, which aims to measure ocean surface salinity...

[Satellite TODAY 06-08-11] The U.S. Air Force Space Command’s Tactical Satellite-3 (TacSat-3) has surpassed its expected six-month operational lifespan and completed its second year of service.     ATK, the spacecraft’s bus prime contractor, announced June 7 that the spacecraft successfully transitioned from experimental to operational status last year, outliving its design life and surpassing original...

[Satellite TODAY 06-08-11] Geospatial information service provider GeoEye promoted Uyen Dinh to vice president of its Government Affairs division, the company announced June 7.    Dinh joined GeoEye in May 2007 as senior director of Government Affairs and is responsible for the overall development and execution of all government relations programs.    Dinh previously served...