Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY Insider 06-03-11] CapRock Communications CEO Peter Shaper is retiring from the company and stepping down from his interim position of the Harris Corp. division’s group president.             Shaper, the former head of the Houston-based communications services provider and Via Satellite’s 2009 Satellite Executive of the Year award winner, was instrumental in CapRock’s 2007...

[Satellite TODAY 06-03-11] Sofradir was awarded a contract to provide shortwave-infrared (SWIR) arrays for the Sentinel 5 Precursor mission as part of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) space initiative — a joint project by the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA), Sofradir announced June 2.     The SWIR array was...

[Satellite TODAY 06-02-11] Canadian information solutions provider MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) will provide Radarsat-2 spacecraft services to the Russian Government to enhance the government’s ability to provide information support for disaster relief efforts, MDA announced June 1.             MDA received a $4 million Russian government contract to deliver two Radarsat-2 ground station solutions to...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 06-02-11] U.S. government trade officials criticized the Russian Ministry of Transport for proposing laws mandating Glonass equipment installation in all new cars sold in Russia, calling them ‘unfair.’ The legislation would also place import taxes on satellite-navigations receivers using GPS technology.     Russia’s Glonass satellite-navigation system is similar to the U.S.-developed GPS...

The U.K. government is conducting a consultation on what its civil space strategy should be for the period 2011-2015. Given the strong position of U.K. companies in the space arena and explicit recognition of satellite contributions to the national economy, this consultation is important, and there remains time to submit comments, as the deadline is...

The U.S. Space Shuttle program will come to a close this year, a little more than 30 years after its inaugural flight, with the last flight scheduled for late June. Always a technological marvel and never an economic one, the shuttle reminds us of another beautiful white bird now seen only in museums, the Concorde....

[Satellite TODAY 06-01-11] MTN Government Services (MTNGS) has secured its first competitive task order for subscription services under the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency’s Future Comsatcom Services Acquisition (FCSA) contract and GSA Schedule 70 program, MTNGS announced May 31.      MTNGS will provide managed network services to deliver constant monitoring and management of iDirect hub equipment...

[Satellite TODAY 06-01-11] ST Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and DSO National Laboratories (DSO) have set up a joint venture to design, develop and product Earth observation satellites, ST Engineering announced May 31.             ST Engineering’s stake in the joint venture is 51 percent, held through ST Electronics’ wholly owned subsidiary, ST Electronics (Satcom & Sensor...

[Satellite TODAY 05-31-11] NASA has selected Fibertek to design, develop, fabricate, test and deliver laser systems to be used for the ice, cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) mission. NASA announced the deal May 26. The ICESat-2 satellite is scheduled to launch in 2016.      NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the ICESat-2...

[Satellite News 05-25-11] Earlier this year, Bigelow Aerospace signed a major deal with the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology, (EIAST) to initiate a new next-generation human spaceflight program. Bigelow Aerospace wants to provide affordable options for spaceflight to national space agencies and corporate clients and has linked up with EIAST to help with...