Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 05-25-11]  Singapore’s first locally-built micro-satellite in space, X-Sat, has started to transmit images back to Singapore, the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) confirmed May 24.             The images from the satellite will be used for Earth monitoring. X-Sat is being monitored and commanded by a team of scientists, researchers and students from the mission...

[Satellite TODAY 05-24-11] Both International Launch Services (ILS) and Arianespace completed successful launches May 20. Arianespace successfully launched ST-2 for ST-2 Satellite Ventures, a joint venture of SingTel and Chunghwa Telecom, and GSAT-8 for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The launch is Arianespace’s third successful Ariane 5 launch this year. The ST-2 satellite will...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 05-20-11] Intelsat General has won a contract to provide comprehensive satellite connectivity to the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS). The deal was announced May 18.             The AFRTS provides multi-channel, broadcast-quality radio and television programs to military forces and their families stationed outside of the United States and aboard Navy...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 05-17-11] EMS Technologies, which offers connectivity solutions across a number of different segments, saw its space and defense business struggle in the first quarter this year. This was one of the highlights of its results issued late last week. Revenues from the space and defense part of its business actually fell. It...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 05-16-11] Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) prime contractor General DynamicsC4 Systems has awarded a $105 million subcontract to Lockheed Martin to produce additional communications equipment for the WIN-T Increment 2 program, Lockheed Martin announced May 12. The Lockheed Martin solution includes subsystem radios, modems, antennas and mast systems that will be integrated into...

[Satellite TODAY 05-13-11] The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) terminated its recovery efforts for the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) after the spacecraft experienced an electrical anomaly last month that caused ALOS to break communication with its control station, JAXA officials announced May 12. JAXA said the satellite lost all electricity hours after it entered...

[Satellite TODAY 05-13-11] GeoEye appointed Andy Dougherty vice president of business development for the imagery company’s Federal Information Services division, GeoEye announced May 12. Dougherty is a retired U.S. naval officer and has previously served as president of Northrop Grumman’s Intelligence Defense Solutions group. GeoEye management said the company is adding federal sales leadership to...

[Satellite TODAY 05-12-11] Alcatel-Lucent has partnered with Polaris Wireless and Thales Alenia Space for the launch of a location-based positioning engine with the ability to identify the geographic position of a mobile device with a high degree of accuracy, Alcatel-Lucent announced May 11. The Alcatel-Lucent Positioning Solution (ALPS) utilizes a range of location technologies that...

[Satellite TODAY 05-12-11] VSAT service provider Afcom Satellite Network (Afcomsat) has deployed a dual-mode satellite/terrestrial system on a fleet of emergency response vehicles (ERVs) in Nigeria, the company announced May 11.             The Afcomsat system is equipped with VSAT hardware technology enabling full IP connectivity to the company’s network and will be integrated into Motorola’s...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 05-11-11] Geospatial information solutions company GeoEye reported better-than-expected 2011 first quarter financial results and raised its 2011 full-year guidance, the company announced May 10. The news comes much to the surprise of analysts who were expecting the company to produce results that were in-line with its market competitor, DigitalGlobe.             GeoEye’s first...