Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 05-03-11] Riverbed Technology has contracted iDirect Government Technologies (iGT) to resell its wide area network (WAN) optimization and network visibility solutions for U.S. government and military satellite networks, iDirect announced May 2.     The agreement will see iGT resell Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances, which aim to provide comprehensive cross-layer optimization resulting in significant performance...

[Satellite TODAY 05-02-11] Engineering firm Global Science and Technology (GST) has unveiled a new small-satellite concept that aims to improve current Landsat image data, GST announced April 29.     Earth scientists use Landsat coverage to monitor agriculture activity, surface mining and reclamation. GST Chief Scientist Darrel Williams, who is leading development on the project, said...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 05-02-11] The Hosted Payload Alliance (HPA), formed in March by seven of the satellite industry’s biggest companies to promote potential benefits of hosted government payloads on commercial satellites, hosted a panel of senior government officials to outline opportunities and challenges associated with the 2010 National Space Policy, HPA announced April 29.    ...

[Satellite News 05-02-11] The Russian Government has ordered Anatoly Perminov to retire from his post as chief of the Roskosmos Space Agency and has replaced him with Russian military veteran Vladimir Popovkin, the Kremlin announced April 29.     Perminov, who served at Roskosmos since 2004, is the third high-ranking Russian space official to leave the...

As the military enters a “do more with less” environment in terms of its budget, the commercial satellite communications sector finds itself in a potentially valuable position. As inevitable budget cuts have become the key factor in developing U.S. military communications strategies, the Pentagon has been searching for ways to improve the performance of its...

The European Galileo satellite location system is intended to provide a strategic navigation option that reduces reliance on U.S. management of the GPS constellation. Galileo, however, has had some teething pains, and there still is debate regarding how it will be funded and operated. Recent presentations from the European Commission stress how Galileo will “ensure...

Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) carriers that provide interconnected, two-way voice services must be fully equipped to handle 911 emergency calls. This means that providers must establish call centers to receive satellite phone emergency calls and then forward such calls to appropriate public safety access points. However, this regulatory requirement affords MSS carriers some generous exemptions...

[Satellite News 04-28-11] The United States Export-Import Bank has voted to approve BNP Parabis’ application to finance Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies purchase of the Azerspace/Africasat-1A satellite from Orbital Sciences, the U.S. Ex-Im Bank announced April 27.     During a period of 26 months, Orbital Sciences will fit the satellite with 36 Ku-...

[Satellite TODAY 04-28-11] ViaSat and STM Group successfully demonstrated waveform interoperability between the STM SatLink 2000 modem and the ViaSat Joint Internet Protocol Modem (JIPM) for the U.S. Department of Defense, the companies announced April 27.     ViaSat said the demonstration milestone establishes the JIPM as the government-standard IP network satellite modem for connecting U.S....

[Satellite TODAY 04-28-11] NASA has postponed its scheduled May launch of a Minotaur 4 rocket from its Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska due to its similarities to the Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket, which crashed after takeoff from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in March, the agency announced April 27.     NASA said it is...