Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 03-03-11] Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) was awarded a $1.5 million study contract by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center‘s Milsatcom Systems Directorate to evaluate options available to meet future war fighting communications needs, the satellite manufacturer announced March 2.     The goal of the study is to assess the application of...

[Satellite TODAY 03-03-11] China will launch 12 to 14 imagery satellites by 2020 to form its own global navigation positioning system, China’s state-owned newspaper, People’s Daily, reported March 2.     In the report, Chinese space technology expert and advisor to the state government Faren Qi said the Chinese version of the U.S. GPS system would...

[Satellite TODAY 03-02-11] Vizada Networks has installed an iDirect VSAT-powered hub to support a contract from an unnamed European civil defense agency to provide satellite infrastructure and training services, Vizada announced March 1.     The iDirect hub was integrated at the contracting agency’s headquarters and was connected with iDirect remotes to establish a communications link...

Read an exclusive, extended version of this feature here. The satellite sector is poised to see a period of rapid innovation and growth, spurred by the new U.S. National Space Policy, a broadband-hungry military and planned launches of more powerful and nimble satellites in the coming decade. Ever-smaller satellites, software-defined radios, next-generation electronics and higher...

In February, we looked ahead to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) effort to enact rules to ensure unblocked, non-discriminatory access to the Internet, a regulatory scheme known as Net Neutrality. The FCC issued the Net Neutrality Report and Order on Dec. 23 containing the new rules. A Net Neutrality regime is critical to the...

[Satellite TODAY 03-01-11] Imagery solutions provider DigitalGlobe appointed Jeffrey Tarr its new President and CEO effective April 5, the company announced Feb. 28.     Tarr succeeds CEO and Chairwoman Jill Smith, who announced her intention to leave the company in September. Tarr previously served as president and COO of IHS Inc.     DigitalGlobe also named...

[Satellite TODAY 02-28-11] The U.S. Air Force successfully demonstrated over-the-air, low-data-rate communication between an orbiting Milstar satellite and the family of advanced beyond line-of-sight terminal, the Pentagon announced Feb. 25.     The demonstration, conducted late last month, included a series of uplink and downlink communication tests that involved passing voice and data communication between a...

[Satellite TODAY 02-25-11] The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contracted Northrop Grumman and the University of Minnesota to co-develop a collaborative navigation system under AFRL’s Collaborative Robust Integrated Sensor Positioning program, Northrop Grumman announced Feb. 24.     AFRL wants the collaborative navigation system to allow its aircraft to leverage information from onboard sensors and...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 02-23-11] The U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) placed another $6.8 million limited production Multi-functional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS JTRS) terminal order with ViaSat, furthering the operator’s efforts to achieve production status on the U.S. military program by the end of the year, the company announced...

[Satellite TODAY 02-23-11] The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) exercised an option under its existing indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity order with MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), the Canadian information solutions provider announced Feb. 22.     The multi-million dollar option will see MDA provide additional information derived from Radarsat-2, which will be used to create ice charts...