Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 02-03-11] Gilat Satellite Networks was selected by an unnamed defense agency to provide its SkyEdge 2 broadband network for military communications.     The system will serve various branches of the military customer as part of a unified multi-band communications network.     Gilat said its SkyEdge 2 hubs would be located in a geographically...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 02-03-11] The Russian military has restored contact with the Geo-IK-2 Reshetnev satellite after it failed to communicate and establish radio contact with its ground control antennas following its launch from the Plesetsk spaceport Feb 2.     Geo-IK-2 was designed to help the Russian military draw 3-D maps of the Earth in order...

[Satellite TODAY 02-01-11] Raytheon completed its acquisition of Applied Signal Technology (AST) in a $490 million tender offer for about 12 million of AST’s outstanding shares, Raytheon announced Jan. 31.     AST will be renamed Raytheon Applied Signal Technology and integrated into Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) business and     Raytheon hopes the acquisition...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 02-01-11] The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST), the organization behind DubaiSat, has teamed up with Bigelow Aerospace to initiate a next-generation human spaceflight program in the Middle East, the organization announced Jan. 31.     The partners will establish the program in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, developing a...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 02-01-11] The U.S. Air Force issued two contracts to Northrop Grumman and Integral Systems to maintain and service its air and space command and control capabilities, the companies announced Jan. 31.    The Air Force Research Laboratory contracted Northrop Grumman to demonstrate information interoperability among different implementations of service-oriented architecture information technology...

[Satellite TODAY 01-31-11] The U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon and Lockheed Martin contracts to design the Pentagon’s Space Fence, which will replace its 50-year-old VHF Space Surveillance System to detect space objects and debris in low-Earth orbit, the Air Force announced Jan. 28.      Both companies were awarded an initial $20 million under the 18-month...

[Satellite TODAY 01-31-11] The U.K. Space Agency selected Amsat-UK to provide its FunCube hardware board sets for the agency’s first satellite UKube-1, Amsat-UK announced Jan. 28.     The hardware aims to enable the U.K. Space Agency to meet its science, technology, engineering and math educational objectives in addition to providing radio broadcasters with a linear...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 01-28-11] Boeing and Lockheed Martin reported similar 2010 end-year results, which showed both major U.S. satellite manufacturers struggling in their space business units.     Lockheed Martin Space Systems’ 2010 fourth quarter net sales fell 13 percent compared to 2009. The company’s space transportation business took a $233 million hit in revenues due...

[Satellite TODAY 01-28-11] Raytheon reported 2010 fourth quarter income of $459 million, a 9 percent drop compared to $504 million in income in the same period in 2009. Raytheon attributed the decline to debt retirement and pension expenses, according to its latest financial results issued Jan. 27.     Raytheon’s fourth-quarter revenue rose 3 percent to...

[Satellite TODAY 01-28-11] DigitalGlobe entered into a partnership with Sudan’s Satellite Sentinel Project to deliver imagery and analysis in support of the country’s recent vote on independence.     The company said the images and analysis helped the project and its collaborators monitor Sudanese Armed Forces troops in areas of South Kordofan and around the oil-producing...