Government/Military

[Satellite News 12-20-10] The U.S. satellite industry enters a completely new political atmosphere in 2011, shaped not only by the elections this past November, but also by substantial policy changes over the past 12 months.     U.S. government space policy shifts and the eventual retirement of the space shuttle dominated the government developments. U.S. President...

[Satellite TODAY 12-17-10] The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Arianespace to launch the Sentinel-1A satellite as part of the European program Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), Arianespace announced Dec. 16.     The satellite Earth observation will launch on a Soyuz rocket from the Guiana Space Center in December 2012. The ESA deal...

[Satellite TODAY 12-17-10] Italy’s Cosmo-SkyMed constellation is complete and fully operational after the system’s fourth satellite began sending images to ground stations, the Italian Space Agency announced Dec. 16.     Cosmo SkyMed-4, the final satellite of the end-to-end Earth observation constellation, was launched in November from Vandenberg Air Force Base and deployed in low-Earth orbit....

[Satellite TODAY 12-17-10] Lockheed Martin has met the requirements of a critical design review for NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) small explorer mission, the prime contractor announced Dec. 16.     The IRIS spacecraft is being developed to fly in a Sun-synchronous polar orbit and provide continuous solar observations on a two-year mission for NASA’s...

[Satellite News 12-16-10] Attitudes towards U.S. defense spending and budget management are changing as new economic realities compel the U.S. government to get the most value for money for its military satcom strategy. Acting on behalf of the U.S. Air Force Space Command, Air Force Brig. Gen. Ian Dickinson is the designated approval authority for...

[Satellite TODAY 12-16-10] DigitalGlobe has been selected by enhanced navigation solutions companies China Mobile, YF International and Hazens to supply digital imagery to support the companies’ products, DigitalGlobe announced Dec. 15.     DigitalGlobe imagery will be used in China Mobile’s turn-by-turn navigation service, GIS/fleet management service and standalone map viewer offering. YF International will integrate...

[Satellite TODAY 12-16-10] The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency renewed their space science and technology partnership agreement through 2020, the agencies announced Dec. 15.     The 30-year partnership will continue to see Canadian government and academic institutions receive ESA data, science and technology support to meet Canada’s operational needs. Areas of...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 12-16-10] The Bolivian Space Agency has been selected by China Great Wall Industry Corp. (CGWIC) to build its TKSat-1satellite, the agency announced Dec. 14.     The satellite will be based on the DFH-4 platform, which is manufactured by the China Academy of Space Technology. CGWIC estimates that TKSat-1 will be delivered to...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 12-16-10] The Aerospace Industries Association’s (AIA) 2010 U.S. aerospace sales report shows the sector generated $216.5 billion, as orders increased 20 percent over 2009, AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey told reporters at its 46th annual Year-end Review and Forecast Luncheon.     Blakey said the results show the U.S. aerospace industry set...

[Satellite TODAY 12-15-10] Sevis Systems unveiled its third-generation GSM bandwidth optimization platform, a cost-effective backhaul solution designed to optimize GSM traffic, the company announced Dec. 14. The Sevis 6104 is designed to work on 4 E1/T1 links over a variety of WAN infrastructures such as Internet Protocol, digital leased E1/T1 lines, Ethernet and satellite. It...