Government/Military

[Satellite News 12-10-10] While many commercial operators at the 2010 Commercial Satcom Users Workshop in Crystal City, Va. are cautious and prepared for budget cuts that could have an impact on revenues and future business, some satellite executives have identified growth opportunities in the next year.     “There’s no doubt that any talk of government...

[Satellite TODAY 12-09-10] SpaceX placed its Dragon spacecraft into low-Earth orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket Dec. 8 and the capsule splashed down into the Pacific Ocean about three hours later , the company announced.     The Dragon spacecraft completed nearly two orbits during its test flight. This is the  first time a commercial company...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 12-08-10] SpaceX will attempt to launch its Dragon space capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket by Dec. 9 after two small cracks detected on the rocket’s second stage engine nozzle extension delayed the unmanned commercial test launch, the company announced Dec. 7.     SpaceX said its engineers are investigating the cracks, which...

[Satellite TODAY 12-07-10] Telespazio has selected Arianespace to launch the Sicral 2 satellite into geostationary orbit on an Ariane 5 launched from the Guiana Space Center in November 2013, Arianespace announced Dec. 6.     The launch deal, Arianespace’s 11th of the year, will fall under the framework of a $375.6 million turnkey contract Telespazio and...

[Satellite TODAY 12-07-10] Russia’s Glonass navigation system will remain incomplete after three of its satellites fell into the Pacific Ocean shortly after take-off Dec. 5 when a Proton-M rocket carrying the spacecraft failed to reach its planned orbit.     The Glonass constellation requires 24 satellites to operator at full capacity. The failed launch from the...

[Satellite TODAY 12-08-10] NASA ejected the NanoSail-D nanosatellite from its Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite (FASTSat), demonstrating the agency’s first deployment of this kind, NASA announced Dec. 6.     Nanosatellites are typically launched and deployed from a mechanism called a Poly-PicoSatellite Orbital Deployer (P-POD) mounted directly on a launch vehicle. NASA said this is...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 12-03-10] Astrium and Thales Alenia Space will build two high-resolution reconnaissance satellites for the French Defense Ministry under a $1.1 billion contract issued to the manufacturers Nov. 30, Astrium announced Dec. 2.     The satellite are part of France’s Optical Space Component program to combine Europe’s optical and radar satellite capabilities with...

[Satellite TODAY 12-03-10] Newsat has won $2.8 million in new contracts from the military and enterprise sector organizations to provide satellite capacity delivering voice, data and video communications, the company announced Dec. 2.     Four of these contracts, totaling $1.4 million, were signed with the U.S. Department of Defense to provide communication services to military...

[Satellite TODAY 12-02-10] ATK Launch Systems has won a $42 million contract extension with NASA, to continue to provide pre- through post-launch support through December 2011, ATK announced Dec. 1.     The extension also signals the completion of ATK’s contract with NASA to process flight hardware after the last scheduled space shuttle flight. ATK will...

[Satellite TODAY 12-02-10] Integral Systems’ Satcom Solutions Division was awarded more than $14 million in additional U.S. government, domestic and international contracts to provide satellite communications products, ground systems and network infrastructure products as well as on-going services, the company announced Dec. 1.      The contract awards include: the establishment of three multi-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite...