Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 10-06-10] Wavestream received a $19 million Ka-band solid-state power amplifier (SSPA) purchase order from General Dynamics Satcom Technologies, the manufacturer announced Oct. 5.     Wavestream’s 50-watt SSPAs will support U.S. Army and Marine Corps satellite communications systems, with deliveries starting this month. The company’s Ka-band SSPA is an outdoor, environmentally sealed, compact product...

[Satellite TODAY 10-06-10] SpaceX’s upcoming NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration mission will launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla.. and will a flight plan nearly identical to Falcon 9’s June debut launch, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in an Oct. 5 statement.     Musk said the difference between the Falcon 9 debut and the first...

[Satellite TODAY 10-05-10] The European Space Agency (ESA) commissioned Spanish information technology specialist Indra to design a radar system prototype for ESA’s Space Situational Awareness program, Indra announced Oct. 4.     The two-year, $7.3 million contract will see Indra develop a system prototype that can detect objects in low-Earth Orbits (LEO) between 200 and 2,000...

[Satellite TODAY 10-05-10] Norsat received satellite terminal orders totaling $4.2 million from various U.S. government organizations, the company announced Oct. 4.     However, Norsat President and CEO Amiee Chan said the orders were received in the third quarter, which was later than the Canadian satellite company expected. Due to the delay, Chan said that Norsat...

[Satellite TODAY Insider 10-02-10] Satellite and aerial-based geospatial services provider GeoEye is continuing with its financing push by offering another $125 million of its senior secured notes, which are due in 2016, the company announced Oct. 1.     GeoEye intends to use the net proceeds of its most recent offering, set to expire Oct. 8,...

[Satellite TODAY 10-02-10] The U.S. Coast Guard selected KVH Industries to supply its TracPhone V7 satellite communication system and the mini-VSAT Broadband service to its small cutter fleet, KVH announced Sept. 30.     Under the 10-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract, valued at $42 million, KVH will support the Coast Guard’s Small Cutter Connectivity (SCC) Ku-band...

[Satellite TODAY 10-02-10] MDA’s U.S. operation MDA Information Systems, received a contract to provide an advanced information solution to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Army Geospatial Center (AGC), MDA announced Oct. 1.      The solution will work to provide a demonstration system to display the capability of receiving MDA’s Radarsat-2 and DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-2 data...

The launch of the third Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellite in December, along with the planned launches of several next-generation commercial satellites, has ushered in a new broadband satellite era where Ka-band and X-band systems are giving fresh capacity options to a bandwidth-hungry military. An increasingly mobile fighting force is driving satellite high broadband’s growth...

 In July this year, the European Commission reached out to the United States in the space sector, inviting U.S. companies and researchers to participate in European Union (EU) funding for space research projects. Commission officials held a conference July 21 at Stanford University to explain the ins and outs of the EU Seventh Framework Programme...

[Satellite TODAY 10-01-10] U.S. Congress passed the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 and defense trade cooperation treaties between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia on Sept. 30 – two key pieces of legislation for the aerospace and satellite industries.     The NASA Authorization Act of 2010, originally drafted by the U.S. Senate Commerce,...