Government/Military

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has extended its contract with MDA to provide surveillance operations for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) supporting its forces deployed in Afghanistan, MDA announced July 27.     MDA’s contract with the ADF, first issued in September, will remain active through December 2011. Financial details of the contract were not disclosed.    ...

Remote asset tracking and information management solutions SkyBitz has opened a new business unit to provide remote asset management solutions based on technology developed for and financed by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), SkyBitz announced Aug. 11.     SkyBitz said the new business’ products would be marketed to government organizations with requirements...

CapRock Government Solutions has hired William Janosky as director of its Information Assurance product division, the company announced July 27.     Janosky will be responsible for upgrading and implementing CapRock’s overall information assurance strategy to reach higher standards of compliance. Janosky also willguide the expansion of CapRock’s role in providing U.S. military evaluations and assessments...

ITT Corp.’s GPS 3 navigation payload has passed a U.S. Air Force critical design review for the Navigation Payload Element (NPE) in support of the GPS-3 program, the company announced July 26.     The review was conducted June 24 at ITT’s facilities in Clifton, N.J., and demonstrated that the design meets all program requirements and...

Cisco’s Space-router technology has passed a U.S. Department of Defense satellite-orbit test for use of next-generation satellite-based IP services and communications from space, the company announced July 20.     The U.S. military tested Cisco’s Internet Routing in Space (IRIS) through its Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) evaluation. During the JCTD test, military users on land...

Inmarsat’s decision to invest $1.2 billion in three Ka-band satellites is another endorsement for the potential of Ka-band satellites and the market’s potential to expand beyond simply providing faster Internet speeds to consumers that do not have access to high-speed terrestrial lines.      “I think that to date, people have associated Ka-band with consumer broadband,...

[Satellite TODAY 08-17-10] Intelsat has began construction of the Intelsat 27 (IS-27) satellite that will include a UHF hosted payload for government applications, the company announced Aug. 16.      The satellite slated for launch in December 2012, will carry a hybrid C- and Ku-band design for media and network customers. The UHF hosted payload will...

The third Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) military communications satellite, WGS-3, has entered service for the U.S. Air Force, completing the military’s Block 1 constellation, designed to deliver improved broadband communications to U.S. military forces and their allies around the world.    The WGS-3 satellite, built by Boeing and located over the Atlantic Ocean, joins the...

In a decision that shocked analysts and even the competitors, the U.S. Army awarded ViaSat the Blue Force Tracking 2 (BFT-2) contract to upgrade 100,000 Army vehicles with a next-generation tracking system intended to prevent friendly fire incidents.     In winning the contract, which was unveiled July 22, ViaSat accomplished a difficult and unusual feat...

[Satellite TODAY 08-16-10] The Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) at Utah State University received a contract to provide support for NASA‘s Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory Mission, the SDL announced Aug. 13.      SDL will provide instrument systems expertise and capabilities for conducting measurements in the infrared spectrum, including systems engineering, design of infrared measurement...