Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 08-06-10] Ukraine’s state-owned space company Yuzhmash has postponed the delivery of basic parts for Orbital Sciences’ Taurus-2 launch vehicle’s first stage, Yuzhmash announced Aug. 4. Due to technical reasons, the manufacturer said it had to postpone the delivery, initially scheduled for early August, to September or October.     Yuzhmash signed a contract in...

[Satellite News 08-09-10] The government’s expanding need for mobile broadband satellite services drove Inmarsat to order three Ka-band satellites and form a distribution partnership with Boeing, Inmarsat CEO Andy Sukawaty told Satellite News.     Inmarsat plans to spend $1.2 billion on three Boeing Ka-band satellites that will be used to launch Inmarsat’s Global Xpress service...

[Satellite TODAY 08-06-10] Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has shipped the U.S. Air Force’s STPSat-2 satellite to the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska for its scheduled launch on an Orbital Sciences Minotaur 4 rocket this fall, the manufacturer announced Aug. 5.     STPSat-2’s mission is to support the military’s operationally responsive space strategy to ensure...

[Satellite TODAY 08-06-10] SES World Skies’ U.S. Government Solutions Division has delivered the Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload (CHIRP) sensor assembly to manufacturer Orbital Sciences for installation on the SES-2 satellite, SES announced Aug. 5.     The sensor, developed by Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), was developed for the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems...

[Satellite TODAY 08-06-10] Inmarsat will invest more than $1 billion in three Ka-band satellites that will be manufactured by Boeing based on the 702 high-power platform, which be used to launch Inmarsat’s Global Xpress service, the company revealed in its latest financial results issued Aug. 6.     Global Xpress will target what the operator views...

[Satellite TODAY 08-05-10] Orbit Technologies has won a $19 million systems contract with an unnamed military customer, the company announced Aug. 4.     The contract will see Orbit supply the customer with Ku-band, Orsat-G and C-band broadband satellite communication systems for naval military use. The order also includes a long-term multi-year service contract.     “With...

[Satellite TODAY 08-04-10] General Dynamics awarded Lockheed Martin a $71 million contract to provide communications hardware and equipment for the transmission subsystem of the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 program, Lockheed Martin announced Aug. 2.     The Lockheed Martin transmission subsystem will provide the foundation for the WIN-T network’s data transfer capability over a...

[Satellite TODAY 08-04-10] In a justification and approval memorandum released Aug. 2, the U.S. Army said it might move away from Comtech for future Movement Tracking System 3 (MTS-3) contracts because the company is unwilling to license its MTS proprietary technology rights.     The Army said is seeking an MTS 3 solution that is “free...

[Satellite TODAY 08-03-10] China placed the fifth satellite in its planned satellite navigation and positioning network into orbit, Xinhua announced Aug. 1.      The satellite, part of China’s Beidou, or Compass, satellite constellation, was lofted into orbit aboard a Long March rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center.      China began developing its own satellite navigation...

[Satellite TODAY 08-02-10] Honeywell received a contract from the United Launch Alliance to provide primary avionics components for guidance and navigation of the Atlas 5 rocket, Honeywell announced July 30.      Honeywell will provide the Fault Tolerant Inertial Navigation Unit and the Redundant Rate Gyro Unit for the vehicle under a follow-on contract worth up...