Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 07-29-10] Russian Space Systems (RSS) has delivered the first of three Glonass-M satellites to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Khrunichev announced July 28.     Khrunichev has begun testing the first satellite, and the others are scheduled to arrive at Khrunichev facilities in late August. All three satellites are scheduled to be launched on...

[Satellite TODAY 07-29-10] TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) received an additional $1 million in funding from the U.S. Army for support equipment and maintenance of secret and non-secure IP router access point VSAT satellite systems, the company announced July 28.      This funding will provide support equipment and maintenance of TCS’ SwiftLink deployable communications products, as previously...

[Satellite TODAY 07-28-10] The U.S. Army awarded ViaSat with the Blue Force Tracking 2 (BFT-2) contract July 22 to upgrade 100,000 Army vehicles with a next-generation tracking system intended to prevent friendly fire incidents.     ViaSat said it unseated incumbent Comtech by offering new technology at a lower cost. ViaSat Vice President of Global Satcom...

[Satellite TODAY 07-28-10] 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...

[Satellite News 07-27-10] 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...

[Satellite TODAY 07-27-10] Hughes Network Systems has completed a demonstration of its commercial-off-the-shelf-(COTS)-based advanced airborne video solution to an unnamed government agency, the company announced July 26.     The demonstration, which took place on Row 44’s flying test-bed aircraft, confirmed the solution’s ability to produce full D-1 video resolution at air-to-ground user data rates of...

[Satellite TODAY 07-27-10] 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...

[Satellite TODAY 07-26-10] The U.K. Space Agency has unveiled a one-year pilot program to design and launch miniature, cube-shaped satellites to test and research new space technologies, the agency announced July 22.     The pilot program, UKube 1 will involve a competition amongst companies and academic groups to come up with the most innovative ideas...

[Satellite TODAY 07-26-10] GPS 2F satellite manufacturer Boeing said a claim made by DLR, Germany’s national research center for aeronautics and space, that the U.S. Air Force GPS 2F satellite experienced “higher residual errors than expected" during testing, was out of context, since the satellite was reported to be working within the Air Force’s specifications....

[Satellite TODAY 07-26-10] Ball Aerospace & Technologies has completed integration and performance testing of the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) that will fly aboard NASA‘s National Preparatory Project (NPP) weather satellite, Ball announced July 23.     The sensor arrived at Ball Aerospace June 18 and was completely integrated on the NPP satellite by July 14. The...