Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 04-07-10] Communications & Power Industries (CPI) has signed a five-year contract and received  $3.8 million in orders from Harris Corp. to support the U.S. Navy’s commercial broadband satellite program, CPI announced April 6.     CPI received the orders under the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract for satellite communications amplifiers used in large and medium ships,...

[Satellite TODAY 04-07-10] SatMax Corp. has launched its 2010 hurricane awareness initiative, targeting first responders and emergency preparedness centers throughout the Gulf Coast region, the company announced April 6.     SatMax, which uses Iridium-based voice and data communication services, said the initiative is aimed at the $46 billion worldwide market for satellite ground equipment, where...

[Satellite TODAY 04-06-10] Bolivia has made its proposed partnership with China to build and launch its Tupac Katari telecommunications satellite official by signing an agreement with Chinese authorities for a range of services on April 2, the Bolivian Ministry of Telecommunications announced.     Bolivia expects to construct and launch the satellite within three years. Chinese...

[Satellite TODAY 04-06-10] The U.S. Air Force will launch its robotic X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle to conduct technology tests April 19, the U.S. Department of Defense announced April 5.     The X-37B is an adaptation of an 11-year-old NASA and Boeing cooperative project to launch a compact spacecraft used for intelligence gathering or delivering small...

[Satellite TODAY 04-05-10] The European Space Agency‘s (ESA) CryoSat-2 ice satellite has arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and has been integrated with the Dnepr rocket in preparation for its April 8 launch, the ESA announced April 2.     The satellite will be powered up and tested April 3, with simulations to test communication...

[Satellite TODAY 04-02-10] The Ukrainian and Russian governments are close to an agreement to have both countries’ aerospace industries cooperate to expand and operate the Glonass global military navigation satellite network, Ukrainian officials announced April 1.     The agreement would make Ukraine’s state-run National Space Agency a major participant in Russia’s Glonass satellite navigation system,...

To operate in today’s theaters — with 38,000 NATO and 47,000 U.S. troops in mountainous Afghanistan and 115,000 U.S. troops in the deserts of Iraq — the military needs even lighter and more capable ground systems that provide beyond-line-of-sight communications. With the restrictive protocol of limited troop engagement, the need for real-time linkage on surveillance...

The cancellation of the TSAT (Transformational Satellite Communications System) military satellite program ushered in a new era for military satellite communications. As a harsh economic recession took root, governments suddenly found they no longer had the desire or reserves to have all encompassing next-generation military satellite communication systems, but bandwidth demands remain high, so governments...

Col. William Harding, vice commander, Military Satellite Communications System Wing, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, directs acquisition planning, programming, budgeting and operational support for a $46 billion portfolio for military satellite communication systems. Harding discusses the challenges ahead and the future of military satellite communications following the end of TSAT...

On Jan. 12, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, devastating the western end of Hispaniola and making life even more difficult for the country’s 9 million citizens. Minutes after the quake was reported on 24 hour news channels, the satellite industry began responding, quickly becoming the foundation on which all...