Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 03-23-10] Earth observation satellite operator RapidEye signed a reseller partnership agreement with Harris Corp. Government Communications Systems to offer imagery data to the government, defense and commercial sectors, RapidEye announced March 19.     RapidEye’s 5-meter resolution data has been incorporated into Harris’ TrueTerrain true-color orthomosaic product line for the visualization-simulation and mapping markets....

[Satellite TODAY 03-19-10] GMV was selected by Putrajaya Corp. to supply a GSM/GPRS/UMTS-powered urban transportation fleet control system for the city of Putrajaya, Malaysia, the company announced March 17.     GMV will partner with Raisevest to provide advanced, real-time urban-transportation passenger information to 150 urban and metropolitan buses, with plans to extend the system’s reach...

[Satellite TODAY 03-19-10] Northrop Grumman technicians have begun installing the first set of hardware for a U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber extremely high frequency (EHF) satellite communications program, Northrop Grumman announced March 17.      The EHF upgrades aim to allow the jet to send and receive battlefield information up to 100 times faster than...

[Satellite TODAY 03-18-10] Intelsat General was awarded a $10.7 million contract by DRS Technical Services to provide X-band satellite connectivity in Southwest Asia on two X-band satellites owned and operated by Xtar and EADS Astrium subsidiary Paradigm Secure Communications, Intelsat General announced March 17. The connectivity aims to enable military leaders to receive vital battlefield...

[Satellite TODAY 03-18-10] Integral Systems has selected XS-104 series products from XipLink to include in its mobile satellite military fly-away kits, which have all been deployed by the U.S. Department of Defense, XipLink announced March 17.     The XS-104 is a member of XipLink’s XS specialty device family of ruggedized products targeted for unique optimization...

[Satellite News 03-18-10] Hosted payloads increasingly should be seen as an attractive option for governments looking to provide advanced communications and observation capabilities in a more cost-effective manner. This was one of the key takeaways from the “Hosted Payloads – A New Model for Commercial/Military Cooperation” panel at SATELLITE 2010.     Joseph Rouge, director of...

[Satellite TODAY 03-17-10] The U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) awarded MTN Government Services a contract worth more than $50 million to provide global broadband satellite services for five years, MTN announced March 16.     MTN will supply global C- and Ku-band satellite bandwidth to support the mission requirements for a key agency within DISA....

[Satellite TODAY 03-17-10] Telespazio and Italian Space Agency subsidiary e-GEOS signed a four-year, 5.4 million euro ($7.4 million) framework supply contract with the European Union (EU) through the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission, e-GEOS announced March 16.     e-GEOS will provide the EU with worldwide very high resolution images from the GeoEye-1...

[Satellite TODAY 03-16-10] TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) has been awarded $7 million to provide managed bandwidth services and terminal maintenance support for fixed satellite terminal sites supporting U.S. government personnel in forward operating areas throughout Southwest Asia and Iraq, TCS announced March 15.     TCS will support terminals that provide secure communications and IP-based voice, video...

[Satellite News 03-16-10] Engineers who develop satellite-based comms-on-the-move (COTM) systems face efficiency and bandwidth management challenges with physics that prevent 100 percent signal efficiency, according to a panel of engineers at SATELLITE 2010.     The panel session, “COTM: Meeting Military Technical Requirements,” featured viewpoints from across the bandwidth and customer spectrums. Andy Beegan, vice president...