Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 02-02-10] Space Micro appointed Bert Vermeire CTO, the company announced Feb. 1.     Vermeire was principal investigator on a variety of space industry research topics, including radiation effects on microcircuits and novel design techniques for mixed signal circuits using CMOS and SiGe fabrication technologies. He owns seven space-related technology patents.     Vermeire previously...

[Satellite TODAY 02-02-10] The White House has terminated NASA’s work on Orion, the follow-up vehicle to the Space Shuttle; ended development on two NASA rockets designed to fly manned missions to the moon; and will hand over space transportation and future human exploration mission to private commercial companies, according to President Barack Obama’s fiscal year...

[Satellite TODAY 02-02-10] International Datacasting Corp. (IDC) received a $2.62 million contract from the Canadian Department of National Defense for the continued operation of Canadian Forces Radio and Television (CFRT), IDC announced Feb. 1.     The extension is the first of two renewal options that are part of the overall Canadian defense contract IDC won...

[Satellite TODAY 02-02-10] Integral Systems revenues dropped 2 percent in its first fiscal quarter of 2010 to $37.7 million from the same quarter in the previous year, despite the company improving gross margins from 37 to 38.4 percent and growing income from operations by over 50 percent to $2.0 million, the company announced Feb. 1....

[Satellite News 02-02-10] U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to cut NASA’s manned Constellation lunar mission program and invest $6 billion in commercial launch companies to replace the retiring Space Shuttle has drawn sharp divisions between NASA and commercial industry supporters.     The U.S. Commercial Spaceflight Federation welcomed the President’s decision, which was announced as part...

A committee of the United Nations dedicated to the peaceful use of outer space has proposed the creation of a U.N. space policy. Would this be a good thing? Is anybody paying attention to this proposal? The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) is a U.N. body created in 1959 that meets...

[Satellite TODAY 02-01-10] Arianespace signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) defining the legal responsibilities and operational services Arianespace will provide during the combined testing and integration of the Vega launch vehicle, Arianespace announced Jan. 29.      Vega, co-financed by Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden, will undergo testing at...

[Satellite News 01-28-10] In his first State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress, President Barack Obama outlined goals to double U.S. exports over the next five years which included the easing of export controls.    “The more products we make and sell to other countries, the more jobs we support right here in...

[Satellite TODAY 01-28-10] Intelsat General was awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract to provide C-, Ku-, and X-band satellite resources, land earth stations, terrestrial backhaul, and bandwidth management services to the U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command’s commercial broadband satellite program, the company announced Jan. 26.     The contract is worth a guaranteed...

[Satellite TODAY 01-28-10] Integral Systems subsidiary RT Logic has been awarded a contract by Honeywell Technologies Solutions to supply narrowband and wideband modems for NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) User Services Subsystem Replacement (USSR) program, Integral announced Jan. 27.     RT Logic will supply Telemetrix 400XRs for the narrowband modem and test...