Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 01-04-10] Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has agreed to launch Vietnam’s second telecommunications satellite by 2012 and assigned the state-run Vietnam Posts and Telecoms Group to be the sole investor of the Vinasat-2 satellite, the Vietnamese government announced Jan. 4, in a statement.     The Vinasat-2 satellite will cost between $290 million...

[Satellite TODAY 01-04-10] U.S. facility clearance license laws have forced EMS Technologies to appoint Board Chairman John Mowell to the additional position of executive director, the company announced Jan. 4.     EMS said the appointment was necessary to maintain its U.S. facility clearance license in response to U.S. National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM)...

[Satellite TODAY 01-04-10] DigitalGlobe’s high-resolution WorldView-2 satellite has achieved full operational capability on schedule, the imagery company announced Jan. 4.     WorldView-2, launched in October, offers eight multispectral bands, which aim to provide more spectral information and allow for greater analysis capabilities, including improved feature identification and change detection. The satellite joins DigitalGlobe’s existing satellites,...

According to Andrea Maleter, technical director, Futron, “There is a fair amount of private equity money still going into (Latin America’s) satellite business. Latin American telecoms, in general, has seen a fair amount of consolidation. Telefonica, which has acquired so many companies around the region, has not had a problem gaining financing for things that...

Even though the satellite sector was touted as recession-proof, many companies are glad to put a difficult year behind them. And while there is no guarantee that 2010 will be immediately better, the communications sector is looking forward to what should be a much improved overall marketplace. Areas that should be good for satellite players...

Two important changes to the European legal landscape occurred in November with implications that will spill forward into the satellite field for years to come. First, steps to ratify the European Treaty of Lisbon were completed. The treaty, signed in Lisbon in December 2007,was ratified when the Czech Republic in November became the last of...

[Satellite TODAY 12-31-09] The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has awarded three indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts for Commercial Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (COMSAR) imagery, data products, and direct downlink services, the agency announced Dec. 29.      MDA Geospatial Services, EADS North America, and Lockheed Martin each won an NGA contract that includes a five-year ordering period...

[Satellite TODAY 12-31-09] SatMax Corp. signed a new agreement with Houston-based TLC Engineering, SatMax announced Dec. 30.     TLC will offer the SatMax line of satellite communications extenders to U.S. governmental departments and agencies as well as state and local government customers and first Responder agencies. TLC was recently awarded a U.S. General Services Administration...

[Satellite TODAY 12-29-09] Harris Corp. received a $228 million order from the U.S. Marine Corps to provide Falcon 2 AN/VRC-104 high-frequency radio systems for use in U.S. military all-terrain vehicles as part of its HF radio contract program, Harris announced Dec. 23.     The AN/VRC-104 is a vehicular transceiver and amplifier equipped with an AN/PRC-150...

[Satellite TODAY 12-29-09] Sypris Solutions was awarded about $5 million in new orders from a variety of customers in December to make electronic components supporting commercial and government satellite systems, the company announced Dec. 23.     The Tampa, Fla.-based satellite provider of outsourced manufacturing and services to the aerospace, defense and automotive industries said the...