Government/Military

[Satellite TODAY 12-01-09] The Greek government contracted Planetsky and business partner Epikinonia to provide Greece’s Afghanistan-based troops with broadband data and voice services, Planetsky announced Nov. 30.      As part of the contract, Planetsky has rolled out VelocitySat, an iDirect-shared service platform for two-way satellite services to connect Greek army bases and the country’s worldwide...

[Satellite TODAY 12-01-09] CapRock Government Solutions has deployed CommandAccess, its commercial off-the-shelf communications service for military and civilian agencies stationed in remote areas of operation, the company announced Nov. 30.      Designed to augment the U.S. government’s Wideband Global Satellite (WGS) program, the CommandAccess suite includes pre-packaged and customized satellite communications services to connect VSATs...

The European Commission sponsored a two-day conference in October in Brussels to discuss “The Ambitions of Europe in Space.” European big guns Jose Barroso, newly reappointed president of the European Commission; Rainer Wieland, vice president of the European Parliament; and Philippe Maystadt, president of the European Investment Bank, headlined the event. The focus of the...

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy issued the final report of the Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee, otherwise known as the Augustine report, on Oct 22. As expected from its preliminary report release in September, the report seeks to redirect and rationalize NASA’s priorities and suggest how the agency should...

[Satellite TODAY 12-01-09] Canadian satellite manufacturer Com Dev International’s fourth-quarter sales and profits will be $4.3 million lower than expected due to manufacturing issues with two of the company’s government-related contracts, Com Dev announced Nov. 30.     The company said it underestimated the costs associated with developing the two government projects. “In addition, we have...

[Satellite TODAY 12-01-09] The European Commission (EC) has appointed Neelie Kroes as commissioner responsible for the Digital Agenda, the EC announced Nov. 27. EC President José Manuel Barroso named Kroes as part of a new set of commissioners, which will serve until October 2014.     Kroes previously served as EC commissioner for competition policy and...

[Satellite TODAY 11-25-09] Comtech EF Data Corp. received $2.4 million in U.S. military orders for satellite modems and redundancy switches, the company announced Nov. 24.     The order includes Comtech’s DMD2050 universal satellite modem and corresponding redundancy switches, which will be used to support ongoing U.S. military operations and support infrastructure for warfighter communications.    ...

[Satellite TODAY 11-25-09] Iran will launch Misbah, a low-Earth orbit data communications satellite, by late 2011 without the help of Italy or Russia, Iranian officials announced Nov. 20.     The three countries were in talks to develop Iran’s space program, but according to Iranian Telecommunications Minister Reza Taqipour, those talks fell apart recently over concerns...

[Satellite TODAY 11-23-09] Inmarsat Government Services Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch and Xtar Vice President of Government Services Bill Schmidt will represent their organizations as panel members for Via Satellite’s Dec. 16 Webinar, "Addressing the Issues of Government and Military Bandwidth Acquisition."      They join U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) PEO and satellite director Bruce Bennett and...

[Satellite TODAY 11-23-09] U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) PEO and satellite director Bruce Bennett, along with Boeing Assistant Director of satcom and navigation systems William Reiner, will represent their organizations as panel members for Via Satellite‘s Dec. 16 Webinar, "Addressing the Issues of Government and Military Bandwidth Acquisition."     Via Satellite’s bandwidth acquisition Webinar...