Government/Military

[Satellite News 11-24-09] Aerospace Industry Association (AIA) Vice President of Space Systems J.P. Stevens warned members of a U.S. congressional science and technology committee that U.S. space programs need “stable and robust” funding in order to maintain world leadership.     Stevens hinted that congressional support for projects involving NASA and other government partnerships with the...

[Satellite TODAY 11-20-09] Telespazio and Italian Space Agency joint venture e-Geos signed a 3.5 million euro ($5.2 million) contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to supply optical and radar satellite data for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program, e-Geos announced Nov. 19.     Under the contract, e-Geos will provide the ESA...

[Satellite TODAY 11-20-09] Comtech PST Corp. received $2.1 million in orders from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop and manufacture next-generation, solid-state, high-power radio signal jamming amplifiers, the company announced Nov. 19.     The amplifiers will include new solid-state transistors and switch technology to provide broader frequency coverage for airborne- and ground-based jamming systems....

[Satellite TODAY 11-19-09] Thales Alenia Space has delivered the second flight model high-resolution optical imaging instrument to EADS Astrium for integration, testing and validation on the Pleiades earth observation satellite, Thales announced Nov. 19.      In October 2003, French space agency CNES awarded EADS Astrium a contract worth 314 million euros ($466.6 million) to build...

[Satellite TODAY 11-18-09] The U.S. Coast Guard is in the process of deploying TracPhone V7 and mini-VSAT broadband services from KVH Industries on its 110- and 225-foot cutters, KVH announced Nov. 17.     The Coast Guard contracted the KVH services in order to replace older satellite communications systems. The military has already installed a KVH...

[Satellite TODAY 11-19-09] The United States and China will expand discussions on space- and science-related cooperative projects, including human space flight and space exploration, according to a U.S.-China joint statement released Nov. 17.      The White House hailed progress made in scientific and technological cooperation and exchanges between the two countries throughout the past 30...

[Satellite TODAY 11-18-09] The director general of the Sri Lankan Telecommunications Regulatory Commission has contracted Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) to help the country develop its own space capability and its first communications satellite, SSTL announced Nov. 17.      SSTL will design and produce an Earth observation satellite for Sri Lanka. With the spacecraft in...

[Satellite TODAY 11-18-09] TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) has acquired Sidereal Solutions, a privately held satellite communications technology engineering, operations and maintenance support services company and a business partner of TCS’ government solutions group since 2007, TCS announced Nov. 16.     TCS purchased Sidereal with cash, approximately 244,000 shares of TCS stock, and contingent consideration based on...

[Satellite News 11-18-09] Satellite ground systems provider Integral Systems is planning to offer new solutions and service to deal with interference on satellites and hopes to be in position to start signing deals soon as a service provider to commercial and government customers, Bruno Dupas, president of Integral Systems Europe, told Satellite News.      Signal...

[Satellite TODAY 11-17-09] SpaceX filed a protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Oct. 26 over  a missile hardware order the U.S. Air Force placed with Orbital Sciences Corp. on Sept. 14, the GAO confirmed Nov. 16.     The order was to provide hardware in order to launch NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust...