Government/Military

[Satellite Today 04-24-09] China has launched a new remote sensing satellite, ‘Yaogan VI’ from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North Shanxi Province, according to a Xinhua News Agency report released April 22.     According to the report, the satellite was launched via a Long March 2C rocket on April 22. 

[Satellite Today 04-24-09] CapRock Communications changed the name of its federal government division, Arrowhead Global Solutions to CapRock Government Solutions, CapRock announced April 22.     According to CapRock, name the change marks the final assimilation and integration of its federal government-focused division into the CapRock corporate structure. By fully integrating Arrowhead as a business unit...

[Satellite Today 04-24-09] Harris Corp. was awarded a 10-year (five-year base contract with five additional option years), $600 million contract from the U.S. Army to provide next-generation military satellite communications terminals developed for the Army’s Modernization of Enterprise Terminals (MET) program, Harris announced April 23.     Harris will develop, test and certify four unique terminal...

[Satellite Today 04-27-09] Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX)  completed qualification testing of its Draco spacecraft thruster and Draco propulsion tank, the launch company announced April 24.     The Draco thruster test series included 42 firings with more than 4,600 pulses of varying lengths and was performed in a vacuum test chamber to simulate the space environment,...

[Satellite Today 04-23-09] GeoEye has appointed Carl Alleyne to the position of vice president of engineering, the company announced April 21.     Reporting to GeoEye COO William Schuster, Alleyne will be responsible for the overall direction and strategic management of all engineering activities for GeoEye, including the GeoEye-2 satellite, slated for launch in 2012.

[Satellite Today 04-23-09] ViaSat received certification from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) for its High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptor Interoperability Specification (HAIPE IS) for the ViaSat AltaSec KG-250 Inline Network Encryptor (INE), ViaSat announced April 22.     The company said that through a free software download to all fielded KG-250 units, the unit adds...

[Satellite Today 04-22-09] A team led by Raytheon received a contract extension to perform additional risk-reduction activities for the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation Global Positioning System Operational Ground Control Segment (GPS OCX), Raytheon announced April 21.     “We are working with our customer to continue to reduce program risk to ensure that we have the...

[Satellite Today 04-22-09] Northrop Grumman, the payload integrator for the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS), delivered the second geosynchronous orbit (GEO) payload to prime contractor Lockheed Martin, for integration into the spacecraft and final system-level testing, Northrop Grumman announced April 21.     The payload will be installed on the GEO-2 spacecraft, scheduled for launch in...

[Satellite Today 04-21-09] The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully launched two new Indian satellites, Risat-2 and Anusat, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, ISRO announced April 20.     Risat-2 is a radar imaging satellite with the capability to take images of the earth during day and night as well as...

[Satellite Today 04-16-09] Harris Corp. opened a facility in St. Louis, for production and quality assurance of high-resolution imagery-derived geospatial data for the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and other federal agencies, Harris announced April 15.     The facility, which officially opened April 9, will supply imagery processing, foundation data, mapping and charting production, and...