Government/Military

Some Progress Seen In Understanding Flow Control Valves Problem: NASA Continuing worries about flow control valves on Space Shuttle Discovery once again caused NASA to postpone its launch, now set for no earlier than Feb. 27, the space agency announced. Further details may become clear at the end of the work week, when top NASA...

The AASM modular air-to-ground weapon was fired successfully, Sagem announced. Sagem (SAFRAN Group) and the French defense procurement agency DGA successfully carried out the first firing test of the 125-kilogram version of the AASM modular air-to-ground weapon. The AASM 125 comprises a Mk81 type 125 kg bomb, to which are attached inertial/GPS guidance and range...

[Satellite Today 02-13-09] Satlynx has signed two new contracts with the Polish government, the company announced Feb. 12.     The first deal, worth 6.7 million euros ($8.65 million), is with the Polish government’s systems partner WZL to provide a range of satellite equipment. Satlynx and WZL have been cooperating on a number of different initiatives...

[Satellite Today 02-13-09] A defunct Russian satellite collided with an Iridium satellite resulting in the destruction of both spacecraft, Iridium announced Feb. 12.     The collision occurred above Siberia at 4:55 p.m. GMT on Feb 11.     The Russian satellite involved was a Cosmos telecom spacecraft launched in 1993 and no longer in service. The...

[Satellite Today 02-12-09] A Lockheed Martin led team has won another U.S. space contract, the company announced Feb. 10. The U.S. Air Force has awarded the Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) Space Segment Team a $75-million, six-month extension to its Risk Reduction and System Definition (RR&SD) contract.     Over the next several...

[Satellite Today 02-12-09] The Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) has been boosted by the successful launch of the Express AM44 and Express-MD1 satellites, the company said Feb. 11. The two satellites were launched onto target orbit by a Proton-M rocket and taken under control by a RSCC satellite mission control center. At present, RSCC, via...

[Satellite Today 02-11-09] The second Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) military communications satellite is now undergoing thermal vacuum testing, Lockheed Martin said Feb. 9. The testing is taking place at Lockheed’s Sunnyvale, Calif. Facilities.     The U.S. Air Force’s Advanced EHF system will provide global, highly secure, protected, survivable communications for warfighters operating on ground,...

ViaSat received a contract modification from the U.S. Army — through prime contractor Globecomm Systems Inc. — to modify the Joint-Internet Protocol Modem to enable it to operate as the network-centric modem for the Global Broadcast Service (GBS), ViaSat announced.     ViaSat is under contract to make the modem compatible with GBS and U.S. Defense...

L-3 Electron Technologies received combined orders totaling nearly $1 million for the development of a high-efficiency 600-watt Ka-band communications helix traveling wave tube.     The airborne platform communications technology orders were placed by two U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory contractors.     “Achieving 600 watts at 30 gigahertz with a high reliability helix [traveling wave tube]...

Enerdyne Technologies, a ViaSat company, will supply its EnerLinks2 digital video over analog (DVA) data link technology to Insitu Inc. for use in its Integrator and next-generation ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).     The DVA system enables Insitu to convert to an encrypted digital video link without replacing any of the RF equipment in either...