Government/Military

A team led by Raytheon Co. completed a segment design review and modernized capability engineering for the U.S. Air Force‘s next-generation GPS control segment (GPS OCX).     Working under a $160 million Phase A system design and risk reduction contract, Raytheon said the two milestones, reached in December, will keep the program on track, within...

Lockheed Martin‘s Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous orbit (GEO-1) satellite has completed baseline integrated system testing of new flight software that enables command and control operations.     The flight software used during the testing contains applications that control space vehicle electrical power, temperature, attitude and navigation. Testing of the GEO-1 spacecraft was conducted from Jan....

In 2010, the U.S. Army Logistics Innovation Agency (LIA) will leverage global communications integrator Arinc’s Asset Assure wireless satellite tracking systems to provide weapons manufacturers and intermediaries with real-time global cargo shipment tracking — a development intended to drastically reduce risks and streamline management issues associated with shipping hazardous materials.     Jim Potter, Arinc’s tracking...

NATO’s demands for bandwidth are increasing, and the organization has been tapping into the benefits of IP technologies to help in operations, said Malcolm Green, chief of CAT 9 communication infrastructure services of the NATO C3 agency.     The question for NATO is having access to bandwidth as and when it is needed, Green said....

President Obama is pursuing a global ban on space-based weapons while promising to protect U.S. satellites from harm, according to a Jan. 26 announcement from the White House.     The pledge includes contingency plans to keep information flowing from U.S. satellites and to take steps needed to protect spacecraft against attack. It also contains language...

MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) conducted its first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight in Afghanistan Jan. 1.     Flight operations are underway from Kandahar Airfield for the Canadian Department of National Defense. The service will support Canadian troops and NATO by providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information via satellite directly to commanders and front line...

ViaSat Inc. and the U.S. Army extended the vehicular Blue Force Tracking 2 (BFT2) demonstration with U.S. Army Aviation BFT2 demonstrations aboard a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.     ViaSat’s ArcLight BFT2 satellite communication network delivered 122 kilobits per second of IP traffic to ground terminals over an Inmarsat I-4 satellite channel, compared to the 5.2 kilobits...

A team led by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman sent its SpaceWire data bus technology for preliminary design review.     The development marks a milestone in the risk reduction phase of the U.S. Air Force‘s Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) constellation, the companies said. The SpaceWire bus technology, a self-managing serial protocol, provides on-orbit satellite...

Proactive Communications Inc. (PCI) signed a $2 million contract negotiation with Australian-based operator NewSat to provide a unified communications solution to customers in Afghanistan.     The three-year deal will expand PCI’s satellite coverage across Southwest Asia and North Africa. PCI said the contract was driven by difficulties in securing satellite bandwidth in these regions, turning...

Vizada won a contract with Delta Wave Communications to supply the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers with Inmarsat and Iridium mobile satellite communications services in the United States and overseas.     Vizada will provide Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) and the Iridium 9505A handheld mobile telephone to Delta Wave as part of a deal...