Government/Military

The Navy needs some seven or eight more ballistic-missile-defense (BMD) Aegis weapon system surface ships immediately to meet demands of combatant commanders, and the sea service definitely will need more of the BMD ships later, Rear Adm. Brad Hicks, Aegis BMD program director, said. But he didn’t supply even a ballpark estimate as to just...

The NOAA-N Prime spacecraft, a Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES), is poised to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket Feb. 4. Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] built NOAA-N Prime at its Space Systems Company Sunnyvale, Calif., facility. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed and The...

The first Mid-Range Munition (MRM) cartridge integration test ended with the round striking the target about three miles downrange, Raytheon Co. [RTN] announced. General Dynamics Corp. [GD] and the Army also participated in the test. The autonomously fired round struck the threat target from a beyond-line-of-sight range of 5.2 kilometers (about 3 statute miles). MRM...

PlanetSpace Inc. protested multi-billion-dollar NASA contract awards to Orbital Sciences Corp. [ORB] and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, for commercial spacecraft cargo flights to the International Space Station. (Please see Space & Missile Defense Report, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009, for full story.) The contracts would be worth $3.5 billion to $6.2 billion to Orbital...

The Navy gave Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] a $6.3 million contract to support MK 41 vertical launch systems for the U.S. and Turkish navies, Lockheed announced. Lockheed will provide engineering support services for MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) work on the U.S. Navy Ticonderoga Class guided missile cruiser modernization program and the Turkish navy’s...

Norway gave Thales a contract to deliver a new satellite communications system for the five Norwegian Nansen class frigates. The Norwegian Defence Procurement Division contract will significantly enhance the effectiveness of the Nansen class frigates, enabling them to communicate over secure, high bandwidth satellite links, both with other national and allied force elements, Thales stated....

By Marina Malenic The Air Force is poised to open a new round of bidding for a $10 billion Transformational Communications Satellite (TSAT) contract, which the service plans to award in a year’s time or sooner, one top official said last week. "We spent some time back in December to make sure the warfighter’s needs...

[Satellite Today 01-16-09] GMV appointed Jesús Serrano CEO, the company announced Jan. 15.     Serrano, who has worked for the company since its inception, replaces former CEO Luis Mayo.     Serrano previously served as managing director of GMV’s aerospace and defense subsidiary and has worked for the European Space Agency.

[Satellite Today 01-16-09] DigitalGlobe and Aegis Technologies have released ImageScape, a 3-D satellite imagery solution that aims to provide governments, enterprises and developers with the capability to create simulations of any location in the world, DigitalGlobe announced Jan. 15.     ImageScape generates 3-D virtual terrain models by integrating satellite and aerial imagery and digital elevation...

[Satellite Today 01-16-09] PlanetSpace has filed a protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) over NASA‘s selection under the International Space Station Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) competition, PlanetSpace announced Jan. 15.     PlanetSpace claims it offered a superior proposal, received a higher mission suitability score from NASA’s Source Evaluation Board (SEB), and was lower...