Government/Military

Smallspark Space Systems and Leaf Space, an Italian ground segment services provider, revealed on July 17 that they entered into an agreement to offer ground station services to the U.K. government and U.K. private sector clients. Smallspark and Leaf Space plan to deliver joint bids for projects with the U.K. government and other commercial operators...

U.S. Space Command reports it has evidence that Russia recently conducted an anti-satellite weapons test. In a Thursday announcement, Space Command said Russia released a new object into orbit from Cosmos 2543 in proximity to another Russian satellite. This is similar to on-orbit activity conducted by Russia in 2017, and it is inconsistent with the...

Though it would be a challenge, it was evident that OneWeb’s project was groundbreaking. The company aimed to disrupt the space industry with its large satellite constellation – and that it did. OneWeb set a precedent that large players such as SpaceX, Telesat, and Amazon only followed. From early on in its journey, U.K. regulators,...

The U.S. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) selected Ball Aerospace to develop a prototype of a new multi-band, low-observable satellite communications antenna to be installed on the U.S. Navy‘s newest stealth ships, the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers. This is part of the DIU’s Multi-Domain Tactical Communications (MDTC) program. Ball is leveraging its portfolios of electronically steerable...

The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Air Force Research Lab have awarded geospatial intelligence analytics company BlackSky a contract to monitor COVID-19 mitigation efforts involving U.S. military bases and supply chains, BlackSky announced July 21. BlackSky will use its Spectra artificial intelligence and machine-learning platform to monitor overseas U.S. military bases, ensure the protection...

The UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) awarded a contract to Airbus Defense and Space worth more than £500 million ($632 million USD) to upgrade the capability of the Skynet military communications satellite fleet, and build a new, all-electric satellite, Skynet 6A. Airbus will support technology development and provide both space and ground systems updates, including...

Maxar Technologies received more than $120 million in constellation service contract extensions from various, unnamed defense and intelligence customers in the Middle East and Asia, the company announced July 20. Maxar said it renewed four multi-year Direct Access Program service contracts and expanded a fifth satellite ground station and antenna upgrade contract in the second...

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized nearly $20 million in funding for Viasat to expand rural broadband in Pennsylvania, the Commission announced July 17. Viasat will be paid $19,945,120 over a ten-year term to serve rural locations in Pennsylvania. This would be the 14th wave of funding issued under the 2018 Connect America Fund Phase...

Get Sat and R4 Integration, a provider of airborne roll-on/roll-off and shoulder mount communication systems for U.S. and partner government aircraft, revealed Tuesday that the completion and airworthiness certification of their C-130 Multi-Purpose Hatch System (MPHS). Developed to support roll-on/roll-off requirements of special operations customers and to alleviate design concerns of large radomes, the low-profile...

The Federal Communications Commission’s chairman, Ajit Pai, says he’s proposing approval of Amazon’s plan to put more than 3,200 satellites into Low-Earth Orbit for a broadband internet constellation known as Project Kuiper … with conditions. In a tweet, Pai said he shared his proposal today with colleagues on the commission: “Earlier today, I shared with my colleagues a...