Astrium U.K. Inks ESA Solar Satellite Construction Award

Astrium U.K. has won a 300 million euro ($397.8 million) contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to build the Solar Orbiter satellite at its facilities in Stevenage, United Kingdom.

The Solar Orbiter satellite will travel closer to the Sun than any spacecraft to date after it is launched in 2017. Its mission will include taking pictures and measurements from inside Mercury’s orbit in order to gain new insights on the Sun’s dynamic behavior.

Astrium said the satellite’s 42 million-kilometer proximity from the Sun’s surface will require the spacecraft to carry a robust shield.

Com Dev Signs $5 Million Satellite TV Equipment Deal

Com Dev International has won a deal to deliver hardware for a commercial satellite providing satellite TV and communications coverage over the Americas. Com Dev will provide Ku-band passive microwave equipment for a total contract value exceeding $5 million.

Work on the contract will be carried out at Com Dev’s facility in Cambridge, Ontario, with completion expected by March of next year.

GMV Wins Thaicom 6 Satellite Control Center Contract

GMV has entered into a contract with Thaicom to provide the satellite control center for the Thaicom 6 communications satellite.

GMV will develop and implement the satellite control center for Thaicom 6, including the satellite telemetry and telecommand system based on its Hifly platform. The satellite’s flight dynamics system and its ground equipment monitoring and control network will be based on GMV’s FocusSuite.

Orbital Sciences built Thaicom 6 based on its Star 2 platform for geostationary telecommunications spacecraft. GMV said it was selected for the contract because it had established a strong history with Orbital Sciences and supports numerous Star 2 platform spacecraft.

Nitronex Receives Government Orders for X-, Ka-band Amplifier Technology

Nitronex, an RF solutions developer for high-performance applications in the defense, communications, cable TV, industrial and scientific markets, has been awarded a Phase 1 SBIR contract from the U.S. government to develop a 20-Watt X-band GaN power amplifier that will be used in long-range RF telecommunications.

This is the third X- or Ka-Band contract awarded to Nitronex for its GaN-on-Si power amplifier technology. Nitronex has won 16 government contract awards that have funded the development of materials, devices, discretes, MMICs and process technologies, as well as manufacturing maturation.

Televisa Contracts Gilat for SkyEdge 2 VSAT Network

Mexican commercial television broadcaster Grupo Televisa has contracted Gilat Satellite Networks to provide its SkyEdge 2 VSAT network for its private communication network across Mexico.

The SkyEdge 2 is a multi-service platform designed for the enterprise, rural network, cellular backhaul and government markets as a standards-based system using DVB-S2 and DVB-RCS.

Televisa said it would use the Sky Edge 2 VSAT network as part of a comprehensive monitoring project to enable remote access and provide local content distribution to its domestic TV broadcast stations. Televisa also will update its content to take advantage of the IP broadcasting features embedded in the SkyEdge 2 solution.