Focus: Ground Systems

With the support of specialists from Istar, the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) successfully completed the installation and commissioning of five central stations. These stations use UHP equipment to provide via-satellite communication using the Express-AM series spacecraft. This will help enable RSCC to use the capacity of its satellites more efficiently and expand the capabilities...

High Throughout Satellite (HTS) systems have brought unprecedented flexibility and bandwidth to the marketplace, but the new capability comes at a price: increased network complexity that will require innovation on the ground to manage effectively without breaking the bank. HTS satellites, which have been deployed in increasing numbers in recent years, feature multiple spot beams...

NSR released its VSAT and Broadband Satellite Markets 17th Edition report, in which it predicts cumulative market revenue of $159 billion in the next decade. The report also predicts 13.4 percent annual growth in the installed base of consumer sites alone. Enterprise Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) is a solid contributor with a predicted $12.3 billion...

Axelspace selected the SKY Perfect JSAT and Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) joint ground station service for its GRUS satellite, a commercial Japanese optical Earth observation satellite. The launch of the GRUS-1 satellite is scheduled for Dec. 27, and is the first satellite of a future constellation for the AxelGlobe project. GRUS is a next-generation remote sensing microsatellite, the building...

General Dynamics Mission Systems and a NASA team successfully completed the final laboratory System Acceptance Test (SAT) of NASA’s Space Network Ground Segment Sustainment (SGSS) project. The test took place at the General Dynamics SGSS laboratory in Scottsdale, Arizona. Future system testing and evaluation will take place at NASA’s White Sands Complex in Las Cruces, New Mexico, which serves...

Ball Aerospace was selected to build an adaptable, open-source framework testbed to support ground processing needs for the U.S. Air Force‘s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC). This prototype works with third-party processing applications and helps visualize the time-critical processing performance in satellite ground systems, ensuring timely and reliable missile warnings, battlespace awareness, and technical...

Amazon Web Services (AWS) revealed its new AWS Ground Station program, which will take advantage of Lockheed Martin‘s new Verge antenna network. Through this integration, customers using AWS Ground Station gain the ability to download data from multiple satellites at the same time and to continue downloading data even when unplanned outages like a weather event impact...

Hughes Defense Systems has subcontracted GetSAT’s MilliSAT L/W terminal as the beyond line of sight (BLOS) SatCom component for the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Airborne Communications network, supporting Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Humanitarian Aid, Search and Rescue, and Disaster Relief (DR) Missions. GetSAT’s L/W platforms are designed for airborne and UAV platforms and are available in...

Speedcast International has been awarded multi-year contracts in multiple countries to enhance existing global services for Schlumberger, an oilfield services provider. The improvements include equipment and network upgrades leveraging modem and terminal technologies in countries such as Pakistan, China, Australia, and New Zealand. Speedcast will also upgrade technology for sites in Latin America, as well as...

Cubic‘s Mission Solutions business division deployed its Ground Antenna Transmit and Receive (GATR) satcom and networking systems, as well as personnel, to support Florida’s hurricane disaster recovery efforts. Partnering with the United States Army‘s Transportable Tactical Command Communications (T2C2) project office, Cubic’s GATR satcom and networking systems have been set up in several locations throughout...