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Globalstar Unveils Smaller, Lighter Handsets Globalstar Inc. introduced its next-generation satellite telephone handset. The GSP-1700, manufactured by Qualcomm, weighs about 7.1 ounces — about half the weight of the Globalstar’s current satellite handset — and is nearly 45 percent smaller by volume. Globalstar has begun a progressive rollout of the new handset and also plans...

A captive audience of travelers waiting out delays in Denver International Airport (DIA) can bide their time watching DirecTV following the Dec. 28 launch of the satellite TV provider’s first airport retail kiosk. Marking an exclusive, multi-year deal with DIA to provide programming in select areas of the facility, DirecTV began showcasing its high-definition and...

Space Micro Inc. announced that its Proton 100k space computer has been launched aboard the TacSat-2 satellite. The Proton 100k Radiation Hardened Single Board Computer is the instrument computer of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory‘s RoadRunner on-board processing experiment and is responsible for data management and processing of focal-plane-array data. TacSat-2 was launched Dec....

A new study from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) uses satellite imagery to illustrate changes in land use associated with increasing urbanization and its impacts on local, regional, and national scales. Twenty scientific contributions depict urban changes nationwide from historical, geographic, economic, and ecological perspectives. The analysis in "Rate, Trends, Causes, and Consequences of Urban...

Calian Technologies Ltd. reported Dec. 27 its has received a contract valued in excess of $15 million Canadian dollars ($12.9 million) to develop radio frequency terminals for a new mobile communications network covering North America. Calian will provide radio frequency terminals for four communications gateways in Canada and the United States to support satellite telemetry,...

Lockheed Martin has delivered the flight structure for the third Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) satellite to the company’s Mississippi facility for integration with its propulsion subsystem, Lockheed Martin announced Dec. 27. The satellites, based on Lockheed Martin’s A2100 platform, are designed to provide secure communications for warfighters. Advanced EHF spacecraft will be able to...

France’s Corot astronomy spacecraft was placed into polar orbit Dec. 27 by an enhanced Russian Soyuz 2-1b rocket in a mission conducted jointly from Baikonur Cosmodrome by Arianespace and its Starsem affiliate. The Soyuz 2-1b features an enhanced third stage engine as well as flight control and system upgrades. Arianespace will use the improved Soyuz...

The Russian government has placed three Glonass navigation satellites and a communications spacecraft into orbit in a pair of launches, according to press reports. A Proton rocket lofted three modernized Glonass-M satellites into orbit Dec. 26 from Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan, according to RIA Novosti news agency. Separately, a Soyuz 2 rocket delivered a...

Empost, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) national courier company, is installing GPS units in more than 425 delivery vans and motorcycles as part of an advanced information technology communications system, the company announced Dec. 24. Empost is investing will invest AED 6 million ($1.6 million) as part of an initiative to improve operational efficiency and...

ViaSat Inc. has received a $4.6 million order from the Defense Communication and Army Transmission Systems (PM DCATS) for MD-1366 enhanced bandwidth efficient modems, which are used by the U.S. Department of Defense for high-speed satellite communications at fixed sites, aboard ships and for the future Wideband Global System (formerly Wideband Gapfiller). An order for...