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Swales Aerospace has completed a critical design review for the TacSat-3 Modular Bus program, the company announced. TacSat-3 is sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicle Directorate as part of the U.S. Department of Defense Operationally Responsive Space initiative. The review covered bus design and analysis details, subsystem configuration and performance, plus overall...

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract valued at about $50 million to execute a system design review for the next-generation GPS space segment, Lockheed Martin announced Dec. 21 . The company recently completed a GPS 3 system requirements review under a $10 million follow-on to a 2004 concept development contract. The...

The first satellite in Germany’s SAR-Lupe system was placed into orbit Dec. 19 by a Russian Cosmos 3M booster, satellite prime contractor OHB-System announced. The system of five identical satellites, which will be operated by the German armed forces, is designed to provide high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images to NATO military commanders in Europe...

Eumetsat, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, announced Dec. 19 that an agreement has been reached with Estonia to become the third Baltic State to join the group as a cooperating state. Estonia already uses some Eumetsat satellite data in its forecasts, and the cooperation agreement will allow the government full access...

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced plans Dec. 19 to locate a satellite receiving station in India for capturing data from the future National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the National Remote Sensing Agency will host the SafetyNet receiving station. Raytheon Co. will provide...

Ford Motor Co. of Canada and Audi Canada separately announced that Sirius Satellite Radio receivers will be delivered as factory-standard features in nearly all 2007 Ford, Lincoln and Audi vehicles sold in Canada.

David Stone, former assistant secretary of Homeland Security for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), has been named to the board of directors of SkyPort International Inc., the company announced Dec. 20. Prior to his 2004 appointment as assistant secretary, Stone, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, served as the first federal security director at...

XM Satellite Radio announced Dec. 19 that Joan Lordi Amble has joined the company’s board of directors. Amble serves as executive vice president and corporate comptroller for American Express Co.

Arrowhead Global Solutions Inc. received an order from the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to provide the U.S. Marine Corps with expanded commercial satellite capabilities, the company reported Dec. 18. Arrowhead, in conjunction with SES, will provide bandwidth availability, portability and mobility to support missions in the United States, Europe, Southwest Asia, Southeast Asia,...

XM Satellite Radio has completed its new two-satellite system after XM-4 was handed over to the satellite radio operator by Boeing Co., the companies announced. XM-4 was placed into orbit in October by Sea Launch and joins XM-3, launched in 2005, to provide service for XM through the next two decades, the company said. The...