Arqiva Extends Global Distribution Contract with ABS-CBN

Arqiva renewed its contract to provide Filipino company ABS-CBN’s U.S. operations with distribution services for five years.

Arqiva will continue delivering ABS-CBN’s eight-channel bouquet to DTH platforms in Europe as well as the broadcaster’s North American programming to U.S. DTH operator DirecTV.

ABS-CBN feeds are delivered to Arqiva’s Los Angeles teleport as single multiplexed, encoded stream. The European feed is sent through Arqiva’s dedicated fiber network to the London Teleport and uplinked onto Arqiva’s AB-3 European DTH capacity. The North American programming is sent via Arqiva’s fiber link directly to DirecTV’s Los Angeles Broadcast Center.
 

GMV to Modernize NASA’s Space Network Ground System

General Dynamics has subcontracted GMV Space Systems to modernize NASA’s Tracking Data and Relay Satellite (TDRS) constellation under its Space Network Ground Segment Sustainment program award.

GMV Space Systems will provide fleet management, satellite telemetry, telecommand, archiving and trending, service management planning and scheduling, systems engineering, integration, and test support over four years.
 

Hughes works with Tachyon on Military Airborne Solution

Hughes Network Systems and Tachyon Networks have partnered to develop end-to-end airborne COTM solutions for military manned and unmanned aircraft. The partners initially will focus on fixed-wing aircraft and then expand to rotary-wing aircraft, which require full-motion HD video transmission capabilities.

Tachyon will provide its aXiom end-to-end satellite broadband solutions for air, land and sea and will integrate its Linux-based aXiom Services Platform to the solutions resulting from its cooperation with Hughes.

Hughes will contribute its Hughes HX router for fixed wing aircraft as well as a commercial aviation broadband offering, which facilitates adoption of a COTS-based solution by the U.S. airborne intelligence community.
 

Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Win Space Fence Design Contracts from Air force

The U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon and Lockheed Martin contracts to design the Pentagon’s Space Fence, which will replace its 50-year-old VHF Space Surveillance System to detect space objects and debris in low-Earth orbit.

Both companies were awarded an initial $20 million under the 18-month contract, with a potential $107 million in additional orders,. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin have been working with Northrop Grumman on the Space Fence concept since June 2009.

Lockheed Martin’s prototype design will be based on its Aegis naval weapons S-band radar. Raytheon will focus on expanding the range of objects the system could track, including objects that threaten space shuttles and the International Space Station.
 

NewSat Receives Australian Enterprise, Government Deals

Independent satellite company NewSat signed a $2 million contract with Nixon Communications to provide services to the natural gas pipeline being built between Chinchilla and Gladstone in Queensland, Australia.

NewSat also received $800,000 in contract revenue from multiple Australian and international resource projects. With $3 million in new contracts closed late in 2010, NewSat’s combined contract wins stand at $6 million since December.
 

Orbital Sciences to Integrate payloads for Iridium Next

Iridium Next prime contractor Thales Alenia Space awarded a systems integration and testing contract to Orbital Sciences to integrate the low-Earth orbit constellation’s communications payloads and platforms.

All work will be completed at Orbital’s headquarters location in Dulles, Va., and its systems facility in Gilbert, Ariz. Orbital was issued the contract because of its geographical fit with Iridium’s satellite network operations center in Leesburg, Va., and its gateway in Tempe, Ariz.
 

SBI will Sell Ka-Sat Tooway Service in Ireland

Satellite Broadband Ireland (SBI) signed a three-year, 5 million euro ($6.7 million) agreement with Eutelsat to sell Tooway broadband services provided via Eutelsat’s Ka-Sat satellite.

Ka-Sat, Europe’s first high-throughput satellite, uses next-generation two-way wireless Ka-band spotbeam technology, which aims to reduce the cost of high-bandwidth access to the Internet with a total capacity of more than 70Gbps. SBI will introduce Tooway to Ireland and then expand across Europe.
 

SSTL secures Payload award from ESA

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) won a contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide a short wave infrared (SWIR) spectrometer as part of the TROPOMI instrument for the Sentinel 5 Precursor atmospheric monitoring mission.

SSTL’s Optical Payloads Group will coordinate an consortium that includes the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON) and Sofradir (France) to procure and integrate the remote sensing instrument. The SWIR spectrometer will be used to measure carbon monoxide and methane in the atmosphere.

The contract is valued at 10.7 million euros ($14 million).
 

Sun Direct Expands Ku-band Transponder Lease with Measat

Indian DTH operator Sun Direct has leased two additional Measat-3 Ku-band transponders from Measat Satellite Systems.

The agreement expands Sun Direct’s capacity on the Measat fleet to four transponders. Sun Direct said the additional lease aims to provide better service to its 5.1 million, which constitutes 21 percent of the country’s market share.
 

TVN Signs Deal to Support Sweden’s DVB-T2 Roll Out

Thomson Video Networks (TVN) will supply headend technology to broadcast network operator Teracom for Sweden’s roll out of DVB-T2, scheduled to take place at the end of 2012.

TVN will provide its Vibe EM3000 and Vibe EM2000 encoders, NetProcessor 9030 multiplexers, and TVN’s XMS management system. The solutions aim to enable Teracom to provide HD services over its network.
 

Energia Appoints Pysher COO of Sea Launch

Energia Logistics, which is responsible for all aspects of satellite integration and launch operations for Sea Launch Zenit-3SL missions, named Kirk Pysher COO.

Pysher will lead an operations and engineering team in support of Energia Logistics’ charter to manage hardware production, provide engineering services and deliver launch services.

Pysher previously served as Boeing’s vice president and chief systems engineer of Sea Launch before Energia took over the launch company after it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
 

Norsat Names Chin CFO

Norsat appointed Arthur Chin CFO, replacing Trevor Greene, who left to pursue other opportunities.

Chin returns to Norsat after serving from 2002 to 2005 as corporate controller. Prior to rejoining Norsat, he held financial positions with DDS Wireless and Ascalade Communications.
 

Space Foundation adds Board members

The Space Foundation named Gary Ervin, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems; James Maser, president of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne; and Kay Sears, president of Intelsat General to its board.

The new members replace SES World Skies CEO Rob Bednarek and Northrop Grumman CTO Alexis Livanos, both retiring after serving on the board since 2005.

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