Dish, Southwest Airlines Announce Free Live and On-Demand TV

Dish is launching “TV Flies Free,” marking the first time TV entertainment is free for passengers aboard Southwest Airlines. Southwest customers using iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, or most other Internet-ready personal devices can access live TV and up to 75 on-demand shows on the airline’s more than 400 Wi-Fi-enabled aircraft, free of charge.

The live-TV lineup currently features Bravo, CNBC, FOX 5 New York (WNYW), FOX Business Network, FOX News Channel, Golf Channel, MLB.com (Major League Baseball, when games are available), MSNBC, NBC 4 (WNBC), NFL Network, Food Network, HGTV, and Travel Channel. Popular television show episodes are also available on demand as part of the TV lineup. Free TV is a limited-time promotion.

Dish also announced a promotion for new Dish customers signing up for the Hopper Whole Home DVR and a qualified programming package, offering 12,500 points in Southwest’s Rapid Rewards frequent flyer program and the choice to receive an iPad 2. Dish is teaming up with Southwest Airlines for the nationwide marketing campaign to make its offer available to the airline’s customers.

SpaceX Awarded Launch Reservation in Canadian Space Program

Radarsat 1 during testing and assembly at the Canadian Space Agency’s David Florida Laboratory in Ottawa Credit: CRC

SpaceX has won a new launch contract with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) for a large space program in Canada. SpaceX will launch the three satellites that will make up the Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM) on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2018. RCM is a three-satellite configuration and will support Canada’s need for maritime surveillance, disaster management and ecosystem monitoring.

Orbcomm Completes Fuel Monitoring Solution Shipment

Orbcomm’s fuel monitoring system will prevent theft of mission-critical fuel used by U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Credit: ISAF

Orbcomm’s Globaltrak division has completed the shipment of its fuel monitoring system, which is designed to prevent theft of mission-critical fuel used by U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. A team has been deployed to manage on-site installation and launch of this system.

Following an evaluation of several major companies, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) selected globaltrak for this project and determined that it was the only solution provider that could demonstrate both fuel level monitoring as well as security of the fuel ports and valves, according to a written statement from Orbcomm.

SSL Selected to Provide New Satellite to Intelsat

Intelsat has selected Space Systems/Loral (SSL) to provide a new communications satellite to expand its coverage of the Western hemisphere. Intelsat 34 will serve the role originally intended for Intelsat 27. This includes providing capacity to meet the growing needs of Latin American media customers, as well as broadband for aeronautical companies serving the busy North Atlantic routes.

Scheduled for launch in 2015, Intelsat 34 will replace Intelsat 805 and Galaxy 11 at 304.5 degrees east longitude. Intelsat 34 is designed to deliver service for 15 years or longer.

Intelsat 34 will be the 24th satellite built by SSL that includes electric propulsion.

AIS Engineering Provides US Government with Ku-Band Services

AIS Engineering has been awarded a Custom Satellite So- lutions Small Business (CS2SB) task order to provide U.S., Eu- rope, Southwest Asia and Horn of Africa Ku-Band services for deployable communications. The order includes one base year and four option years.

CS2SB is part of the Future Commercial SATCOM Acquisi- tion (FCSA) program, which is managed by the General Servic- es Administration (GSA) in part- nership with the Defense Infor- mation Systems Agency (DISA). AIS is an approved vendor on other elements of the FCSA program including transponded capacity (132-54) and subscrip- tion services (132-55).