Aireon Signs 12-Year Contract with UK NATS

Aireon has signed a 12-year agreement for data services with NATS, the U.K.’s privatized provider of air traffic control services and air traffic management in the North Atlantic, Europe and internationally. NATS will be using Aireon’s space-based ADS-B surveillance to enhance air traffic management and provide improved coverage over the North Atlantic region.

NATS will also be a charter Air Navigation Service provider (ANSP) of Aireon, working closely with NAV Canada and the FAA on the technical and operational development of space-based ADS-B services. Together, these three companies will develop policies, standards and operational procedures for the service.

ESA Continues Progress on Neosat Program

Bertrand Maureau of Thales Alenia Space, Magali Vaissiere of ESA, and Eric Béranger of Airbus Defence and Space, signed the Neosat Phase-B contract at ESA headquarters in Paris. Photo: ESA–N.
Imbert-Vier, 2014

The European Space Agency (ESA) is continuing its work with the Neosat next-generation satcom platform, planning for the first flights to take place in the next five years. The goal of this program is for European satellite builders to capture half of the world’s satcom market between 2018 and 2030, which is expected to generate more than $34 billion in sales.

Magali Vaissiere, ESA’s director of telecommunications and integrated applications, and Eric Béranger and Bertrand Maureau, prime contractors for Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space, respectively, have signed the contract for Phase-B of Neosat. This contract covers selection of the equipment suppliers for Neosat.

OneAccess and the Auriga Network Announce New Satellite VPN Managed Services

OneAccess and the Auriga Network have announced the availability of a business-grade satellite VPN managed service that will enable enterprise customers in the United Kingdom to establish a subscription-based, high-speed, fully encrypted VPN through Eutelsat’s next-generation Ka-Sat satellite. This service will enable distributed organizations with sites beyond the range of terrestrial networks to take advantage of Ka-Sat’s High Throughput Satellite (HTS) transmission speeds with an ultra-fast VPN. The service provides speeds of up to 20 Mbps download and 6 Mbps upload, enabling the delivery of traffic acceleration, IP routing and IP-VPN secure transport services.

This new service will also lower the typical cost of deployment for a solution of this kind. It no longer requires the use of a dedicated IP access concentrator to manage the data encryption, but instead uses a number of concentrators stored in a London-based telehouse. This reduces both the capex needed to provision a new satellite VPN as well as the opex needed to maintain the system.

Thales Alenia Space Wins Contract from French DGA

Athena-Fidus broadband telecommunications satellite. Photo: Thales Alenia Space

The French defense procurement agency DGA awarded Thales Alenia Space a contract to provide operational support for the Syracuse 3, Athena-Fidus and Sicral 2 space systems. The contract involves station-keeping and support services for the satellites.

The Syracuse 3 space system is comprised of two telecommunications satellites in geostationary orbit, the Syracuse 3A and 3B, along with the ground control systems. The Athena-Fidus and Sicral 2 systems include the eponymous satellites and the associated ground control systems.

TrustComm Expands International Presence with Cyprus Gateway

TrustComm has announced its international expansion with the construction of the Starlight regional gateway in Cyprus. This will allow TrustComm to offer an enhanced version of the new Starlight mobile satellite service (MSS). Introduced in November 2013, Starlight is an end-to-end, U.S.-managed implementation of mobile satellite data and voice services delivered through Thuraya.

The gateway is being constructed at Cyta’s Makarios Teleport in Cyprus, with data switching equipment being provided by Hughes and Earth-station systems provided by Integral Systems Europe.