May 2015

News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web

SSTL’s New Spacecraft Operations Center Goes Live – Satellite Today

SSTL’s new Satellite Operations Center. Photo: SSTL [Via Satellite 05-29-2015] Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) opened its recently completed Spacecraft Operations Center (SOC) this week ahead of a series of satellite launches. Four SSTL-built satellites are slated to launch in the coming months and the company plans to inaugurate the facility during the first phase…

Airbus Defence and Space Completes C-band Payload for Sentinel 1B – Satellite Today

The Sentinel 1B satellite’s antenna. Photo: Airbus Defence and Space. [Via Satellite 05-29-2015] Airbus Defence and Space has shipped the Sentinel 1B satellite’s C-band radar instrument to prime contractor Thales Alenia Space (TAS) Italy for integration and testing. Once complete, the Copernicus-program satellite is scheduled for launch in 2016, following which it will join the…

Harris Corp Completes Exelis Acquisition – Satellite Today

Photo: Exelis [Via Satellite 05-29-2015] Harris Corporation finished its previously announced $4.75 billion acquisition of Exelis. Each outstanding share of Exelis common stock converted into the right to receive $16.625 in cash and 0.1025 of a share of Harris common stock. Harris shareholders own 85 percent of the combined company and Exelis shareholders own 15…

Comtech EF Data Advanced VSAT Solutions Now Supporting O3b Customers – Satellite Today

[Via Satellite 05-29-2015] Comtech EF Data’s commercially available Advanced Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) Solutions are now deployed and supporting multiple customer installations using O3b Networks’ satellite system. The in-service customers are located in the Cook Islands, Pakistan and Malaysia, and have deployed point-to-multipoint networks using O3b Networks’ Ka-band Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite systems…

Intelsat Releases IntelsatOne Flex Service – Satellite Today

Artist rendition of the Intelsat 33e satellite. Photo: Intelsat [Via Satellite 05-28-2015] Intelsat has introduced a new customizable, managed mobility service for maritime, aero and government verticals designed to simplify the launch of new services and reduce costs. Dubbed IntelsatOne Flex, the service leverages iDirect’s Velocity ground infrastructure platform for scalability, performance and higher throughput.…

Arianespace Dual Launch Orbits Two Satellites for DirecTV – Satellite Today

Arianespace’s VA223 mission for DirecTV. Photo: Arianespace [Via Satellite 05-28-2015] Arianespace successfully launched two satellites for DirecTV on May 27 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. The mission carried the DirecTV 15 satellite, built by Airbus Defence and Space on the Eurostar E3000 platform, and the Sky Mexico 1 (SKYM 1) satellite built on Orbital ATK’s…

Hughes Unveils New Jupiter System Router – Satellite Today

Hughes’ HT1300 satellite router. Photo: Hughes [Via Satellite 05-28-2015] Hughes Networks Systems has released a new high-throughput router for the company’s Jupiter system, designed to operate over C and Ku band, as well as Ka-band satellite capacity. The HT1300 enables use of the Jupiter system with conventional satellite capacity while creating a path for seamless…

KT Skylife Using Broadcom Chips for Ultra-HD STBs – Satellite Today

[Via Satellite 05-28-2015] KT Skylife, one of South Korea’s top satellite broadcast providers, has deployed Ultra-HD Set-Top-Boxes (STBs) built on Broadcom‘s single-chip High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) 4K/Ultra-HD satellite solution, the BCM7376. The single-chip BCM7376 delivers video at 60 Frames Per Second (FPS) with 10-bit color and four times the resolution of conventional HD displays.…