January 2016

Steve Collar, CEO, O3b Networks [Via Satellite 01-12-2016] 2015 was a busy year for O3b Networks as the company announced a number of deals in its first year of commercial operation. It also ended the year by announcing that had closed $460 million in incremental financing to support its continued growth. The company will use the…

Toyota’s Mirai-based Kymeta Research Vehicle. Photo: Toyota. [Via Satellite 01-12-2016] At the 2016 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), Toyota is displaying a research vehicle based on the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, which is equipped with satellite communications technology from Kymeta, a U.S.-based company developing flat-panel antenna technology. Toyota is working to enhance its connected…

Moriba Jah will spearhead efforts in space object behavioral sciences, part of the University of Arizona’s Defense and Security Research Institute. Photo: University of Arizona [Via Satellite 01-12-2016] Moriba Jah, a spacecraft navigator for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Odyssey and other NASA missions to Mars, is joining the University of Arizona’s College of Engineering and…

[Via Satellite 01-12-2016] ReportLinker has released a new study titled “Analysis of the U.S. Government Commercial Satellite Market.” This study analyses the U.S. government commercial satellite market, providing a look at the trends affecting adoption/use of satellite communications, including regional hot spots of political and military concern. Although the United States is spending less on…

Photo: Cobham [Via Satellite 01-12-2016] Harris Corporation has placed a series of orders with Cobham for RF microelectronics that support an electronic warfare program valued at approximately $35 million. The San Jose, Calif. and San Diego, Calif. locations of Cobham Microelectronic Solutions, a business unit of the Cobham Advanced Electronics Solutions sector, will perform the…

Irrigation system. Photo: Iridium [Via Satellite 01-11-2016] The Internet of Things (IoT) has been mentioned in almost as many conversations as small satellites over the last 12 months. It is a hot buzzword as the satellite industry looks to play in new verticals that need connected devices. One area where satellite and cellular technology could…

Pléiades Satellite Image – Salin-de-Giraud, France. Photo: CNES 2012, Distribution Airbus DS / Spot Image [Via Satellite 01-11-2016] IHS and Airbus Defence and Space have announced a three-year partnership agreement. Under the agreement, Airbus Defence and Space will provide newly acquired imagery from its Pleiades, Spot and TerraSAR X satellites, for use as primary sources…

A Kymeta laboratory. Photo: Kymeta [Via Satellite 01-11-2016] Kymeta has closed a $62 million Series D financing. The funds will support the company’s efforts to build antennas to bring high-speed and high-bandwidth satellite connectivity to anything that moves. The financing round included existing Kymeta investors Bill Gates, Lux Capital, Kresge Foundation and Osage University Partners,…

Pléiades Satellite Image – Salin-de-Giraud, France. Photo: CNES 2012, Distribution Airbus DS / Spot Image [Via Satellite 01-11-2016] IHS and Airbus Defence and Space have announced a three-year partnership agreement. Under the agreement, Airbus Defence and Space will provide newly acquired imagery from its Pleiades, Spot and TerraSAR X satellites, for use as primary sources…

Photo: Santi Díaz [Via Satellite 01-11-2016] Comtech Xicom Technology has received an order for $3.4 million for Solid-State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) to be used in an airborne, In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) application. This order is a follow-on production award in this growing commercial airborne market. “Connectivity is fundamental to modern life. New technologies continue to drive…