News & Events

Apache helicopters can leverage Raytheon’s AN/ARC-231 Multi-Mode Communications System. Photo: Mrs Airwolfhound (Flickr) [Via Satellite 08-14-2015] Raytheon has received a $36 million contract from the U.S. Army to fund the certification and testing of an upgrade to the AN/ARC-231 Multi-Mode Communications System. The AN/ARC-231 is a Very High Frequency (VHF)/Ultra High Frequency (UHF) multi-band tactical…

Fly wheels, such as the NASA G2 flywheel module above, are one way to store rotational energy for use by spacecraft or machines on Earth. Photo: NASA [Via Satellite 08-14-2014] NASA has selected proposals from Amprius of Sunnyvale, Calif. and the University of Maryland, College Park to study new energy storage technologies. The proposals received…

DLS’ MIDS-LVT terminal. Photo: DLS [Via Satellite 08-14-2015] Data Link Solutions (DLS), a joint venture between Rockwell Collins and BAE Systems, has received an $18.3 million award from the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command to deliver Multifunctional Information Distribution System Low Volume Terminals (MIDS-LVT) to the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Air…

Goonhilly Earth Station’s (GES) largest antenna, Goonhilly Six, lit up against the backdrop of the summer night sky. Photo: GES [Via Satellite 08-13-2015] The U.K.-based Goonhilly Earth Station is shifting back to prominence in the satellite industry after rebounding from an uncertain fate. The iconic facility, which beamed the very first transatlantic television signals from…

Artist’s impression of Alphasat. Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 08-13-2015] Inmarsat has received funding for telecommunications projects in Nigeria and Kenya through the U.K. Space Agency’s $50 million, two-year International Partnership Space Program. The company is a central partner, working alongside a group of international organizations including Equity Bank Group and Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action…

PhoneSat 2.5, developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. and launched in March 2014, uses commercially available smartphone technology to collect data on the long-term performance of consumer technologies used in spacecraft. Photo: NASA [Via Satellite 08-13-2015] NASA has initiated the next round of its CubeSat Launch Initiative, which provides access to…

GMS Endeavour during wind farm operations. Photo: GMS [Via Satellite 08-13-2015] Gulf Marine Services (GMS) has agreed on a multi-year communications contract with SpeedCast International for its new dual-beam Ku-band satellite service. SpeedCast will provide broadband and voice services for nine GMS barges. The solution includes scope to upgrade as necessary depending on client requirements.…

[Via Satellite 08-13-2015] Norsat International’s land mobile radio division Sinclair Technologies, has started shipments of the newly designed SE41x series of wideband enclosed dipole antennas, which covers the entire 746 to 960 MHz band in one antenna. Norsat said in a statement that the antennas are well suited to cellular systems, trunked radio, paging, and…

UrtheCast’s Iris camera. Photo: UrtheCast [Via Satellite 08-12-2015] Vancouver-based UrtheCast has achieved Initial Operating Capability (IOC) for its High-Resolution Camera (HRC), Iris, aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in a move that will likely push the company forward on its venture to develop an interactive, publicly accessible Earth Observation (EO) platform. While UrtheCast currently operates…

Artist’s rendition of the Ariane 6. Photo: Airbus Safran Launchers [Via Satellite 08-12-2015] The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed contracts with Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL), European Launch Vehicle (ELV) and the French Space Agency (CNES) for Europe’s next generation launchers. The agency’s contract to ASL, prime contractor for the Ariane 6, is worth 2.4…