News & Events

An Angara rocket being transported to launch. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense [Via Satellite 03-20-2015] In a press conference at SATELLITE 2015 for International Launch Services (ILS), the U.S. subsidiary of Russia’s Khrunichev State Research and Space Production Center, Andrey Vladimirovich Kalinovsky, the acting director of Khrunichev, discussed the imminent switchover from the Proton launch…

3D-printed structural bracket for Eurostar spacecraft. Photo: Airbus Defence and Space [Via Satellite 03-20-2015] 3T RPD, a pioneering U.K.-based additive manufacturing company, completed an Aluminum Additive Layer Manufactured (ALM) bracket for Airbus Defence and Space. The space-qualified 3-D printed component is the first of its kind following a two-year Research and Development (R&D) program with…

Proton carrying the Express AM7 satellite to orbit. Photo: Roscosmos [Via Satellite 03-20-2015] At 1:05 a.m. March 19 Moscow time a federal Proton Integrated Launch Vehicle (ILV) carried the Russian Satellite Communications Company’s (RSCC’s) Express AM7 satellite to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). Airbus Defence and Space, manufacturer of the satellite, has control of Express AM7…

First Responders at Vanuatu evaluating damage following Cyclone Pam. Photo: European Commission/UNICEF Pacific [Via Satellite 03-20-2015] Digicel Pacific Limited and SES have donated satellite capacity and equipment to the relief effort in Vanuatu, a South Pacific island with a population of approximately 267,000 that was severely impacted by Cyclone Pam. The telco is using capacity…

[Via Satellite 03-20-2015] The United States Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has selected Harris Communications for a single award Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a one-year base and nine one-year options worth a potential of $450 million. Harris is tasked with providing systems engineering and program management services for DISA’s Crisis Management System…

[Via Satellite 03-19-2015] The influx of new capital into the satellite industry is creating an understandable amount of giddiness, but investors and entrepreneurs at the “Silicon Valley, Meet SATELLITE 2015” panel brought a down-to-Earth look at the true motivations for putting money behind space ventures. “I don’t think there is any investment in space going…

SES 5 in the compact antenna test range at Space Systems/Loral. Photo: SSL [Via Satellite 03-19-2015] SES and Airbus Defence and Space announced that they have signed a multi-year multi-transponder agreement to deliver managed satcom services to corporate customers in Africa and globally. Airbus Defence and Space will couple the latest satellite technology from SES…

Artist’s rendition of the EDRS constellation architecture. Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 03-19-2015] Arianespace and Airbus Defence and Space have reached an agreement for the launch of EDRS-C during the first quarter of 2017. EDRS-C is the second geostationary satellite of the SpaceDataHighway system and will increase the system capacity and provide redundancy. Its orbital position…

Global Xpress. Photo: Inmarsat [Via Satellite 03-19-2015] Inmarsat announced the appointment of SpeedCast to its Enterprise Global Xpress (GX) Value Added Resellers (VARs) program. SpeedCast is the first GX VAR for Inmarsat Enterprise to come from the VSAT industry. The GX platform and Ka-band network offers both fixed and mobile satellite services on a global…

[Via Satellite 03-19-2015] DataPath announced the launch of new cyber security solutions. The offerings include a variety of information assurance service packages designed to protect the communications networks of operations in remote and harsh environments. Last year, the number of reported cyber security incidents rose 48 percent to 42.8 million, or approximately 117,000 attacks per…