News on key developments at SupremeSAT, and general news on the Space and Satellite industry from across the web
Artist’s rendition of an Astra satellite. Photo: Airbus Defence and Space [Via Satellite 01-08-2015] SES’ Astra 2G satellite, launched Dec. 27 aboard a Proton rocket from International Launch Services (ILS), reached Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) on Jan. 2, 2015. The satellite’s manufacturer, Airbus Defence and Space reported the solar arrays and reflector antennas have been…
Photo: Indi Samarajiva (Flickr) [Via Satellite 01-07-2015] As the 2015 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-15) draws nearer, the satellite industry is preparing again to defend its use of C-band spectrum. The International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) industry, which pushed for access to the lower portion of C band at WRC in 2007, has upped its demands for…
Kaena Point Satellite Tracking Station on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Photo: U.S. Air Force [Via Satellite 01-07-2015] Versar’s joint venture with Johnson Controls Federal Systems has received a $6.1 million award to repair electrical, water transmission and compressed air systems at Kaena Point Satellite Tracking Station in Hawaii and Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.…
Iridium NEXT satellites. Photo: Iridium [Via Satellite 01-07-2015] The Iridium NEXT platform software, developed by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space with contributions from Selex Galileo, has completed the first testing phase. Designed to handle all flight functions, such as attitude control, solar array positioning and navigation, the test was one of three to be completed…
Various space products from MESL Microwave. Photo: MESL Microwave [Via Satellite 01-07-2015] On Dec. 31, 2014 Com Dev International closed its purchase of MESL Microwave for approximately $19.3 million. The acquisition, announced on Dec. 12, was for 100 percent of the Scotland-based company. MESL Microwave designs components and subsystems for radar, communications, defense and aerospace…
Rob Ruijter, non-executive director at Inmarsat. Photo: Inmarsat. [Via Satellite 01-07-2015] Inmarsat has appointed Robert Ruijter as a non-executive director for the company. Effective Feb. 1, 2015, Ruijter will join the board of directors, where his diverse background in the commercial and financial sectors is expected to bring positive insights. A certified public accountant in…
[Via Satellite 01-07-2015] Semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics has started shipping its Ultra-HDp60 quad-core System-on-a-Chip (SoC) Integrated Circuits (ICs) (STiH314/318 and STiH414/418) to customers. Designed for use in Set-Top Boxes (STBs) the SoCs can decode Ultra-HD video using High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) at 60 frames per second with 10-bit color depth streams from all main video-encoder…
Eutelsat 3D entering the thermal vacuum chamber for testing. Photo: Thales Alenia Space. [Via Satellite 01-06-2015] Strong demand for satellite services will continue to drive the need for satellites and launchers, upping the competition for satellite and launch contracts over the next 10 years, according to new research from Frost & Sullivan. In the research…
NeuralStar delivers fault-tolerance, centralized management, scalability,high-level visibility and cyber security for true enterprise network management. Photo: Kratos [Via Satellite 01-06-2015] Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has recently received several new modifications and an option exercise under an existing contract from the U.S. Air Force, totaling approximately $41.5 million in value. Work under these new awards…
Digital rendering of the SWOT satellite. Photo: Thales Alenia Space [Via Satellite 01-06-2014] The French Space Agency CNES has selected Thales Alenia Space to build the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, a joint demonstration mission between CNES and NASA. Thales Alenia Space is creating a new platform for the satellite that enables a…