January 2015

Hamadan Toure, Inmarsat board member. Photo: Inmarsat [Via Satellite 01-29-2015] Inmarsat has appointed Hamadoun Toure as an additional non-executive member of the board. Toure, who will join the board on March 1 as a member of the Nominations Committee, was previously secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). In his previous role he worked…

UltiSat teleport at its Denmark location. Photo: UltiSat [Via Satellite 01-29-2015] UltiSat, a provider of managed network services, has been awarded a multi-year contract to provide a managed Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) communications network solution to an undisclosed United States government agency. The communications infrastructure includes teleports, hub equipment, VSAT terminals, commercial Ku-band space…

Vega’s second mission on May 7, 2013. Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 01-28-2015] With nine flights booked and three more in negotiations, Arianespace is confident it will have regular launches of the Vega small satellite rocket starting this year. The long-awaited demonstration of the European Space Agency’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV), is currently planned for Feb.…

Orion-related work drive sales for Lockheed Martin’s Space Segment in Q4 2014. Photo: Lockheed Martin [Via Satellite 01-28-2015] Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems segment increased net sales by 10 percent during the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to the same quarter in 2013. The $368 million increase mainly stemmed from higher net sales of approximately $325…

Michel de Rosen, chairman and chief executive officer, Eutelsat. Photo: Eutelsat [Via Satellite 01-28-2015] Leaders from African nations have gathered for a meeting arranged by the African Telecommunication Union to ready for the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) this November in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting, held in Abuja, Nigeria, is where African states will define…

Technicians preparing Proton for launch. Photo: Khrunichev [Via Satellite 01-28-2015] Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center reports the Proton Integrated Launch Vehicle (ILV) has been transferred to the fueling area at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Fueling the Breeze-M upper stage low-pressure tanks will take two days to complete, after which the rocket will be rolled…

Harris Corp Washington building. Photo: Harris [Via Satellite 01-28-2015] The Air National Guard (ANG) has contracted Harris Corporation to supply five-channel vehicle communication systems for ground-to-air communications. The systems include the Falcon 3 AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack radios, the RF-7800I advanced vehicle intercom system and a Unity XG-100M full-spectrum multiband mobile radio. In addition to providing…

Iridium’s satellite network operations center (SNOC). Photo: Iridium [Via Satellite 01-28-2015] Appareo Systems, an electronics and software service provider for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) has entered a long-term partnership with Iridium to provide its customers with satellite connectivity. Customers in agriculture and general aviation will be the first focus, followed by the aerospace and construction…

Artist’s rendition of the first 6 OG2 satellites. Photo: SNC [Via Satellite 01-27-2015] Orbcomm’s acquisitions of SkyWave and InSync bring to eight the number of acquisitions it has conducted since 2011. SkyWave, formerly Inmarsat’s largest reseller in the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) market, was Orbcomm’s biggest acquisition of the eight, for $130 million. Through its Merger and…

Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves, SMC commander, speaks at the AD standup ceremony, Jan. 9. Photo: Sarah Corrice [Via Satellite 01-27-2015] The United States Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) has activated the Advanced Systems and Development Directorate (SMC/AD), effective Jan. 9, having completed the merger of the Space Development and Test Directorate, and…