January 2015

NASA is developing the RS-25 engines for the Space Launch System (SLS) at the Marshall Center. Photo: NASA/Stennis [Via Satellite 01-14-2015] Firefly Space Systems, designer of a dedicated SmallSat launch vehicle dubbed Firefly Alpha, has reached a Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to collaborate on the design…

A S Kiran Kumar, the new chairman of ISRO. Photo: ISRO [Via Satellite 01-14-2015] The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has appointed its Director of the Space Applications Center (SAC), A S Kiran Kumar to the office of secretary of the Department of Space, Chairman of the Space Commission, and Chairman of ISRO. Kiran Kumar…

VSAT Discovery Hubs. Photo: Advantech Wireless [Via Satellite 01-14-2015] Advantech Wireless has signed a contract with a Latin American Civil Aviation government entity to provide a mesh VSAT network for Air Traffic Control (ATC) and airport communications in remote parts of the country. Advantech Wireless will provide two geographically redundant hubs with 4.5m antennas and…

[Via Satellite 01-13-2015] The Eutelsat TV Observatory has revealed the results of its most recent research on the number of homes receiving channels broadcast by eight of Eutelsat’s television neighborhoods serving Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (EMENA). The results show a strong uptick of homes receiving television directly or indirectly by satellite. A…

Karim Michel Sabbagh, president and CEO of SES. Photo: SES [Via Satellite 01-13-2015] SES and the Luxembourg government have agreed to create a joint company that will own and operate an X- and Ka-band military satellite. Expected to launch in 2017, the spacecraft would cover Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region from…

The Falcon 3 AN/PRC-117G man-portable multiband wideband networking radio. Photo: Harris Corp. [Via Satellite 01-13-2015] Seeking to expand applications for wideband tactical networking, the United States Marine Corps has purchased $15 million of Falcon 3 vehicular radio systems and accessories for its AN/MRC-145 program. Harris Corp. built the system on the Falcon 3 AN/PRC-117G, which…

A Proton rocket stood up for launch. Photo: TsENKI [Via Satellite 01-13-2015] Khrunichev Research and Production Space Center, Yuzhny Space Center’s TsENKI division and Boeing are preparing the second Global Xpress High Throughput Satellite (HTS) for launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Inmarsat-5 F2 satellite is contracted to launch Jan. 30 aboard a Proton rocket…

LEO and MEO footprint Comparisons for satellite-based SAR assistance. Photo: Communications Research Center Canada [Via Satellite 01-13-2015] McMurdo Group’s recently acquired Techno-Sciences has received contracts worth approximately $7.5 million from NASA and the governments of Cyprus, Brunei and Argentina for Search and Rescue (SAR) network infrastructure solutions and next-generation Medium Earth Orbit Search and Rescue…

São Paulo State Brazil. Photo: BlackBridge [Via Satellite 01-13-2015] Beginning this year, BlackBridge’s RapidEye imagery from the U.S. and Canadian Monitoring Program for Agriculture will be made available through Agrian’s Technology Platform for Growers. Agrian will be able to supply a large pool of high-resolution, multispectral RapidEye satellite imagery along with its own soil data,…

David Hochner, CEO of SatLink Communications. Photo: SatLink Communications. [Via Satellite 01-12-2015] SatLink Communications, a global provider of satellite solutions for broadcasting and telecommunications services, is making a shift from being primarily focused on satellite-oriented services to including complete content management services. The change is inspired by new demands from broadcasters, as well as an…