May 2015

The Proton Breeze M rocket that suffered an anomaly on May 16, 2015. Photo: Khrunichev. [Via Satellite 05-18-2015] Following the May 16 Proton Breeze M launch failure that claimed Mexico’s Centenario satellite, all involved parties have begun efforts to identify the cause of the incident and understand its effects. The mission, conducted by International Launch…

The Zenith Deck on JPSS 1 during integration. Photo: Ball Aerospace [Via Satellite 05-18-2015] Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) won a competitive selection process by Exelis Geospatial Systems to manufacture the Radiation Budget Instrument (RBI) Azimuth Rotation Module (ARM) for the Joint Polar Satellite System 2 (JPSS 2) mission. ARM will function as a rotational stage…

The Winnipeg Area Control Center. Photo: Aireon [Via Satellite 05-18-2015] Exelis has confirmed that the data processing and distribution ground system for Aireon’s space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast (ADS-B) surveillance technology achieved factory acceptance testing. The company conducted factory testing in a lab environment with both hardware and software that will be operationally deployed.…

CNES’ Toulouse, France facility. Photo: CNES [Via Satellite 05-18-2015] The French Space Agency CNES has signed its first bilateral space accord with Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) for greater collaboration on space technology between the two nations. The letter of intent identified three areas of possible cooperation with EDB’s Office for Space Technology and Industry…

American Red Cross IT-Telecommunications Emergency Response Unit (ERU) member in Dhunche, Nepal. Photo: Intelsat   [Via Satellite 05-18-2015] Intelsat has donated satellite resources to the American Red Cross and Team Rubicon to aid in their medical and logistical operations in Nepal following the April 25 magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck the region. Both organizations are…

Mexico City, Mexico. Photo: Kasper Christensen (Flickr) [Via Satellite 05-15-2015] Latin America is and will continue to be the top region for the addition of new satellite capacity until 2017, according to the latest research from Euroconsult. While the firm pegs the Calculated Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for satellite capacity usage globally at roughly 5…

An onshore oil rig. Photo: jbdodane (Flickr) [Via Satellite 05-15-2015] RigNet announced one of its upstream oil and gas customers has renewed a two-year contract for managed remote communications between its head office, base camp, and five onshore rigs. The contract includes increased bandwidth, backhaul from RigNet’s teleport to the customer’s head office, and 24/7…

Ketapang harbour, Indonesia. Photo: Domy Kamsyah (Flickr) [Via Satellite 05-15-2015] Kacific Broadband Satellites has reached a $78 million long-term agreement with Indonesian satellite service provider BigNet for high speed broadband starting in 2017. The contract is the seventh for Kacific, which plans a Ka-band High Throughput Satellite (HTS) known as Kacific 1 to serve the…

An MVS office. Photo: MVS [Via Satellite 05-15-2015] Inmarsat has appointed MVS USA, one of the company’s founding distribution partners, as a Value Added Reseller (VAR) for Global Xpress in the maritime market. The company will sell the FleetBroadband Xtra and Fleet Xpress products, which leverage the high throughput Ka-band constellation. MVS’ representative office in…

[Via Satellite 05-15-2015] Comtech EF Data (CEFD) has named Louis Dubin senior vice president of product development. In this role, Dubin is responsible for crafting business cases around new products and solutions and the prioritizing of product development across CEFD. Additionally, he is tasked with investigating emerging technologies and potential industry collaborations. Prior to this…