June 2015

The Skynet 5 X-band satellite. Photo: Airbus Defence and Space [Via Satellite 06-08-2015] Airbus Defence and Space has signed a four-year framework agreement with the Norwegian Defence Logistic Organisation (NDLO) for the provision of X-band satellite capacity, and has committed to deliver up to 30Mhz of capacity annually on the Skynet military satellite constellation. Skynet…

Donato Amoroso the new Deputy CEO of Thales Alenia Space and CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italia . Photo: Thales Alenia Space [Via Satellite 06-08-2015] The board of directors of Thales Alenia Space Italia has appointed Donato Amoroso as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. Amoroso succeeds Elisio Giacomo Prette, who led the company…

Photo: Eutelsat [Via Satellite 06-08-2015] SPI International, operator of more than 30 TV channels on four continents, and German broadcaster ANIXE are both planning to display new original Ultra-HD content this week at the Anga Com conference and exhibition in Cologne, Germany on Eutelsat’s Hot Bird 4K1 TV platform. For SPI International, the demo represents…

Generation Orbit’s Flight Experiment Test bed. Photo: Generation Orbit. [Via Satellite 06-05-2015] Generation Orbit has 11 Letters of Intent (LOI) from prospective customers for its SmallSat air launch system GOLauncher 2. Currently under development, the two-stage rocket system is designed to carry roughly 40 kilograms to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for a price tag of…

Patrick Biewer, appointed CEO of LuxGovSat. Photo: SES [Via Satellite 06-05-2015] The LuxGovSat board of directors appointed Patrick Biewer to be Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective July 1, 2015. Biewer, 48, is a senior SES executive that has worked with the company for 22 years, holding positions in the areas of IT, operations and engineering.…

A Polsteam vessel. Photo: Polsteam. [Via Satellite 06-05-2015] Polsteam, known officially as Polska Zegluga Morska has selected KVH Industries’ mini-VSAT Broadband service for maritime connectivity on its fleet of 60 vessels. The company is one of the largest operators of bulk carriers in Europe and intends to install the TracPhone V7-IP satellite communications systems. KHV’s mini-VSAT…

Iridium Openport, which powers Iridium Pilot. Photo: Iridium [Via Satellite 06-05-2015] Iridium has signed a strategic partnership with Seoul, South Korea-based Arion Communication to distribute Iridium mobile satellite communications services and products in South Korea. Arion, a specialist in maritime, aviation and land-mobile navigation and communications equipment, will resell Iridium Pilot, Iridium GO!, Iridium Extreme…

[Via Satellite 06-05-2015] Inmarsat has approved Hughes’ 9450-C11 terminal, making it the first mobile Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) Machine-to-Machine (M2M)-enabled terminal, according to the company. Building upon the BGAN M2M 9502 fixed product line, the 9450-C11 enables the same BGAN M2M service benefits. The terminal can be used for satellite-only applications or as backup…

[Via Satellite 06-04-2015] Airbus Defence and Space, having signed key partnerships with several French Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), aims to establish a major presence in the growing market of the Internet of Things (IoT). The company launched the Mustang project earlier this year with a consortium comprised of CEA-Leti, Sysmeca and Sigfox, the latter…

ST Teleport’s Earth station. Photo: ST Teleport. [Via Satellite 06-04-2015] Singapore-based ST Teleport has formed a strategic partnership with Telespazio, a 67/33 Finmeccanica/Thales joint venture, to jointly establish a global Ku-band communications network for Maritime Oil and Gas (MOG) customers. Under the multi-year agreement, ST Teleport will be Telespazio’s preferred partner in the Asia-Pacific region.…