August 2015

Artist’s impression of Alphasat. Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 08-13-2015] Inmarsat has received funding for telecommunications projects in Nigeria and Kenya through the U.K. Space Agency’s $50 million, two-year International Partnership Space Program. The company is a central partner, working alongside a group of international organizations including Equity Bank Group and Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action…

PhoneSat 2.5, developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. and launched in March 2014, uses commercially available smartphone technology to collect data on the long-term performance of consumer technologies used in spacecraft. Photo: NASA [Via Satellite 08-13-2015] NASA has initiated the next round of its CubeSat Launch Initiative, which provides access to…

GMS Endeavour during wind farm operations. Photo: GMS [Via Satellite 08-13-2015] Gulf Marine Services (GMS) has agreed on a multi-year communications contract with SpeedCast International for its new dual-beam Ku-band satellite service. SpeedCast will provide broadband and voice services for nine GMS barges. The solution includes scope to upgrade as necessary depending on client requirements.…

[Via Satellite 08-13-2015] Norsat International’s land mobile radio division Sinclair Technologies, has started shipments of the newly designed SE41x series of wideband enclosed dipole antennas, which covers the entire 746 to 960 MHz band in one antenna. Norsat said in a statement that the antennas are well suited to cellular systems, trunked radio, paging, and…

UrtheCast’s Iris camera. Photo: UrtheCast [Via Satellite 08-12-2015] Vancouver-based UrtheCast has achieved Initial Operating Capability (IOC) for its High-Resolution Camera (HRC), Iris, aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in a move that will likely push the company forward on its venture to develop an interactive, publicly accessible Earth Observation (EO) platform. While UrtheCast currently operates…

Artist’s rendition of the Ariane 6. Photo: Airbus Safran Launchers [Via Satellite 08-12-2015] The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed contracts with Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL), European Launch Vehicle (ELV) and the French Space Agency (CNES) for Europe’s next generation launchers. The agency’s contract to ASL, prime contractor for the Ariane 6, is worth 2.4…

ULA’s Atla5 rocket used for NASA’s Twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) payload. Photo: ULA [Via Satellite 08-12-2015] Orbital ATK has purchased a second Atlas 5 mission from United Launch Alliance (ULA) to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA under its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract. The mission will carry more…

Photo: CASIS/Made In Space [Via Satellite 08-12-2015] Made In Space, a company capable of manufacturing technology in space, and NanoRacks have teamed up to offer a “Stash and Deploy” service for CubeSat developers. Together the companies plan to build and deploy satellites from the International Space Station (ISS) or other satellite deployment platforms, using NanoRacks’…

Digital rendering of China Satcom satellites. Photo: China Satcom [Via Satellite 08-12-2015] Gilat Satellite Networks is entering into a partnership with China’s Space Star Technology Co (SSTC), a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), in which SSTC and Gilat will jointly provide the satellite communications network for ChinaSat 16, the first Ka-band…

Russia’s Angara 5 rocket. Photo: Khrunichev. [Via Satellite 08-11-2015] International Launch Services (ILS) is confident that new manufacturing techniques, new technology, and new leadership will make Russia’s new Angara family of rockets a mainstay for the satellite industry. The Angara 1.2 made its maiden flight in July 2014, followed by the debut of the larger Angara…