December 2015

200W to 250W Ku-band Hubmount SapphireBlu SSPA/SSPB second generation GaN technology. Photo: Advantech Wireless [Via Satellite 12-07-2015] Advantech Wireless announced the company has recorded a substantial increase in bookings for its Gallium Nitride (GaN) based Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) in the first half of Fiscal-Year 2016. Advantech Wireless was the first company to commercialize…

Himalayan Life volunteers in Nepal. Photo: [Via Satellite 12-04-2015] When the April 2015 earthquake rattled Nepal, it destroyed sobering amounts of infrastructure, took lives, and displaced millions. Everyone affected was forced to adapt to the new environment. Himalayan Life, an organization already on the ground in Nepal doing projects in education, protection and caretaking for…

Ariane 5 flight VA205. Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 12-04-2015] Azercosmos and Intelsat have chosen Arianespace to launch the Azerspace 2/Intelsat 38 telecommunications satellite. The mission is scheduled for 2017 using an Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. Azerspace 2 is Azercosmos’ second telecommunications satellite, and will expand on the…

Cosmic Girl, LauncherOne’s new carrier aircraft. Photo: Virgin Galactic [Via Satellite 12-04-2015] To accommodate an increase in the payload capability of LauncherOne, Virgin Galactic has swapped the carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo for a Boeing 747-400. The larger aircraft, previously operated by Virgin Atlantic under the nickname Cosmic Girl, will provide a dedicated launch platform for the…

Digital rendering of Galileo GNSS satellites. Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 12-04-2015] The Galileo Full Operational Capability (FOC) satellites 3 and 4, assembled by OHB System AG of Germany, are now in service. The satellites are broadcasting navigation signals and have since Dec. 1 been relaying Search and Rescue (SAR) messages as part of the international…

UCSD women’s cross country. Photo: Ken Grosse/UCSD Athletics [Via Satellite 12-04-2015] ViaSat has partnered with The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) to live stream a wide variety of the university’s athletics programs through the company’s Exede satellite network. To broadcast sports matches, UCSD will be using the 140 Gbps ViaSat 1 satellite. The live streaming of events can be watched…

New satellite ground station for the MEOSAR system in New Zealand. Photo: Maritime New Zealand [Via Satellite 12-03-2015] Plans to boost to the satellite Search and Rescue (SAR) system in New Zealand and Australia are well underway as a New Zealand-based, $7.2 million satellite ground station reached completion in November. As part of a joint…

VV06 Lisa Pathfinder launch. Photo: ESA/Stephane Corvaja [Via Satellite 12-03-2015] Arianespace’s Dec. 2 Vega launch of the Lisa Pathfinder space probe fulfilled the final flight of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment (VERTA) program to demonstrate the vehicle’s flexibility and versatility in a variety of mission types. The mission, Vega’s sixth, successfully…

Artist rendition of a MUOS satellite. Photo: Lockheed Martin [Via Satellite 12-03-2015] The fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite finished on-orbit testing on Nov. 30, and has been accepted by the U.S. Navy. Launched Sept. 2, MUOS 4 is the latest addition to a network of orbiting satellites and relay ground stations designed to…

A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Photo: ISRO [Via Satellite 12-03-2015] PlanetiQ, a startup with plans to field a constellation of 12 small weather satellites, has signed a contract with Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), for the launch of the company’s first two spacecraft. The mission, slated…