December 2015

The U.S.-Japan Space Forum panel discussion hosted by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation. Photo: Via Satellite. [Via Satellite 12-18-2015] Japan’s political shift to enable greater non-aggressive defense capabilities could further spur the country’s competencies in space, and tighten relations with the United States, experts believe. In a panel discussion hosted Dec. 10 by the…

Antarctica. Photo: Andreas Kambanis (Flickr) [Via Satellite 12-18-2015] Northern Sky Research (NSR) has released a new report on Arctic and Antarctic markets, finding that demand for services such as telephony/trunking and video should drive the satcom market to reach $447 million by 2024. The research firm’s “Polar Satellite Markets” report finds a growth market supported…

AMC 9′s C-band footprint. Photo: SES [Via Satellite 12-18-2015] Mexican multimedia company Televisa has contracted capacity on SES’s AMC 9 satellite to broadcast content to millions of households across Mexico. The multiyear agreement secures three C-band transponders for the premium channels Canal 2, Canal 5 and Canal 9. Televisa is also renewing a separate transponder…

Arianespace’s VS13 Soyuz Galileo mission. Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 12-18-2015] Arianespace completed its 12th launch of 2015 on Dec. 17, delivering Galileo satellites 11 and 12 into Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at approximately 23,500km using a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana. The mission is the launch company’s last for the year, having conducted six Ariane…

Prashant Butani, senior sales director for South Asia at Measat. Photo: Measat [Via Satellite 12-18-2015] Former NSR Senior Analyst Prashant Butani has joined Measat as senior sales director for South Asia. In this role, he will be responsible for building and supporting Measat’s customer base and managing government agencies across the South Asian region. Butani…

Jean Loic Galle, CEO of Thales Alenia Space. Photo: Thales Alenia Space [Via Satellite 12-17-2015] Thales Alenia Space had its most profitable year in existence as a satellite manufacturer in 2015, bringing in revenue numbers that stand in contrast to current market conditions. 2015 was slow for orders of new geostationary telecommunications satellites around the…

Rooftops of Cuzco, Peru. Photo: Tyler Bell/Wikimedia Commons [Via Satellite 12-17-2015] Gilat Satellite Networks has received an award by Peru’s telecommunications investment fund Fondo de Inversion en Telecomunicaciones (Fitel) to supply regional telecommunications infrastructure for $108 million. The new project, to take place in the region of Cusco in Southern Peru, is in addition to…

SES 5 rendering. Photo: SES [Via Satellite 12-17-2015] Modern Times Group’s (MTG) pay-TV operator and satellite broadcaster Viasat has agreed to extend its partnership with SES for the transmission of its approximately 230 channels in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Viasat operates free-TV and pay-TV channels in SD and in HD. SES will continue to…

Artist’s rendition of Morelos 3. Photo: Boeing [Via Satellite 12-17-2015] Boeing has transferred on-orbit control of the Morelos 3 satellite, launched Oct. 2 aboard an Atlas 5 rocket, to the Mexican government. Based on the Boeing 702 High Power (HP) platform, the satellite is designed to serve Mexico’s national security, civil and humanitarian programs. Boeing…

A Ball Aerospace engineer with the James Web Space Telescope (JWST) ahead of cryogenic testing in 2010. Photo: NASA [Via Satellite 12-17-2015] The European Space Agency (ESA) and Arianespace have announced the signature of the launch services contract for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), to be orbited by an Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle…