Industry Latest

KLAA uplink install at Angels stadium [Via Satellite 02-03-2015] Ka You Systems, a satellite services company headquartered in Maryland, has installed a satellite uplink and downlink for KLAA-AM, a 24/7 sports station that broadcasts from the baseball stadium in Anaheim, Calif. Having outgrown its existing terrestrial transmission system, the KLAA technical team worked with Ka…

Aarti Holla-Maini, secretary general, European Satellite Operators Association (ESOA). Photo: ESOA [Via Satellite 2-2-2015] The satellite industry has been ramping up its efforts in Africa over the last few days as it looks to persuade governments and key stakeholders about the benefits of keeping key C-band spectrum for satellite industry use instead of giving it…

An ILS Proton carrying the Inmarsat 5 F2 satellite. Photo: Inmarsat. [Via Satellite 02-02-2015] Inmarsat’s second Global Xpress (GX) High Throughput Satellite (HTS) Inmarsat 5 F2 launched Feb. 1 aboard a Proton rocket from International Launch Services (ILS). The operator acquired the first signals at its Paumalu, Hawaii, ground station and ILS confirmed the spacecraft…

NASA’s Deep Space 1 with NSTAR ion thruster. Photo: NASA [Via Satellite 02-02-2015] Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space have contracted European Space Propulsion (ESP) for the initial development of a new electronic controller for the XR-5 Hall thruster. The companies issued the contract as part of the European Space Agency (ESA)-sponsored Neosat…

Manila, Philippines. Photo: Storm Crypt (Flickr) [Via Satellite 02-02-2015] Philippine telecommunications solutions provider Delnet International has selected Gilat Satellite Networks’ SkyEdge 2 network for 3G and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) cellular backhaul. The Ku-band network will support 2G and 3G Base Transceiver Station (BTS)/Node B sites for Smart Communications, a wholly-owned cellular network…

A Delta 2 rocket carrying NASA’s SMAP satellite. Photo: ULA [Via Satellite 02-02-2015] The Boeing–Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully launched NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite on Jan. 31 aboard a Delta 2 rocket. The launch also delivered four CubeSats for the agency’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellite (ELANA) initiative. ULA…

OceanTrx4. Photo: Orbit Communications Systems [Via Satellite 02-02-2015] Orbit Communications Systems has received a contract from an Asian Navy customer for its new OceanTRxTM4 maritime satellite communication systems. The customer has used Orbit’s previous-generation OrSatTM maritime VSAT systems for five years, and has decided to upgrade new ships with the company’s latest satcom solution. The OceanTRxTM…

SES 10 coverage. Photo: SES [Via Satellite 01-30-2015] The digitization of the oil and gas (O&G) sector is spurring on demand for new satellite capacity to keep pace with data needs. Dave Sikorski, sales director of North American enterprise and mobility at SES, names three reason for the increase in demand: crew welfare, monitoring regulations…

European Data Relay System (EDRS). Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 01-30-2015] Following the successful test campaign of the first multigigabit optical intersatellite link between the Copernicus Sentinel 1A and Alphasat satellites, the European Space Agency and Airbus have entered a partnership to complete the full European Data Relay System (EDRS). This test campaign paved the way…

Global XpressPhoto: Inmarsat [Via Satellite 01-30-2015] Satcom Direct’s Land Mobile group, which focuses on satellite communications solutions for its land-based enterprise customers, is now authorized to provide Inmarsat Global Xpress (GX) products and services to its clients. Satcom Direct has been an Inmarsat partner since 1997 and has now been appointed as a Value Added…