March 2009 Edition - Broadcasting
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February 2009 Satellite NewsVisit www.satnews.com for today's news

February 27, 2009
Doing The Dunes — Cassini's Collections
Titan’s vast dune fields, which may act like weather vanes to determine general wind direction on Saturn’s biggest moon, have been mapped by scientists who compiled four years of radar data collected by the Cassini spacecraft.   Full Story

Indian Technology Goal Is For Pan-African Networking
The Indian government has inaugurated its Pan-African E-network project for 11 African countries, aimed at promoting effective communication and connectivity in the continent through satellite and fibre network.   Full Story

ORBCOMM Brings M2M Services To Indonesia
ORBCOMM Inc. (Nasdaq: ORBC), a global satellite data communications company focused on two-way Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications, has announced that its two-way satellite data communications services are now authorized in the Republic of Indonesia, strengthening ORBCOMM’s presence in the South Pacific.   Full Story

Survival Important Part Of Mars500 Training
The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced the European prime and backup crewmembers for the 105-day Mars500 study.   Full Story

Telstar 11N's Perfect Performance
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (Nasdaq:LORL) has announced that the Telstar 11N satellite built for Telesat is performing post launch maneuvers according to plan.   Full Story

Altair Application By Boeing
The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], through its Space Exploration division, submitted a proposal to NASA today for Altair lunar lander design support and NASA is expected to award multiple contracts this spring.   Full Story

Decontaminated + De-Fueled... MEASAT-3a Launch Re-Set
MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. (“MEASAT”) has just received confirmation from Intelsat Corporation that the MEASAT-3a satellite has been scheduled for launch in June 2009.   Full Story

The Hue Of Blue For A Saturnian Storm
Rendered in myriad hues, vivid details of Saturn's stormy atmosphere play out below the shadow of the rings.   Full Story

Satellite Payload Launch Promise By North Korea Continues To Push Political Buttons
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) last Thursday castigated South Korea's concerns over its impending satellite launch.   Full Story

OMPS Onboard — Ball Aerospace Continues NPOESS Instrumentation Installs
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has successfully completed integration of the Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite (OMPS) for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP).   Full Story

Budget for NASA, Disappointingly Small Step
"The budget proposal for NASA represents a disappointingly small step in the right direction. It is far from what is needed if the U.S. is to stimulate the economy, create more high-tech jobs and hold on to its eroding leadership position in space," said Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer Elliot Pulham. "   Full Story

Testing Of SBIRS' Rigors Of Space Capabilities Completed
The Space and Missile Systems Center’s Space Based Infrared Systems Wing announced completion today of thermal vacuum testing for the geosynchronous orbit payload.?   Full Story

Spatial Disorientation Solution Ahead?
Alion Science and Technology, an employee-owned technology solutions provider, has been awarded a grant valued at $1.73 million by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), a nonprofit partnership with NASA, to review spatial disorientation by astronauts during spaceflight.   Full Story


February 26, 2009
OCO Mishap Has NASA's Obenschain Investigating
NASA's Rick Obenschain, deputy director at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will lead the investigation board for the unsuccessful launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory on February 24th.   Full Story

NASA's Kepler Telescope Set to Launch In Search of Other Earths
Get ready for the launch of NASA's Kepler telescope now targeted for no earlier than Friday, March 6, from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.   Full Story

Fujitsu Codec Uplinks Junior Ice Champs To Europe
Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. has announced that TV2GO, Canada’s leading HD satellite transmission provider, used the Fujitsu IP-9500e MPEG-4 AVC codec during its broadcast of the World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa to uplink HD signals to Sweden and other countries in Europe.   Full Story

Financially Speaking... COM DEV Int'l...
COM DEV International Ltd. (TSX:CDV) has completed its offering of 6,780,000 common shares together with the issue of an additional 1,017,000 common shares further to the exercise in full by the Underwriters of their over-allotment option, all priced at $2.95 per share for a total of 7,797,000 common shares with gross proceeds of $23,001,150.?   Full Story

A Model Deployment By Boeing — Absolutely FAB-T
The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has delivered the first Family of Advanced Beyond line-of-sight Terminals (FAB-T) Engineering Development Model (EDM) to the U.S. Air Force B-2 Program — Boeing and the Air Force will use the EDM to initiate platform integration and test activities.   Full Story

Land Launch Success for Telstar 11N Satellite
The Land Launch Zenit-3SLB system today successfully inserted Telesat’s Telstar 11N communications satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit from the Zenit launch site at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan.   Full Story

U.S. Air Force + U.S. Army Join One Another In UAV/UAS Planning
The Air Force and Army chiefs of staff signed a plan recently in Washington, D.C., taking the two services one step closer to supporting the full spectrum of conflict with their larger, multirole unmanned aircraft.   Full Story

Financially Speaking... Thrane & Thrane...
Thrane & Thrane has released their interim financial report for the nine months ended January 31, 2009.   Full Story

Financially Speaking... Iridium Satellite LLC...
Iridium Satellite LLC (Iridium) announced financial results for the quarter and the year ended December 31, 2008.?   Full Story

Newtec' Flexes For SkyVision
Newtec has announced that SkyVision has implemented Newtec’s FlexACM for use on a high speed IP point-topoint link on an inclined orbit satellite between Kenya and Austria.   Full Story

Financially Speaking... Numerex Corp...
Numerex Corp. (Nasdaq: NMRX), a provider of full service, highly secure Machine-to-Machine (M2M) network services and solutions, has announced their financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2008.   Full Story


February 25, 2009
Moving On Up... At SkyTerra...
SkyTerra (OTCBB: SKYT) has appointed Marc Montagner as Executive Vice President, Strategy, Development and Distribution.   Full Story

High Honors — NASA's Winners of George M. Low Award for Quality
Today NASA presented its premier honor for quality and performance, the George M. Low Award, to three companies that share a commitment to teamwork, technical and managerial excellence, safety, and customer service at NASA's sixth annual Project Management Challenge in Daytona Beach, Florida.   Full Story

Stratos Satisfies — Especially When It Comes To FleetBroadband
Stratos Global Corporation has reached a milestone of 1,000 FleetBroadband activations.   Full Story

Enerlinks' Encryption Enhances UAV/UAS Security
Enerdyne Technologies Inc., a ViaSat company, has announced the availability of an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) option for its EnerLinks family of digital data links.   Full Story

Discovery Remains A Valve Victim — New Launch Hoped For By March 12th
NASA's Space Shuttle Program has established a plan that could support shuttle Discovery's launch to the International Space Station, tentatively targeted for March 12, with an exact target launch date to be determined as work progresses with the shuttle's three gaseous hydrogen flow control valves.   Full Story

digiGO! — NAB: DVEO division of Computer Modules, Inc. (Booth SU4908)
Computer Modules, Inc. (CMI) is a mid-sized, privately held, San Diego company with annual sales of more than 7 million dollars. DVEO, the broadcast division of Computer Modules, Inc., sells digital video and HD television products to the top television broadcast companies throughout the world.   Full Story

digigGO! — Give Me Digital Signage — And X20 Media Does Just That!
X2O Media, a provider of digital signage technology, network management, and content services, has introduced the X2O Data Service, an end-to-end digital signage solutions.   Full Story

CCW Conference in NYC On the Cheap
It may not sound like the typical description, but even the press release states, CCW offers the best value for your money — or lack thereof!   Full Story

JAXA Selects Two New Astronauts
Two Japanese, one from All Nippon Airways and one from the Defense Ministry, respectively, have been selected as candidates as JAXA astronauts, said Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Wednesday.   Full Story

Newtec 'Nowledges New MENOS Mates
Newtec is proud to announce the first three companies to be accredited in the recently launched MENOS Partnership program.   Full Story

A Great Deal Of Sensible Integration Going On At Ball Aerospace For DigitalGlobe
DigitalGlobe has announced the WorldView-2 remote sensing instrument, provided by ITT Corporation’s Space Systems Division, has been integrated by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. into the WorldView-2 spacecraft and system-level testing has commenced.   Full Story

PolarSat Completes VSATPlus 3 Testing + Receives Initial Customer Order
PolarSat Inc. has completed four months of customer trials and demos of the VSATPlus 3 system.   Full Story

Proven In Yuma Is Orbiter UAS
AAI Corporation, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced the Company has completed a successful flight demonstration of the Orbiter unmanned aircraft system (UAS) at Yuma Proving Grounds in Yuma, Arizona.   Full Story

Countdown Underway for Launch of Telstar 11N Satellite — First of Six Zenit Missions in 2009
Preparations are underway at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan for the launch of the Telstar 11N communications satellite on February 26 at 10:30 am Pacific Time (18:30 GMT), in a two-hour launch window.   Full Story

Totally Plasmatic — MIT Developing New Rocket
Satellites orbiting the Earth must occasionally be nudged to stay on the correct path — MIT scientists are developing a new rocket that could make this and other spacecraft maneuvers much less costly, a consideration of growing importance as more private companies start working in space.   Full Story


February 24, 2009
ATK + AFRL All Fired Up...
Alliant Techsystems and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Edwards Air Force Base have successfully tested a developmental solid rocket motor — designated Phase II — as part of the Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology (IHPRPT) program.   Full Story

Faulty Fairing = No OCO Orbit
NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite failed to reach orbit after its 4:55 a.m. EST liftoff Feb. 24 from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base.   Full Story

Newtec's Solution is Reliable Regardless of Any Conditions on the Horizon
Reliability is of the upmost importance in the satellite and communications industry, and as further validation of their confidence, Horizon Satellite Solutions chose Newtec to maintain satellite links at all times, regardless of weather conditions.   Full Story

DigitalGlobe, ITT and Ball Go Higher and Wider In WorldView-2
DigitalGlobe, known as a provider of high-resolution world imagery solutions, announced that the WorldView-2 remote sensing instrument, provided by ITT Corporation’s Space Systems Division, has been integrated by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. into the WorldView-2 spacecraft, and begun system-level testing.   Full Story

Spatial Data Importance Brings ESRI Into Flight Path
The Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority (RCAA) will continue to meet its strategic objectives of enhancing safety and security and increasing the efficiency of aviation operations by upgrading its implementation of ESRI’s geographic information system (GIS) software.   Full Story

Acquiring Minds Wish To Know — Integral Systems + QinetiQ's satID
Integral Systems, Inc. (Integral NASDAQ: ISYS) has purchased the intellectual property and other assets relating to the <i>satID</i> product line from U.K.-based QinetiQ Group PLC.   Full Story

Spatial Software Capabilities Enhanced By PCI Geomatics
PCI Geomatics has released Geomatica 10.2, the latest version of its image-centric desktop software, emphasizing automation and productivity for turning spatial data into information.   Full Story

CapRock Communications Rocks in Singapore
Known as a global provider of satellite communications to remote environments, CapRock Communications has expanded its presence in Asia Pacific by opening a new regional office in Singapore increasing their capability to provide systems integration (SI) services and turnkey satellite communication solutions to energy, maritime and mining clients operating in the region.   Full Story

Harris' HNR Has FIPS Features Focus
Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS has received Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 Level 2 certification for the Harris Highband Networking Radio (HNR).   Full Story

Spectrum Servers Ingest + Playout For Arabsat Services
Omneon Inc., a provider of media server and active storage systems, has announced that Jordan Media City (JMC) has enhanced ingest and playout operations for the Arabsat satellite service with Omneon Spectrum media server systems.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . . @ Integral Systems
Integral Systems, Inc. [NASDAQ-ISYS] announced that it has hired Levi A. Royster to serve as vice president of information technology and information security.   Full Story

digiGO! — WASP3D Buzzes BES Expo
WASP3D has launched their all-new WASP3D 2009 at BES Expo today.   Full Story

Acquisition Accomplishment: Elbit Systems + Shiron Satellite Communications
Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) wholly- owned Israeli subsidiary, Elbit Systems Land and C4I-Tadiran Ltd. ("ESLC-T") has acquired all of the shares of Shiron Satellite Communications (1996) Ltd. ("Shiron"), a privately-owned Israeli company, for a purchase price of $16 million.   Full Story

Voluminous Vortex Vanquishes All
The terminator nearly covers the south pole of Saturn and its stormy vortex in darkness.   Full Story

A Glowing Review From Venus Express
ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft has observed an eerie glow in the night-time atmosphere of Venus.   Full Story

Satellite Launch By North Korea Expected By Early May
North Korea said Tuesday it was readying to launch a satellite, a move that the United States and its allies believe could actually be a long-range missile test that would deepen global tensions.   Full Story

Moving On Up... At Xiplink...
Xiplink has named Warren Brown as the company’s new senior vice president of marketing.   Full Story


February 23, 2009
Epitome of Efficiency — Three in One at ISCe Conference
Getting a specific trade, business or agency to gather together at one time is a challenge at best, and so hats off to the 8th annual ISCe Conference which will provide three jam-packed information events in one convenient location — San Diego's Marriott Hotel and Marina.   Full Story

Arianespace Simultaneously Preps for Heavy, Medium and Lightweight
Much activity is taking place as Arianespace's development of its commercial launcher family gains new momentum at the Spaceport in French Guiana to support the sustained mission rate for heavy-lift Ariane 5, and to prepare for future missions of the medium-lift Soyuz and lightweight Vega vehicles.   Full Story

Moving On Up... At RigNet Inc...
RigNet, Inc. has promoted Morten Hagland Hansen to the position of vice president, Global Engineering.   Full Story

NGA Finds GeoEye Perfect For Eye In The Sky Needs
GeoEye, Inc. has announced the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) notified the Company that imagery from the GeoEye-1 satellite has been certified as meeting their stringent requirements for quality, accuracy and resolution.   Full Story

If You've Always Wanted A Tour of White Sands + Spaceport America...
The International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) is providing even more incentive for space industry executives to make the October 20- 23 event a focal point of their 2009 conference attendance plans.   Full Story

NASA: Node Naming
NASA is requesting the public to help name the International Space Station's next module — a control tower for robotics in space and the world's ultimate observation deck.   Full Story

BAMS Impact For U.S. Navy + Global Hawk UAV
The joint mission of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing expanded with the recent addition of the first operational Navy Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system, part of the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program.   Full Story

Warfighter Comms Expanded With Harris Debut Of Falcon III VHF Tactical Radio
Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) has released their Falcon III nexgen VHF handheld, the new RF-7800V-HH VHF handheld tactical radio.   Full Story

iDirects's Evolution Evolves and Ups the Ante — Middle East, Africa, and Europe
New revelations will take place at the Cable, Satellite, Broadcast & Communications Exhibition (CABSAT) conference in Dubai, March 3-5 when Talia, unveils enhanced coverage on its iDirect Evolution (DVB-S2) networks in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.   Full Story

Here's Looking At Earth: From Fires To Floods, Australia's Suffering Seen From Space
Even while southeastern Australia battled high heat and the most deadly fires in their history in February 2009, much of the rest of Australia flooded.   Full Story

Israeli Hunter UAV Hangs Around 'Til Needed
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is developing a loitering killer drone with the capability to hunt illusive ground targets, such as anti-aircraft systems and mobile or concealed ballistic missile launchers.   Full Story

Saturn's Hexagon Partially Imaged By Cassini
Saturn's north pole hexagon, seen here in an image from the Cassini spacecraft, has been around for awhile. It was seen in Voyager images in the early 1980s, in ground-based telescopic images in the 1990s, and now with Cassini.   Full Story

Gaseous Hydrogen Valve Remains Problematic — Shuttle Delayed Again
During a thorough review of space shuttle Discovery's readiness for flight, NASA managers decided Friday that more data and possible testing are required before launching the STS-119 mission to the International Space Station.   Full Story

Yahsat Steering More With Ka-Band Capacity
Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJsc (Yahsat) has debuted YahSecure, the highly secure and reliable satellite communications service to military, government agencies, and mission-critical commercial applications.   Full Story

Fonenet To Bring ThurayaIP Into U.K. + African Markets
Fonenet, a U.K.-based telecom solution provider, will be marketing and distributing ThurayaIP, a competitive mobile satellite broadband service, in U.K. and major African markets.   Full Story

From A B-25 To Lynx Suborbital Space Craft For Tuskegee Airman
XCOR Aerospace presented Tuskegee Airman Le Roy Gillead, of San Francisco, with a ticket for a ride to the edge of space.   Full Story

In-House Sats Can Save Defense Department Millions — Nexgov Report
The Defense Department could save a total of $600 million from fiscal 2010 to fiscal 2016 by shifting much of the traffic currently handled by commercial communications satellite operators to Wideband Global System satellites, a top Pentagon official told Nextgov and columnist Bob Brewin in an article published at the publication's online site.   Full Story

digiGO! — Make Mine 3-D, Please
The more experience people have with 3-D technology, the more interested they are in having more 3-D options, according to a new joint study from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)? and the Entertainment and Technology Center at the University of Southern California.   Full Story

Airborne Critical Care Calls For Code Orng
Ornge, a Canadian company involved in the field of transport medicine, has selected Latitude Technologies to provide satellite telephone and flight-tracking equipment and services for Ornge’s fleet of Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, for which an initial acquisition of six planes was recently announced.   Full Story

High Yield Power For UAVs — Low Yield Weight For Soldiers
Protonex Technology Corp., a provider of fuel cell power systems for portable, remote, and mobile applications, announced the launch of its soldier-worn power managers, the SPM-611 and SPM-612, which it said reduce a soldier's logistics burden by minimizing the number of batteries and different types of power sources a soldier must carry.   Full Story

Fire Scout LRIP 3 Brings VTUAV Closer To OpEval
Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) program moves closer to Operational Evaluation (OpEval) with a recent U.S. Navy modification award to a previous firm fixed-price contract for the procurement of three VTUAV systems.   Full Story

In a Good Financial Orbit(al)
<font color="003366"><b>Orbital has posted their annual revenues, operating income, free cash flow and backlog inventory indicates new records have been achieved.</b></font> Orbital Sciences Corporation [NYSE: ORB] reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2008.? <b>Fourth quarter 2008 revenues were $311 million, an 11 percent increase compared to $279 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.?</b> Fourth quarter 2008 operating income was $22.4 million, a 1 percent increase compared to $22.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.?   Full Story

The Nagravision Scramble For Tivù Sat
Nagravision, an independent provider of value-added content protection solutions, will provide the conditional access system (CAS) for the new Tiv? Sat, the free-to-air (FTA) satellite service jointly owned by Italian broadcasters RAI, Mediaset, and Telecom Italia Media.?   Full Story

Arthur C. Clarke Further Honored By Int'l Space University
Dr. Michael Simpson, President of the International Space University (ISU), in collaboration with the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation, announced the establishment of the Arthur C. Clarke Fellows Program at ISU.   Full Story

OnAir Signs On Royal Jordanian
oneworld member Royal Jordanian has now launched mobile inflight passenger communications services from industry leader OnAir.?   Full Story

HOTBIRD's Footprint Finds Room
RRsat now has available space segment on the Hotbird Ku-band satellite for TV and radio channels' distribution to Europe.   Full Story

Planck Prepped
Both payloads for Arianespace’s upcoming Ariane 5 mission to explore the universe are now in French Guiana, following this week’s delivery of the Planck observatory to the Spaceport.   Full Story

Spacenet's Net Care Of The Smarter Variety
Spacenet Inc.,?a wholly owned subsidiary of Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq: GILT) and a provider of satellite networking solutions, announced availability of the Company's new Enhanced Support Program, a comprehensive family of customer support and network management services.   Full Story

Observing Odin's Odometer Continuing To Rack Up Space Miles
The Swedish atmospheric research and astronomy satellite Odin celebrated eight years in orbit (on Friday, February 20th) and the value of its observations continues to increase.   Full Story

Stratos Pumps Up The Service In Hong Kong
Stratos Global Corporation has expanded its Asia-Pacific customer-support infrastructure with the opening of its new Hong Kong Customer Support Center.   Full Story

SpaceX' PICA-X Testing Will Counter Dragon's Heat
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) announces the passing of a significant technical milestone in the development of its Dragon spacecraft with the successful arc jet testing of PICA-X high performance heat shield material.   Full Story

Complimentary Compatriots — ABS + ASTI
Advanced Broadcast Solutions (ABS) recently entered into a strategic alliance with Antenna & Satellite Technology, Inc. (ASTI), a leading provider of broadband satellite communications services in Seattle, Washington.???   Full Story

ILS Proton To Ensure AsiaSat-5 Accomplishes Beam Business
International Launch Services (ILS) and Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (AsiaSat) announced a contract for the launch of AsiaSat-5 satellite on an ILS Proton.   Full Story

Automation Improvement Finds NetCracker Intelsat's Technology Abettor
Intelsat has selected NetCracker Technology software and services to improve the automation of its service delivery processes.   Full Story

No Es Bueno En Argentina Para Aqua
Crops in Argentina were taking a beating in February 2009 — according to reports from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), a severe drought in southern South America had severely affected corn, cotton, and soybean crops in the country.   Full Story

Apaches To Acquire Real-TIme Battlefield Streaming From UAS
Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] Video from Unmanned Aerial Systems for Interoperability Teaming – Level 2 (VUITTM-2) for Apache technology recently began operational use in theater.   Full Story

Abu Dhabi Recognizes It's All About Image(Sat)
Abu Dhabi has signed a multi-million dollar deal with Israel's ImageSat International, which is co-owned by the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and several private investors, that own and operate two EROS satellites.   Full Story


February 22, 2009
NAB Show Stoppers
If you are planning to attend the National Association of Broadcasters annual event in Las Vegas from April 20th through April 23rd, there are a number of SATCOM and MILSATCOM companies who will be presenting their latest wares for your immediate edification. Additionally, SatNews Publishers is an official Media Sponsor for the NAB's Military + Government Summit, so we would be delighted to meet you during the show to discuss your company and your products. This section of our daily news will offer ongoing information regarding some of the companies and who will be in attendance at NAB and their showcase products...   Full Story

digiGO! — NAB: ARG Brickhouse (Booth SU6307)
ARG Brickhouse is set to unveil its HD vision switcher as well as their 3-input Micro SD version at NAB 2009 at Booth SU 6307.?   Full Story

digiGO! — Serving Up Video Is Ross Family Focus
Ross Video has launched their new SoftMetal 3000 and 4000 Series Video Servers.   Full Story


February 19, 2009
Herschel and Planck — Europe Readies Most Complex Observatories Ever
Like two peas in a pod, the Herschel and Planck satellites, built by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor for the European Space Agency, have arrived at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, and are undergoing final preparations leading up to an Ariane 5 launch on April 16.   Full Story

Have a Chin Wag in the Clouds Courtesy of Ryanair and Onair 
Another airline Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline, launched its inflight mobile phone service initially onboard 20 of its (mainly) Dublin based aircraft.   Full Story

SkyTerra's Quarter Results Via Conference Call
SkyTerra Communications, Inc. [OTCBB: SKYT] has scheduled its conference call to discuss 2008 fourth-quarter financial results and other developments for Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. EST.   Full Story

And the Jack Swigert Award Goes to . . .
The 25th National Space Symposium brings together all sectors of space, civil, commercial, national security, new space entrepreneurship, and finance, to highlight accomplishments and address opportunities and issues facing the global space community today.   Full Story

It's A SNAP For TCS With Additional U.S. Army VSAT Contract
TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS) (NASDAQ: TSYS) has received an additional $5.6 million of funding from the U.S. Army to provide additional Secure Internet Protocol Router (SIPR) and Non-secure Internet Protocol Router (NIPR) Access Point (SNAP) Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) Satellite Systems, and an assortment of Data Packages, Forward Deployed Spares and Field Service Engineers.   Full Story

UAV Chopper Gifted To NMSU + Cal Poly By Northrop Grumman
New Mexico State University celebrated the Week of Engineering by accepting a $200,000 Yamaha RMAX Remote Control Helicopter given to the College of Engineering by Northrop Grumman International at a ceremony on Tuesday, February 17.   Full Story

Astrium's Adroitly Negotiated Capacity Elevates First SIDM UAV Afghan Missions
On February 17, 2009, the French Air Force’s SIDM (the French acronym for medium altitude long endurance (MALE) drone) surveillance UAV performed its maiden flight in a foreign theater of operations.   Full Story

Near Space Technologies Project Plans From Sanswire
In a move to establish a wider range of jobs and technologies in the region of Florida long known as the Space Coast, Sanswire Corp. (PINKSHEETS: SNSR) intends to work with other Florida-based technology providers on the "Florida Near Space Coast Initiative," which will seek funding from the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" to establish an economic development zone in coastal Central Florida for the development and production of near space technologies.   Full Story

Moon Habitat Energy Generator Being Tested By NASA
NASA has started testing elements of a power system that is a potential candidate to provide the energy needed to support a human outpost on the moon.   Full Story

50+ Alaskan Choppers To Get SkyNode'd
TEMSCO Helicopters has selected to refit their entire fleet of over 50 small and large-payload helicopters with Latitude Technologies’ SkyNode S200-021 voice and flight-following satcom equipment.   Full Story

Kepler Countdown Starts Soon — Set To Examine Life On Other Planets
NASA's Kepler spacecraft is ready to be moved to the launch pad today and will soon begin a journey to search for worlds that could potentially host life.   Full Story

Good, Good Vibrations For NPOESS
A primary operational and science instrument for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) has passed a key environmental test at Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) subcontractor, Raytheon Company.   Full Story

Mapping For Energy Is A WhiteStar Commitment
WhiteStar Corp. has introduced WhiteStar OPUS, a turn-key hardware/software solution that provides immediate enterprise access to 18 terabytes of pre-rendered geospatial data. Cached map data includes four WhiteStar Enterprise data sets.   Full Story

Such a Deal — Irresistible Iridium
They've done it before, and the program was successful — so now, Iridium Satellite LLC announces that it is re-launching its popular “Trade-Up to Iridium” program, which provides pricing incentives for customers trading up from Globalstar to Iridium handsets and service.   Full Story

Cassini Moons Over Tethys
Like the lengthy story of its Greek king namesake, the humongous Odysseus impact basin stretches on and on across Tethys.   Full Story

The Name Game — SPACEHAB Becomes Astrotech
SPACEHAB, Incorporated (NASDAQ: SPAB), a provider of commercial space services, announced today that it is changing its corporate name to Astrotech Corporation.   Full Story

SSTL Heads To Dubai Conference With Eye In The Sky
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) will present new small satellite “eye in the sky” solutions for civilian and security applications at the IDEX International Defence Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi, February 22nd through 26th.   Full Story

ESA's New ATV Monikered After German Astronomer
ESA's second Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) has been named Johannes Kepler after the German astronomer and mathematician.   Full Story


February 18, 2009
GlobeCast's African Agenda + More...
GlobeCast will be announcing the launch of its new African DTH satellite platform, as well as other recent expansions in terms of coverage and services, at the first Satellite MENA in Dubai next month.   Full Story

digiGO! — 35M Cell Modems Wend Their Way To Customers
Shipment data for the cellular modems used to connect laptops and netbooks to the Internet indicate that more than 35 million of the devices hit the market in 2008.   Full Story

Mastering LRIT With Fulcrum + SkyWave
Fulcrum Maritime Systems Ltd. now has a partnership with SkyWave Mobile Communications to support the SkyWave LRIT system.   Full Story

Major Maritime Comms Improvements By NSSL + Telemar
NSSL and Telemar Scandinavia have announced a joint partnership for their Maritime Broadband Services, with NSSL’s Cruise IP and Telemar’s SeaCall services now using the same high-quality DVBS2-RCS broadband platform.</font   Full Story

February 24th Is A Big Maritime Day For JSAT MOBILE + Inmarsat
Stratos Global Corporation announced that JSAT MOBILE Communications Inc. (JSAT MOBILE) has been granted a radio license by the Kanto Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.   Full Story

Herschel Bathed In UV To Ensure Cleanliness
The Herschel space telescope has completed what could be called the "blue phase" of its pre-launch preparations for Arianespace's next Ariane 5 mission, with the spacecraft's mirror inspected for cleanliness using ultraviolet light.   Full Story

Lack Of Info Root Cause Of SatSmash — SWF Proposes A Safety Plan!
The February 10th collision of the two satellites resulted in the generation of space junk that now circles Earth and threatens spacecraft from a host of nations. A proposal has been made during the 46th session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) for a space traffic control system.   Full Story

U.S.A.F. Orders Up Harris Falcon III For MilComm
Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) has received an $18 million order from the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command's Battlefield Air Operations office for the Harris Falcon III AN/PRC-117G wideband tactical radio system.   Full Story

Up, Up, And Away, In My Mars-Based Balloon
NASA has awarded Aurora Flight Sciences and its partner Vertigo Inc, a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I contract to develop an innovative autonomous balloon launcher to operate from the surface of Mars.   Full Story

SatForum Hosted By CASBAA To Focus On India's Market
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has announced its program for the CASBAA India Satellite Forum 2009 at The LaLit (formerly the Grand Intercontinental), New Delhi on March 17, 2009.   Full Story

SkyTrac's New SATCOM Transceiver Debuts
SkyTrac Systems has launched their ISAT-200, the Company's nexgen, full featured SATCOM transceiver, at Heli Expo 2009 in Anaheim California.   Full Story

U.S. Navy Task Fulfillment Fulfills L-3 Contract
L-3 Communications has announced their Command & Control Systems and Software (C2S2) division has been awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract by the U.S. Navy for software, planning and engineering services tasks.   Full Story

Iranian Patter Presents UAV Accomplishment
A top Iranian defense official, Deputy Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, said on Wednesday the country has built an unmanned surveillance aircraft with a range of more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers).   Full Story

Sea Launch Responds to Customer Request for Hold on Operations
At the request of their Telespazio customer, Sea Launch has halted preparations for the launch of the SICRAL 1B communications satellite due to requirements for further spacecraft tests and verifications.   Full Story

Moving On Up... At Integral Systems...
Integral Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISYS) has hired Levi A. Royster to serve as vice president of information technology and information security.   Full Story

Here's Looking @ Earth — EO-1 Establishes Erebus Energy
Antarctica’s Mount Erebus may be covered with glaciers, but they do little to cool the volcano’s molten core.   Full Story

Checking Climate Conditions Is OCO's Goal Once Launched
The launch of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, aboard a Taurus XL rocket is scheduled for February 24th.   Full Story

Dwarf Galaxy Stew Observed By Galaxy Evolution Explorer
There is more than one way to make a dwarf galaxy, and NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer has found a new recipe.   Full Story

HOT BIRD-9 Goes Hot For Eutelsat
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) has announced the full entry into commercial service of its HOT BIRD-9 satellite at 13 degrees East.   Full Story

NASA and ESA's Excellent Adventure to Jupiter and Family
They will continue with their pursuit of studying all aspects of a mission to Jupiter and its four largest moons, and to plan for another potential mission to visit Saturn's largest moon Titan and Enceladus.   Full Story

Cassini's Sensational Spokes Spark Return
Signaling a return to the bright spokes first encountered by the Cassini spacecraft in 2005, three large white spokes stretch out across the B ring.   Full Story


February 17, 2009
Chicken Chain Chooses Spacenet
Comfort food such as that served at Boston Market restaurants takes on a new perspective — Spacenet Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. [Nasdaq: GILT] announced that it has signed a contract to provide an upgraded satellite and hybrid data network to over 500 Boston Market restaurant locations across the United States.   Full Story

NRB Sees Vision With Crawford Satellite
Crawford Satellite Services, a service area of Crawford Communications, Inc., adds NRB Network to its growing cable platform by providing NRB with origination, transmission and satellite space along with 24/7 engineering support.   Full Story

Plume Watcher LCROSS Heads To Florida
NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, is enroute from Northrop Grumman's facility in Redondo Beach, California, to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in preparation for a spring launch.   Full Story

ScanEagle Treated To Winds Galore
The Beech Wind Tunnel at Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research recently performed subsonic wind tunnel tests for a full-scale model of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems' ScanEagle Compressed Carriage, a long-endurance autonomous unmanned vehicle.   Full Story

AGS Brings Amphibious Command Ship Into DIA's VSAT Net
AMERICOM Government Services (AGS) has announced the U.S. Navy has accepted the in-motion satellite terminal installed on board the Seventh Fleet Command ship, the USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19).   Full Story

Tag Team = Numerex + Savi
Numerex Corp. (Nasdaq: NMRX) and Savi, a Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) company, today announced their technology partnership to co-develop what would be the first asset and shipment monitoring device that combines Global Satellite Positioning, active Radio Frequency Identification and Satellite Communications.   Full Story

Cell + Backhaul Management Get ATCi Treatment
Antenna Technology Communications Inc. announced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress Conference taking place in Barcelona that the Company will be offering its advanced cellular communications satellite systems specifically designed for applications in countries across the Latin America, Middle East and Africa in the 2nd quarter of this year.   Full Story

On The Right Track Are Impeva + Agility
Impeva Labs, Inc. and Agility have successfully deployed an advanced service to track and monitor more than 365 trucks operating on 2,000-plus miles of remote roads across challenging terrain between depots in Dubai, Jordan and Iraq, the start of a multi-phased deployment to support Agility’s operations in the region.   Full Story

Financially Speaking... Gilat Satellite Networks
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq: GILT) has reported the Company's results for the fourth quarter, ending December 31, 2008.   Full Story

Lifeline Tossed To SIRIUS By Liberty Media
To the tune of $530 million, SIRIUS XM Radio has temporarily staved off bankruptcy, thanks to a rescue by Liberty Media.   Full Story

KVH and ViaSat Set Standards at Sea
Working in the Persian Gulf on commercial oil and gas, shipping and government vessels is serious work with family and friends far away, and communications are expensive and inconsistant in quality — until now.   Full Story

MHI + JAXA Acknowledge Size Does Count As Far As Rockets Are Concerned
Japan's space agency, JAXA, and industrial giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) last week unveiled the new H-2B rocket body to a group of reporters, but only after submitting them to a rigorous procedure of finger-printing, an air shower to remove all dust, and a requirement to wear chemical suits.   Full Story

Dual Payload RISAT + ANUSAT Set For Late March Insertions
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch a "breakthrough" remote sensing satellite, RISAT, that can take pictures of Earth at night and even "see" through clouds and fog.   Full Story

Born in the U.S.A. — ABSL's Lithium-ion Battery
A milestone was achieved in a contract awarded by Moog Inc., for ABSL which will be responsible for delivering multiple 340V batteries.   Full Story

MILCOM Sat Constellation Achieves 200+ Years Of Ops
A U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] team has announced the Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) III constellation has surpassed 200 years of on-orbit operations, the longest total operational experience of any U.S. military communications satellite constellation.   Full Story

TIBA Snaps Up NSS-806 Capacity
SES NEW SKIES, an SES company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), has announced that TIBA (Telepuerto Internacional Buenos Aires) has signed a new multi-transponder, multi-year agreement for satellite capacity on the NSS-806 satellite at the orbital location of 319.5 degrees East.   Full Story

Spacecraft — How To Design — It's Not Easy
Imagine if non-technical experts (e.g. program managers, contracts/finance specialists, business development staff) understood the tradeoffs involved in the design and development of spacecraft.   Full Story

Herschel Gets Processed + Cleaned For Its Journey
The European-built Herschel telescope has begun pre-launch processing at the Spaceport in French Guiana as preparations for Arianespace’s second Ariane 5 launch of 2009 shift into full gear.   Full Story

Stormy Saturn Session Seen
A Cassini spacecraft image captures a bright, oblong storm swirling high through the middle latitudes of the southern hemisphere.   Full Story

MUOS Moving On Up
The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has delivered the first Legacy Communications payload and the first digital channelizer to Lockheed Martin in support of the U.S. Navy's new Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) communications system.   Full Story

Dual-Use MilSat Planned by Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force plans on having their own satellite in space by the end of 2010.   Full Story

A Day In The Life Of A Predator
The 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing received a new MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft and immediately put it into action at Joint Base Balad in Iraq on February 13th.   Full Story


February 16, 2009
Super Summit @ NAB Offers Key Military + Government Focus
Today’s military, government and first responders have a need to understand what the commercial broadcast world can offer to better manage their video and imagery requirements.   Full Story

TS2 4 Soldiers 2 Connect In 2 War Zones
Numbers indicate that TS2 Satellite Technologies' network in Iraq and Afghanistan has over 15 thousand users of local broadband satellite connections providing high-speed Internet services for U.S. Army soldiers stationed in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.   Full Story

Latest Satellite Collision Anticipated — But Urgency to Communicate Difficult
Satellites provide fast technology and faster communications — except when one agency needs to communicate to another of the potential collision, such as occurred this last week.   Full Story

Federales To Gain ISR UAVs From Aeronautics
Aeronautics has been selected by the Federal Police of Mexico to provide advanced ISR systems in several contracts recently signed.   Full Story

Acquisition Accomplishment... Globe Wireless + ART
Globe Wireless has completed a Letter of Intent to acquire the assets of Atlantic RadioTelephone / SatPhoneStore.   Full Story

Here's Looking At Earth: Tetiaroa Island
Tetiaroa Island is part of the Society Islands archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean, one of several island clusters in French Polynesia.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . .@ DigitalGlobe
DigitalGlobe, a leading provider of high-resolution world imagery solutions, today named Rafay Khan as senior vice president of international sales.   Full Story

Enjoy the Show Without Going Overboard, KVH's No Need to Swap Mid Ocean
For those cruising from North America to Central or South America and back can now enjoy seamless continuous satellite TV throughout the entire voyage without ever having to change hardware.   Full Story

GlobeComm's Latest $13.7 Million Contract
Globecomm Systems Inc. [NASDAQ: GCOM], announced that the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Globecomm Services Maryland, has received a one-year service contract from a major U.S. Government prime contractor valued at $13.7 million.   Full Story

GOCE To Leave Earth's Graces Next Month
Eurockot Launch Services and its customer, the European Space Agency (ESA), have started preparations for the launch of the GOCE Earth Explorer satellite from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia.   Full Story

Three Times Is Not A Charm — Delay To Keep Discovery Docked On Earth
NASA mission managers have delayed the planned February launch of the space shuttle Discovery for the third time.   Full Story

Mobile TV — Optimize + Prioritize S-band Together
Nagravision, a Kudelski Group (SWX:KUD) company and an independent provider of value-added content protection solutions and Solaris Mobile, themselves a joint venture of Eutelsat and SES Astra, has announced they are joining forces in the development of a harmonized ecosystem to optimize the delivery of mobile TV and broadband services.   Full Story

Webb Working At ATK
Alliant Techsystems has started to assemble the Primary Mirror Backplane Support Structure, or spine, of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at its Magna, Utah, facility.   Full Story

Scots Finding Funds For Fire Suppression From Space
A Scottish company is raising funds to develop a satellite that could help track and prevent the spread of forest fires such as those that recently devastated parts of south-eastern Australia.   Full Story

Trash Bins In Space to Eliminate the Junk?
SatNews found the following article to be of potential interest to our subscribers, courtesy of Trevor Williams University of Victoria Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate:   Full Story

ESA Begins Journey To Study the Stars . . . and Beyond
Each step puts ESA closer to Herschel beginning its flagship mission to study the formation of galaxies and stars.   Full Story

380th Air Expeditionary (Spread Their) Wing With a Hawk
The 'bird' has arrived to designate it as 'the first' in the joint mission of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing.   Full Story

Unmanned Battlefield of the Future Requires 'Manned' Experts Now
Always preparing for the future in the military with such devices as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Unmanned Surface Vessels brings experts together to address these and other topics at Unmanned Systems Asia 2009, February 17-18 at the Rendezvous Hotel in Singapore.   Full Story

Here's Looking At Earth: Ash From Asama...
Asama Volcano on the Japanese island of Honshu showed signs of unrest starting in late January 2009, according to the Japanese Meteorological Agency.   Full Story

A Pox On Piracy — UAVs On Lookout Duty
Drone aircraft that have been used by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and insurgents in Iraq are now being used to combat pirates off the Somali coast.   Full Story

Automated UAV Refueling Contract Goes To Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) relative navigation solution has been selected by the U.S. Air Force for the Automated Aerial Refueling (AAR) program follow-on contract.   Full Story

Northrop Grumman's Major Milestone For GPS OCX
Northrop Grumman successfully completed the System Design Review for the Global Positioning System (GPS) Next Generation Operational Control Segment (OCX) program, the final major milestone under the Phase A contract, laying the foundation for a low-risk, cost-effective Phase B contract.   Full Story

Harris' High Road With Highband Net Radio
Harris Corporation's (NYSE:HRS) new Highband Networking Radio (HNRTM) provided interoperable, long-range backbone communications for stationary, on-the-move and airborne platforms, including the Boeing A160T Hummingbird Unmanned Aerial System, at the U.S. Army's C4ISR On-the-Move Event at Fort Dix, New Jersey.   Full Story

MSS Costs Reduced By Stratos Global
Stratos Global Corporation has announced the commercial availability of StratosNet Accelerator, a free Internet-optimization application that helps customers reduce airtime costs required to operate BGAN, FleetBroadband and SwiftBroadband mobile satellite services.   Full Story

Hot Times In The UAV Market Ahead — To The Tune Of $62B
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) continue to be the most dynamic growth sector of the world aerospace industry, report Teal analysts in their latest integrated market analysis.   Full Story


February 13, 2009
Satlynx SATCOM Success In Poland
Satlynx, a GE company and a provider of satellite telecommunications, has announced a 6.7 million euros business agreement with the Polish Government via its military systems partner WZL (Wojskowe Zak³ady £¹cznoœci Nr 1) to provide a range of satellite equipment.   Full Story

Metop-A Makes Amends
The Advanced High Resolution Picture Transmission (AHRPT) system on EUMETSAT’s Metop-A polar-orbiting satellite is operational again following a successful two-month trial last October and November.   Full Story

Milstar Makes It To Its 50th Birthday
The first U.S. Air Force Milstar communications satellite, built by a Lockheed Martin [NTSE:LMT] team, has achieved 15 years of on-orbit operations.   Full Story

European End-To-End Mobile Broadcasting Demo Set Up By GlobeCast + Viaccess
Viaccess, a France Telecom company, has been selected by? GlobeCast to provide its Viaccess Mobile Broadcast service protection solution based on the OMA BCAST Smartcard profile for use in a key trial platform to faciliate the commercial launch of this technology in Europe.   Full Story

M3 Aboard Chandrayann-1 Makes ATK's Day
Alliant Techsystems is celebrating the news that NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) has reached lunar orbit aboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft and is now operational.   Full Story

Vizada Heads WEST
Vizada is exhibiting at this year’s WEST 2009 conference in San Diego. Joining Vizada in its booth #2312 are key Vizada Service Providers.   Full Story

Bogus MILCOM 2009 Emails Alert!
From AFCEA International comes the following warning regarding some fraudulent emails being sent by unauthorized parties who pretend to represent the MILCOM 2009 Conference that'll be held later this year in Boston.   Full Story

Real World Perspectives For Nokia Users Via DigitalGlobe
DigitalGlobe and Nokia have agreed to bring the real-world perspective of high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery to Nokia Maps, both on mobile devices and on Ovi, improving the global driving, hiking and walking navigation capabilities for consumers who use these applications.   Full Story

Agilent Antenna's Online Seminar
Agilent Technologies is going to host a web seminar on the new PNA-X Measurement Receiver for antenna test.   Full Story

SIDM UAV Sent Packing By France To Afghanistan
EADS Defence & Security (DS) plays a decisive role in the SIDM UAV deployment for the French Air Force in Afghanistan.   Full Story

Longer + Higher Are Keys To EADS UAV Advancement
EADS has decisively shifted its Advanced UAV concept to a long-winged, high-altitude, long-loitering surveillance model, dropping consideration of a faster and short-winged recon variant, said Herv? Guillou, head of the Defense and Security France division.   Full Story

Disarmament Conference Offers Outer Space Use Code
The European Union on Thursday, February 12, presented a proposal for a voluntary international code on the use of outer space to the Conference on Disarmament, just days after a Russian and U.S. satellite collided.   Full Story

An Astronaut + More Satellites On Iran's "Must Do" Agenda
Iran has initiated a 12-year project to send an astronaut into space, mere days after conducting its first domestic satellite launch.   Full Story

Telstar-11N To Bridge Three Continents
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (NASDAQ: LORL) has shipped Telstar-11N to the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan, where it will be launched on the Land Launch system.   Full Story

Hola! QuetzSat-1
SES S.A. (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) has signed a contract with Space Systems/Loral for the procurement of QuetzSat-1, a high-power communications satellite with coverage of Mexico, North America, and Central America.   Full Story

NASA's Dawn Plummeting Toward Mars For Good Reason
Launched in September of 2007, and propelled by any one of a trio of hyper-efficient ion engines, NASA's Dawn spacecraft passed the orbit of Mars last summer.   Full Story

Evolution Coming To Australia + New Zealand
VT iDirect, Inc. (iDirect), a subsidiary of VT Systems Inc (VT Systems), has announced that Australian Satellite Communications Pty Ltd (ASC) has chosen the iDirect Evolution platform to implement a DVB-S2 network covering Australia and New Zealand.   Full Story

Starling Launches StarCar, a Star of a Car
This star is not in the heavens or part of Hollywood or Broadway — rather Starling Advanced Communications is introducing the StarCarTM antenna system for land vehicles at an upcoming conference.   Full Story

IP Technology + The Satellite Market Focus Of New Summit
The IP Satellite Summit is being produced by NSR (Northern Sky Research) and is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13th, at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C.   Full Story

SkyTrac Making Tracks To Anaheim Conference
SkyTrac Systems will be exhibiting at Heli Expo 2009 in Anaheim California from February 22 to 24 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.   Full Story

Volvo Navigates from China to Carnival in Rio With Inmarsat FleetBroadband
They're off and ready to race, no concerns for communications as the competing VO70 class boats leave Qingdao, China, on Saturday 14th February 2009, for a 12,300nm leg across the Pacific before arriving in Rio de Janeiro at the end of March 2009. This is the longest leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009 and an important one for sponsor Thrane &   Full Story


February 12, 2009
Dione Crescent Has Casinni Attention
This high-phase view of Saturn's moon Dione shows the great contrast between the highly reflective ''wisps'' and the surrounding terrain.   Full Story

Small Ship SATCOM Satisfies...
KVH is joining forces with Furuno, Standard Horizon, and Interphase Technologies to demo the Company's multi-function screens and the TracVision family of satellite TV systems, live in their booths, during the 2009 Miami International Boat Show.   Full Story

HOT BIRD-10 + NSS-9 + Spirale Duo Launched Successfully By Arianespace
Arianespace has successfully launched Ariane 5, which orbited payloads for two of the world’s leading satellite communications operators — Eutelsat and SES.   Full Story

Traffic Jams In Outer Space?
Yesterday SatNews reported about the commercial satellite that collided with a Russian satellite over Siberia on February 10th, which yielded a cloud of fragments, according to a NASA scientist tracking space debris.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . .@ Global Advisory Council (GAC)
Dr. Robert Moses, President and CEO of PCI Geomatics, a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Open Geospatial Consortium, has been elected by the board to chair the consortium’s recently chartered Global Advisory Council (GAC).   Full Story

Moving On Up . . . NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
Kim E. Whitson has been appointed deputy director of the Office of Procurement at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.   Full Story

Yucking It Up at the Space Foundation
Here's a twist on technology, which is serious business, but understanding it doesn't have to be. In this spirit, the Space Foundation has chosen Bill Nye the Science Guy . . .   Full Story


February 11, 2009
Virtutech Lets Orion Crew Vehicle Simulate 'Being There' Before It's 'There'
Practical is put into practice — Virtutech, Inc., provider of virtualized system development (VSD) solutions for electronic systems, today announced that its Simics virtual platform has been selected by Honeywell as a simulation platform for NASA’s Orion crew exploration vehicle, America’s spacecraft for a new generation of explorers.   Full Story

A Breeze Of A Launch For AM44 + MD1
The Express-AM44 and Express-MD1 satellites have been successfully launched into target orbit by a Proton-M rocket with Breeze-M accelerator and are now under control of the RSCC satellite mission control center.   Full Story

Ross Video (Booth SU1807)
Ross Video designs, manufactures and supports a wide range of innovative products for use in live production applications in over 100 countries.   Full Story

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Rejects Patent Claims Assertion Against Aruba
Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN) has announced that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued a preliminary re-examination report rejecting all claims of Patent No. 6,973,622, which was asserted against Aruba Networks by Motorola in 2007.   Full Story

In The Field With atrexx
atrexx, a German special solutions provider for the telecommunication and broadcast industries, has been providing welfare communications links via satellite to enable troops and police forces to remain in touch with friends and family back home.   Full Story

Harris Is On The GOES... R, That Is...
Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS) has delivered its proposal for a total, end-to-end solution for the ground segment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) program.   Full Story

Fiji Telecom Goes with Gilat
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq: GILT) has announced Telecom Fiji Ltd. (TFL) has added Gilat's SkyAbis cellular-backhaul solution to its satellite communications network to enhance Fiji's mobile service.??   Full Story

This Dragon Provides Jobs, Saves Money and Transports Astronauts and Cargo
SpaceX has done very well in providing Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program for NASA, which was validated in 2006 when SpaceX won the NASA COTS competition to demonstrate transporting of cargo and, optionally, crew to and from the International Space Station.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . . @ ND SatCom
There will be a new CEO at ND SatCom — Norbert Holzle has been appointed new CEO as of March 1, 2009.   Full Story

Satellites To Your Rescue
Global Satellite USA, a satellite solutions provider, has partnered with worldwide crisis response company Global Rescue to provide their clients with the highest level of medical and security information and emergency evacuations from around the globe.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . .@ WFN Strategies
WFN Strategies recently enhanced its telecoms engineering and implementation team with the addition of Glenn Duhig as General Manager Asia-Pacific, based in Perth, Western Australia.   Full Story

Manned Indian Chopper To Become Unmanned
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will convert the HAL-built Chetak Helicopter into an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).   Full Story

New UAV UMT System Plays Its Role Well
CAE and Israel Aerospace Industries are in the final phases of developing an unmanned air vehicle mission training (UMT) system, which will be revealed at the Aero India 2009 show in Bangalore, India.   Full Story

Spatial Traffic Problem = Satellite Collision
A commercial satellite collided with a Russian satellite over Siberia on February 10th. This yielded a cloud of fragments, according to a NASA scientist tracking space debris.   Full Story

Happy Birthday, Columbus — The ISS' Laboratory, That Is...
Exactly one year ago today, the European Columbus laboratory arrived at its berth on the International Space Station, signalling the start of a new era for Europe in human spaceflight.   Full Story

Antimatter Really Does Matter
Antimatter-hunting will, indeed, become a reality as NASA has officially scheduled for September 16th, 2010, the mission STS-134 which will transport to the International Space Station (ISS) the AMS (Anti-Matter Spectrometer), the European lab for particle physics, carried out with an important contribution by Italy.   Full Story

Cassini Captures Saturn Ring Shadow
The rings of Saturn cast a dramatic but narrow shadow on the planet in this view on the sunlit side of the rings from just one degree below the ringplane.   Full Story

IBUKI (GOSAT) Snaps To With First Light
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has successfully acquired the First Light by the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite "IBUKI" (GOSAT) during the course of its initial functional check.   Full Story

Snell & Wilcox (Booth SU1917 + SU1717)
Snell & Wilcox designs and builds the advanced systems for video playout, mastering, repurposing, infrastructure, and live production switching.   Full Story


February 10, 2009
Team TSAT Contract In Place To Reduce Risky Business
The U.S. Air Force has awarded the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT]/Northrop Grumman [NYSE: NOC] Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) Space Segment Team a $75-million, six-month extension to its Risk Reduction and System Definition (RR&SD) contract.   Full Story

Progress Makes Its Way To ISS
Atop a Russian Soyuz rocket, the Progress M-66 spacecraft is wending its way toward the ISS from the launch site in Kazakhstan.   Full Story

Monitoring SatCom Brings New System From L-3 TRL
U.K. defence supplier L-3 TRL Technology is going to showcase their new IsatPhone Monitoring System (ISMS) at the ISS World MEA exhibition in Dubai later this month.   Full Story

It's a G'Day, Mate! Australian Satellite Expands to Include Kiwis
Just announced — VT iDirect, Inc. (iDirect), a subsidiary of VT Systems Inc (VT Systems), in conjunction with Australian Satellite Communications Pty Ltd (ASC) has chosen the iDirect Evolution platform to implement a DVB-S2 network covering Australia and New Zealand.   Full Story

Comm At Altitude For British Airways
British Airways (BA) plans to launch OnAir's in-flight mobile communication service on its new twice-daily business flights from London City Airport to JFK in New York.   Full Story

Moving On Up... At Wavestream Corp.
Wavestream Corporation has appointed Clifton L. Cooke, Jr. as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company. Michael Mollin joins the Wavestream team as Chief Financial Officer.   Full Story

C-Com Sat Provides Customized One Stop Centre to Malaysia
Good news in today's economy, C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. [TSXV: CMI] received an order for a number of iNetVu Mobile systems from its reseller, Numix Engineering Sdn Bhd in Malaysia.   Full Story

Harris Highband Networking Radio Has Highly Elevated Results
Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS) has demo'd the ability of its advanced Highband Networking Radio to provide high-capacity air-to-air and air-to-ground communications — including streaming video — at ranges of up to 130 nautical miles and at altitudes up to 24,000 feet during the U.S. Air Force CAPSTONE II exercise.   Full Story

Recalcitrants Beware — Raven Ramping Up!
AeroVironment, Inc. (AV) (NASDAQ: AVAV) has received an order from the U.S. Army valued at $16,758,776 for the production of 50 new Raven (RQ-11B) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) equipped with AV’s Digital Data Link (DDL).   Full Story

Blasts from a Gamma-ray Star With Attitude Swift(ly) Captured
There is lots of commotion in space that astronomers using NASA's Swift satellite and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope are witnessing including frequent blasts from a stellar remnant 30,000 light-years away.   Full Story

Grounding For GOES
Raytheon Company has submitted its final proposal for the development of the ground segment for NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R series, known as GOES-R.   Full Story

Telestream (Booth SL3305)
Telestream products make it possible to deliver video content to any audience, regardless of how it is created, distributed, or viewed. Throughout the entire digital media lifecycle, from capture to viewing, for consumers through high-end professionals, Telestream products range from components and encoding applications to fully-automated workflow systems.   Full Story

Without A Doubt, Redoubt Remains A Reactionary
The glacier-covered Redoubt Volcano is one of many that line Alaska’s southern shores. Located 177 kilometers (110 miles) southwest of Anchorage, Redoubt is one of the peaks in the scenic Chigmit Mountain Range that frames the western side of Cook Inlet in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.   Full Story

Financially Speaking... ViaSat Inc...
ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) has announced financial results for the third quarter ended January 2, 20091.   Full Story

Avanti Avoids Acquisition Approach — At Least, For Now
British satellite broadband operator Avanti Communications Group Plc (AVN.L) stated that on Tuesday, February 10th, the Company received an unsolicited preliminary offer approach for the company, but rejected the inquiry.   Full Story

Mediascape Brings NDS In To Philippines Play
NDS has deployed a complete end-to-end pay-TV broadcast system for Cignal Digital TV, the new satellite-delivered digital TV platform in the Philippines recently launched by Mediascape.   Full Story

Mission Marvels — Two Express + One Cluster
ESA's Science Programme Committee has extended the operations of ESA's Mars Express, Venus Express and Cluster missions until December 31, 2009. The decision to extend the three successful missions was taken on February 4th this year.   Full Story

No Iron Dogs Were Hurt in the Making of This Race, Thanks to Iridium and WCC
More people are probably aware of the Tesoro Iron Dog snowmobile race now since the latest U.S. presidential race, when Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, brought it to light. Today competitors are revving their engines preparing once again for the grueling Tesoro Iron Dog snowmobile race.   Full Story

Heavy Lifting Involved With This Job — Ariane 5 Is a Workhorse
Arianespace's initial Ariane 5 flight of 2009 has been given the go-ahead for its February 12 liftoff following completion of the mission's launch readiness review, which was held today at the Spaceport in French Guiana.   Full Story


February 9, 2009
Serious Space Studies Support By Boeing
The International Space University (ISU) now has a five-year renewal of a partnership agreement with The Boeing Company, in which the Company will continue its strong support of the university’s programs and students.   Full Story

NETIA (Booth SU822)
NETIA, a GlobeCast company, is a provider of software solutions for managing and broadcasting television and radio content and is a major player in the digital broadcast arena.   Full Story

Still Helping in Hell . . . TSF Remains in Congo
There is an update to the information from Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) when deployed January 24th in the north east of the Democratic Republic of Congo close to the border with Sudan to support aid agencies working in the Haut-Uele District.   Full Story

Software Generation Limited (SGL — Booth SU8508)
Software Generation Ltd (SGL) is a provider of Content Archive and Storage Management software solutions. At NAB, SGL will demonstrate to U.S. broadcasters its Open System architecture, highlighting the substantial cost and workflow benefits that SGL’s fully accessible systems provide.   Full Story

AsiaSat + RRsat Are Quite Fashionable
Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) and Fashion TV (FTV) have announced the signing of an agreement for C-band capacity on AsiaSat-2 to launch FTV HD, the new high definition channel by FTV, in Asia Pacific.   Full Story

ATCi Airs Antenna Accomplishments
At the National Religious Broadcasters Conference being held in Nashville, Tennessee, ATCi has introduced Altair, the Company's specialized family of pre-packaged broadcast systems.   Full Story

Nigerian Banks Go Sky High With SkyEdge
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq:GILT)has announced that their long-time customer, DCC Satellite & Networks Ltd., is deploying a SkyEdge II network to serve hundreds of Nigerian financial institutions. DCC is already serving hundreds of Nigerian corporations through its existing SkyEdge network.   Full Story

Compix Media (Booth SL5105 + SL4805)
Compix Media provides powerful and cost effective character generator (CG) systems and applications for the television, video, production, sports, and IPTV markets.   Full Story

Herschel, Planck, Ariane 5 Of Special Interest To Arianespace
The launch vehicle for Arianespace's second Ariane 5 flight of 2009 has begun its assembly at the Spaceport in French Guiana, marking the startup of preparations for a dual-satellite mission that will yield new insights into the formation of stars and the universe's creation.   Full Story

DynaWorks With Goddard
ADS North America's TYX Corp. business unit has been selected to provide the DynaWorks tool for data, management, processing, and analysis to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.   Full Story

Space Census Of Black Holes Part of NuSTAR's Mission
NASA has selected Orbital Sciences Corp. to launch the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, high energy X-ray telescope.   Full Story

Triveni Digital (Booth SU3042)
Triveni Digital Inc. is a subsidiary of LG Electronics and provides systems for enabling enhanced digital television services and digital television service quality assurance solutions. Triveni Digital's products are produced for DVB SI, ATSC PSIP, data broadcasting, stream analysis, and monitoring. At the 2009 NAB Show, the Company will present...   Full Story

Spacenet Speeds Into Michael Waltrip Racing
Spacenet Inc has announced the Company's high-performance Connexstar satellite communications services have been deployed to support Command Center Trailers for Michael Waltrip Racing, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series racing organization.   Full Story

Zhongxing-6B Flakes Out For 47 Minutes
The Chinese Zhongxing-6B satellite ran into some problems on Monday, February 9th, at 10:59 a.m., Chinese local time.   Full Story

AEHF Gets Stressed At Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has announced that the second Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) military communications satellite is now undergoing thermal vacuum testing at the company's Sunnyvale, California facilities.   Full Story

Fires Down Under Continue To Cause Havoc
Bush fires in southeastern Australia turned deadly over the first weekend of February 2009.   Full Story

Super Smart Companies Bring Services to MENA Regions
From the Middle East comes the birth of a new $500 million privately held satellite operator, SmartSat which embarked on a joint venture with Smartlink, a global broadband satellite service provider that is a private Jordanian shareholding company.   Full Story


February 8, 2009
In Memory of Andrew (Andy) M. Werth
The Werth family has provided the following obituary for Andrew Werth, who passed away on January 28th in Washington, D.C. The family has provided the photos included in this all-too-brief life summary of a much beloved and true leader in our industry who was an early satellite digital technology developer, a racing enthusiast, and a highly regarded mentor. We offer our heartfelt sympathy to Mr. Werth's family and friends.   Full Story

NOAA-19 Into Orbit To Examine Earth
A new NOAA polar-orbiting environmental satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on February 6th and is now circling the globe every 102 minutes, taking images and measurements to support NOAA’s efforts to forecast and monitor the environment. NOAA-19 joins NOAA-18 and one European environmental satellite already in polar orbit.   Full Story

Astrosat Looking Good
India’s first national Astronomy satellite — Astrosat — is to have key components assembled by the University of Leicester in the U.K.   Full Story

ATK Pushes NOAA-N Prime
Alliant Techsystems played a key role in the successful launch of United Launch Alliance's Delta II rocket from NASA's Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, carrying the NOAA-N Prime satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).   Full Story

Lockheed Martin's NOAA-N Boosted Away
The NOAA-N Prime spacecraft, the final Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES), was launched successfully this morning at 2:22 a.m. PST from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) built NOAA-N Prime at its Space Systems Company Sunnyvale facility.   Full Story

FFV (Booth N2819)
Fast Forward Video (FFV) is a manufacturer of high-quality digital video recorders (DVRs) and their product line includes DVRs for on-location sports, key and fill, video assist, portable recording, and in-studio slow-motion, animation, and commercial insertion.   Full Story

What Did NASA, Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish Have In Common? Why, Stardust...
Saturday, February 7th, marked the 10th anniversary of the launch of NASA's well-traveled Stardust spacecraft.   Full Story

Tactical Weather Knowledge Necessary For Successful UAV Ops
Climatronics Corporation now offers an improved, tactical weather station, the EMI-hardened TACMET II (P/N 102304), to provide real-time surface weather input for UAV ground control stations (GCS).   Full Story

BAE Systems Praying For Clear Skies For Mantis UAV Reveal In India
Mantis, an autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by BAE Systems, will make its featured debut at the Aero India 2009, held in Bangalore, India, starting on February 11.   Full Story

It's A Deal! SkyTrac + Hawker Pacific Airservices
SkyTrac Systems has signed a dealership agreement with Hawker Pacific Airservices to resell SkyTrac’s flight following and SATCOM solutions in the United Arab Emirates.   Full Story

Strategy & Technology LLC (Booth ??)
Strategy & Technology is a specialist company in the field of digital interactive TV, focused on the provision of technology solutions using public standards. S&T supplies DSMCC object carousel systems for MHEG-5, MHP, OCAP/tru2way™ and ETV standards.   Full Story

Definitely A Flighty Chinese Operation From PolarSat
PolarSat Inc. has completed the delivery of the 7th expansion to the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) network in China.   Full Story

Space Foundation Names Public Outreach Award Winner
Known for his enthusiastic, comprehensible, and clever explanations of the mysteries of space to the general public, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ph.D., is the recipient of the Space Foundation's 2009 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award.   Full Story

Boeing + Ball Succeed With SBSS Demo
The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has successfully completed initial satellite testing and has demonstrated end-to-end mission functionality of the ground and space systems of the integrated Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) system.   Full Story

Eyeheight (Booth SL7409)
Eyeheight designs and manufactures a wide range of SDI/HD-SDI equipment for use in program-origination, quality assurance, post-production, master-control, and associated areas.   Full Story


February 6, 2009
GOCE Gets Going Again
The European Space Agency (ESA) is now gearing up to return to Russia to oversee preparations for the launch of its GOCE satellite — now envisaged for launch on March 16, 2009.   Full Story

Information Ingestion In Italy For SatPros
Sat Expo Europe will be held from March 19th through the 21st at Rome Fair in Italy, with the focus on Galileo Navigational System and UAV's, Earth Observation and Homeland Security, Space research and Transportation, and Integrated Telecommunications.   Full Story

No Dust Bunnies Involved With NASA's Ultimate Vacuum
Imagine the testing and planning involved in preparation for the upcoming launch on May 12 of the Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4 (SM4).   Full Story

Next Generation Has a HUNCH for Next Gen Rocket
Great opportunities abound with students at 10 high schools and engineering academies in Alabama and Tennessee who aren't just cracking science texts and deciphering advanced math formulas this winter.   Full Story

Successful Separation of a Skirt (for Ares I)
Lots of fireworks but it's not the fourth of July, as the development of NASA's next-generation crew launch vehicle, the Ares I rocket, took another step forward as Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, successfully tested a critical piece.   Full Story


February 5, 2009
ScheduALL (Booth SL1606)
ScheduALL is a global provider of Enterprise Resource Management (ERM) products for the broadcast, satellite/transmission, media, and entertainment industries.   Full Story

HaiVision Systems Inc. (Booth SL6527)
HaiVision Systems manufactures high-performance H.264 network video solutions for HD and SD and supplies top telepresence companies, broadcasters, medical companies, and audio-visual systems integrators with interactive video codecs and performance streaming encoders.   Full Story

ViewCast (Booth SL12415)
ViewCast develops industry-leading hardware and software for the transformation and delivery of professional quality video over IP and mobile networks.   Full Story

Pilat Media (Booth SU10405)
Pilat Media Global provides business management software solutions for content and service providers in the media industry.   Full Story

Streambox (Booth SU14112)
Not only has Streambox, Inc. just launched their portable Streambox SBT3-9500 Video Transport Encoder, this unit will also be featured at the upcoming NAB 2009 Show.   Full Story

Hubble Has Deep Universe In Its Sights
A spectacular new image of an unusual spiral galaxy in the Coma Galaxy Cluster has been created from data taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.   Full Story

Moving Experiences For Inmarsat
The second and final phase of Inmarsat's satellite repositioning program starts today (Friday, February 6th), with the transfer of services to the relocated I-4 F2 satellite at 25 degrees East.   Full Story

Full Commercial Ops Started For GeoEye-1
GeoEye, Inc. has initiated commercial operations for the Company's new GeoEye-1 Earth-imaging satellite.   Full Story

NASA's Spirit Advances In Reverse
Film is in from the hazard avoidance camera on the front of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit which took this image after a drive on the 1,806th Martian day, or sol, (January 31, 2009) of Spirit's mission on the surface of Mars.   Full Story

Financially Speaking... Raven Group Ltd...
Raven Group, Ltd. has announced Edgewater Funds and Granahan McCourt Capital invested in the Company to boost its expansion with total solutions for integrated outdoor units as well as associated electronics and equipment.   Full Story

Cinema DigiContent SatDelivery For Europe Via IDC For Arqiva
International Datacasting Corporation (TSX:IDC) has received an initial order from Arqiva Satellite & Media for infrastructure to support its development of a new pan-European digital cinema satellite network.   Full Story

Echolab Inc. (Booth SU2302)
Echolab, Inc. provides video production switchers and related tools that offer flexibility and on-air reliability for the production and distribution of digital media in a variety of formats.   Full Story

Thales Alenia Space To Bring Yamal Satellites Online For Gazprom
On February 5th at Gazprom headquarters, Dmitry Sevastiyanov, Director General of Gazprom Space Systems, and Reynald Seznec, CEO of Thales Alenia Space, signed the contract for the manufacture and delivery of two Yamal-400 new generation communications satellites.   Full Story

Complimentary Offer For Conference Extended to Maritime Services
A generous offer regarding the Global VSAT Forum (GVF) Broadband Maritime: New Communications Networking Offshore & the High-Seas 2009 (BM 2009) conference will take place at the Marina Mandarin Hotel, Singapore over 18th & 19th February, with complimentary registration for maritime sector executives.   Full Story

Asian Market Video Streaming Examined By CASBAA In Video...
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has released the full version of an insightful documentary video examination of Online Video in China, Japan & Korea.   Full Story

Additional Raven Reconabilities For Services Via Extended UAV Contract
AeroVironment, Inc. (AV) (NASDAQ: AVAV) has announced the U.S. Army has ordered additional RQ-11B Raven small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and associated services for its fiscal year 2009 requirements by the exercise of an option under an existing contract.   Full Story

Battlespace Betterment For U.K. Forces
General Dynamics United Kingdom Limited, in partnership with Rockwell Collins and QinetiQ, has won a competition for a GBP3 million contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to develop the Joint Data Network Combat Identification Server Technical Demonstrator.   Full Story

UAV Demo For U.K. Police Agencies
This article first appeared in the December 2008 edition of TalkThrough (U.K.), the magazine of the Ministry of Defence Police. In recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been used in a number of high profile military deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now the technology has been adapted for domestic use and is attracting the interest of a number of Police Forces and other civilian agencies.   Full Story

The Space Foundation's Jobs Are Out of This World
While many are seeking employment, good news comes from the Space Foundation for college students and transitioning military looking for jobs in the space industry.   Full Story

A Win For De Winne, To Be ISS' 1st European Commander
In May 2009, Frank De Winne, of Belgian nationality and a member of the European Astronaut Corps, will fly to the International Space Station at the start of his six-month mission.   Full Story

Orbiter To Remain In Use Until 2020
Russia and its International Space Station partners have an oral agreement to continue using the orbiter until 2020, the president of leading Russian spacecraft maker RSC Energia said on Thursday, February 4th.   Full Story

Orbital's NSS-9 Ready For Introduction To Its Orbital Slot
Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) is in final preparations for the launch of the NSS-9 commercial communications satellite for its customer SES NEW SKIES of The Hague, The Netherlands.   Full Story

Cigned, Cieled + Commercial — That's Ciel-2
The Ciel Satellite Group has announced that the Company's first communications satellite, Ciel-2, has completed all in-orbit testing and has now entered commercial service at the 129 degrees West orbital position.   Full Story


February 4, 2009
Thales Down Under With UAVs
Thales will showcase cutting-edge capabilities from its Air Systems and Aerospace divisions at the Australian International Aerospace and Defence Exposition — otherwise known as the Avalon Airshow.   Full Story

B-SAT Needed Turnkey SatControl — Integral Contract Results
Japan's Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) has selected Integral Systems (Nasdaq: ISYS) to deliver a turnkey satellite control system for the BSAT-3b and BSAT-3c satellites, scheduled for launch in 2010 and 2011, respectively.   Full Story

Keys To The Constellation Handed Over
RapidEye, who owns and operates their own satellite constellation, has announced their system has successfully completed all post-launch testing and calibration activities and is now ready to accept full commercial operations.   Full Story

Scopus Video Networks (Booth SU10917)
Scopus develops, markets, and supports digital video networking solutions that enable network operators to offer advanced video services to their subscribers.   Full Story

Two More For ARABSAT
ARABSAT has selected the consortium of Astrium and Thales Alenia Space to build and deliver in orbit two new satellites, Arabsat-5C and Arabsat-6B.   Full Story

Boeing Goes Wide for U.S.Air Force x 2
Boeing [NYSE: BA] does it again — shipped the second in a series of new, high-capacity military communications satellites to Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida for a March launch.   Full Story

UAVs Prefer No Icing At All
New Avionics Corp. has unveiled an ice sensor almost entirely composed of plastic, making it ideally suited for placement near antennas on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other small aircraft.   Full Story

All Assembled and Rarin' To Go For Ariane 5
SatNews been providing you with updates for the upcoming launch on February 12 of Arianespace's first Ariane 5 launch from the Spaceport in French Guiana, which is now complete following the full installation of its multi-satellite payload.   Full Story

Northrop Grumman Is Really Cool When It Comes To Thermal Noise
Cryocooler technology developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) will enable significant improvements in data collection by the nexgen of astrophysics missions, such as the International X-ray Observatory (IXO).   Full Story

MILSATCOM Via Global Broadcast Service Now Under 50th SCS Control
The 50th Space Communications Squadron initiated its newest mission on December 1st when it took operational control of Global Broadcast Service, the Department of Defense's data and video information distribution system.   Full Story

Moving On Up... @ Northrop Grumman...
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has appointed Steven H. McCoy vice president of Advanced Concepts for the company's Electronics Systems sector, effective immediately.   Full Story

Ranging In The SAR For Global Hawk UAV
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has received U.S. Air Force approval to initiate a portion of Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) Radar System Level Performance Verification (RSLPV) flight testing.   Full Story

SkyTrac Flying High With SATCOM For Aerial Firefighting
SkyTrac Systems will be exhibiting at the Aerial Firefighting USA Conference in Anaheim, California on February 19-20, 2009 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.   Full Story

Fox Dishes Up Their Business + News Channels
FOX Business Network (FBN) has launched on DISH Network to four million subscribers while FOX News Channel (FNC) has renewed its carriage agreement with the satellite television provider.   Full Story


February 3, 2009
No De-Nile — Jampro Delivers FM Panel Antenna Systems for Egyptian Radio & TV
From Jampro Antennas' headquarters in Sacramento, California to Egyptian Radio & Television (ERTU), the country’s national broadcaster and the Middle East’s largest radio and television broadcaster, which has ordered Jampro antennas and related RF equipment to complete two FM sites.   Full Story

Iran's Non-Satanic Satellite Boosted Into Orbit
Iran has launched the Country's first indigenous satellite into orbit — such will certainly cause additional alarm within international community that is already at odds with Tehran over that country's desire to possess nuclear weaponry, especially given their oft-stated desire to eliminate certain neighbors from the map of the Middle East.   Full Story

Gilat Satellite Provides Service for a Higher Calling
It's no small task to provide telecommunications to Nepal, a country with a population of nearly 30 million with some very remote locations.   Full Story

SatCom For The Submerged
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $35.8 million contract by the U.S. Navy to design and produce antenna buoy systems that will significantly expand the communications capabilities of submarines while they are submerged.   Full Story

NASA's Crew's Really Clean Room
Prepping for the really big upcoming mission to the Hubble in May, the astronauts acquaint themselves with activities to be undertaken.   Full Story

First Arianespace Contract For '09
Petra Mateos-Aparicio, Chairman of Hispasat, and Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, have signed a launch service & solutions contract for the Hispasat-1E satellite, this now being the first contract of 2009 signed by Arianespace.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . . CapRock Communications
CapRock Communications, a global provider of satellite communications to remote and harsh environments, announced it has selected Philip Harlow as chief technology officer.   Full Story

Substantial Speakers Cemented In For 25th National Space Symposium
The 25th National Space Symposium will be held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at The Broadmoor Hotel from March 30th through April 2nd, and a wealth of subject-matter experts will be on hand to offer their presentations and information to attendees.   Full Story

Xicom Brings Even More Amplification To SATCOM
Xicom Technology has debuted new, lightweight, high power traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) for domestic and international satellite communications.   Full Story

Insights Into MilSpace Set For Paris This April
SMi Group are proud to announce an recent addition to the MilSpace 2009 program that's scheduled for April 27th and 28th at the Radisson SAS Hotel, Bois du Bolougne, Paris, France.   Full Story

It's All In Knowing Where The Heck You Are At Sea
Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS) has sold its first Iridium-based compliant Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) terminals in partnership with Iridium Satellite LLC.   Full Story

Geo-Imaging Tool From PCI Geomatics Now Has PRC Distributor
PCI Geomatics has appointed Beijing Space Eye Innovation Technology Co. Ltd. (BSEI) as its exclusive desktop software distributor for the People’s Republic of China, effective February 1, 2009.   Full Story

Ariane 5 Becomes A Star In Its Own Right
It’s “lights, camera…action” at the Spaceport this week as Ariane 5 stars in a National Geographic Channel television program spotlighting the launcher’s vital role in supporting global communications systems at the service of Arianespace’s international customer base.   Full Story

A True Split In Africa
The volcanic landscape of the Afar region in northern Ethiopia results from tectonic forces working deep below the surface.   Full Story

Financially Speaking... Integral Systems...
Integral Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISYS) has reported financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2009.   Full Story

The Next Step For Next Step Is Thaicom-5
THAICOM Public Company Limited (SET INDEX: THCOM) has signed a contract with Real Metro Company Limited for capacity on the THAICOM-5 satellite platform to transmit its seven television channels under the production and operation of Next Step Company Limited “Next Step”, its subsidiary.   Full Story

New Teleport Sees Western Hemisphere
Global Data Systems, Inc. commissioned a state-of-the-art VSAT (very small aperture terminal) satellite teleport at the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE) facility in Lafayette, Louisiana.   Full Story

No Discovery For Discovery Until At Least February 19th
During a review of space shuttle Discovery's readiness for flight, NASA managers decided Tuesday to plan a launch no earlier than February 19th.   Full Story

COROT Discovers the Itsiest Terrestrial Planet . . . Ever
COROT has been in SatNews recently regarding the newly discovered exoplanets, and today the COROT has found the smallest terrestrial planet ever detected outside the Solar System.   Full Story

Arrayed For Your Communication Discovery
Discovery Semiconductors Inc. has introduced four-element quad indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) photodiode arrays for 40- and 100-gigabit-per-second optical communications.   Full Story

The Pentagon Has Spatial Desires
Adapting new capabilities within the rapidly changing military space environment is increasingly important to national security, and Defense Department officials in the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office are working to meet the Pentagon's needs for space capabilities rapidly.   Full Story


February 2, 2009
Arianespace Success Continues with PB Batch Ariane 5 Contract
On January 30th at European Space Agency headquarters in Paris, Jean-Yves Le Gall, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace, and Alain Charmeau, Chief Executive Officer of Astrium Space Transportation, signed a contract for the production of 35 Ariane 5 ECA launchers (designated the “PB” batch).   Full Story

UAS Challenges + Opportunities The Focus Of Upcoming ASD Conferences
Upcoming are both the Unmanned Aircraft Systems — West — Conference and teh Unmanned Aircraft Systems — East — Conference from ASD Events. The former will be conducted from March 3rd through 4th in San Diego, California, and the latter from April 1st through 3rd in Washington D.C.   Full Story

Stratos Signs Significant SAILOR Shipping Solution
Stratos Global Corporation has successfully completed an Inmarsat FleetBroadband field trial with Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, a firm that owns 90 vessels and manages 650 vessels worldwide.   Full Story

Acquisition Accomplishment: Thrane & Thrane + NAVAL Electronics
Thrane & Thrane has just signed an agreement to acquire Naval Electronics AB (‘Naval'). This acquisition is consistent with the company's strategy to introduce new maritime products.   Full Story

But Wait! It's the Earth and Beyond — According to Google
Google has been busy developing the latest version of Google Earth 5.0. This new version features ocean in Google Earth, and enables users of Google Earth to dive beneath the water surface, explore 3D underwater terrain, and browse ocean-related content contributed by leaders in ocean science and advocacy.   Full Story

STS Trucked In + Tackled Super Bowl For NFL Films
When the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals tackled the gridiron at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida for the 43rd Super Bowl this past Sunday, Satellite Technology Systems (STS), provided the world feed for NFL Films.   Full Story

Escape Artist Creates All Digital MMD
Escape Communications, a developer of advanced wireless signal processors, eliminates analog circuitry with their just released all-digital Multi-rate Multi-mode Demodulator (MMD) for use in extremely high-capacity wireless links such as satellite downlinks and crosslinks, avionics ISR applications, and terrestrial backhaul applications.   Full Story

Russian UAV To Increase Accuracy Of Iskander-M Missiles
What's up in Russia? UAVs, that's what, and these unmanned aerial vehicles are assisting the Russian military to ensure a more accurate Iskander-M short range missile, specifically with an eye toward the defensive U.S. ballistic missile bases are located in Central Europe.   Full Story

LCROSS + Four Teams Are Sensing Plume Participation
NASA has selected four teams to observe the impact of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, with the lunar surface during the mission's search for water ice on the moon.   Full Story

A Bright Past + An Interstellar Future For COROT
The COROT satellite developed by French space agency CNES and Thales Alenia Space has been in orbit since December 27, 2006.   Full Story

Video Streaming M2sat Shipshape
With the introduction of the M2sat MarineCam, shipping companies can now visibly bring their fleet operations and shipping services to a new level, and start using live video streams and still images to gain a competitive advantage in the market.   Full Story

Picocelling Marine Mobile Are ip.access + Blue Ocean Wireless
ip.access has announced that Blue Ocean Wireless is using their nanoGSM system to provide mobile phone service to merchant seafarers.   Full Story

Spacenet Spells 'H-E-L-P' as 'H-E-B' to Provide Hurricane Relief
What a consolation to know that Spacenet, a provider of satellite networking solutions, announced that H-E-B, one of the nations largest independently owned food retailers, deployed Spacenet’s high-performance Connexstar satellite services as an emergency communication network in support of disaster-relief efforts during severe weather conditions.   Full Story

Radio Telescope Of The Largest Size To Peer Deep Into The Galaxy
East Asian astronomers are building the world's largest radio telescope array to see the deep into the galaxy and black holes and more accurately determine the orbits of lunar probes such as China's Chang'e-1.   Full Story

CapRock Captures Capacity On NSS-7
SES NEW SKIES has announced that CapRock Communications has contracted 18 MHz of C-band capacity on the NSS-7 satellite at 338 degrees East.   Full Story

Cassini Swaps Thrusts From Fore to Aft
Due to circumstances to correct the Cassini spacecraft, the Cassini will swap to a backup set of propulsion thrusters in mid-March due to degradation in the performance of the current set of thrusters.   Full Story

Spirit's Driving Spirit
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit resumed driving last Saturday after engineers gained confidence from diagnostic activities earlier in the week evaluating how well the rover senses its orientation.   Full Story

PeopleNet Clients To Experience Quakes
Quake Global, Inc. has revealed PeopleNet has selected Quake Global to provide satellite communicators for its new Dual-Mode asset tracking, communication, and management system.   Full Story

Lightweight T-Hawk Is A Heavyweight With New U.K. MOD Assignment
Honeywell (NYSE:HON) has received an order via Foreign Military Sales, for six T-Hawk MAV (Micro Air Vehicle) systems from the U.S. Navy, which is the contracting agency for the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MOD) for the T-Hawk MAV system procurement.   Full Story

In Session — Google and NASA's Singularity University, Prepping Man to Be Outdone
Gathering of the futurists, at the behest of Google and NASA, in Silicon Valley has begun to prep scientists for an era when machines become more clever than people.   Full Story


February 1, 2009
Roscosmos Proposes To Build A Russian Space Station
Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, is going to propose to the government the construction of a low-orbit space station to support future exploration of the Moon and Mars, an agency official said Thursday.   Full Story

Greetings, Mr. Sun — Coronas-Photon To Study You Extensively After A Successful Launch
From Roscosmos we learn that a Cyclon-3 rocket has successfully lifted off from Plesetsk with its Coronas-Photon satellite payload. The launch occurred at 16:30 Moscow time and separation occurred at 17:13.   Full Story

Nigerian Telecom Connectivity Problem Is A Problem No Longer, Thanks To Gateway
Gateway Communications, a provider of African telecommunications services, is offering its customers, cut off by the ongoing NITEL strike, an alternative connectivity solution.   Full Story

Cop Comms Shop Opens For Vislink Group
Vislink Group has announced the creation of a worldwide Law Enforcement and Public Safety business unit.   Full Story

25th National Space Symposium Selects Session SuperSpeakers + More...
The history and future of the nation's military space programs will be center stage at the Space Foundation's 25th National Space Symposium, when the men who have been in charge for the past 20-plus years gather for the first-ever Space Commanders Forum.   Full Story

Europe by Satellite Channel To Receive European Parliament Content Via AV Group's New Contract
Eyeheight has been awarded a substantial order from the European Parliament in Brussels.   Full Story

Ares 1-X Will Be Rolling Into Space
Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc. (TBE) has shipped the Ares I-X Roll Control System Module (RoCSM) to the Kennedy Space Center.   Full Story

USO's Total Troop Commitment Extended With Segovia's SatNet Managed Services
Segovia’s secure global IP satellite network can be rapidly deployed virtually anywhere in the world, meeting the requirements of warfighting or emergency response forces. The Company has just been awarded a two-year contract to provide managed network services to the USO.   Full Story

It Takes Boats, Roads, Trucks and More for Ariane's Payload Stack
The logistics involved when delivering the various aspects of a spacecraft to its final destination are intense, as was validated today and earlier this week for Arianespace.   Full Story

Rockets Red Glare and ACES the Mission Through Auroral Arc
The team had to wait for days for the exact aurora conditions, and when they occurred, the scientists from the University of Iowa finally saw the launch of its two scientific sounding rockets from Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska.   Full Story

Significant SIGINT For ISR Ops
Applied Signal Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:APSG) (AST) has successfully completed a flight test demonstration of the Model 570X SIREN—a miniature airborne signals intelligence (SIGINT) payload for ISR operations.   Full Story

Da! Eutelsat and Russian National Satellite Expand Platforma DV
First came the successful launch in 2008 of Platforma HD on the EUROBIRD(TM) 9 satellite of Eutelsat Communications [Euronext Paris: ETL]; and now the Russian pay-TV operator National Satellite Company is expanding their offerings with a new package called Platforma DV of 20 Standard Digital channels. \   Full Story

No Need to Stress With NOAA New Distress Switchover
There was plenty of advance warning — back to October of 2000 — when the International Cospas-Sarsat Program, announced at its 25th Council Session held in London, UK of plans to terminate satellite processing of distress signals from 121.5 and 243 MHz emergency beacons on February 1, 2009.   Full Story

Settling Onto SYLDA Is HOT BIRD-10
The photo shows HOT BIRD-10 ready to be lowered onto the SYLDA payload dispenser, which is the cylindrical-shaped structure at the base of this integration rig in the Ariane 5’s final assembly building.   Full Story

Primetime For NOAA Prime — Satellite + Launch Vehicle Ready To Rumble
The Flight Readiness Review for the Delta II and NOAA-N Prime spacecraft was successfully completed January 29th, with a countdown dress rehearsal conducted the following day.   Full Story

An Iridium Story of Never Say Die
An interesting and inspiring report involving Iridium provides the history of the rise and fall and rise again of the company, its restructuring and sheer determination . . .   Full Story


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