February 2009 Edition - The U.S. Satellite Market
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January 2009 Satellite NewsVisit www.satnews.com for today's news

January 31, 2009
Small Sats Launch Successes Deepens Japanese University Interests
The recent launch on January 24th of lightning observation satellite SOHLA-1 has fueled interest among Kansai area universities in developing small satellites for various purposes.   Full Story

SIDENOTE: Apple's Getting Quite Touchy!
For companies interested in, contemplating the use of, or actually incorporating touch screen technology into their products, perhaps the "feely feeling" will fade when learning that the U.S. Patent Office has enabled Apple to grab the rights to multifunction touchscreens.   Full Story


January 29, 2009
Financially Speaking... RRsat Global Communications Network...
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd. (NASDAQ: RRST) has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2008.   Full Story

Global Hawk UAV Sustainment Solutions To Be Provided By Northrop Grumman
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract valued at $276 million for operations and maintenance support of the RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.   Full Story

How To: Maintain Security in Space 2009
Information regarding this year's programs and people of Secure World Foundation reveals an action-oriented agenda for 2009. Foremost is ensuring space security . . .   Full Story

Mission — The Key to the Climate Is In Carbon, Reports NASA
A NASA spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide is in final preparations for a February 23 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and is the first of its kind.   Full Story

Hubble Snaps A Nestling Pyxis Beauty
Amazing in its beauty, once again the Hubble has snapped a stunning shot of the unique planetary nebula NGC 2818.   Full Story

U.S. Air Force Sees (Infra)Red — First of a Kind
Testing today was successful for the U.S. Air Force's first geosynchronous Space Based Infrared Systems satellite as it completed Baseline Integrated System Testing at the development site in Sunnyvale, California, propelling unprecedented early missile warning capability one step closer to the warfighter.   Full Story

IDC To Set Up PBS For SatDelivery Of SD + HD Content
International Datacasting Corporation (TSX:IDC) has been selected by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to provide infrastructure for a nexgen satellite network to deliver non-real-time HD and SD video programming to PBS member stations across the U.S..   Full Story

Herschel + Planck Pair Up For Arianespace Sequel
Launch vehicle components for Arianespace's second Ariane 5 flight of 2009 have arrived in French Guiana, allowing preparations to begin for an April mission that will carry two key European space science payloads.   Full Story

Giant Cyborg Beetle (Not the Volkswagon) is Army's Latest UAV Experiment
Strange and interesting: A giant flower beetle with implanted electrodes and a radio receiver on its back is controlled wirelessly as the result of scientists at the University of California who designed a device that receives control signals from a nearby computer. The beetle is directed to turn right, left, take off or hover from electrical signals.   Full Story

GOSAT Gets Going With Verification Ops
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has announced their Small Demonstration Satellite-1 (SDS-1) has been moved to the initial functional verification operation.   Full Story

Aqua's Amazing Antarctica Exposure
Relatively few people have seen Antarctica. A myth until the early 1800s, the ice-covered southern continent is difficult to get to and hostile to most life.   Full Story

UAVs In Dayton, Ohio?
According to a report by John Nolan in the Dayton B2B local online business news source, a proposed center for testing and developing sensors, communications and control equipment and on-board power for unmanned aerial vehicles is intended for Dayton, Ohio, to help small companies get into the field at lower cost, a backer of the project said.   Full Story

Just When You Thought the Election Was Over — Hubble Candidate
Just as the aftermath of the elections in the U.S. start to quiet down, NASA is giving everyone the opportunity to use the infamous Hubble Space Telescope to explore the heavens and boldly look where no one has ever looked before. Yes, NASA is inviting the public to vote for one of six candidate astronomical objects for Hubble to observe in honor of the International Year of Astronomy.   Full Story

Russian Coronas-Photon Launch Is A No-Go
Russia's first carrier rocket launch of 2009 has been delayed until Friday, January 30th, for technical reasons, a spokesman for the Russian Space Forces said.   Full Story

New Mexico + Sweden Now Have Space In Common
Officials from the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Spaceport Sweden to align with Spaceport America as ‘Sister Spaceports’.   Full Story


January 28, 2009
MDA's UAV From IAI Into Action In Afghanistan
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (TSX: MDA) conducted its first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flight in Afghanistan on January 1, 2009.   Full Story

An Incubator For Space Entrepreneurship
The University of Colorado at Boulder and SpaceDev Inc. have partnered to create eSpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship.   Full Story

ESA/Commission Concur on Component Programme
Today in Brussels, the amendment to the EC-ESA GMES agreement was signed by Mr Jean-Jacques Dordain, the ESA Director General, and Mr. Heinz Zourek, Director General of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry.   Full Story

This Apache Comes Equipped with a Longbow
A cooperative effort of three companies has resulted in the first successful powered flight of the LONGBOW Unmanned Aerial Systems Tactical Common Data Link Assembly (UTA) aboard the AH-64D Apache Block III attack helicopter.   Full Story

Tears of Joy for Expand Networks Solutions for Tearfund
Expand, a provider of application acceleration solutions over the Wide Area Network (WAN), today announced that Tearfund, the Christian relief and development agency, has implemented Expand’s WAN Optimization technology to ensure resilient communications across its global network of aid teams.   Full Story

NOAA Satellites Master Disaster
NOAA satellites were key factors in the rescues of 283 people throughout the United States and its surrounding waters in 2008.   Full Story

Land The Lander Contract
NASA has issued a request for proposals for concept definition and requirements analysis support for the Altair lunar lander.   Full Story

Four Will Ride Ariane 5 To Orbital Slots
Final integration has been initiated for the multi-satellite payload to be carried on Arianespace's first Ariane 5 flight of 2009.   Full Story

The Power Of SOFC For UAVs
NanoDynamics, Inc. announced that its subsidiary, NanoDynamics Energy, has received a one-year, $1.78 million grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to develop an innovative solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system that will be used as a main power source for tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).   Full Story

A Major Anomaly Upsets Eutelsat's W2M Plans
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) has announced that the performance of the W2M satellite, which was launched on December 20, 2008, does not comply with the requirements set with the spacecraft’s manufacturer, EADS Astrium/ISRO Antrix, following a major anomaly affecting the satellite’s power subsystem.   Full Story

Prime Time For NASA + NOAA
The launch of the NOAA-N Prime polar-orbiting weather satellite for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is scheduled for Wednesday, February 4th.   Full Story

Urgent — Volatile Atmosphere Make Dissemination of Israel's Elections Critical
With the world watching in the wake of Israel's recent war against Hamas, Israel's upcoming elections take on added importance for the region and the world.   Full Story

Iran's Hope To Gain Altitude This Year
RIA Novosti is reporting that Iran plans to place the country's first domestically made communication satellite into orbit by March 19-20, according to the head of the Iranian space agency has said.   Full Story

NASA's Spirit Indicates Sun Not In Its Proper Spot
The team operating NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit plans diagnostic tests this week after Spirit did not report some of its weekend activities, including a request to determine its orientation after an incomplete drive.   Full Story

Black and Blue — Blue Force Tracking (2) on Blackhawk
Success was the verdict after ViaSat Inc. [Nasdaq: VSAT] and the U.S. Army extended the Vehicular Blue Force Tracking 2 (BFT2) demonstration of Army Aviation BFT2 demonstrations aboard a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.   Full Story

Cassini Is Taken With Titan
Named for other-worldly paradises, the dark regions of Senkyo and Aaru comprise the center of this image of Saturn's moon Titan.   Full Story

Boeing Posts Quarterly Loss — Blame Strike and Charges
Reports and numbers are in for Boeing which experienced a loss in the last quarter. The catalyst for this situation is blamed on the strike and charges to the company.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . . Artel Video Systems
Artel Video Systems announces the appointment of Carl Camenisch as National Account Manager.   Full Story


January 27, 2009
GNSS Thought For Food — True Tracking With Trimble
Trimble has debuted their latest Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) guidance product that offers a wide range of precision agriculture applications in a single package.   Full Story

Tipchak UAV System Is Tip Top For Russian Armed Forces
RIA Novosti has reported that Russia's Armed Forces will receive three new unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the next 3 years. These UAVs will boost the reconnaissance and precision-strike capabilities of ground units, quoting an industry official.   Full Story

Boeing Receives TSAT Funding Extension
Boeing [NYSE: BA] has received a $75 million contract extension from the U.S. Air Force to continue risk reduction and system definition for the Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT).   Full Story

NATO Wishes EU To Commit More Resources To Defense + Security
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer identified European governments' unwillingness to devote more resources to defense and called for a real show of political will to defense spending.   Full Story

Boeing Avenges Threatening UAVs
Small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) can threaten U.S. troops deployed in war zones, however Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has successfully demonstrated that a laser system mounted on an Avenger combat vehicle can shoot down a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).   Full Story

UAVs in Kansas?
From the Salina (Kansas) Journal's online news site and reporter Michael Strand comes a story concerning a new unmanned aerial vehicle program at Kansas State University at Salina.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . . Arrowhead Global Solutions
Jason D. Juranek has been advanced to the senior management team as Vice President of Finance of Arrowhead Global Solutions, a government services division of CapRock Communications.   Full Story

Way To Go WGS-1 — Warfighter Win-Win
The United States Air Force declared Initial Operational Capability for Wideband Global Satellite Communications (WGS), its newest satellite communication system, as of January 26.   Full Story

An Awarding Day For SkyTerra
SkyTerra (OTCBB: SKYT), formerly Mobile Satellite Ventures, is delighted to announced the Company is the recipient of the 2009 Frost & Sullivan North America Technology Innovation of the Year Award in Space Communications.   Full Story

Quad ISS Launches Planned From Baikonur Space Center
RIA Novosti is reporting Russia plans to use two launch pads at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan to launch four manned missions to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2009, this attributed to a Russian space agency official's statements last Monday.   Full Story

Green Hills' INTEGRITY Driving RocketCam DVS
Green Hills Software, Inc., has announced that Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation is using Green Hills Software’s INTEGRITY? real-time operating system in Ecliptic’s next-generation RocketCam™ Digital Video System (DVS).   Full Story

For The 4C-able Future, e-GOES SatImagery Has Additional Distribution Channels
4C Controls Inc. (OTCBB: FOUR.OB) has announced the signing of a major Strategic Alliance and Distribution Agreement with e-GEOS, the recently formed joint-venture between Telespazio s.p.a (a Finmeccanica (FNC IM)/Thales(HO FP) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).   Full Story

UAVs Are Quite Civil For Irkut
Irkut Corporation is participating in the Moscow International Forum and Exhibition entitled, "Unmanned multipurpose vehicle systems" (UVS-TECH 2009), being held in the Central Exhibition Complex, Expocentre Fairgrounds, an Irkut spokesman said.   Full Story

Another Step Closer to Take Off of Ariane 5 into NEW SKIES
It's countdown to Arianespace's initial Ariane 5 mission of 2009, which has taken another major step closer to its February 12 liftoff with the launch vehicle's transfer to the Final Assembly Building at Europe's Spaceport.   Full Story

Ares I-X Simulator Just In Case
NASA is using powerful computers and software programs to design the rocket that will carry crew and cargo to space after the space shuttle retires.</b></font> But those computers will have their work checked the old-fashioned way with the first of several uncrewed demonstration launches beginning in 2009.   Full Story


January 26, 2009
Griffith Comes To The Attention of RapidEye, Among Others...
Demonstration products generated by the RapidEye system are being made public for the first time today. The samples of the RapidEye Standard Image Products show an area over Griffith in New South Wales, Australia.   Full Story

Panamanian Flagged Watercraft To Receive Vizada Tracking Treatment
Vizada and Absolute Maritime Tracking Systems have been selected by the Panama Maritime Authority to provide long range identification and tracking (LRIT) for the more than 8,000 eligible vessels in Panama’s waters that must comply with new regulations that began on January 1st.   Full Story

EO Imagery To Order, Via MapMart
The MapMart division of IntraSearch Inc. has unveiled a new interface on its MapMart online mapping portal where satellite imagery customers can search, preview and order high-resolution data from DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, SPOT and KOMPSAT.   Full Story

Memo: MENOS Opens Revolutionary Communications
Newtec has launched a most effective line of communication among the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) and Arabsat that enables the Broadcasting Union and its 28 members to exchange TV, radio and data in a fully automated way.   Full Story

AT&T + RaySat Cruising With In-Car SatEntertainment
AT&T Services Inc. and RaySat Broadcasting Corporation have completed a content deal with MTV Networks, a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), for selected content to be offered as part of the AT&T CruiseCast service.   Full Story

Thrane & Thrane SAILORs To Communicate Via KVH's TracPhone
KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI) has a new global distribution agreement with Thrane & Thrane (OMXC: THRAN) for KVH’s TracPhone V7 satellite communications system and the mini-VSAT BroadbandSM service.   Full Story

Coming Soon — A Better Look At U.S.A.F. Satellites
A research associate at the U.S. Air Force Academy's Laser and Optics Research Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is developing a new capability that will allow satellites to be seen and see clearer.   Full Story

Commissaries Connection Contracted To E&E Enterprises, HughesNet Cemented In
E&E Enterprises Global, Inc. has been selected by the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) to provide a HughesNet high-availability network solution to support DeCA commissaries worldwide.   Full Story

The NAB Chronicles: Gladwell Keynoter At NAB Show
Malcolm Gladwell, bestselling author of The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers, will present a morning keynote discussion with NAB President and CEO David K. Rehr at the 2009 NAB Show on Wednesday, April 22nd in Las Vegas at the Last Vegas Hilton. Galdwell, who was named one of Time Magazine's Most Influential People in 2005, will also engage in an interactive dialog with audience members during the thought-provoking discussion entitled, "A Conversation With Malcom Gladwell."   Full Story

Volatile Events In the Congo Stir to Action Télécoms Sans Frontières and Others
Telecoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) is off and ready to assist the horrific situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.   Full Story

Your Trajectory Is Better Than My Trajectory? Prove It!
Entries are now being welcomed for the 4th Global Trajectory Optimisation Competition. The competition seeks to find the best solution to an interplanetary trajectory problem and has proven to be a unique playground for researchers to test new ideas and to compare methods.   Full Story

It's a First — Win-Win, Seeing Double at Churchill Downs
Tonight there will be a first at Churchill Downs as a result of technology and efforts provided by Harmonic, Newtec, Roberts Communications and Churchill Downs. Roberts Communications Network LLC, in conjunction with Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, has launched the world’s first HD simulcast broadcast in horse racing history.   Full Story

The New Switch Is On For USC
A new switching architecture has been introduced by USC to provide a critical new link for both satellite and communication applications.   Full Story

HiRes EO For Telogis' Mobile Users From DigitalGlobe
DigitalGlobe has signed an agreement with Telogis, the leading global platform for Location-Based Services (LBS).   Full Story

Argentinean Info Tech Services Company + Telecom Carrier Select Hughes For Broadband Services
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) has been selected by SPTI-Boldt Group Argentina to supply its advanced HN broadband satellite system hub plus HN7700S and HNS7740S broadband routers to support a variety of SPTI-Boldt's customers in Argentina.   Full Story

A True Lightweight Is Joining Israel's Defense Forces
Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) has announced, further to its announcement dated December 16, 2008, that the Company has been awarded an approximately $40 million contract by the Israeli Ministry of Defense.   Full Story

Success — ATK's Milestones for NASA's Constellation Program
Twelve months and many successful milestones later Alliant Techsystem's efforts to prepare for NASA's Constellation program have been achieved. ATK has successfully conducted sub-scale and full-scale ground tests of Constellation components, and concluded thrust oscillation testing, and developed hardware that will be critical to the development phase of the program. And importantly, it developed and delivered flight hardware to the Kennedy Space Center for this July's Ares 1-X flight test.   Full Story

Nigeria Now Knows China Is The Next NigComSat Rescuer
Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NigComSat-1) and its Chinese technical partners, China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), have sealed a deal for the replacement of NigComSat-1 and staggered building of two other satellites — NigComSat-2 and NigComSat-3.   Full Story

Pratt & Whitney Readies for Moon and Mars With the Widest Cryogenic Throttle Range Ever
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine (CECE) has successfully demonstrated critical capabilities required for NASA’s Altair lunar lander. The engine performed with stable operation at the widest throttle range of any known high performance cryogenic engine . . .   Full Story


January 25, 2009
Blimey! British Airways Provides Inflight Mobile Communications
Fast as you can say, Bob's your uncle, British Airways announced plans to launch OnAir’s inflight mobile communications service on its new twice daily, all business-class route from London City Airport to New York City’s JFK Airport.   Full Story

From Kuwait to Dubai, Wataniya Airways Keeps Folks Connected
They are known as a full-service luxury airline — indeed — Kuwait-based Wataniya Airways launched mobile inflight passenger communications services from OnAir.   Full Story

SpaceX Donates a Dragon to the Prize
And the winner receives. . . Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) announced the donation of experimental payload space aboard an upcoming flight of their Dragon spacecraft to support the Heinlein Trust Microgravity Research Competition.   Full Story

Soil SatStudy For Africa
An article in the online version of The East African publication, bylined by Philip Ngunjuiri, reports that The International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (Ciat) has an initiative to produce the first detailed digital soil map of all 42 sub-Saharan countries.   Full Story

Chaitén's Caldera Chugging Chunks Continuously
Chile’s Chait?n Volcano had been dormant for more than 9,000 years when it erupted in May 2008. In the months that followed, the volcano remained active, releasing plumes of steam and volcanic ash, coating local vegetation, clogging waterways, and inundating the nearby town of the same name.   Full Story

Super STEREO Sun Sensing
NASA researchers announced an event that will transform our view of the Sun and, in the process, super-charge the field of solar physics for many years to come. NASA's two STEREO spacecraft will be 180 degrees apart and will image the entire Sun for the first time in history.   Full Story

ESA's ALOS Work Receives JAXA Award
Based on a cooperative agreement, ESA has been delivering data from ALOS — Japan's four-ton Earth Observation satellite — to users across Europe and Africa since the satellite's launch three years ago.   Full Story

Herschel's Heavy Handling Schedule Has Spacecraft Heading To Launch Site Soon
On Thursday, January 8, 2009, the Herschel flight model spacecraft was lifted out of the Large Space Simulator (LSS) at ESTEC, where the craft has successfully completed the last series of environmental tests.   Full Story

South Africa's SunbamndilaSat Set With Launch Date
The date for the launch of the much-anticipated South African SumbandilaSat science satellite has been set for March 25th by the country's Department of Science and Technology.   Full Story

TSAT Tech Milestone By Lockheed and Northrop Is Wired For Space
A Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)/Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) team has achieved a key design milestone for a high-performance technology solution that will dramatically increase data transfer speeds in the U.S. Air Force's Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) constellation.   Full Story

Eager To Endure, SIDM UAV En Route To French Forces In Afghanistan
The French military has started to ship the SIDM (Systeme Interimaire de Drone Male) interim medium-altitude, long-endurance drone from EADS to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, and is expected to fly the aircraft starting in the middle of February, industry and military officials said.   Full Story

SATTECH Set, Futron Will Participate
Futron is pleased to announce our participation in the Satellite Technology Asia (SATTECH) conference scheduled for February 18–20, 2009 in Singapore.   Full Story

And The Space Foundation Achievement Award Goes To . . .
The Space Foundation Board of Directors has selected The Honorable Peter B. Teets for the Foundation's highest honor — the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award. Mr. Teets was selected for his numerous contributions to both military and commercial space programs.   Full Story

Ahoy, GlobeSwift!
Globe Wireless introduces GlobeSwift, a line of communications equipment, airtime, applications, and IT services to the yacht market. The company built its reputation by providing communications and IT service for over 9,000 commercial ships, and the GlobeSwift product line brings advanced services to the pleasure yacht market.   Full Story


January 23, 2009
SatVoIP For Remote Regions Delivered by LBiSat For Alianza
Alianza has announced LBiSat Satellite Communications, a global provider of satellite-based telecommunications services for more than 25 years, has implemented Alianza’s hosted voice platform to provide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services in remote regions.   Full Story


January 22, 2009
Milestone Accomplished for 80 x Faster Battlefield TSAT Communications from Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman
Safety is the most important element on the battlefield, and with that comes a new data "bus" technology known as SpaceWire that provides on-orbit satellite internal communications for box-to-box and system-to-system data transfer that is equivalent to a local area network (LAN) in space.   Full Story

Almost Ready for Prime Time — NOAA-N Prime
If all proceeds as planned on February 4, at 2:22 a.m. PST a new NOAA polar-orbiting environmental satellite is set to launch that will support NOAA’s weather and ocean forecasts, including long-range climate predictions for El Nino and La Nina and U.S. search and rescue operations.   Full Story

Two Countries Prepping PR Policies for Soyuz
A two-day meeting brought together the Roscosmos and Arianespace press/public affairs teams at the Russian Federal Space Agency’s headquarters in Moscow.   Full Story

UAV Linkage To Warfighters To Be Standardized By U.S. Army + U.S. Air Force
Army and Air Force leaders are working diligently to create common standards for sending data to and from unmanned aerial vehicles, allowing imagery to flow more easily around the battlefield.   Full Story

Digital Encryption For Insitu's UAVs Made Possible By Enerdyne Tech
Enerdyne Technologies Inc., a ViaSat company, will supply its EnerLinksII DVA digital data link technology to Insitu Inc. for use in its Integrator™ and next generation ScanEagle™ unmanned aircraft system (UAS) programs.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . . Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation [NYSE:NOC] has appointed John Jadik as vice president of Communications, Intelligence and Networking Solutions for its Electronics Systems sector's Land Forces Division, effective immediately.   Full Story

DTECH's Secure MILSATCOM Platform Eases Ops + Logistics
DTECH LABS has announced general availability and volume shipments of its nexgen secure mobile communications platform, the M3C4G (Mobile Modular Micro C4 Gateway).   Full Story

Moving On Up . . . Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation [NYSE:NOC] has named Scott A. Lee vice president of space systems for the company's Electronic Systems sector.   Full Story

Es Bueno Para IDC Y Grupo Etercom — SatMulticast For Mexican Financial Group
International Datacasting Corporation, (TSX:IDC) and its partner Grupo Etercom S.A. de C.V. have been selected to provide a nexgen corporate training and digital signage network to Grupo Financiero Banorte, one of Mexico's largest and most prestigious financial institutions with more than 950 branches throughout the country.   Full Story

Space, Aeronautics Committee Members Selected By House Of Representatives
The Democratic Caucus of the Committee on Science and Technology met to elect Subcommittee Chairs and select Subcommittee assignments.   Full Story

An Extremely Healthy Exercise From SkyTerra
SkyTerra (OTCBB: SKYT), formerly Mobile Satellite Ventures, is partnering with the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Department for Public Health (DPH) to form two satellite mutual aid talkgroups (SMART) designed to supplement existing interoperable communications for public health and medical facilities throughout all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands.   Full Story

Financially Speaking... Lockheed Martin...
Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) has reported fourth quarter 2008 net earnings of $823 million ($2.05 per diluted share), compared to $799 million ($1.89 per diluted share) in 2007.   Full Story

UAS Zero Point Launch Via Catapult Proven Again By Robonic + Selex Galileo
A two year development program between Robonic of Finland and Selex Galileo to demonstrate a catapult launch capability for the Selex Falco UAS resulted in a successful demonstration at the Cheshnegirovo air base in Bulgaria on December 11th last year.   Full Story

Mobile Upper Atmospheric Measuring From Smiths Detection
Smiths Detection has received a $19.3 million contract from the U.S. Army for Meteorological Measuring Set-Profiler (MMS-P) systems, taking the total Program value to over $89 million.   Full Story

Tracking Is On Par For Hapag-Lloyd
Par Logistics Management Systems (Par LMS) has announced that Hapag-Lloyd AG, a large German based shipping line, will equip their entire North American Fleet of powered generator sets with Par’s GT 200 GPS Genset Tracking system.   Full Story

SIMply Crucial Flight Test For NASA Rocket
NASA is a step closer to the first flight test of the rocket that will send humans on their way to the moon as part of the agency's Constellation Program.   Full Story

GOSAT + Six SatPals Successfully Launched By Japan
Japan has launched a satellite whose focus will be to observe the concentration distribution of greenhouse gases from space. The launch of the Ibuki satellite (also known by GOSAT - Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite) took place on January 23rd at 03:54 UTC from the LP1 launch platform of the Yoshinubo launch complex on Tanegashima.   Full Story


January 21, 2009
Encapsulation Up Next For WGS-2 Satellite
The U.S. Air Force's second Wideband Global SATCOM spacecraft was shipped to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on January 20th.   Full Story

High Seas + Offshore Is The Focus Of GVF's Maritime Communications Conference
GVF Broadband Maritime: New Communications Networking Offshore & the High-Seas 2009 (BM 2009) is a conference that will take place at the Marina Mandarin Hotel, Singapore, from February 18th to the 19th.   Full Story

Attitude Just One Portion Of Rockwell Collin's Work On AeroVironment UAS
The Rockwell Collins Athena 411 Inertial Navigation, Global Positioning, Air Data, Attitude, Heading, Reference System (INS/GPS/ADAHRS) has been selected by AeroVironment for their Global Observer.   Full Story

Planes, Ships, and KVH's mini-VSAT Broadband SATCOM
Broadband Internet and crystal-clear telephone service is now available to vessels and jets crossing the Pacific Ocean, thanks to the successful rollout of the new Pacific Ocean Region for the mini-VSAT Broadband satellite communications service from KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI).   Full Story

Gilat and SkyEdge Provide USO to Kazakhstan
Rural locations don't mean going without connectivity thanks to Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. [Nasdaq: GILT] which announced it has been selected by its long-time customer, and Kazakhstan's major telecommunications operator, JSC Kazakhtelecom (KT), to expand its existing SkyEdge network to serve several hundred additional sites in remote locations nationwide.   Full Story

Ya, Sure, Ya Betcha — Swedish Space Acquires Universal Space Network
Guess working closely for 10 years must have made the next step a no-brainer when the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and Universal Space Network (USN) reached an agreement in which SSC will acquire all the shares of US-based USN.   Full Story

mindWireless Is Mindful Of BizFolk On The Road + Their SatWireless Needs
mindWireless added rental of low cost temporary wireless phones for international travel to its wireless telecommunications expense management (TEM) clients through an alliance with Cellhire, a global provider of wireless voice and data solutions. Cellhire’s portfolio of wireless rental solutions includes a host of satellite options, international cell phones, Blackberry devices, and 3G data cards.   Full Story

CANAL+ Group Floats New Channels
CANAL Group has launched a French-speaking channel package over a satellite in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia as the result of a partnership between CANAL OVERSEAS, the CANAL Group affiliate in charge of international operations and development, and ARABSAT, one of the leading satellite operators in the world and the number one satellite provider in Arab countries.   Full Story

Moving On Up... @ UAV Pro. Inc...
UAV Pro, Inc. has appointed Jay Willmott to the position of President, effective immediately.   Full Story

ISS on HDTV Tour — Not Exactly Home and Garden TV
While all U.S. households will soon be transitioning to digital TV, the International Space Station team has been busy, having recently filmed a high-definition tour of the orbiting complex.   Full Story

Mediterranean Sea ISR To Be SHOVALed To Israel Air Force With UAV
Israel will start flying maritime patrol sorties over the Mediterranean Sea by mid-2009.   Full Story


January 20, 2009
Sea Launch Selected to Launch Intelsat 17
Sea Launch will launch the Intelsat 17 communications satellite in late 2010, as the first of five missions on the Sea Launch system in a previously announced multiple launch services contract with Intelsat, Ltd., the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services.   Full Story

Solid Bottom Line for Thales Alenia Space
Not every company is as fortunate as Thales Alenia Space, which won five contracts for geostationary communications satellites out of a total of 26 ordered in 2008, a market share of 23 percent, plus contracts for four communications payloads, one observation satellite and the low Earth orbit constellation for O3b Networks, comprising 16 satellites.   Full Story

SHARAD's Icy Purview Of Mars
Antenna technology designed and built by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has made it possible for a radar sounder instrument aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to detect huge glaciers on the Red Planet covered by a layer of dust and rocks.   Full Story

SatTV + VoD Services To Be Tested By Witbe
Witbe was contracted by Portugal Telecom to set up a monitoring solution and carry out quality tests on its television and VoD via SSL services on the Microsoft Mediaroom platform, as well as its satellite TV services.   Full Story

ACTi's Warrior SatMonitoring System Deployed In Indian Area
Antenna Technology Communications Inc. (ATCi) has deployed its Warrior Satellite Monitoring and Surveillance System in the the Indian region.   Full Story

This nEUROn Interface Design Now Completed — UCAV Trials Upcoming
In early February of 2006, French defense procurement agency DGA, the program executive agency, named Dassault Aviation as prime contractor in charge of developing nEUROn, a European combat aircraft that is an unmanned air combat vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator.   Full Story

PCI Expands, Thanks to Their Own Unified Comm Solution + NewSat
Proactive Communications, Inc. (PCI) now has a three year, two million dollar deal with NewSat Limited (ASX:NWT) to expand satellite coverage across Southwest Asia.   Full Story

Obama Inaugural Captured By GeoEye-1 From Height Of 423 Miles
GeoEye-1 collected an image over the United States Capitol and the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. The image, taken from 423 miles in space, is the world’s highest resolution, color satellite image of the Inaugural celebration.   Full Story

Jupiter + Saturn Both Targets Of NASA | ESA Joint Missions
Following the selection of the Laplace proposal in October of 2007 as a candidate mission within the Cosmic Vision plan, the European Space Agency (ESA) performed an internal assessment study, with this preliminary study completed in 2008.   Full Story

You Bet Your ASTRA-1M Is Ready For CommOps!
SES ASTRA's new ASTRA-1M satellite has been successfully deployed at its final orbital position at 19.2 degrees East and is ready for commercial operations.   Full Story

M2M App Debuts From Wavecom SA
Wavecom SA (Paris:AVM) (NASDAQ:WVCM) and its subsidiary, Anyware Technologies, have announced the launch of M2M Studio, a fully integrated suite of tools for the development of embedded software applications for industrial wireless devices based on Wavecom Wireless CPUs.   Full Story

UAVs Earn Frost & Sullivan Prestigious Award For GA-ASI
Based on its recent analysis of the U.S. unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) market, Frost & Sullivan has presented General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) with the 2008 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Company of the Year for its exceptional display of leadership and innovation.   Full Story

Weather, Or Not, That Is The Question For H-IIA Launch
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) were scheduled to launch the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite "IBUKI" (GOSAT) by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 15 (H-IIA F15) on January 22, 2009 (Japan Standard Time, JST), from the Tanegashima Space Center.   Full Story

Sun Of A Launch For Russia
Anatoly Zak of RussianSpaceWeb.com alerts our readers to the fact that Russia is preparing to launch the country's first science satellite in years.   Full Story


January 19, 2009
Top Secret In Space — Covert Inspection of Crippled Defense Military Satellite
In a top secret operation, the U.S. Defense Department is conducting the first deep space inspection of a crippled U.S. military spacecraft. To do this, it is using sensors on two covert inspection satellites that have been prowling geosynchronous orbit for nearly three years.   Full Story

Glowlink Will Brook No Interference!
Glowlink has released Version 2.11.1 of the Company's flagship Model 1000 system for satellite carrier monitoring and interference detection.   Full Story

I Spy, With My Little Eye, Thanks To Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's RS-68 Engine
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company, contributed to the nation's security by boosting a classified spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on January 17.   Full Story

Flight Following Crucial For STAT MedEvac — Obtains SkyTrac Systems
SkyTrac Systems has been selected by STAT MedEvac to provide flight following and satellite communication (SATCOM) services.   Full Story

Water, Water, Nowhere—Niger Can Now WADE Into It
As is the case for most sub-Saharan African countries, Niger faces problems meeting its water needs. As part of ESA’s TIGER initiative, satellite data are being used to identify surface and underground water resources in the drought-prone country.   Full Story

Intelsat's New Distribution Partner Beaming
Intelsat, Ltd has selected KT Corporation to be a distribution partner for the Company’s Network Broadband Global Maritime service.   Full Story

SES NEW SKIES Delivers NSS-9 To Kourou For Launch
SES NEW SKIES' NSS-9 satellite has safely arrived at the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, onboard an Antonov cargo plane.   Full Story

Norwegian Nansen Frigates Tap Thales For SATCOM Solution
The Norwegian Defence Procurement Division has awarded a contract to Thales to deliver a new satellite communications system for the five Norwegian Nansen class frigates.   Full Story

NASA — When Flying With the Eagles, Don't Let the Turkeys Take You Down
Birds and planes have experienced a high profile recently, thanks to the exciting, and safe landing in the waters of New York.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . .Space Foundation
Onward and upward at the Space Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is Janet P. Stevens, APR, who, as of January 16, is the new director - communications and public outreach.   Full Story

Strategic SATCOM + Broadcast Partnership 'Tween Euroconsult NA + Irwin
Euroconsult North America, subsidiary of Euroconsult, a leading international consulting and analyst firm specialized in the satellite sector, and Irwin Communications, a consulting and market research firm specialized in satellite communications, have announced a strategic partnership to provide consulting services to leading American and Canadian companies and government agencies in the satellite communications (SATCOM) and broadcast markets.   Full Story


January 18, 2009
EchoStar Europe Debuts New HD STB
EchoStar Europe's advanced HD STB has been introduced by Cyfrowy Polsat, the largest Polish satellite television platform serving 2.4 million subscribers in Poland.   Full Story

Raytheon Senses Good Vibrations of Space Electromagnetic Impulses
It's important to understand how aerosols affect climate — do they emit or experience interference from electromagnetic impulses encountered in space?   Full Story

Minimized Pushing + Pulling Part Of New Crystek VCO For SATCOM
Crystek Corp. has unveiled its CVCO55CC-2745-2860 VCO (Voltage-Controlled Oscillator), which operates from 2745 MHz to 2860 MHz with a control voltage range of 0.5V~4.5V.   Full Story

SATCOM Linkage Important For Zcom IPTV
Zcom Networks, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: ZCNW) has announced that in order to link its IPTV broadcasting with satellite, it has commenced discussion with Globecast for the transport of signals via satellite and fiber.   Full Story

India's Chandrayaan-II Preps for Second Lunar Trip
They're busy at work on the engineering aspect of Chandrayaan-II, which has begun and is scheduled to be launched by 2012, according to Mayilsamy Annadurai, Project Director Chandrayaan-1.   Full Story

Thuraya Garners New Distributor For Verticals
Thuraya has signed a commercial agreement with the Company's long-standing service providers Connect Telecom and has appointed them as a distributor to international vertical markets.   Full Story

Dutch To Depend On Israeli UAVs
Aeronautics Defense Systems is now set to supply unmanned air vehicle capacity to Dutch troops that are serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.   Full Story

Seiko Epson's Latest Mini Flying Robot — Magnifying Glass Not Included
They keep building smaller and smaller flying robots, with this mini flying robot form Seiko Epson in Japan. The micro flyer is the new version of the robot by the Japanese technology firm that surprised folks last year.   Full Story


January 17, 2009
NATO To Model Egyptian Observatory After Purdue University Model For EO + More
A facility modeled after Purdue University's Terrestrial Observatory that will be used to provide early warning and mitigate the effects of disasters such as epidemics, famine, and flooding, will be built in Egypt as part of a NATO-funded effort.   Full Story

Where There's Methane On Mars, There May Be Life
Mars today is a world of cold and lonely deserts, apparently without life of any kind, at least on the surface . . .   Full Story

Financially Speaking... Globecomm Systems... Contract Congratz...
Globecomm Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: GCOM) has received multiple contract awards from various Government agencies that are valued at $6.0 million.   Full Story

Yamal-201 Now Beams Turkmen Music For Appreciation
The 24-hour TV channel, Turkmen ovazy (Turkmen melodies), has initiated broadcasting their programming via the Yamal-201 satellite, operated by Russian company Gazprom Space Systems.   Full Story

Crater Composite Courtesy Of Chandrayaan-1
Using a NASA radar flying aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists are getting their first look inside the moon's coldest, darkest craters.   Full Story

Anomaly Annihilates ASTRA-5A's Mission
SES ASTRA's satellite ASTRA-5A, the former SIRIUS-2, operating at 31.5 degrees East, experienced a technical anomaly that has culminated in the end of the spacecraft’s mission.   Full Story


January 15, 2009
Triple Moons In Cassini's Lens
Three of Saturn's satellites are visible in this snapshot from the Cassini spacecraft.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . . Space X
Gwynne Shotwell has been appointed President of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), this comes after her service to the California Space Authority (CSA), which represents the state's diverse space enterprise.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . . at GMV
GMV a major international supplier of satellite ground system software?headquartered in Madrid, Spain with offices in Rockville, Maryland, announced the appointment of Jesus Serrano as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).   Full Story

Global Hawk Flies From ISR + Offensive Use To EO + Research Projects
NASA and the Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles have unveiled the first Global Hawk aircraft system to be used for environmental science research, heralding a new application for the world's first fully autonomous high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft.   Full Story

3D EO From DigitalGlobe + AEgis Technologies
DigitalGlobe and The AEgis Technologies Group are making available ImageScape, a rapid 3D imagery solution that will provide governments, enterprises, and developers with the capability to create rich simulations of any location in the world.   Full Story

U.S.A.F. UAV/UAS Use Unrelenting, Unequalled, Ubiquitous
Air Force officials are "all in" with regard to unmanned aircraft systems, and understand the Defense secretary's direction to field the systems in the combat theater as fully and quickly as possible, said Lt. Gen. Norman R. Seip.   Full Story

EchoStar Steps In to Provide Emergency Broadcast With Vredes
With emergencies occurring everyday, EchoStar Corporation [NASDAQ: SATS] and its EchoStar Satellite Services division announced an agreement with Vredes, Inc., to provide satellite services for emergency management and other remote location broadcast demands.   Full Story

South African UAV Prototype Demo'd
The prototype modular unmanned air vehicle (UAV) developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) made its first flight in front of the media last Thursday in rural Centurion, west of Pretoria, South Africa.   Full Story

RRsat + Yamal-201 Combo Deliver In Russian
Global Communications Network Ltd. has been selected to distribute two additional Russian-speaking channels, Smile of Child and Bridge TV, over Russia via Gascom's Yamal-201 Satellite at 90 degrees East.   Full Story

FCC Gives ICO ATC Approval With MSS
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved the application of ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Limited's (NASDAQ: ICOG) subsidiary, New ICO Satellite Services G.P., use of an ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) in conjunction with its mobile satellite services (MSS).   Full Story

Geospatially Speaking — OnAsset Intelligence + GeoDecisions
OnAsset Intelligence Inc. now has a strategic partnership with GeoDecisions, an information technology company specializing in geospatial solutions, to extend the company’s OnAsset Platform with robust, mature, geospatial tools.   Full Story

UAV + PAV Designs Result In Kestral + Sarus From AeroCopter
AeroCopter, Inc. is pioneering the 3G of airborne transportation systems and has completed a detail design configuration for a commercial two-seat passenger Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) and military/civilian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) aircraft.   Full Story

PlanetSpace Protest Filed With GAO Re ISS Resupply Services Contract
PlanetSpace has filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) a protest to the selection decision of NASA under the ISS Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) competition, RFP NNJ08ZBG001R.   Full Story

Cassini Makes Mimas Trickery
Overexposed Mimas stands starkly against the disk of Saturn as the dim shadow of Epimetheus is captured through the C ring in the planet's rings.   Full Story

An Act Of Spatial Magnitude In South Africa
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe has signed a bill into law that will create South Africa’s own space agency later this year.   Full Story

Ship Surveillance Activities By French To Be Enhanced With SwiftBroadband
French naval surveillance aircraft will take to the skies armed with SwiftBroadband connectivity.   Full Story


January 14, 2009
IPTV Americas Content Available to Latin America via SES NewSkies Sat
IPTV Americas and SES NewSkies agreed to a venture that will offer an end-to-end satellite-delivered IPTV distribution solution to all telecommunications and cable operators in Latin America and the Caribbean.   Full Story

SatNews Publishers Now Media Sponsor For NAB 2009's Military + Government Summit
SatNews Publishers is the official Media Sponsor for the FIRST NAB Military Government Summit at the NAB 2009 Exhibition and Conference.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . . at Hughes Network Systems
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) announced the appointment of Richard M. Lober as Defense and Intelligence Systems vice president and general manager. Lober, an industry expert in communications systems, is responsible for managing and expanding the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and intelligence programs for Hughes.   Full Story

COM DEV USA Is Certifiable (SAE AS9100)
After careful planning and much work, COM DEV USA has received certification for SAE AS9100, the aerospace industry's quality system standard.   Full Story

Purdue U's Terrestrial Observatory Reconstructed in Egypt
The Eqyptians will be constructing a facility modeled after Purdue University's Terrestrial Observatory which will be used to provide early warning and mitigate the effects of disasters such as epidemics, famine and flooding to be built in Egypt as part of a NATO-funded effort.   Full Story

Sidsa and Secuenzia Plan For DTT in Spain
Together Sidsa and Secuenzia developed a technology solution for a pay digital terrestrial television (DTT) service in Spain to be completed hopefully this year.   Full Story

RapidEye Eyes Opportunities in China and Doesn't Blink
Germany's RapidEye announced that their geospatial solutions will be distributed in China by Beijing Earth Observation, Inc. (BEO), a subsidiary of Eastdawn Group. Inc.   Full Story

Ahoy! Furuno, Eutelsat and SpeedCast Lock Into Maritime Agreement
Furuno has stepped into the MVSAT airtime broadband market in Ku-band with its new "SafeComNet" Service by using the Auto Beam Switching (ABS) Ku-band broadband maritime service, satellite capacity and teleport services of its partners Eutelsat and SpeedCast which provides maritime fleets with seamless communications across all major shipping lanes and regions covered by Ku-band satellites.   Full Story

Private — NDS Shareholders Approve Proposal to Go Private
NDS Group plc announced that at the shareholder meeting convened by the High Court of Justice in England and Wales and at the subsequent Extraordinary General Meeting, both of which took place today, the shareholders of NDS approved the proposed a plan in which all of the issued and outstanding NDS A ordinary shares would be cancelled.   Full Story

Zcom Plans to Grow
In order to link its IP TV Broadcasting with Satellite Broadcasting, Zcom Networks, Inc. announced that it has begun negotiations with some domestic and international satellite providers to launch a satellite broadcasting station in the Los Angeles area which should result in significant programming growth for Zcom Networks, Inc.   Full Story

Orange's New Digital Segments
Didier Lombard, Chairman and CEO of France Telecom-Orange, and Alain de Pouzilhac, Chairman and CEO of Audiovisuel Exterieur de la France signed, in the presence of Christine Ockrent, Deputy CEO of Audiovisuel Exterieur de la France, and Xavier Couture, Director of Content of Orange, a strategic global partnership for news over the web, mobiles and TV.   Full Story

Switzerland Offers A Great New Location For Norsat Int'l
Norsat International Inc. (”Norsat”) (TSX: NII and OTC BB: NSATF) has established a presence in Lausanne, Switzerland.   Full Story

EO-1 Silent Witness To Death Dealing Landslide
On January 4, 2009, a mountainside in northern Guatemala suddenly collapsed.   Full Story

Better Boat Viewing Of SatTV With New TracVision M2
The new TracVision(r) M2 was unveiled last Friday at the London International Boat Show by KVH Europe A/S for owners of small boats.   Full Story

Financially Speaking... Intelsat, Ltd...
Intelsat Ltd. has announced their subsidiary, Intelsat Subsidiary Holding Company, Ltd. (“Intelsat Sub Holdco”), intends to offer senior notes (the “notes”), the net proceeds of which will be used to fund Intelsat Sub Holdco’s cash tender offer with respect to Intelsat, Ltd.’s outstanding 7.625 percent Senior Notes due 2012 and 6.50 percent Senior Notes due 2013.   Full Story

Cryogenics Bring Flexibility To Deep Throttling Engine
A technology development engine that may help NASA safely return astronauts to the lunar surface has successfully completed its third round of testing. The goal of these tests is to reduce risk and advance technology for a reliable and robust rocket engine that could enable America's next moon landing.   Full Story

Moving On Up... @ Alliant Techsystems...
Alliant Techsystems' Board of Directors has elected Blake Larson to be Senior Vice President and President, ATK Space Systems.   Full Story

Tempel 1 Beckons To Stardust-NExT
On Jan. 14, NASA's Lockheed Martin built Stardust-NExT spacecraft will fly by Earth during a gravity assist maneuver that will increase its velocity and sling shot the spacecraft into an orbit to meet up with comet Tempel 1 in February 2011.   Full Story

NATO Armaments Group Sees Global Hawk UAV With Own Markings
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) hosted the 95th meeting of NATO's Air Force Armaments Group at its facility here this week.   Full Story

Staging — Discovery Set For Dress Rehearsal
After reaching its launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery now awaits its next major milestone for the upcoming STS-119 mission.   Full Story

The Dawning Of A New STAR-2 For Orbital
Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE:ORB) has been selected to design, manufacture, and test a new commercial communications spacecraft known as New Dawn.   Full Story

SatIPTV Gains New Skies For Content Delivery
SES NEW SKIES will host IPTV Americas on its NSS-806 satellite. This will enable IPTV Americas to offer an end-to-end satellite-delivered IPTV distribution solution to all telecommunications and cable operators’ head ends in Latin America and the Caribbean.   Full Story


January 13, 2009
SatSensing For u-blox XACT|TRAX Tracking
u-blox, developer of advanced GPS location and tracking technologies for commercial and consumer applications, has been selected to supply XACT Technology LLC with high-performance GPS receiver modules for its new line of portable personal tracking devices called XACT|TRAX.   Full Story

The Sporting Life Via MEASAT-3
MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. (MEASAT) has an agreement to distribute the All Sports Network HD (ASN HD) channel via the MEASAT-3 satellite.   Full Story

Moving On Up... At Harris Corporation...
Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS) has named Major General USAF (Ret.) Dale W. Meyerrose to the newly created position of vice president and general manager, Cyber and Information Assurance.   Full Story

Three Newbies Debut From MITEQ
Miteq has a trio of new product debuts that two frequency doublers and a LCN amplifier series.   Full Story

Image Improvement In China By PCI Geomatics
PCI Geomatics is a world leading developer of hardware/software systems for geo-imaging applications.   Full Story

EADS Astrium Acquires SSTL
A dynamic duo has evolved as the result of EADS Astrium's acquisition of Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL). “This is great news that we have acquired SSTL. The UK space industry is in a strong position at present — at Astrium we have a healthy order book and we are recruiting engineers, scientists and technicians to build telecommunication and scientific satellites.   Full Story

The Flying Monkey Wrench in Outer Space (Now For A Lighter Moment)
Flying tools and so much more are yours for the viewing at SpaceWeather.com — Track the satellites, International Space Station (ISS) . . .and now you can view the ISS Tool Bag as it flies by (no need to salute)! Tool bag floating away from ISS Photo: NASA   Full Story

From Caves to Warships Raytheon Delivers the Super Bowl to Troops
Super Bowl Sunday, some treat it like a holiday, but when you are serving in the U.S. military it's not much of a holiday — until now due to the efforts of Raytheon [NYSE: RTN].   Full Story

Chinese In Seeker II Mode For UAV
Chinese manufacturers have engaged in active discussions with South Africa with the hope of acquiring TV video cameras and 2G thermal imaging cameras used in Denel's Seeker II unmanned air vehicle surveillance system.   Full Story

A Helix Of A TWT Order For L-3 ETI
L-3 Electron Technologies, Inc. (L-3 ETI) has received combined orders totaling nearly $1 million for the development of a high-efficiency (>50%), 600W, Ka-band communications helix traveling wave tube (TWT).   Full Story

Zombies In Space Captured By XMM-Newton
The European Space Agency's (ESA) XMM-Newton has caught the fading glow of a tiny celestial object, revealing its rotation rate for the first time.   Full Story

TRMM Satellite Observes Severe Wetness In Australia
Over the past two weeks, torrential rains have brought both drought relief and severe flooding to parts of Queensland and Northern Territory in northern Australia.   Full Story

Shuttling Off To Launch Pad 39A
NASA's space shuttle Discovery is set to be transported to Launch Pad 39A at 4:00 a.m. EST Wednesday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.   Full Story

Booming Business Of Launch Prep Continues For Arianespace
Another major shipment of hardware and systems for the Spaceport’s new Soyuz launch site is now in French Guiana as preparations continue for the medium-lift vehicle’s maiden flight, scheduled for late this year.   Full Story

An INTEGRAL Proposal Of Note
ESA's Director of Science and Robotic Exploration, David Southwood, invites all to respond to the 7th "Announcement of Opportunity" by submitting proposals for observations to be performed with the International Gamma-ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) satellite.   Full Story

Getting The SBIRS Baseline Cleaned Up Before Vacuuming
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] announced the first Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous orbit (GEO-1) satellite has entered a major test phase with the latest version of flight software designed to provide highly reliable spacecraft command and control operations.   Full Story

Launch Up Another One For Arianespace
Arianespace has signed a contract with the international satellite operator Intelsat, for the launch of one satellite, with the option to launch four more satellites.   Full Story

U.S. Soldiers In Iraq To Get BGAN Services
TS2 Satellite Technologies has been awarded a contract to deliver mobile BGAN services for U.S. Army soldiers stationed in Iraq.   Full Story

Avionics Anomalies Abort TacSat-3 Launch
Air Force officials at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico are delaying the launch of Tactical Satellite-3 until repairs to a spacecraft avionics component, critical to the system's operational capability, are complete.   Full Story

DBS + VSAT Systems Gain HEMT From Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has developed a Ka-band plastic package, low noise, GaAs high electron mobility transistor (HEMT), the MGF4963BL, which is highly suitable for low noise amplifiers in 18-20GHz band direct broadcast satellite (DBS) reception systems and very small aperture terminal (VSAT) systems.   Full Story

Dalliances Of Digital Delivery Developed By Spacenet
Spacenet Inc., a provider of satellite networking solutions, has announced Symon Communications, a global provider of digital signage solutions, has joined its Digital Media Alliance.   Full Story

Moving On Up... At NASA...
David King, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently named Stephen C. Doering associate program manager for the Constellation Program at the center.   Full Story


January 12, 2009
The Next Space Age — 25th National Space Symposium
A diverse slate of senior space industry leaders have already confirmed their participation as speakers for the 25th National Space Symposium, the premier annual gathering of the global space community.   Full Story

There GOES NOAA With Something New
Two satellites should be raring to go later this year from Spacehab Inc.'s Astrotech subsidiary. Two contracts totaling $3.2 million from United Launch Alliance (ULA) . . .   Full Story

Arianespace Helps HOT BIRD-10 Prep for the HOT SEAT
Just arriving and preparing for the launch is the HOT BIRD-10 satellite for Arianespace's initial Ariane 5 mission of 2009, which was delivered to French Guiana aboard a chartered cargo jetliner for its transatlantic trip from Europe.   Full Story

No More Annoying Back Seat Drivers With AT&T CruiseCast
Now when you rent a car from the Avis Budget Group there will be fewer back seat critics of the driver, as the passengers will be entertained with AT&T CruiseCast(SM), a new satellite television service that delivers popular news, family, sports, comedy and music channels while traveling.   Full Story

Raytheon's GPS Arrives at the Next Gen
A team led by Raytheon Co. has completed a segment design review and modernized capability engineering for the U.S. Air Force's next-generation GPS control segment (GPS OCX).   Full Story

Falcon 9 Is Vertically Challenged, Dragon Delighted
Space Exploration Technologies' Falcon 9 launch vehicle was successfully raised to its vertical position on Saturday, January 10, 2009, at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Cape Canaveral, Florida — that's two days ahead of schedule!   Full Story

JIPM Is Great For ViaSat
ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) has received a contract modification from the U.S. Army, via contract prime Globecomm Systems Inc., to modify the Joint Internet Protocol Modem to enable it to operate as the network-centric modem for the Global Broadcast Service.   Full Story

Telstar 11N Shipped — Ready to Ship Out and Up
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications [Nasdaq:LORL] today announced that it shipped Telstar 11N to the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan, where it will be launched on the Land Launch system.   Full Story

Globalstar... Home, Home On The Range... Open, That Is...
Globalstar, Inc. reports that Open Range Communications Inc. has closed on its equity financing of $100 million from One Equity Partners (OEP), the private equity arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co.   Full Story

THOR-5 Going To The Dogs... And The Cats... And The Hamsters... And More...
Telenor Satellite Broadcasting (TSBc) will be commencing transmission of Animal Planet HD at 1 degree west, starting on February 3rd. This is the latest HD channel offered by Canal Digital.   Full Story

Sagem Wisdom To Be Applied To UAV Data Links
Safran group's Sagem division has won a competition established by France's D?l?gation G?n?rale pour l'Armement procurement office for the design of all data links for future UAVs.</b   Full Story

Three Year "Signal" Anniversary For GIOVE-A
The in-orbit validation programme for Galileo, Europe’s global satellite navigation system, is celebrating three years since the first signal was broadcast by the GIOVE-A satellite.   Full Story

FAB-Tulous Demo For Boeing...
The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has successfully completed the systemwide Critical Design Review (CDR) for its Family of Advanced Beyond line-of-sight Terminals (FAB-T) satellite communications program, paving the way for implementation of a new data capability.   Full Story

Set For Space Is HOT BIRD-10 + NSS-9
The Eutelsat HOT BIRDT-10 satellite has initiated its pre-launch processing in preparation for this telecom spacecraft's orbiting on the initial Ariane 5 flight of 2009.   Full Story

More For TNTSAT Folk With ASTRA Sat Blanketing France
SES ASTRA has announced TNTSAT, the French digital terrestrial free-TV offer via the ASTRA satellite system, has further extended its reach.   Full Story

First Sat Win For Mitsubishi Since 2007 — KOMPSAT-3
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. has received an order from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute for the launch of a South Korean multipurpose satellite, to be aided by Japan's domestically developed main rocket the H-2A.   Full Story


January 11, 2009
EchoStar Is In With A Sling With CNET Award...
EchoStar Technologies L.L.C. and Sling Media, subsidiaries of EchoStar Corporation, have won a “Best of CES” award from the editors of CNET for the EchoStar SlingLoaded 922 HD DVR, the world’s first HD digital video recorder that incorporates Sling Media’s patented placeshifting technology.   Full Story

The Apache—UAV Connection
The U.S. Army is working to improve the nexgen Apache Block III helicopter through greater ability to control UAVs, advanced networking, and power and maneuverability upgrades. A Limited User Test for the Block III Apache is slated for November.   Full Story

SPOT Me When I'm Lost...
SPOT LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globalstar Inc. (Nasdaq:GSAT), has debuted SPOT Assist, a new roadside GPS safety service for its SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger.   Full Story

A Highly Compressionable Release From XipLink
XipLink Optimization Software version 2.7 is a new, major release from XipLink and is available to customers under warranty or maintenance contracts immediately.   Full Story

NASA Nabs Moon-centric Research Teams
NASA has selected seven academic and research teams as initial members of the agency's Lunar Science Institute.   Full Story

Darned Good Engineering Model Demo By Raytheon For GPS OCX
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has successfully completed two significant milestones for the U.S. Air Force's next-generation Global Positioning System, or Control Segment, or GPS OCX, establishing a solid foundation and roadmap to keep the program on track and on schedule.   Full Story

BGAN'ing USACE Are Vizada + Delta Wave Communications
Vizada has won a contract with Delta Wave Communications Inc. to supply the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) with Inmarsat and Iridium mobile satellite communications services in the United States and overseas.   Full Story

Farming Via Satellite — DMCii Imagery Aids With Growth Factor
Canadian precision agriculture supplier and consultancy DynAgra has completed its first precision agriculture campaign using DMCii satellite imagery to provide sophisticated agronomic tools to its customers.   Full Story

No Haggling Necessary By Agencies For Imagery — SPOT On!
SPOT Image Corp. has been awarded a contract from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to sell SPOT satellite imagery and related products and services to federal, state, and local government agencies at pre-negotiated rates.   Full Story

Cabsat MENA Debuts This March
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has become one of the most dynamic emerging markets for satellite and broadcast use.   Full Story


January 9, 2009
Biggest Moon x 2
Last month the full moon was extra big, not just in perspective — it was documented: the biggest full moon of 2008, a perigee moon, 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than before. Get ready for a repeat performance this Saturday night, January 10th, another perigee Moon is coming.   Full Story

Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Takes the Pulse of the Pulsars
NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered 12 new gamma-ray-only pulsars and has detected gamma-ray pulses from 18 others. The finds are transforming our understanding of how these stellar cinders work.   Full Story

BMI Goes Mobil With Test Runs
They are giving it a try for six months — BMI has become the first UK airline to offer its passengers the use of their mobile devices in-flight via Inmarsat. The airline is testing the service using OnAir's Mobile OnAir equipment on an Airbus A320 flying between London and Moscow.   Full Story


January 8, 2009
EchoStar Slinging Away At CES...
EchoStar Technologies LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), has debuted their EchoStar SlingLoaded 922 HD DVR at CES 2009, the world’s first HD DVR that incorporates Sling Media’s patented placeshifting technology.   Full Story

Moving on Up . . . Arrowhead Global Solutions
Arrowhead Global Solutions, the government services division of CapRock Communications, announced the addition of David Myers to its senior management team as Executive Vice President and General Manager. Myers’ appointment is part of a strategic initiative to accelerate Arrowhead’s evolution as a provider of value-added managed services and advanced telecom solutions specifically for the military, intelligence, and civilian government communities.   Full Story

Sea Horse SatSystem To Help Control Illegal Immigration
A satellite system that links together two continents has become the latest weapon in Europe's armory against illegal immigration. Police forces in Spain, Senegal, and Mauritania will connect up to a single, high-speed communications and data network to accomplish this task.   Full Story

Moving On Up... At Vocality...
Alex Keyse has joined Vocality as Sales Manager, Europe, bringing with him more than 15 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry.   Full Story

Starz Travels The MediaPath With TANDBERG
TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group (NASDAQ:ERIC), has announced Starz Entertainment, LLC, (Starz) has selected the nexgen MediaPath Secure Content Delivery System to deliver the content for its on demand services. The upgrade provides Starz with DVB-S2 satellite delivery and other enhanced features.   Full Story

An Eclipsing Moment For Enceladus
In Saturn's shadow, the southern hemisphere of Enceladus is lit by sunlight reflected first off the rings and then onto the nightside of the planet.   Full Story

Bright + Ballistic Are These Hubble Imaged Stars
Images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, taken by Raghvendra Sahai of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and colleagues reveal 14 ballistic stars that rase through interstellar space like bullets and tear through clouds of gas.   Full Story

ISRO Gains Even More Launch Clout
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch four foreign satellites this year as the organization seeks to make further inroads into the international satellite-building and launch services market in 2009.   Full Story

Air Force Goes Bats For MAVS
Air Force-funded researchers from several universities are studying the flexible, flapping wings routinely used by bats and insects and mimicking their biological attributes to improve agility, speed and adaptability in micro air vehicle systems (MAVs).   Full Story

Moving On Up... At Space Foundation...
The Board of Directors of the Space Foundation has elected The Honorable Dave Weldon, M.D., former congressman from Melbourne, Florida, and Ms. Patti Grace Smith, former associate administrator for Commercial Space Transportation for the Federal Aviation Administration from Washington, D.C., as members of the Board of Directors effective January 14, 2009.   Full Story

Containing The Excitement Is An ARINC Asset
ARINC Incorporated will present a live demo of its Asset Assure continuous cargo tracking solution for commercial shippers Tuesday, January 13th, at the material handling industry trade show ProMat 2009.   Full Story

GeoEye's CRISP Attention To Detail
GeoEye, Inc. has signed a multi-year agreement with the National University of Singapore to allow the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP) to collect and sell Earth imagery and related products from its GeoEye-1 satellite.   Full Story

NASA + Nat'l Science Foundation Inflating Super Balloons
NASA and the National Science Foundation have successfully launched and demo'd a newly designed super pressure balloon prototype that may enable a new era of high-altitude scientific research.   Full Story

SatBroadcast, Multicast, IPTV, DigiCinema Are Secured By IDC
International Datacasting Corporation (TSX:IDC) has been awarded new contracts totalling more than $770,000 CDN for the provision and support of a new high performance version of the Cyphercast IP Conditional Access System which they manufacture under license to Irdeto Access.   Full Story

Vietnam and France Ready For Another Sat
Vietnam’s first satellite, VINASAT-1, was launched last April and all was successful. Now their Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung announced that France would be the provider of technology and official development assistance (ODA) for the natural resources, environment and disaster monitoring of small satellite (VNREADSat-1), Vietnam’s second satellite after Vinasat-1.   Full Story

Hughes' SPACEWAY 3 Core Of New CrisisCom Program
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) has launched their Inter-Government Crisis Network (IGCN), a satellite-based solution that enables government agencies to communicate securely and reliably in preparing for and responding to an emergency.   Full Story

Moving On Up . . .ITT Space Systems
ITT Corporation announced that Edward M. Morris has joined ITT Space Systems Division as executive director of strategic business development. He will be responsible for strategic program and business development of GPS navigation systems and additional space-related capabilities, focusing on establishing client relationships and opportunities in response to emerging customer requirements.   Full Story

HOT BIRD-10 Flies... In A Cargo Jetliner, That Is...
The HOT BIRD-10 satellite for Arianespace's initial Ariane 5 mission of 2009 was delivered to French Guiana on January 8, arriving aboard a chartered cargo jetliner for its transatlantic trip from Europe.   Full Story

Boeing Beaming, Building WGS-6 For SMC
The Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center, Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing, has authorized Boeing US$234 million to initiate production of the sixth Wideband Global SATCOM Satellite.   Full Story

Shadow UAV To Bring More Accuracy Into Missions
The U.S. Army is installing a lightweight laser designator for its RQ-7B Shadow 200 UAV.</fo   Full Story

NGC Built + P&W Powered Unmanned Craft Takesoff + Lands... From A Carrier!
Pratt & Whitney, with Northrop Grumman, unveiled the first X-47B air vehicle for the U.S. Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) program.   Full Story

Moving On Up... At Northrop Grumman...
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has announced several structural actions to strengthen alignment with its customers, improve the company's program performance and growth potential, and enhance its cost competitiveness.   Full Story

ICO's IOT In Good Stead... GBBF Going Good...
ICO Global Communications (Holdings) Limited (ICO) (NASDAQ: ICOG) has revealed that ICO G1 satellite In Orbit Testing (IOT), and testing of the innovative Ground Based Beam Forming (GBBF) system for the ICO Space Segment, are both now complete.   Full Story

LRF Obtains SatSourcedInfo From ORBCOMM
ORBCOMM Inc. (Nasdaq: ORBC) has completed a global AIS distribution agreement for commercial purposes with Lloyd’s Register – Fairplay (LRF).   Full Story

Ownership Take Over? Elbit Going For Shiron
Elbit Systems Ltd. has announced the Company's wholly-owned Israeli subsidiary, Elbit Systems Land and C4I - Tadiran Ltd. ("ESLC-T"), signed a share purchase agreement with shareholders that, to the best of ESLC-T's knowledge, hold more than 90 percent of the shares of Shiron Satellite Communications (1996) Ltd. ("Shiron").   Full Story


January 7, 2009
Cassini Seizes Astounding Aurora
Saturn has its own unique brand of aurora that lights up the polar cap, unlike any other planetary aurora known in our solar system.   Full Story

Boeing To Cough Up Millions To ICO
Boeing Company has been ordered to pay former customer ICO Global Communications Ltd. US$631 million in damages, after a California court approved a jury verdict against the Chicago-based aerospace company.   Full Story

UFO Gets More To Use, Thanks To Boeing
Boeing [NYSE: BA] has successfully reconfigured an on-orbit U.S. Navy satellite, adding 30 percent more communications capability.   Full Story

A New GIG For AT&T Government Svcs...
The U.S. Army has selected AT&T Government Solutions business unit to build an advanced data network to extend the Global Information Grid (GIG) and service Army operations in Germany.   Full Story

MDA Gets Their Arm Around New CSA Contract
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (TSX: MDA) has announced the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has increased its funding to expand the scope of the existing contract with MDA to provide support for the Mobile Servicing System, including building a spare Latching End Effector for the Canadarm2.   Full Story

UAE's UAV/UAS Development
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will possibly emerge as an exporter of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) during 2009. This is according to the Riad Kahwaji, CEO of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (Inegma).   Full Story

Custos UAV Is En Route
After successfully launching the first underwater unmanned vehicle, research and development firm Roboteknik is developing the Philippine's first commercially available unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which can be used for industrial and military purposes.   Full Story

Oui! Orange TV Gets the Green Light from ASTRA and GlobeCast
A collaborative effort between SES ASTRA and GlobeCast resulted in a capacity contract with the French telecommunications operator Orange to distribute its new Orange TV via satellite. This is positive news as it particularly targets French homes with no TV coverage over ADSL.   Full Story

Hubble's Most Dynamic Image in Black and White Would Amaze Ansel Adams
Photos are always coming in to the editorial office, yet this just released from NASA is amazing. Contained within the most massive and active star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud, star cluster NGC 346 delivers energetic radiation that excites nearby gas, causing it to glow. The result is one of the most dynamic and intricately detailed images of a nearby star-forming region that has ever been taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.   Full Story

Comtech AeroAstro's Bus Rides To A Smooth Delivery
Comtech AeroAstro, Inc., has successfully delivered the first spacecraft bus for the U.S. Air Force's Space Test Program Standard Interface Vehicle (STP-SIV) satellite program.   Full Story


January 6, 2009
White Dwarfs' Handiwork — Spitzer Sees Shredded Asteroids
Observations made with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveal six dead "white dwarf" stars littered with the remains of shredded asteroids.   Full Story

SICRAL Satellites To Provide Newly Contracted Telecom Services
Telespazio has signed agreements for two separate contracts with DRS Technologies, which was acquired by Finmeccanica in October of 2008.   Full Story

Sun's Magnetic Personality Creates Fatal Attraction
A serious matter — NASA has funded a study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences in Washington that determined extreme solar eruptions could potentially have severe consequences for communications, power grids and other technology on Earth. The resulting report provides some of the first clear economic data that effectively quantifies today's risk of extreme conditions in space driven by magnetic activity on the sun and disturbances in the near-Earth environment. Instances of extreme space weather are rare and are categorized with other natural hazards that have a low   Full Story

NASA's RFP: Must Include Heavy Lifting
NASA issued a request for proposal for the Ares V rocket that will perform heavy lift and cargo functions as part of the next generation of spacecraft that will return humans to the moon.   Full Story

Globalstar's African Satcom Solutions Solidified With Globaltouch
Globalstar, Inc. (Nasdaq:GSAT) now has signed an agreement with Globaltouch West Africa Limited (GWAL) based in Nigeria, wherein they will offer Globalstar satellite voice and data services to customers in Nigeria, the surrounding portions of Western Africa, as well as parts of the coastal Atlantic and Gulf of Guinea maritime region.   Full Story

Betterment Of The Broadcom Kind For Preview At CES
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) will showcase a variety of new technologies for wireless and mobile communications devices to advance the concept of a fully connected digital home at this week's International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).   Full Story

TCS Awarded Millions For Remote Comm Services
TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS) (NASDAQ: TSYS) has been awarded orders valued at more than US$7.8 million to provide fixed satellite terminal sites and managed bandwidth services using the TCS teleport over 16 months that started in December 2008 to support U.S. government personnel.   Full Story

Towers That Protect the Power
Talk about a major target for lightning, NASA has become proactive and so — on Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a crane completes construction of one of the towers in the new lightning protection system for the Constellation Program.   Full Story

Arianespace's Family Increases, Good Returns
Observations reveal that since being founded in 1980 Arianespace has signed over 300 launch Service & Solutions contracts, and launched 265 satellites for 70 customers, of which more than half of all commercial satellites are now in service worldwide.   Full Story

TS2 Satellite Technologies Goes Portable to the Extreme
TS2 Satellite Technologies brings new portable modems to Inmarsat's BGAN global satellite broadband network, and includes all available terminals such as TT Explorer 110/ 300/ 500/ 700, Hughes 9201 and SABRE. The devices are specific to persons and companies requiring mobile communications while working or operating in areas that have no cellular networks or ground-based telecommunications.   Full Story

Globecomm's VSATs Aid Peace Corps
Globecomm Systems Inc. [NASDAQ: GCOM], announced that the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Globecomm Services Maryland has received a contract from Peace Corps valued at $2.4 million. Globecomm provides satellite-based communications infrastructure solutions and services on a global basis.   Full Story

NASA Guarantees Big Win In Vegas
Not everyone is lucky in Las Vegas, however, some Las Vegas students are as they will have an opportunity to chat with NASA Expedition 18 astronauts Mike Fincke and Sandra Magnus, who are aboard the International Space Station.   Full Story

Incur Additional UAS Knowledge At Upcoming ASD Conference...
Currently, billions of dollars are pouring into Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) development as the DoD’s need for new and inventive unmanned aircraft and payloads is nowhere close to being satisfied.   Full Story

NASA's Kepler Getting Pre-Launch Makeover At Canaveral
Back in May of 2008, NASA announced an opportunity for anyone to submit their name to be included on a DVD, which will be rocketed into space as part of NASA's Kepler Mission.   Full Story


January 5, 2009
Contract Mod For More Lockheed Martin Thermal Work
The U.S. Air Force has just modified a contract with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Sunnyvale, California for US$7,189,000.   Full Story

Weather Sat On Tap For ISRO
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is expected to launch a new weather satellite, the 'Mehga Tropiques' during 2009.   Full Story

After 100 Days In Space, Shenzhou-7 Companion Completes Mission
The accompanying satellite of Shenzhou-7 orbital module has accomplished its preset mission after 100 days in space.   Full Story

S&P 500 Outperformed Again By The Defense Sector
Although 2008 was the worst year that the stock market has experienced since the 1930s, aerospace and defense companies continued to outperform the broader markets, with the benchmark SPADE Defense Index (ticker: DXS) outperforming the S&P500 for the ninth consecutive year.   Full Story

Obama May Tear Down to Speed Up Space Program
President-elect Barack Obama will probably tear down long-standing barriers between the U.S.’s civilian and military space programs to speed up a mission to the moon amid the prospect of a new space race with China.   Full Story

Gilat + Columbia Conclude Communications Chats
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.'s lengthy negotiations with the Ministry of Communications in Colombia have led to signature of new agreements for the provision of services under the Compartel I, Compartel II and Telecentros projects, which were awarded to Gilat’s Colombian subsidiaries in 1999 and 2002.   Full Story

Soldier Pilots Don't Spill a Drop of the Flying Beer Keg
No fraternity beer keg party could include what the troops from the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the Pennsylvania National Guard revealed, with a small gasoline-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) nicknamed the “Flying Beer Keg,” (also known as) the XM156 Class I UAV.   Full Story

Hubble Reveals Having Gas Can Result in Giving Birth to Stars
Gas pains can be serious stuff if you're a galaxy. Thanks to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope astronomers can solve the mystery of the loner starburst galaxy, called NGC 1569 in which this small, nearby, isolated galaxy is pumping out new stars faster than any galaxy in our local neighborhood.   Full Story

Lockheed Martin and U.S. Coast Guard's Mission to Provide New Mission Systems
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] and the U.S. Coast Guard are a team committed to enhancing two additional missionized HC-130Js with new mission equipment and sensor packages that deliver enhanced search, detection and tracking capabilities in maritime search and rescue, law enforcement and homeland security missions.   Full Story

Largest $$$ Order in Comtech's History Is Received For Movement Tracking System
Comtech Telecommunications Corp.'s (Nasdaq:CMTL) Maryland-based subsidiary, Comtech Mobile Datacom Corporation, has received an order for $282.0 million under its Movement Tracking System, or MTS contract, with the U.S. Army.   Full Story

Moving On Up... At NOAA...
Juliana P. Blackwell has been named the new director of NOAA’s Office of National Geodetic Survey where she will oversee NOAA's responsibilities for the nation's spatial reference system.   Full Story

Financially Speaking... SKY Perfect JSAT Corp...
SKY Perfect JSAT Holdings Inc. has acquired its own shares under the articles of association and Article 459, paragraph 1 of the Corporation Law, as follows.   Full Story

Hyundai Heavy Has Quake In Mind For M2M Satcom
Quake Global, Inc. announced Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. has selected Quake Global and Korea ORBCOMM to supply satellite communicators and airtime for its new "Hi-Mate" global communications system for heavy equipment tracking and monitoring.   Full Story

AAI's Aerosonde Mark 5 UAS Proves Self At Yuma Proving Grounds
AAI Corporation, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, has conducted a successful first flight of its new Aerosonde Mark 5 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) at Yuma Proving Grounds in Yuma, Arizona.   Full Story

A WIN-T For STTs From DataPath...
DataPath, Inc. has been awarded US$100 million by the U.S. Army to manufacture and integrate Ka-band conversion kits and provide spares kits that will enable DataPath Satellite Transportable Terminals (STTs) and other systems on the battlefield to operate using the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) system.   Full Story

Moving On Up... At TerreStar...
Moving On Up... At TerreStar...   Full Story


January 2, 2009
SatFlick: Landsat-7 Seizes Seas
NASA's Landsat-7 satellite continues with terrific photography, as this image reveals the dark blue waters of the Coral and Solomon Seas. This image of the area was captured by NASA’s Landsat 7 satellite on January 13, 2002.   Full Story

Continued Successes For Arianespace Include New "Look"
Arianespace has formally inaugurated and debuted the Company's new graphic style, providing a corporate identity refresh for the leading commercial launch services provider.   Full Story

Aquisition Accomplishment — Vodacom + Gateway
South African mobile operator Vodacom has completed their purchase of African network and satellite services firm, Gateway, for $700 million.   Full Story

EC's MobileSatSvcs Foursome
The European Commission has confirmed all four operators that applied to deliver mobile satellite services across Europe will move forward to the next stages of the selection procedure.   Full Story

PAC's PAF UAV Handover
Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) has handed over around a dozen Predator-type UAVs to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), according to the Chairman of PAC, Air Marshal Khalid Chaudhary.   Full Story

UAV Team From Northrop Grumman Receive Navy Award
Northrop Grumman Corporation's RQ-4 Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD) team was recently named Test Team of the Quarter for the second quarter of 2008 by the U.S. Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20.   Full Story

Indian Rocket Family To Increase With New Launch Vehicle
The Economic Times (India) is reporting ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) scientists are developing a nexgen launch vehicle that should reduce the cost of placing satellites into orbit.   Full Story


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