WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits for December 18, 2009
Arianespace began 30 year history of launches with first European Space Agency launch from Kourou December 24, 1979 and never looked back.
[Space Travel – 12/18/2009]
SES wins auction, gets Protostar 2 satellite for U.S. $185 million; satellite will provide incremental capacity over Asia for SES.
[SatNews – 12/18/2009]
GeoEye-1 satellite shut down after antenna malfunction.
[Satellite Today – 12/18/2009]
GOES-14 enters full service; will be used to predict storms and monitor weather over 60% of the planet.
[SatNews – 12/18/2009]
Arianespace postpones the launch of French satellite Helios 2B a second time due to an anomaly.
[Satellite Today – 12/18/2009]
ViaSat finalizes acquisition of WildBlue Communications.
[Trading Markets – 12/18/2009]
Etisalat UAE signs multi-year contract for capacity on Intelsat’s recently launched Intelsat 15 satellite.
[SatNews – 12/18/2009]
DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-2 high-resolution satellite expected to achieve full operational capacity on January 4, 2010.
[SatNews – 12/18/2009]
Orbital Sciences is awarded a Phase 2 contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for "Future Fast, Flexible, Fractionated, Free-Flying" (System F6) spacecraft.
[SatNews – 12/18/2009]
FCC unveils a list of proposals to meet national broadband plan – FCC raises idea of forcing cable and satellite operators to provide low-cost set-top devices to integrate broadband and video services.
[Washington Post – 12/17/2009]
Eutelsat wins broadband capacity, distribution deals in Albania.
[Satellite Today – 12/17/2009]
Satellite users may see more sporting events as federal investigators seek to close a loophole that allows cable TV operators to withhold sporting events and programming they own from rival providers.
[Tennessean – 12/17/2009]
Inmarsat hits 5,000 FleetBroadband terminal activations.
[Satellite Today – 12/17/2009]
RT Logic develops software-defined modem for feeder link terminals for Iridium which will be deployed by Iridium at its ground stations.
[TMCnet – 12/17/2009]
Satellite TV may be only option for thousands of Hawkeye fans to see their team in the Orange Bowl, as a dispute between Mediacom Communications Corp. and Sinclair Broadcasting Group could leave cable subscribers without local channels.
[Forbes – 12/17/2009]
China launches first public-welfare mini satellite from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province.
[Space Daily – 12/16/2009]
Telenor Satellite Broadcasting’s Thor 6 satellite completes in-orbit testing.
[Satellite Today – 12/16/2019]
MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates announces $254 million U.S. contract win to build and launch a communications satellite for the Ukrainian space agency.
[Vancouver Sun – 12/15/2009]
Russia orbits three new Glonass navigation satellites.
[GPS Daily – 12/15/2009]
Vizada connects satellite service to submarine fiber cable along the East Coast of Africa.
[Satellite Today – 12/15/2009]
Iridium OpenPort provides fishing vessels operating in high northern latitudes continuous coverage including 3 phone lines and a data line up to 128 kbps simultaneously.
[SatNews – 12/15/2009]
NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer blasted off from Vandenberg AFB on a mission to find hidden asteroids, comets, and other objects never before seen in space.
[R&D – 12/14/2009]
IoStar International Ltd. of Hong Kong is using more than a full Ku band transponder on Telesat’s Telstar 18 satellite to serve the communications needs of NATO troops.
[Satellite Today – 12/14/2009]
Orbital Sciences wins contract to build Intelsat 23 for Intelsat SA.
[Washington Business Journal – 12/14/2009]
Dish Network passes 14 million customer milestone.
[SatNews – 12/13/2009]
Small satellites grow in prominence and take on a growing number of operational roles alongside their full-size counterparts – a conference next year in Greece will discuss their evolution.
[R&D Magazine – 12/11/2009]
China launches remote-sensing satellite, "Yaogan VII", from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu Province.
[Space Mart – 12/11/2009]
While the satellite industry in general has been trumpeting its successes during the economic downturn, there are signs of weakness in a few key markets in North America.
[NSR Report – Global Assessment of Satellite Supply & Demand, 6th Edition]
Changes in programs, flux in budget, movements in personnel, and delays in decisions, while more bandwidth is required, characterize the government and military satcom market.
[NSR Report – Government and Military Satellite Communications, 6th Edition]
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