WBMSAT News Bits 04/11/2014

An Atlas 5 launched a classified satellite from Cape Canaveral April 10 after a 16-day delay caused by technical issues at the launch range. [Space News – 04/11/2014]

SpaceX and United Launch Alliance more than double lobbying expenses in recent years, as launch competition looms. [Space News – 04/11/2014]

The U.S. commerce secretary says current weather satellite development programs are on track but nonetheless she continues to worry about a future gap in coverage. [Space News – 04/11/2014]

Metop SG – Credit: ESA artist’s concept – Space News

European Space Agency’s Industrial Policy Committee approved 820 million Euros for Airbus Defence and Space to build two to six polar-orbiting METOPS meteorological satellites. [Space News – 04/11/2014]

Telespazio of Rome will provide the operations and maintenance services for the data-access system to manage Europe’s Copernicus network of environment-monitoring satellites. [Space News – 04/11/2014]

Soyuz at European Spaceport – Credit: Arianespace
photo – Space News

Arianespace is negotiating with the Russian space agency on a block buy of Soyuz rockets to be operated from Russia’s Baikonur spaceport. [Space News – 04/11/2014]

Avanti’s HYLAS 2, with 100% coverage over South Africa, is used by Reuters for 24/7 SNG coverage of Oscar Pistorius trial. [SatNews – 04/11/2014]

Ofeq 9 launch – Credit: Israel Aerospace
Industries photo – Space News

Israeli rocket launches Ofeq 10 radar reconnaissance satellite into orbit aboard a Shavit rocket. [Space News – 04/10/2014]

Europe’s just-launched Sentinel-1A dodges dead space weather satellite. [Space News – 04/10/2014]

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) is in the lead to buy Loral Space & Communications Inc’s Canadian satellite communications company Telesat Holdings Inc for about $7 billion. [Bloomberg – 04/10/2014]

SES books SpaceX Falcon 9 for launch of SES-9 and SES10, hybrid satellites carrying a mix of chemical and electric propulsion. [Space News – 04/10/2014]

Recent MarketsandMarkets report projects that M2M satellite communication market will be woprth $4.763 billion by 2019. [infoTECH – 04/10/2014]

Ariane 5 upper stage – Credit: ESA artist
concept by D. Ducros – Space News

A new French space law designed to reduce orbital debris risks posing problems for commercial launch services provider Arianespace of France. [Space News – 04/10/2014]

Globalstar is moving to the NY Stock Exchange. [Washington Examiner – 04/10/2014]

Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) is building out a fresh fleet of satellites that it hopes will propel the company into the industry’s top five. [Via Satellite – 04/10/2014]

Hispasat expands 4K offerings, prepares for more transatlantic broadcasts. [Via Satellite – 04/10/2014]

SES signs multiple Occasional Use (OU) capacity deals with broadcasters to deliver coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. [Via Satellite – 04/10/2014]

Gogo starts its first transatlantic connectivity service with SES satellite capacity, using SES-1, SES-4, and SES-6. [SatNewqs – 04/10/2014]

Ball Aerospace completes a series of environmental tests on its commercial remote-sensing satellite, WorldView 3. [Via Satellite – 04/10/2014]

Canada’s SkyTrac Systems Ltd. has been in the business of flight-following, monitoring flight data, and supporting aviation businesses for over twenty years. [Broadcaster Magazine – 04/10/2014]

Panasonic Avionics provides IcelandAir with its FlightLink solution. [Satellite Evolution Group – 04/10/2014]

SES Broadband Services has signed an agreement with German Internet Service Provider ORBITCOM to market its Astra Connect service. [Satellite Evolution Group – 04/10/2014]

Emerging Markets Communications announces satellite connectivity solution for Star Clippers sailing vessels. [4-Traders – 04/10/2014]

Arqiva obtains C-band capacity on AsiaSat 5 to deliver sports coverage to Asia-Pacific. [Via Satellite – 04/10/2014]

SatLink launches new DVB-S2 platform on Eutelsat’s Hot Bird. [Via Satellite – 04/10/2014]

Skycasters announces its newest and largest Mobile Satellite Trailer (MST) with a 1.8-meter satellite dish and a host of enhancements. [StreetInsider – 04/10/2011]

Global satellite broadband communications market in public safety set to increase by 8.5% CAGR during 2013 to 2018. [pr-inside – 04/09/2014]

Emanuel Fthenakis in 1981 – Credit Gerald Martineau/TWP
– Washington Post

Emanuel Fthenakis, who helped develop early satellite communication systems for military and commercial use, died April 3 at a hospital in Rockville, Md. He was 86. [The Washington Post – 04/09/2014]

Northrop Grumman ships payload module for fourth advanced EHF protected communications satellite two months early. [The Wall Street Journal – 04/09/2014]

KazSat 3 – Photo courtesy of magenta-studio.ru – Tengri News

KazSat-3 delivered to Baikonur, for April 28 launch. [Tengri News – 04/09/2014]

SES is working with over 30 manufacturers to create SAT>IP products that take Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) data and transfers it to IP format, allowing it to be transported over in-home IP networks. [Via Satellite – 04/09/2014]

L-3 and Intelsat demonstrate anti-jam technology for military satellites. [Defense Systems – 04/09/2014]

Gogo to Partner with Air Canada to Bring Wi-Fi to its North American Fleet. [Market Watch – 04/09/2014]

KVH Industries, Inc. has come to an agreement with IMG Media to distribute video content of the 2014 FIFA World Cup ™ to merchant ships. [Market Watch – 04/09/2014]

Inmarsat’s east London control room – New York Times photo

Flight 370 search brings satellite company Inmarsat an unaccustomed bit of fame. [NY Times – 04/09/2014]

The latest Hollywood blockbusters will soon be available to commercial shipping companies across the world, delivered directly to vessels at sea via Inmarsat’s global satellite network. [The Maritime Executive – 04/09/2014]

TechNavio’s analysts forecast the Global Satellite-based Earth Observation market will grow at a CAGR of 11.34 percent over the period 2013-2018. [PR Newswire – 04/08/2014]

The CubeSat revolution of the past decade has placed satellite technology within reach of private companies, universities and even unaffiliated individuals. [PHYS-ORG – 04/08/2014]

Lockheed Martin and NewSat Limited successfully complete a comprehensive technical review of Jabiru-1, Australia’s first commercial Ka-band satellite. [Digital Journal – 04/08/2014]

The Australian Navy ship HMAS Success (front) performs a Replenishment
at Sea evolution with the Royal Malaysian Navy ship KD Lekiu – Reuters pic – The Malay Mail Online

Satellite data analysis suggests MH370 flew inverted to site of acoustic signals. [Malay Mail Online – 04/08/2014]

With questions about the challenge of locating Flight 370, Secure World Foundation will host a panel discussion Thursday, May 8, 2014, that will examine the challenges of combining multiple sources of ground-, air- and space-based data. [SatNews – 04/08/2014]

Gogo’s new “2Ku” technology solution for inflight internet, to be launched on international airlines in 2015, uses two antennas and has achieved 70Mbps download speeds. [Forbes – 04/08/2014]

Through its recent acquisition of ARINC and following a MOU with Inmarsat, Rockwell Collins will bring the newest generation of Ka-band satellite communications to airline customers across the world. [Aviation Media – 04/08/2014]

ThinKom’s ThinSat300 ultra low profile Ka-band antenna transmits at rates in excess of 8 Mbps at sustained speeds in excess of 140 kmph (85 mph) during SNG on-the-move test. [SatNews – 04/08/2014]

Photo courtesy of Intellian Technologies – Marine Link

Intellian wins contract to supply Hanjin Shipping of South Korea, with FleetBroadband FB500 terminals for a fleet of 38 container ships [MarineLink – 04/08/2014]

All of the 24 GLONASS satellites that make up Russia’s equivalent of the GPS system failed at once on April 7, confirming urgent need for terrestrial backup system per Locata. [MarketrWired – 04/07/2014]

Military communications market projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% to $30.12B by 2019 in new research report at RnRMarketResearch.com. [PCB Design 007 – 04/07/2014]

Iridium NEXT satellite artist’s conception – Courtesy Iridium – Aviation Week

Iridium aims for increasing share of aviation market, focusing on satcom applications beyond the cabin. [Aviation Week – 04/07/2014]

Arqiva selects Eutelsat satellite capacity to expand DTH broadcasting in the UK. [Satellite Spotlight – 04/07/2014]

SpeedCast to host first product demo of its new ReadyCONNECT(TM)TA12, a mobile VSAT solution that combines portability and rapid deployment equipment, at this year’s APPEA Conference and Exhibition. [TMCnet – 04/07/2014]

CNN adopts newest BGAN terminal from Cobham, improving streaming rates via Inmarsat. [PR.com – 04/07/2014]

Airbus Defence and Space has launched XChange v3 to further improve the flow of operational data between ship and shore through sophisticated voice and connectivity service management. [IIFL – 04/07/2014]

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