Really Rocket Science

Interesting development involving quantum entanglement and teleportation, via Richard Adhikari at TechNewsWorld…

Scientists in China have transmitted quantum bits, or qubits, over a record distance of 97 km, or roughly 60 miles.

This is more than six times the distance of the previous record of 16 km, set by another team of Chinese researchers in May of 2010, as reported in Nature.com.

The results represent a step toward the establishment of a global quantum network, and the methods used in the experiment could be utilized for satellite-based quantum communications, the scientists said.

“This is just a transmission method, so it could have wide utility, though I expect the cost will initially make it best for huge data streams,” Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld.

This technology “could end up changing much of the world” because it’s both potentially higher bandwidth and lower latency, approaching zero, and these factors “could drive massive computer centralization on a world scale and force a massive shakeout of security , networking and computer companies,” Enderle continued. “Something like this could turn us into a SaaS (Software as a Service) world.”

This will change the satcom business in a big, big way. It’s right there in the abstract:

With the help of quantum entanglement, quantum communication can be achieved between arbitrarily distant places without passing through intermediate locations by quantum teleportation. In the laboratory, quantum teleportation has been demonstrated over short distance by photonic and atomic qubits. Using fiber links, quantum teleportation has been achieved over kilometer distances. Long distance quantum teleportation is of particular interest and has been one of the holy grails of practical quantum communication. Most recently, quantum teleportation over 16 km free-space link was demonstrated. However, a major restriction in this experiment is that the unknown quantum state cannot directly come from outside. Here, based on an ultra-bright multi-photon entanglement source, we demonstrate quantum teleportation, closely following the original scheme, for any unknown state created outside, between two optical free-space links separated by 97 km. Over a 35-53 dB high-loss quantum channel, an average fidelity of 80.4(9) % is achieved for six distinct initial states. Besides being of fundamental interest, our result represents an important step towards a global quantum network. Moreover, the high-frequency and high-accuracy acquiring, pointing and tracking (APT) technique developed in our experiment can be directly utilized for future satellite-based quantum communication.

Download the report (PDF) for yourself and read on.

MEASAT takes Intelsat to court over alleged breach of contract in respect to the Land Launch and Program Management Services for the MEASAT 1R satellite.
[SatNews – 05/14/2012]

Arianespace to launch Vietnam’s second satellite along with Sky Perfect’s JSAT-13 on May 16.
[Satellite Today – 05/14/2012]

SES announces that its German HD+ platform reached more than 2.6 million households at the end of first quarter 2012.
[SatNews – 05/12/2012]

ViviSat, backed by ATK and U.S. Space, shows new video explaining how its Mission Extension Vehicle can extend the life of retiring geosynchronous communications satellites.
[SatNews – 05/12/2012]

ATK has developed Liberty into complete commercial crew transportation system, including spacecraft, abort system, launch vehicle, and ground and mission operations, designed to meet NASA’s human-rating requirements.
[SatNews – 05/12/2012]

While negotiating with Boeing to convert its current contract for new advance satellite terminals from cost plus to fixed price, the Air Force opens up the bidding to other companies.
[Chicago Tribune – 05/11/2012]

Dish launches DVR feature allowing customers to completely avoid commercials, threatening billions of dollars in broadcast-television advertising.
[Wall Street Journal – 05/11/2012]

Eutelsat cuts forecast for full-year revenue, and its stock falls the most since it began trading in Paris in December 2005.
[Bloomberg – 05/11/2012]

Vietnam says it will send its second satellite into orbit on May 16.
[People Daily – 05/11/2012]

Nigeria says it will deploy satellites to trace movement of suspected terrorists and their locations in the country.
[Daily Trust – 05/11/2012]

Iridium unveils worlld’s smallest commercial two-way satellite data transceiver.
[Sat PR News – 05/11/2012]

L-3 to lay off 34 workers in Mason, Ohio, a plant that makes infrared sensors and systems and satellite electronics.
[Dayton Business Journal – 05/11/2012]

MDA may lay off 150 additional employees if Radarsat Constellation Mission doesn’t continue.
[Vancouver Sun – 05/11/2012]

China launches Remote-Sensing Satellite Number 14.
[SatNews – 05/10/2012]

SpaceX and Bigelow Aerospace agree to jointly market rides on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to Bigelow habitats orbiting Earth.
[SatNews – 05/10/2012]

Globecomm Systems gets contract value upgrade and 12 month extension to existing five year contract to provide complete facility and geographic diversity for voice and data restoration services to Agility Recovery Solutions.
[SatNews – 05/10/2012]

Comtech receives $1.5 million order for Ka-band high-power amplifiers serving the emerging High Throughput Satellite communications market.
[Market Watch – 05/10/2012]

NASA announces the retirement of the TDRS-4 communications satellite.
[redOrbit – 05/09/2012]

ESA declares Envisat environmental satellite, which stopped communicating in April, lost. [Spaceflight Now – 05/09/2011]

Netherlands Defence organisation a step closer to satellite communications independence following May 5 launch of communications satellite from Cape Canaveral.
[Defence Professionals – 05/09/2012]

Eutelsat closes distribution deal with RG Networks, making KA-SAT satellite broadband available across Hungary.
[Sacramento Bee – 05/09/2012]

Astrium gets contract to provide airborne SATCOM systems to Star Satellite Communications Company, a subsidiary of Yahsat.
[SatNews – 05/09/2012]

Norsat revenues up 21% for strong 2012 first quarter.
[Market Watch – 05/09/2012]

Telstra orders $5 million in docking stations and Iridium handsets from Beam Communications of Australia.
[Market Watch – 05/09/2012]

Comtech gets $2.5 million contract from Latin American operator for satellite earth station equipment for the company’s network expansion.
[Market Watch – 05/09/2011]

Scientists offer calculation to correct temperature data taken from NOAA-9 in the 1980′s, bringing it in line with other satellite earth temperature data and models that simulate global warming.
[R&D Magazine – 05/08/2012]

Field testing of Army’s mobile WIN-T C-2 satellite network finally under way in New Mexico after a year’s worth of delays.
[Defense News – 05/08/2012]

Intelsat reports first quarter net loss of $24.4 million, and confirms plans for four satellite launches in second and third quarters of 2012.
[Market Watch – 05/08/2012]

Satcom Direct becomes reseller for TriaGnoSys satellite communications systems.
[Seattle PI – 05/08/2012]

SkyWave Mobile Communicatioins introduces IDP-780 series of terminals with dual mode satellite-cellular capability.
[Market Watch – 05/08/2012]

Dish Network reports several technical glitches on its satellites during the first quarter, including solar array anomalies.
[Fierce Cable – 05/07/2012]

WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services

Russian power engineering manufacturer Energomash begins development of new rocket engine to run on novel mixture of acetylene and ammonia and could reduce cost of rocket launches and need for hydrogen
[SatNews – 05/07/2012]

Craftwork launches off-the-shelf software solutions enabling device makers to rapidly develop and launch new SAT>IP devices.
[SatNews – 05/07/2012]

U.S.A.F. launches second AEHF satellite from Cape Canaveral.
[Defence Professionals – 05/06/2012]

DISA says new strategy to build cohesive global network by 2020 could be used to acquire teleport receiving stations and satellite antennas outside the GSA vehicle for acquiring satellite bandwidth.
[NextGov – 05/04/2012]

Inmarsat shareholder protest over executive chairman pay.
[telecompaper – 05/04/2012]

NSR webinar Wednesday May 30, 2012 will offer in=depth discussion of emerging market for Hosted Payloads across all market segments and all regions.
[SatNews – 05/04/2012]

Vizada and Vizada Elite Partner SRH Marine Electronics sign 24 month agreement with Danaos Shipping Co. to equip its fleet of vessels with full broadband communications system using Inmarsat FleetBroadband terminals.
[SatNews – 05/04/2012]

Thrane board accepts sweetened Cobham offer.
[Nicosia Business Review – 05/03/2012]

North Korea’s jamming of GPS signals has serious affects on U.S. Army’s Rifleman Radio.
[NextGov – 05/03/2012]

VT iDirect and Informa Telecoms & Media release survey and white paper demonstrating market value and potential of satellite backhaul when used in conjunction with small cells.
[SatNews – 05/03/2012]

ESA announces its next large science mission will be an explorer (JUICE) that will be sent to explore Jupiter’s icy moons.
[SatNews = 05/03/2012]

South Korean flights affected by GPS jamming signals coming from communist North Korea.
[ABC News – 05/02/2012]

Goddard Space Flight team works on Fast Plasma Instrument that will collect full sky map of data at 30 times per second for the NASA fleet of four identical spacecraft, the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, to launch in 2014.
[R&D Magazine – 05/01/2012]

Orbit Communication Systems gets contract from Scientific Research Institute of the Precision Instruments, a Roscosmos member, to supply several Earth Observation systems for tracking of LEO satellites.
[Globe Newswire – 04/30/2012]

Hoping to prevent bankruptcy, LightSquared’s lenders ask Philip Falcone to step down from LightSquared board seat he took just two months ago.
[Wireless Week – 04/30/2012]

U.S.A.F. begins negotiations with Lockheed Martin in effort to acquire two AEHF satellites below the $3.1 billion limit set by Congress in 2012 Defense Authorization Act.
[Air Force Times – 04/28/2012]

U.K to build $400 million Solar Orbiter which will come closer to sun than any previous satellite, inside Mercury’s orbit, to study solar winds.
[Vancouver Sun – 04/28/2012]

WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services

SES, with leading industry partners, introduces SAT-IP, an IP-based satellite reception technology that converts satellite TV signals to IP for distribution throughout user’s homes for display on any IP-enabled device.
[Market Watch – 04/27/2012]

Telesat profit drops by 14% due to reduced prices charge a DTH customer on one of its satellites.
[Winnipeg Free Press – 04/27/2012]

Astrium activates full in-orbit operations on the first two Galileo In-Orbit Validation satellites launched in October 2011.
[Satellite Today – 04/27/2012]

Russian Proton rocket successfully launches Yahsat 1B Ka-band civil/military communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit.
[Space.com – 04/26/2012]

Indian rocket successfully launches microwave Radar Imaging Satellite (Risat-1) from spaceport in Andhra Pradesh, joining a select group of nations having this technology.
[NY Daily News – 04/26/2012]

UK industry to build Solar Orbiter satellite.
[BBC News – 04/26/2012]

CASBAA members rally to resist India’s proposed retroactive satellite tax laws. [SatNews – 04/26/2012]

U.S.A.F. terminates Defense Weather Satellite System contractual activities with Northrop Grumman in accordance with 2012 National Defense Authorization Act and FY12 Consolidated Appropriations Act.
[SatNews – 04/26/2012]

Space-based technology that serves GPS-equipped motorists will undergo major test of ability to rapidly pinpoint the location and magnitude of strong earthquakes across the western United States.
[SatNews – 04/26/2012]

Research firm Media Partners Asia expects DTH growth to explode in Asia, growing exponentially from 11% market share today to about 30% in the next decade.
[Satellite Today – 04/26/2012]

GMV is awarded a contract with THAICOM Plc to provide satellite control center for Thaicom 6 satellite.
[Space Ref – 04/26/2012]

NASA seeks proposals to develop solar array systems to enable space electric propulsion systems of the future.
[SolarNovus – 04/26/2012]

SpaceX COTS 2 mission set for May 7th, when the comp-any’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle will propel the Dragon toward the International Space Station.
[SatNews – 04/25/2012]

ViaSat is selected to enable Ka-band broadband satellite services for kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
[Market Watch – 04/25/2012]

SES adds two new local German channels on ASTRA.
[Market Watch – 04/25/2012]

Canadian Department of National Defence General wants satellite coverage over far north to aid communications in Canadian Arctic.
[The Globe and Mail – 04/25/2012]

Astrium Services and Spanish government satellite service operator Hisdesat sign agreement to establish constellation approach for radar satellites TerraSAR-X and PAZ for additional flexibility.
[SatNews – 04/24/2012]

Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association announces that WorkMark has joined the association as Industry Partner Member; they will work together to expand certification and qualifications needed in the consumer satellite industry.
[SatNews – 04/24/2012]

Boatracs and KVH announce strategic partnership to provide end-to-end global broadband solution to maritime market.
[chron – 04/24/2012]

EUMETSAT opens high-tech facility in Germany.
[Satellite Today – 04/24/2012]

New $1 billion + anti-jam communications satellite to provide the president and military leaders a secure and survivable communications link in wartime is mounted atop its Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral.
[Spaceflight Now – 04/23/2012]

DARPA project advocates replacing conventional spacecraft with free-floating orbit clusters that interact wirelessly, promoting easy re-configuration for changing military needs.
[Nextgov – 04/23/2012]

iDirect’s iDX software earns 2011 Satellite Spotlight Product of the Year award for bringing TDMA and SCPC together on a single platform for the first time ever.
[Market Watch – 04/23/2012]

U.S. military may spend $1 billion during next decade to piggyback its communications equipment onto commercial satellites.
[Washington Post – 04/22/2012]

Medical Robotics Experts Help Advance NASA’s Satellite Surgery Project.
[Tech Briefs – 04/01/2012]

WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services

Companies such as Hughes and Spacenet probably don’t have to worry about, as their future in transaction processing with VSAT technology isn’t going away. It may not be growing much, but the business is there.

Until an alternative process for secure transactions comes around. Well, here comes Verizon Private IP Wireless LTE.

A report in Computerworld puts it into the proper perspective for the satcom set:

With the new service, customers with LTE smartphones and tablets and LTE modems for their laptops can access the nearest cell tower and will then be routed to an enterprise gateway in one of many Verizon switching centers, Konings said. Data routed to and through the enterprise gateway is encoded, but not encrypted, and kept totally separate from the public Internet. Encryption of the data can be added, if desired.

At a Verizon switching center, the data then also joins Verizon’s global MPLS network, Konings said.

Verizon demonstrated ATM cash machines that are connected to its LTE network at CES in January, but the company didn’t describe its Private IP connection, which can be used to keep transactions secure and will allow a bank to move an ATM more easily to a new location.

LTE speeds, generally described by Verizon as 10 times faster than EV-DO, will also be useful for quickly activating remote digital signs and can even be used for transmitting video wirelessly, he said.

A news report with video can be transmitted over the Private IP LTE network instead of a more expensive satellite connection, he said. Also, wireless over LTE could be used as a backup network or for routing data to storage.

“With faster speeds, companies can provide many more apps [wirelessly] than before,” he said. Verizon describes its LTE speeds for consumers as averaging 10 Mbps on downlinks, with up to 2 Mbps on uplinks.

In addition to wireless data costs, the only cost to a business for Private IP over LTE is a $500 one-time charge to create a mobile private network, which can serve up to 1,000 sites, Konings said.

SNG? 1,000 data site? That’s satcom territory! This will be interesting to watch — especially when you add the satellite bandwidth used for video contribution feeds. Big business (read: satellite operators) ought to take notice.

Lockheed Martin delivers 100th and 101st commercial geostationary communications satellites, JCSAT-13 and VINASAT-2, to French Guiana for upcoming dual launch.
[Space Ref – 04/13/2012]

Multispectral Scanner on Landsat 5 which was turned off in late 1990′s is turned on by United States Geological Service to determine the state of the sensor, and downlinked data for several successful passes.
[SatNews – 04/13/2012]

Inmarsat’s second generation Inmarsat-2 F4 satellite switched off just days short of its 20th birthday.
[SatNews – 04/13/2012]

After 10 years of service, Envisat stops sending data to Earth.
[SatNews – 04/12/2012]

North Korea rocket breaks up 90 seconds after launch.
[MSNBC – 04/12/2012]

NOAA retires GOES-7 after 25 years as weather and communications satellite.
[Environmental Protection – 04/12/2012]

Space Systems/Loral to partner with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to host laser communications relay demonstration on a commercial satellite to be launched in 2016. [Photonics – 04/12/2012]

Azerbaijan delays launch of its first national Azerspace satellite to 2013 to accommodate expanded ground system.
[Satellite Today – 04/12/2012]

Senators ask Federal Communications Commission to find alternative spectrum for LightSquared since its recent ruling effectively killed LightSquared’s plans for a national broadband network using frequencies that interfered with GPS.
[VB/Mobile – 04/11/2012]

Satellite industry predictions vary for post-budget cut in the military market.
[Via Satellite – 04/11/2012]

Surrey Satellite seeks ancillary payloads for its upcoming OTB mission in Q1 2015, offering government and commercial organizations a low-risk, cost effective opportunity for flight and operation of payloads in low Earth orbit.
[SatNews – 04/11/2012]

Boeing successfully parachute drop tests space capsule that may eventually carry passengers to International Space Station.
[Design News – 04/11/2012]

Fregat M upper stage for Starsem’s Soyuz launch of the MetOp-B weather satellite, capable of 20 restarts in flight, undergoes checkout in preparation for May 23 launch from Kazakhstan.
[SatNews – 04/11/2012]

Afghanistan seeks partner for satellite launch.
[Rapid TV News – 04/11/2012]

U.K. Government to grant nearly 7 million pounds to co-fund major new British research to develop commercial products and services using space technology and data from space-based systems.
[SatNews – 04/11/2012]

Gilat delivers satellite-based connectivity during Russian national presidential elections.
[Market Watch – 04/11/2012]

FRANSAT, SAMSUNG, and NEOTION unveil satellite receiver and DTT module that facilitate satellite reception of free Digital Terrestrial Television channels in France.
[SatNews – 04/11/2012]

RigNet deploys universal satellite hub for offshore use in Doha, Qatar, to enhance VST services for Middle East oil & gas sectors.
[Marine Link – 04/11/2012]

C-Com gets $1 million iNetVu order from un-named customer in Russia.
[Satellite Today – 04/11/2012]

Clear Channel Satellite’s XtremeSat Media receiver allows independent syndicators maintaining their own satellite links to seamslessly transition from SCPC to MCPC as their network expands.
[SatNews – 04/11/2012]

Dead Russian military satellite falls into Pacific Ocean after circling Earth for 15 years.
[Live Science – 04/10/2012]

Cobham renews bid to acquire Thrane & Thrane after purchasing 25% of the company from investors.
[Reuters – 04/10/2012]

Newtec and Yahsat demonstrate 310 Mbps transport over a 36 Mhz transponder on Yahsat’s Y1A satellite.
[SatNews – 04/10/2012]

AeroMechanical Services signs contract with unnamed Canadian charter airline to provide AFIRS system using  Iridium satellite system.
[Satellite Today – 04/10/2012]

SES announces SUPER RTL HD joins the HD+ platform in Germany as of May 1.
[SatNews – 04/10/2012]

SES negotiates with Ethiopian Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to provide satellite services to back-up the infrastructure of Ethiopia’s telecommunications provider, Ethio Telecom.
[Satellite Today – 04/10/2012]

Cisco introduces IP multiplexing technology for its Mobile Ready Net package that aims to dramatically improve the number of IP-based voice calls on a satellite link.
[Satellite Today – 04/10/2012]

Exede Newsgathering from ViaSat revolutionizes the way news is delivered and the way journalists work in the field, using high-capacity Ka-band service offering ample bandwidth for live HD video uplinks plus 2-way broadband work flow. [SatNews – 04/09/2012]

SpaceX plans to build private launch facility in Texas.
[Satellite Today – 04/09/2012]

Skyline Communications to showcase at NAB release 7 of its DataMiner multi-vendor network management platform guaranteed to interface with any product from any vendor.
[SatNews – 04/09/2012]

WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services

Arthur C. Clarke Foundation Confers Honors for Lifetime Achievement, Innovation, and Imagination to Vint Cerf, Pradman Kaul and Sir Ken Robinson.

The Arthur C. Clarke Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes “an individual, a group or an entity that exemplifies the values and accomplishments of Sir Arthur’s life. The award honors substantial and enduring contributions that relate the sciences and arts in meeting the challenges of contemporary life and the needs of tomorrow.”

The 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award winner is Vinton G. Cerf, widely known as one of the “Fathers of the Internet.” Cerf is the co-inventor of the architecture and the basic protocols of the Internet.

This year’s Innovator Award honoree is Pradman Kaul, President of Hughes Network Systems, LLC. Kaul is being recognized for his sustained leadership in advancing satellite communications.
Since heading up the engineering team in a Maryland garage start-up that invented satellite networking using VSATs (very small aperture terminals) in the mid-1980s, and then growing it as chief executive of Hughes Network Systems into a billion dollar company, Pradman Kaul has been a leading force in the worldwide satellite industry. He has spearheaded the development of satellite networks for commercial applications globally, and is widely recognized for contributions in both business and technology spheres

Sir Ken Robinson, PhD, was selected by the Foundation as its first-ever Imagination honoree. An internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity and innovation, Sir Ken works with governments in Europe, Asia, and the United States, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations.

In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK Government. All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education (The Robinson Report) was published to wide acclaim in 1999. He was the central figure in developing a strategy for creative and economic development as part of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland, working with the ministers for training, education enterprise and culture. The resulting blueprint for change, Unlocking Creativity, was adopted by politicians of all parties and by business, education and cultural leaders across the Province.

Live webcast of the Awards presentation at 18:00 EDT on Thursday, 12 April 2012. Or watch it right here:

Remarkable and fantastic predictions from Sir Arthur C. Clarke, via the BBC programme “Horizon” from 1964.

Part 1

Part 2

Intelsat 22, successfully launched on a Russian Proton rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 24, carries hosted payloads that will serve Australian and U.S. Forces in the Mideast.
[Space.com – 03/30/2012]

Telesat closes $2.5 billion debt refinancing agreement.
[Satellite Today – 03/30/2012]

LightSquared makes FCC filing claiming that a proposed ruling by the FCC staff that would effectively revoke LightSquared’s license to operate its network is entirely unsupported by the law, science, and FCC policy and precedent.
[VirtualPressOffice – 03/30/2012]

NASA starts new phase in effort to modernize the terrestrial segment of a decades-old space communications network.
[Information Week – 03/30/2012]

Russia selects Astrium to build two communications satellites, Express AM4R, and Express AM7.
[Space Daily – 03/30/2012]

Government of Bangladesh awards three-year, $10 million contract to U.S. consultancy Space Partnership International of Bethesda, MD, to manage its acquisition of a telecom satellite.
[Space News – 03/30/2012]

Russia launches missile detection satellite from Kazakhstan steppe on the last flight of a version of the Proton rocket that is to be retired after 45 years of service.
[Space Flight Now – 03/30/2012]

Defense Department has long-standing problem synchronizing development of terminals and ground control stations to satellite launch dates, resulting in satellites that are operating under capacity.
[National Defense Magazine – 03/30/2012]

Nigerian purchase Earth imagery resources from British observation satellites after finding images from its own recently launched satellite were irrelevant.
[Satellite Today – 03/29/2012]

KVH opens new mobile satellite antenna testing facility employing one-of-a-kind motion simulator and rigorous testing procedures.
[Market Watch – 03/29/2012]

Panasonic will ramp up satellite network coverage for its broadband connectivity service, striking new agreements with Intelsat and Australian Satellite Communications for additional capacity.
[Electronics Weekly Magazine – 03/29/2012]

Industry panel member advocates “Telehouse” in Africa to interconnect all cable and satellite operators so intra-Africa traffic can be switched and peered within the African continent, as part of a solution to barriers to cross-border communications between land-locked countries in Africa.
[SatNews – 03/29/2012]

Russia begins testing the use of nuclear fuel in space rocket boosters.
{SatNews – 03/29/2012]

International Space Station crew takes shelter in escape pods in case debris from satellite collision three years ago, detected as approaching by radar, should impact the Space Station.
[Strategy Page – 03/29/2012]

Increasing bandwidth requirements of Oil & Gas satcom market, coupled with increasing requirements of emerging Oil & Gas markets, keep the market lucrative.
[Market Watch – 03/29/2012]

Zeonbud of the Ukraine will launch its national DVB-T2 broadcast network using Harris Corporation’s Selenio media convergence platform.
[SatNews – 03/29/2012]

SpaceX announces the formation of a team of outside experts to help it create the world’s safest human spaceflight system.
[SatNews – 03/29/2012]

Telecoms Sans Frontieres provides Sat Phone connections and logistical support to facilitate repatriation of wounded Syrian civilians and supply of medicines to Syria’s besieged towns.
[SatNews – 03/28/2012]

Russian spacecraft controllers intentionally plunge Express-AM4 communications satellite that failed to reach orbit into the ocean, prompting a company interested in salvaging the satellite to call it “needless destruction.”
[MSNBC – 03/28/2012]

Orbital Sciences congratulates NASA on successful launch of five sounding rockets in less than seven minutes for the Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment.
[SatNews – 03/28/2012]

TeleComnmunication Systems to host SwiftLink User Forum April 10-12 in Tampa, FL, bringing together thought leaders to share knowledge and best practices related to highly secure managed satellite and deployable communication initiatives.
[Market Watch – 03/28/2012]

Thai Airways will implement WiFi on their Airbus fleet.
[SatNews – 03/28/2012]

Thrane & Thrane’s AVIATOR 200 SwiftBroadband solution receives Supplemental Type Certificate for installation with in-flight Wi-Fi aboard Pilatus PC-12/45, PC-12/47, and PC-12/47E aircraft.
[SatNews – 03/28/2012]

Researchers create pictures showing how solar storms compress the Earth’s magnetic field; findings could help improve communications satellite design.
[CNET – 03/28/2012]

With Hughes Europe expanding availability of satellite broadband solutions through network of service provider partnerships, Hanover-based ABmann Technology GmbH takes advantage of this tailored approach.
[Channel EMEA – 03/28/2012]

Arab Spring has another consequence, as satellite jamming becomes serious enough to threaten the satellite operators’ business, typifying an increasing problem in the Middle East and North Africa.
[ars technica – 03/28/2012]

Communications via the ESA’s Artemis communications satellite helps ensure safe arrival of Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle at the International Space Station with vital supplies.
[SatNews – 03/27/2012]

Next-generation DOD space systems alone will not satisfy projected bandwidth needs – commercial satcom remains vital to military.
[Defense Systems – 03/27/2012]

SES and satellite continue growth path in Europe, with satellite becoming the leading TV infrastructure, and ASTRA serving 142 million TV homes.
[Web Wire – 03/27/2012]

Africell brings Thuraya satellite services to Sierra Leone.
[Awareness Times – 03/27/2012]

Taiwan’s Department of Industrial Technology kicks off “2012 Prototyping Topic of Galileo Pro” competition, focusing on development of satellite & vehicle-carried IT and Communications.
[Market Watch – 03/26/2012]

United Launch Alliance to launch classified satellite from Vandenberg AFB for NRO.
[Satellite Today – 03/26/2012]

International Security Expert argues that U.S. pursuit of a unilateral space policy instead of internationally co-operating is dangerous, and that there is a need for international rules.
[Huffington Post – 03/26/2012]

SES enters collaborative agreement with Samsung to make available TV-free satellite television sets in the sub-Saharan Africa region.
[Satellite Today – 03/26/2012]

Avanti Communications signs with Onyx Group Limited to provide Business Internet Continuity services within the U.K from its HYLAS 1 satellite.
[SatNews – 03/26/2012]

Skyband of Saudi Arabia expands with Hughes HX broadband satellite technology.
[Market Watch – 03/26/2012]

iDirect Government Technologies introduces airborne Evolution rack-mount router.
[Market Watch – 03/26/2012]

U.S. Navy’s recently launched MUOS satellite successfully reaches its orbital position. [Spaceflight Now – 03/26/2012]

Obama warns North Korea on its planned satellite launch.
[Sydney Morning Herald – 03/25/2012]

WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services