Really Rocket Science

DigitalGlobe revenue up despite steep drop in Russian business.
[Space News – 08/01/2014]

DigitalGlobe announces plans to accelerate the launch of WorldView-4 to mid-2016 to meet demand from its Direct Access and other commercial customers.
[SatNews – 08/01/2014]

MEASAT Satellite Systems gets an agreement with Pilipinas Global Network Limited for capacity on MEASAT-3 to distribute Aksyon TV International and Kapatid TV5 to over 120 countries.
[SatNews – 08/01/2014]

Euroconsult report projects that on average 115 satellites will be launched per year over the next decade, generating U.S. $248 billion in revenue.
[Satellite Markets & Research – 07/31/2014]

Congressional study states the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office is buying intelligence satellites faster than necessary and calls for a slowdown.
[Space News – 07/31/2014]

NEC Corporation and the Mexican Space Agency have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of advanced satellites.
[PCB Design – 07/31/2014]

Eutelsat orders all-electric satellite, EUTELSAT 172B, from Airbus Defence and Space; pledges to investors that it will limit capital spending.
[Space News – 07/31/2014]

MDA satellite exports feel the effect of Canada’s tough stance on Russia.
[Space News – 07/31/2014]

Spaceflight Inc. to build 12 ground stations for new division, Spaceflight Inc., to provide satellite communications through a global network.
[Via Satellite – 07/31/2014]

NASA budgets around $130 million for seven-instrument science payload for the Mars 2020 rover.
[Space News – 07/31/2014]

Geolink Satellite Services to deploy iDirect’s X7 remotes to improve speed and performance for customers in the oil and gas, mining and maritime industries.
[Market Watch – 07/31/2014]

Eutelsat sees most important growth engine as broadcast, with potential for steady growth for many years to come, especially in the emerging markets.
[Bloomberg Businessweek – 07/31/2014]

SES has moved the operations for 23 satellites — roughly half the company’s fleet — to a new Satellite Operations Center (SOC) in Princeton, N.J.
[Via Satellite – 07/31/2014]

Airbus Group and Safran have selected a chief executive officer and outlined the board of directors for their new 50-50 joint European launch venture.
[Via Satellite – 07/31/2014]

DirecTV beats earnings estimates on demand for World Cup.
[Bloomberg – 07/31/2014]

SSTL subsidiary Surrey Satellite Technology US announced it is pursuing a second Orbital Test Bed (OTB) mission for 2016.
[Via Satellite – 07/31/2014]

New report by Media Partners Asia predicts that DTH numbers in Asia will reach 110 million by 2018, up from 56.3 million in 2013.
[Via Satellite – 07/30/2014]

SSL delivers AsiaSat 6 to Cape Canaveral launch base where it is to be launched next month by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
[Digital Journal – 07/30/2014]

China certifies Iridium satellite communications systems for installation on 737-700 and -800 aircraft.
[MRO Network – 07/30/20104]

Spaceflight announces Spaceflight Networks to address need for cost-effective small-satellite data communications.
[Digital Journal – 07/30/2014]

Lockheed Martin has awarded a contract to General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems to provide network communication systems for two more GPS III satellites.
[airforce-technology.com – 07/30/2014]

Iridium NEXT leverages Radisys’ T-series platform for its next generation ground station infrastructure.
[The Wall Street Journal – 07/30/2014]

MultiChoice Africa purchases entire 15 Ku-band payload on Eutelsat’s upcoming satellite EUTELSAT 36C.
[Via Satellite – 07/30/2014]

Orbcomm purchases GES site in Brazil; service provider partner Mahd Telecom gets regulatory approval to provide Orbcomm services in Oman.
[Via Satellite – 07/30/2014]

Satellite Information Services selects Level 3 Video Cloud to help improve quality of online streamed and broadcast content.
[Market Watch – 07/30/2014]

Planet Labs contracts with Telecommunications Systems to build global satellite-tracking network.
[Via Satellite – 07/30/2014]

Delta 4 launches space surveillance satellites for the U.S. Air Force.
[Space News – 07/29/2014]

Thales UK planning to take lead role in creation of a new “mini” geostationary satellite bus.
[Via Satellite – 07/29/2014]

SASL selected for study on accommodating a NASA instrument to monitor air pollutants over North America on a commercial satellite. [Satellite Evolution Group – 07/29/2014]

Rocket Lab announces Electron carbon-composite dedicated small satellite launch vehicle; first 30 launches have been booked.
[Via Satellite – 07/29/2014]

Boeing, in a first-of-its-kind arrangement for the company, is working with ViaSat to provide an integrated satellite service to a U.S. Government customer.
[PCB Design – 07/29/2014]

GSA approves SES Government Solutions to sell O3b service to U.S. government.
[Via Satellite – 07/29/2014]

SSTL marks completion of TechDemoSat-1 LEOP phase with a “selfie.”
[Space Daily – 07/29/2014]

NBN Co appoints IPSTAR as wholesaler for Australian Internet service .
[Satellite Evolution Group – 07/29/2014]

Lockheed Martin approves DeLorme’s inReach satellite communicator for use in the company’s Adverse Condition Alerting Service and Surveillance-Enhanced Search and Rescue.
[Via Satellite – 07/29/2014]

NOAA satellite data stolen from contractor’s PC in 2013 but incident could not be investigated since employee would not turn over PC.
[Nextgov – 07/28/2014]

Chief scientist for orbital debris with NASA’s orbital debris program office says cooperation between the U.S. and Russia is essential to reign in proliferation of space debris.
[Via Satellite – 07/28/2014]

Intelsat General and 13 other U.S. space companies will have an opportunity to bid on task orders designed to streamline the process of getting government capabilities into orbit (hosted payloads).
[Wall Street Journal – 07/28/2014]

The Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) launches “How Satellites Make a Better World” infosite to catalogue enormous contributions of satellite technology to the world.
[SatNews – 07/28/2014]

55th Strategic Communications Squadron receive DISA top award in recognition of excellence.
[SatNews – 07/28/2014]

Iridium announces broad availability of the world’s first truly global mobile satellite hotspot, Iridium GO!.
[Market Watch – 07/28/2014]

Xplornet plans “unprecedented” expansion of high-speed Internet to all of rural Canada.
[The Globe and Mail – 07/28/2014]

WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services

Free NSR webinar July 30 – Energy Markets via Satellite: Is There a Market Beyond Deep Water?
[NSR – July 30]

The United States claims China conducted a “non-destructive” test of an anti-satellite missile July 23 and called for China to end the development of such capabilities.
[Space News – 07/28/2014]

Bandwidth demand for maritime markets to exceed 160 satellite transponders by 2023.
[NSR – 07/28/2014]

Communication with Russian satellite Photon-M restored.
[Science Recorder 07/26/2014]

Ariane 5 gets ready for launch of heaviest-ever payload as is rolls out the rocket for the July 29 liftoff of the final ATV mission.
[SatNews – 07/28/2014]

If NASA sends a nuclear-powered probe to Jupiter’s moon Europa, it would launch no sooner than 2024, and effectively rule out other nuclear missions to the outer solar system before then.
[Space News – 07/28/2014]

Eutelsat America Corp has been awarded a contract by the US Air Force to support the deployment of future US Government payloads (hosted payloads) on its satellites.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 07/28/2014]

MTN continues to lead the cruise market.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 07/28/2014]

Viasat acquires Gray Labs and gets  its high-rate modem product line and custom spacecraft technologies for Earth observation.
[SatNews – 07/28/2014]

Avanti and Yahsat reportedly first to order satellites from Orbital Sciences based on the new GeoStar-3 higher-power satellite frame.
[Space News – 07/25/2014]

SES ordered its first high-throughput satellite because it was unable to provide optimal service to certain government and mobility customers with a conventional wide-beam satellite.
[Space News – 07/25/2014]

U.S. Department of Defense wants to reprogram money this year to boost the number of competitively awarded contracts under its primary satellite launching program.
[Space News – 07/25/2014]

NASA crew of WB-57  caught sight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 as it ascended, and of the first stage as it plummeted toward the ocean, but was unable to get a good shot of the descending stage’s first engine burn.
[Space News – 07/25/2014]

Rockwell Collins sells its military ground-based satellite communications business.
[Market Watch – 07/25/2014]

In preparation for Iridium NEXT, the company has issued more than 30 RFPs to build new broadband subscriber products.
[Via Satellite – 07/25/2014]

Thales Alenia Space claims it holds a profit advantage over rival Airbus. Defence and Space.
[Space News – 07/25/2014]

API Technologies wins million dollar order for manufacture of commercial satellite communication systems.
[Market Watch – 07/25/2014]

SpaceX scores partial victory in bid to get slice of government contracting, as a federal judge agrees to review a multi-bi8llion-dollar contract awarded to ULA without competition.
[Nextgov – 07/25/2014]

Japanese airline Skymark Airlines is providing In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) free of charge to fliers via Panasonic Avionics’s eXConnect global connectivity service.
[Via Satellite – 07/25/2014]

RSCC, in partnership with OOO Isatel, put satellite-supported broadband equipment on board the Russian research/survey vessel Akademik Tryoshnikov for Artic mission.
[SatNews – 07/25/2014]

Surrey Satellite Technology US has decided on five payloads to carry on the company’s Orbital Test Bed (OTB) mission in 2016
[Via Satellite – 07/25/2014]

SATMODO provides satellite phones for BAJA RALLY.
[Off-Road.com – 07/25/2014]

Intelsat completes move from Washington DC’s Van Ness neighborhood to Tysons.
[Tech Bisnow – 07/25/2014]

Hughes, Thales showcase rapidly deployable LTE network using 700 MHz public safety spectrum & satellite.
[PCC Mobile Broadband – 07/25/2014]

The launch of three U.S. Air Force space surveillance satellites July 24 was postponed for the second time in as many days, this time because of weather conditions.
[Space News – 07/24/2014]

Russian Communications and Mass Media Minister wants Russia to produce all of its communications satellites on home soil as sanctions threaten availability of high-tech components.
[The Moscow Times – 07/24/2014]

NASA puts out a call for a commercially owned and operated satellite network on Mars.
[Reuters – 07/24/2014]

NOAA has awarded a license to Tempus Global Data for a hyperspectral imaging and sounding system constellation.
[Via Satellite – 07/24/2014]

Space Systems/Loral (SSL is one of the companies selected by NASA to study system concepts and key technologies for NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 07/24/2014]

China Eastern Airlines offers broadband connected flights over China using China Telecom Satellite aeronautical service and Panasonic Avionics Corporation’s eXConnect system.
[Market Watch – 07/24/2014]

Retiring Senator Jay Rockefeller hopes to lay groundwork for congressional action that would allow online video services to offer even more programming options than cable and satellite companies could.
[National Journal – 07/23/2014]

Budget cuts and newly developing threats to operations in space demand change in calculus on resiliency of the Defense space program.
[U.S. Department of Defense – 07/23/2014]

SES launches first free-to-air digital TV platform in West Africa.
[ScreenAfrica – 07/23/2014]

Ultra-HD TVs make gains but still lack market penetration according to IHS.
[Satellite Markets & Research – 07/23/2014]

Web-connected cabins offer investment opportunities as the market for inflight internet is set to grow to $2.1 billion by 2023 according to Euroconsult report.
[Reuters – 07/22/2014]

Honeywell’s latest passenger survey on In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) shows just how much the mindset toward flying connected has changed.
[Via Satellite – 07/22/2014]

Purdue University students to test green rocket propellant they developed, partnering with Aerojet Rocketdyne to demonstrate the fuel can replace hydrazine.
[R&D Magazine – 07/22/2014]

UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) has announced a ground-breaking strategic partnership with the private sector to deliver e-learning programs in Kenya to thousands of marginalized girls.
[SatNews – 07/22/2014]

Despite oversupply in a few regions and bands due to accelerated satellite construction, NSR projects the market will grow by 76 percent, from about $11.8 Billion currently to $21.1 Billion by 2023.
[SatNews – 07/21/2014]

Arianespace wins launch contract for Sentinel 1B satellite.
[Via Satellite – 07/21/2014]

O3b begins service with full initial constellation.
[Via Satellite – 07/21/2014]

China and Brazil agree to continue the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite program with an additional satellite, CBERS 4A.
[Via Satellite – 07/21/2014]

Department of Defense awards satcom support contracts for SSC Pacific. [SatNews – 07/21/2014]

DARPA awards SSL contract for flight hardware capable of taking a variety of small missions to space aboard the company’s GEO satellite platform.
[Via Satellite – 07/22/2014]

The fifth of six instruments to be carried by the GOES-R next generation weather satellites, the magnetometer, is now ready for integration.
[Nextgov – 07/21/2014]

Liquid Telecom steps up resources leased from Eutelsat to meet increasing demand for IP connectivity from broad portfolio of clients including national parks and mining and exploration.
[SatNews – 07/21/2014]

Airbus Defense and Space expands strategic agreement with Inmarsat on Global Xpress high-speed broadband to resell to U.S. government market.
[Space Daily – 07/21/2014]

AltegroSky Group’s acquisition of CJSC’s “Moskovsky Teleport” allow entry into new market segments of satellite communications.
[SatNews – 07/21/2014]

Inmarsat keen on offering India high-tech services of monitoring climate, power grids, and water levels in reservoirs in real-time without human intervention.
[Zee News – 07/20/2014]

NSR report, “Global Satellite Capacity Supply and Demand, 11th Edition” now available.
[NSR – July 2014]

WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services