Really Rocket Science

Ericsson appointed to install end-to-end systems integration and deployment of mobile and satellite communications throughout shipping company Maersk’s vessel fleet.
[Engineering News – 01/13/2012]

China’s Ziyuan III satellite sends back first set of hi-res visual data.
[CRI English – 01/12/2012]

Russian Mars probe falling to Earth this weekend reinforces perception that the sky is falling, as portrayed in an IMAX movie that debuts this weekend as well.
[msnbc – 01/12/2011]

FCC reviewing decades-old TV rules preventing cable and satellite companies from airing NFL games and other sporting events that are blacked out on local broadcast TV.
[USA Today – 01/12/2012]

Iridium and KVH team to provide first seamless global broadband maritime satellite communications service.
[Sat PR News – 01/12/2012]

Lockheed Martin Space Systems gets $283.5 million contact to begin building third and fourth satellites for next generation of the Global Positioning System.
[Philadelphia Business Journal – 01/12/2012]

British satellite manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology celebrates sixth year of operation of GIOVE-A satellite, initiating Europe’s ambitious satellite navigation program, though the satellite only had design life of 27 months.
[SatNews – 01/12/2012]

Sea Tel, GVF, and SatProf collaborate to provide online training with interactive 3D models in a program to ensure high-quality marine VSAT terminal deployments.
[SatNews – 01/12/2012]

LightSquared seeks probe of federal official involved in deciding whether the company can deploy its hybrid satellite-LTE network, saying he simultaneously serves on the board of a GPS company opposing the network.
[PC World – 01/12/2012]

Comtech receives $1 million order for SATCOM equipment to support mobile backhaul for a Latin American mobile operator.
[Market Watch – 01/12/2012]

United Launch Services gets $1.516 billion contract to support launch of nine government satellites.
[SatNews – 01/12/2012]

Diversity and routing, inherent in the Hughes Spaceway satellite, allow the satellite to act more like a mesh network than the traditional satellite, representing a possible “game changer” for communications.
[Emergency Management – 01/12/2012]

Director of Florida’s Cape Canaveral rocket range cites busy 2012 launch schedule as proof there is life after NASA’s shuttle program.
[Florida Today – 01/11/2012]

Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of blocking satellite transmissions.
[Bloomberg – 01/11/2012]

RRsat offering capacity at attractive prices on HOTBIRD satellite video neighborhood, which hosts 13 premium platforms, over 600 pay-TFV channels, 500 fee-to-air channels, and over 100 HDTV channels.
[SatNews – 01/11/2012]

Blue Sky Network announces that the Caribbean’s newest low fare airline, REDjet, will use its satellite tracking, fleet management, and automated flight following solutions hardware.
[SatNews – 01/12/2012]

Russia space chief says some of nation’s satellites may have been sabotaged by foreign forces.
{Washington Post – 01/10/2012]

ORBCOMM launches VesselSat2 satellite. [MENA FN – 01/10/2012]

Fourth WGS satellite set to launch January 19 from Cape Canaveral.
[Sat PR News – 01/10/2012]

Frequency Electronics announces follow-on contracts to provide timing and microwave frequency sources for the next two WGS satellites.
[Market Watch – 01/10/2012]

ViaSat offering 12 Mbps/ 3 Mbps residential home broadband service it calls Exede, using its new ViaSat 1 satellite.
[theverge – 01/10/2012]

Belgium Satellite Services and Intersat partner to expand operations and service delivery in the Middle East and African markets.
[Business Wire – 01/10/2012]

AsiaSat leases AsiaSat 5 C-band capacity to India’s Raj Television.
[Satellite Today – 01/10/2012]

DirecTV to offer ‘boxless’ content to Samsung smart TVs, with no external set-top box required.
[Home Media Magazine – 01/10/2012]

LightSquared owner meets with FCC staffers in appeal for approval of commercial service over the company’s network.
[Nextgov – 01/10/2012]

New National Space Academy is launched, supported by Inmarsat, to create network of outstanding teachers and space scientists to support space science.
[SatNews – 01/09/2012]\

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to be first commercial American space transport vehicle to use solar arrays for powering sensors, heating and cooling systems, and communications with Space Station and SpaceX’s Mission Control Center.
[SatNews – 01/09/2012]

Vietnam to launch its second satellite, Vinasat-2, in April.
[SatNews – 01/09/2012]

Chinese ambassador announces that China will launch Bolivia’s first telecommunications satellite, Tupac Katari, in December 2013.
[Satellite Today – 01/09/2012]

Hughes IP BGAN M2M 9502 terminal requires less than 1W of power when idle, enabling satellite M2M communications for those off the grid and in other vulnerable locations.
[SatNews – 01/09/2012]

Dish to bet big on whole-home DVR with three tuners, one set to record up to 8 days of Prime-time programs from 4 major networks, and capability to connect to up to 4 TVs in the house.
[gigaom.com – 01/09/2012]

 WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services
WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services

United Cargo begins accepting OnAsset SENTRY 400 FlightSafe asset tracking device for transport on its entire mainline jet fleet of more than 700 aircraft.
[SatNews – 01/06/2012]

France 24 selects Arqiva for five-year News Channel distribution deal.
[Satellite Today – 01/06/2012]

Remarkable rescue of U.S. military satellite – the Advanced Extremely High Frequency 1 satellite is successfully undergoing in orbit testing after 14 months and nearly 500 maneuvers boosted it into orbit after the Liquid Apogee Engine failure in August 2010.
[Space – 01/05/2012]

China sees its ambitious space program, with 5-year plan including moon landing, and a satellite observation and global positioning system rivaling that of the United States, as means to increase its role as a world power.
[AFP – 01/05/2012]

Nigeria sees Sat Comm as the way to go for broadband connectivity, coupling satellite capacity with new generation mobile technology for last-mile connectivity, and leveraging the recently launched NigComSat-1R technology.
[The Nation – 01/05/2012]

Arianespace preparing for busiest year of flight activity ever in 2012, benefitting from availability of three launch vehicles – Ariane 5, Soyuz, and Vega – side by side in French Guiana.
[SatNews – 01/05/2012]

ViaSat enters into new five-year deal with National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative that will bring 12 Mbps next-generation satellite broadband service (Viasat 1) to market within weeks.
[Sacramento Bee – 01/05/2012]

Hughes to launch fourth-generation Internet service in mid-2012.
[Satellite Today – 01/05/2012]

Dish Network to launch broadband satellite service and multiroom DVR in 2012.
[Multichannel News – 01/05/2012]

Comtech Telecommunications gets $1.1 million SATCOM equipment order from European integrator for ground equipment to upgrade European Ministry of Defense satellite earth stations.
[Market Watch – 01/05/2012]

Department of Defense wants to create new satellite and robotic system to repurpose and reuse retired satellites sitting in geostationary orbit over the earth. [Information Week – 01/04/2012]

Industry team led by Intelsat General conducts successful tests verifying interoperability of hosted UHF payload on Intelsat 22 (to be launched in a few months) with legacy UHF radios.
[SatNews – 01/04/2012]

Just as crippled Russian satellite, Phobos-Grunt, threatens to fall from the sky, a new film “Space Junk 3D” will open in IMAX and other giant screen theaters, exploring the exponentially expanding ring of manmade debris that threatens orbits around the earth.
[Sacramento Bee – 01/04/2012]

ITT Exelis gets $121 million contract to support Army wideband satellite communications centers.
[UPI – 01/04/2012]

GeoEye works with Russian partner, ScanEx Research and Development Center, to provide millions of square kilometers of high-resolution satellite imagery to the Russian Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre, and Cartography.
[SatNews – 01/04/2012]

Hackers plan a satellite network to keep Internet going in case of disaster that affects its availability.
[Information Week – 01/04/2012]

DeLorne’s inReach is personal communication device offering consumer-affordable two-way satellite communication, message delivery confirmation, remote tracking, and SOS emergency capability anywhere in the world.
[Sacramento Bee – 01/04/2012]

Russian satellite Phobos-Grunt, which was stranded in Earth orbit on the way to Mars, is expected to fall back to Earth next week.
[SatNews – 01/03/2012]

Inmarsat reorganizes to focus on core markets.
[gCaptain – 01/03/2012]

Comtech Telecommunications gets $16.6 million of orders to support U.S> Army’s movement tracking system and Blue-Force Tracking-1 programs.
[Market Watch – 01/03/2012]

LightSquared gets additional 30 days from Sprint to get FCC clearance to operate its network.
[Wall Street Journal – 01/03/2012]

Globalstar Europe Satellite Services signs distribution agreement with TS2 Satellite Technologies, who will act as National Distributor for mobile satellite voice and duplex data products to defense, government, and private sectors in Poland.
[Sacramento Bee – 01/03/2012]

Gilat wins $16 million extension to contract with Colombia to provide rural communications satellite services.
[Globes – 01/03/2012]

Inmarsat in talks with Bharat Sanchar Nigam of India to form partnership to provide satellite broadband services in remote areas of India, and to the Indian Defence forces.
[The Hindo Business Line – 01/02/2012]

ATCi is selected by U.S. Defense Department to supply Ka-band networks designed for high throughput Ka-band satellite communication systems worldwide.
[SatNews – 01/02/2012]

YahLive signs partnership agreement with Etisalat to collaborate on satellite broadcasting services, allowing UAE based companies to broadcast in HD format for the first time.
[SatNews – 01/02/2012]

Orbcomm to purchase subsidiary of PAR Technology in order to expand its share of the market for tracking clients’ assets and cargo.
[northjersey.com – 01/01/2012]

Over The Top (OTT) (Video over the Internet) services are coming to DTH markets around the world – Super Bowl to be available in near HD in 2012 – will 2012 be the year of convergence?
[NSR Report – January 2012]

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