Really Rocket Science

New report at ReportsnReports.com provides forecasts and analysis of the nanosatellite and microsatellite market 2014 – 2019.
[University Chronicle – 06/06/2014]

Senate defense bill urges expansion of launch competition.
[Space News – 06/06/2014]

Eutelsat CEO says “The proliferation of national telecommunications satellites in Africa, Asia and Latin America is a waste of resources that will introduce unhealthy pressure on the global satellite industry.”
[Space News – 06/06/2014]

Source: Eutelsat – Spacenews Graphic

Eutelsat points finger at Ethiopia as incidents of jamming triple in 2013.
[Space News – 06/06/2014]

Canadian satellite component builder Com Dev sees shrinking U.S. losses – is searching for a U.S. acquisition target.
[Space News – 06/06/2014]

Managing EDRS. Credit: ESA artist’s concept – Space News

Airbus seeks new terms on data-relay contract with ESA.
[Space News – 06/06/2014]

Will Google be the new big “G” in the satellite industry? – NSR cautiously optimistic.
[NSR – 06/06/2014]

Asia to dominate satellite backhaul market with 27% of global revenue per NSR report.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 06/05/2014]

Measat 3B launch rescheduled from June 6 to September 2014.
[Via Satellite – 06/05/2014]

The search for the doomed Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been moved to another area of the Indian Ocean dubbed “the 7th arc” following new analysis of satellite communications data.
[USA Today – 06/05/2014]

Arianespace scheduled to launch four more satellites for the O3b constellation on July 10, 2014.
[SatNews – 06/05/2014]

China bids to build Bolivia’s second satellite, an exploration satellite.
[Global Post – 06/05/2014]

EuropaSat/Hellas-sat 3 satellite – Credit: Thales Alenia Space – Space News

Arabsat, Inmarsat order dual-purpose satellite from Thales Alenia – Ku-band satellite TV payload for Arabsat, and S-band mobile payload for Inmarsat.
[Space News – 06/05/2014]

Mexico to auction two orbital slots.
[telecompaper – 06/05/2014]

ESA chief says ties with Roscosmos remain strong.
[Space News – 06/05/20104]

New T2C2 Lite suitcase-sized satcom terminal adds Ka and X bands to L-band capability, boosting performance to megabits per second and allowing soldiers to use advanced applications.
[Defense Systems – 06/05/20104]

Photograph by: Justin Tallis/AfP/Getty Images, Postmedia News – canada.com

British Airways to be first airline to offer in-flight internet in Europe.
[Canada.com – 06/05/2014]

Inmarsat to launch pan-European in-flight broadband, with British Airways in talks to become launch partner.
[The Wall Street Journal – 06/05/2014]

Global fixed satellite service market forecast for 5.4% CAGR growth between 2012 – 2016 by new market research report on companiesandmarkets.com.
[LIVE-PR – 06/04/2014]

Mobile Internet usage to increase at twice the global rate in 5 years in sub-Saharan Africa.
[Satellite Markets & Research – 06/04/2014]

OTT and multiscreen TV drive spending on broadcast and streaming video equipment.
[Satellite Markets & Research – 06/04/2014]

Intelsat hopes its Boeing-built Epic satellites, each with up to 3 times the capacity of a WGS satellite, and changes in defense acquisition approach, will supply the U.S. military with enormous on-call bandwidth.
[Breaking Defense – 06/04/2014]

KazSat-3 reaches its orbital position.
[TMC News – 06/04/2014]

SpaceX aims to increase rocket production to two per month by year-end 2014.
[Space News – 06/04/2014]

Raytheon wins when U.S. Air Force switches contractors with $298 million award for FAB-T satellite terminals.
[Defense Systems – 06/04/2014]

Airbus Defence and Space BYOD solution enables a vessel’s crew to use their own devices on board for voice and data communication, seamlessly with Pharostar VSAT, FleetBroadband or Iridium OpenPort.
[SatNews – 06/04/2014]

New high-speed satellite broadband service from Broadband Everywhere, using Astra Connect, will help bridge Scotand’s digital divide.
[University Chronicle – 06/04/2014]

Marlink to roll out its customised Ku-band VSAT service, Sealink, on 27 Stena line ferries operating in Scandinavia, the Irish Sea and the North Sea.
[Digital Ship – 06/04/2014]

Northrop Grumman introduces high power GaN amplifiers for Ka-band satellite communication terminals.
[Satellite Spotlight – 06/04/2014]

API Technologies unveils new line of radiation-hardened products.
[Via Satellite – 06/04/2014]

‘Analysis of the US Government and Military Commercial Satellite Market’ report – new satellite initiatives for Ku- and Ka-band technology in the Middle East drive adoption.
[LIVE-PR – 06/03/2014]

As announced by Russian Deputy Prime Minister in May, 2014, IGS GPS tracking stations co-sponsored by U.S. interests have stopped making their data available to scientists and others.
[Space News – 06/03/2014]

ABS ramps up for more launches after it’s sixth satellite launch in February 2014 expanded its coverage to 80% of the world’s population.
[SatNews – 06/03/0214]

Avanti Communications gets significant sale of service using Artemis capacity and considers further use of U.S. bond market to finance new satellite build.
[4-traders – 06/03/2014]

C-COM Ka-band flyaway antenna gets type approval from Eutelsat. [Market Wired – 06/03./2014]

Comtech Telecommunications is awarded $1 million order for infrastructure equipment to support satellite mobile backhaul network in Africa.
[Yahoo Finance – 06/03/20154]

TriQuint’s high performance GaN Ka-band solutions showcased at IEEE IMS/MTT.
[Satellite Spotlight – 06/03/2014]

Spanish infrastructure firm Abertis has sells its 5.01% stake in Eutelsat Communications.
[Broadband TV News – 06/03/2014]

Chinese satellite service companies are planning to form an alliance to expand their share of an increasingly competitive global market.
[TMC News – 06/02/2014]

Greg Wyler goes from O3b to Google to head up 180 satellite project.
[CED Magazine – 06/02/2014]

Globalsat Group and MultiSAT Mexico form a strategic alliance for the continental provision of satellite services and the development of advanced solutions.
[Market Watch – 06/02/2014]

RSCC’s Express AT2 satellite enters service, and Express AM6 is delivered to its launch base.
[Via Satellite – 06/02/2014]

Intersputnik negotiating joint ventures for unused orbital slots.
[Space News – 06/02/2014]

KVH plans to offer affordable delivery of AWT’s Global Weather Data to subscribing vessels Over the mini-VSAT Broadband(SM) Network.
[Wall Street Journal – 06/02/2014

ViaSat prepares to launch new M2M satellite services worldwide.
[Via Satellite – 06/02/2014]

Integrasys image – SatNews

Monitoring High Throughput Satellites presents a challenge – Integrasys addresses it with an upgrade of its ControlSat Carrier Monitoring System.
[SatMagazine – June 2014]

The June issue of Satellite Executive Briefing Magazine includes ‘Asia-Pacific Satellite Lead in All Indicatiors’ by Virgil Labrador, ‘Technical Tutorial on Ground Communications Segment’ by Bruce Elber, ‘Back and Forth on Antennas and Terminals’ by Lou Zacharilla and ‘The Oil and Gas Bandwidth Optimization Imperative’ by Martin Jarrold.
[Satellite Executive Briefing magazine – June 2014]

Free NSR webinar June 16 – ‘Wireless backhaul via satellite: the battleground between FSS and HTS.’
[NSR – June 2014]

[WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services

SpaceX completes qualification testing for the SuperDraco thruster, a 3-D printed rocket engine that will power the Dragon spacecraft’s launch escape system and enable propulsive landings.
[R&D Magaazine – 05/30/2014]

A group of amateur astronomers working with NASA’s blessing raised money, did the work, and successfully reestablished communications with a satellite called ISEE-3 that launched in 1978.
[technabob – 05/30/2014]

Industry officials expect the U.S. Air Force to release a draft solicitation within the next month for a contract worth about $500 million for another ground-system consolidation effort.
[Space News – 05/30/2014]

Buoyed by initial court victory, ViaSat girds for protracted legal battle with Loral.
[Space News – 05/30/2014]

ViaSat launches new worldwide network service for M2M market designed to provide higher speeds, greater security, and faster response to small fixed and mobile terminals.
[Yahoo Finance – 05/30/2014]

Google-backed global broadband venture secures spectrum for satellite network.
[Space News – 05/30/2014]

SpaceX unveils capsule to ferry astronauts to space.
[Space Travel – 05/30/2014]

HISPASAT to broadcast soccer match live in Ultra High Definition in run up to World Cup.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 05/30/2014]

Iridium extends its agreement to provide satellite connectivity to SkyBitz in support of their new SkyBitz as a Service offering for the M2M market.
[SatNews – 05/30/2014]

Azerbaijani satellite launched in February 2013 now broadcasts 97 channels.
[ABC.AZ – 05/30/2014]

At Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre from 17 – 20 June, SatComm2014 will once again unveil the largest contingent of satellite companies witnessed at any single ICT trade event in Asia.
[ACN Newswire – 05/29/2014]

Thales Alenia Space signs agreement with Snecma to use its PPS 500 plasma thruster as standard equipment on the new Spacebus platform, making for a satellite platform with all-electric propulsion.
[Via Satellite – 05/29/2014]

Britain opposes Iridium bid for certification as maritime safety services provider.
[Space News – 05/29/2014]

Virgin Galactic signs deal with US aviation authorities to let it blast paying customers into space.
[Space Travel – 05/29/2014]

Wireless Innovation selects Eutelsat’s KA-SAT satellite for Thales contract to help protect EDF’s UK critical energy infrastructure.
[Satellite Spotlight – 05/29/2014]

Arabsat is subject to jamming and its engineers succeed in locating the source.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 05/29/2014]

KVH introduces the TracVision(R) RV1, a powerful and compact stabilized antenna designed to provide superior performance for satellite TV reception from RVs and other vehicles.
[05/29/2014]

Australian company Ocean Signal introduces rescueME PLB1, the world’s smallest personal locator beacon, through new distributors All Sat Communications at Sanctuary Cove Boat Show.
[mysailing.com – 05/29/2014]

Korean antenna manufacturer KNS announced that it has been awarded Ka-band Type Approval from satellite operator Avanti Communications.
[The Digital Ship – 05/29/2014]

Satellite industry seen outpacing global economic growth in new SIA report.
[Via Satellite – 05/28/2014]

Global market for satellite communications seen as driven by challenging environment of oil and gas rigs in C&M report.
[LIVE-PR – 05/28/2014]

String of delays portends summer traffic jam for launch providers.
[Space News – 05/28/2014]

Earth Science managers attempt to get IceSat-2 back on track after technical problems with its instrument busted the budget by about $200 million.
[Space News – 05/28/2014]

Traffic offload is central to mobile operators in order to relieve spectrum congestion and maximize revenue potential – satellite operators appear poised to play increasing role.
[NSR – 05/28/2014]

As more MSS constellations and more powerful FSS and HTS satellites launch, the satellite mobility market is on the cusp of major change.
[NSR – 05/28/2014]

Virgin Galactic hopes replacing original rubber fuel with new plastic fuel will allow SpaceShipTwo to reach new heights.
[Space News – 05/28/2014]

Aselsan of Turkey signs a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Airbus Group of France to develop civil and military avionic systems, satellite communication systems and secure radio communications.
[Industrial Info Resources – 05/28/2014]

Russian Express-AT2 satellite enters commercial service.
[Broadband TV News – 05/28/2014]

At Qitcom, Qatar’s largest ICT event, Es’hailSat showcased Es’hail 1, Qatar’s first satellite, and the Es’hailSat satellite program.
[SatNews – 05/28/2014]

COM DEV wins contract for communications satellite switches and multiplexers.
[The Wall Street Journal – 05/28/2014]

The SWE-DISH CCT120 Suitcase® satellite terminal by Rockwell Collins has been selected by the Canadian Army for its Land Forces Portable Satellite Terminal program.
[SatNews – 05/28/2014]

NorthernAxcess implements eye catching design, easy navigation, and personal support in guides to using satellite phones and BGAN terminals.
 [PR.com – 05/28/2014]

Laos to launch its first satellite in 2015.
[Bangkok Post – 05/27/2014]

Successful launch of Eutelsat 3B helps Sea Launch put behind it the failed launch of Intelsat 27 in February of 2013.
[SEN – 05/27/2014]

Malaysia and Inmarsat release satellite data on missing MH370 flight.
[Reuters – 05/27/2014]

Arctic Oil and Gas market does not provide green light for widespread satellite communication solutions as found in other regions of the globe, per new NSR report.
[Yahoo Finance – 05/27/2014]

C-COM and ViaSat to develop low profile land mobile Satcom-On-The-Move Ka-band antenna.
[Market Wired – 05/27/2014]

Future Media Concepts and the NAB add the NY Post|Production Conference to the 2014 Content and Communications World (CCW) and Satellite Communications Conference and Expo (SATCON).
[TV Technology – 05/27/2014]

ViaSat gets patent for weather detection using satellite communication signals.
[TMCnet – 05/26/2014]

SES signs capacity agreement to serve CETel in Africa on NSS-7.
[Yahoo Finance – 05/26/2014]

Hedge-fund manager Mark Rachesky may be playing a game that jeopardizes the pending sale of Loral Space & Communications, a majority owner of Telesat.
[NY Post – 05/25/2014]

US Air Force AFSMC budget was cut from $10 billion to $5.6 billion without a drop in the services it must provide; this will likely lead to a greater reliance on the commercial satellite industry.
[Defense News – 05/24/2014]

SpaceX CEO alleges revolving door exists in national security launch business.
[Space News – 05/24/2014]

COSPAS-SARSAT satellite rescue network, including NOAA’s geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites, inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame.
[Nextgov – 05/23/2014]

NSR’s FREE Wireless Backhaul via Satellite webinar will discuss and examine the role and opportunities for satellite technology in the wireless backhaul, trunking and video offload markets.
[NSR – 05/22/2014]

[WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services

U.S. and European space chiefs urge public to look past incendiary Russian rhetoric and see the durable underlying value of the space station partnership.
[Space News – 05/23/2014]

Soyuz rocket with Fregat restartable upper stage – Credit: ESA/Starsem photo – Space News

Russian launch countdown resumes without Canadian satellite, carrying U.S., British and Norwegian satellites.
[Space News – 05/23/2014]

National Intelligence Director James Clapper hailed upstart launch services provider SpaceX during a keynote address, endorsing competition in the U.S. government launch industry.
[Space News – 05/23/2014]

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has successfully completed their latest milestone, a wind tunnel test, in the company’s NASA Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) agreement.
[SatNews ] 05/23/2014]

Europe’s work on the service module for NASA’s Orion crew-transport vehicle has made up most of the slip in schedule and is on track for delivery to NASA in time for a late 2017 launch.
[Space News – 05/23/2014]

Water was discovered in the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that recently returned to Earth from a month-long stay at the international space station, but so far as NASA knew May 21, none of the agency’s cargo was damaged.
[Space News – 05/23/2014]

Antares’ AJ-26 engine, slated to power Orbital Sciences Cor[.’s 2015 mission to ISS, suffers test stand failure.
[Space News – 05/23/2014]

NROL-33 launch on Atlas % – Credit: ULA photo – Space News

An Atlas 5 rocket lifted off May 22 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida carrying a classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
[Space News – 05/22/2014]

SES Broadband Services announces partnership with Meanswhat to deliver satellite communications for multi-national enterprises and Governmental Agencies with branch offices or production facilities in remote areas.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 05/22/2014]

Millicom selecs Eutelsat Americas satellite capacity to support its recent entry into the satellite pay-TV market in Latin America.
[Yahoo Finance – 05/22/2014]

Commercial Launch Services (LMCLS) will launch the WorldView-3 commercial remote sensing spacecraft, placing it into orbit on August 13 for DigitalGlobe.
[SatNews – 05/22/2014]

Hughes is selected to power delivery of high-speed satellite internet service in Columbia by HISPASAT Colombia.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 05/22/2014]

ITC Global expands presence in Asia-Pacific, opening branch office in Singapore.
[Satelllite Evolution Group – 05/22/2014]

Gogo gets STC from the FAA and certification from the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) to install Gogo’s Ku-satellite based connectivity service on Japan Airlines’ 767-300 aircraft.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 05/22/2014]

M7 Deutschland will acquire Kabelkiosk platform from Eutelsat.
[Satellite Evolution Group – 05/22/2014]

The United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada have signed a memorandum of understanding to work more closely together on space situational awareness activities.
[Space News – 05/21/2014]

Eutelsat Americas aligns names of satellites acquired with Mexsat with the Eutelsat brand.
[Market Watch – 05/21/2014]

Yahsat gets Satcom Africa “Satellite Operator of the Year” award for 2014.
[Star Africa – 05/21/2014]

Orbital Scinces begins production of Thaicom 8 commercial communications satellite, to be the second built for Thaicom by Orbital.
[Satellite spotlight – 05/21/2014]

Markets and Markets study projects M2M satellite communication market to be worth $4.76 billion by 2019.
[Satellite Spotlight – 05/21/2014]

Cobham’s new Aviator 5 series airborne satellite communications system will support wide range of communication applications in both the cockpit and the cabin.
[SatNews – 05/21/2014]

HeliosNet selects Newtec to provide Business-to-Consumer and Business-to-Business VSAT services across Eastern Russia.
[Via Satellite – 05/21/2014]

“Global M2M Satellite Communications Market Report 2014 – 2019″ added to Research and Markets offering; ) market represents an interesting and potentially huge revenue stream for the satellite industry.
[Business Wire – 05/20/2014]

Under pressure from families of passengers of Malaysia Flight 370, Inmarsat confirms it will publish full record of communications received from the plane the day it disappeared.
[New York Times – 05/20/2014]

Australian Communications Minister and his Parliamentary Secretary give contradictory statements within 3 months regarding possible sale of NBN’s satellite infrastructure soon.
[Delimiter – 05/20/2014]

Human error likely led to the recent failure of a Proton-M rocket carrying Russian telecommunications satellite, a source close to the commission investigating the incident told RIA Novosti.
[Space News – 05/20/2014]

Orbit 2.4m and 3.7m three axis tracking antennas, with radomes for withstanding extreme environments, can be mounted on building roofs and eliminate keyhole effect while tracking low earth orbit satellites. [SatNews – 05/20/2014]

Airbus delivers X-band satellite communications capabilities using Airbus’ Skynet 5 constellation to four United Kingdom Mine Counter Measure Vessels in the Arabian Gulf.
[Via Satellite – 05/20/2014]

NSR report – satellite industry generated almost $35 billion in 2013, and is expected to deploy 1000+ satellites and generate $275 billion in next 10 years.
[Yahoo finance – 05/19/2014]

“The Military Communications Report 2014-2024″ now available on ASDReports judges the market to be worth $16.35 billion in 2014. [SatNews – 05/19/2014]

Competition shrinks with more mergers – Credit: AP – Think Progress

AT&T $49 billion offer to acquire DirecTV includes promise of net neutrality.
[Think Progress – 05/19/2014]

AFP Getty Images – Daily Mail

UFOs found in Chinese fields identified as space debris, after Russion rocket failed in satellite launch attempt.
[Daily Mail – 05/19/2014]

Satcom1 accredited as Inmarsat SwiftBroadband Distribution Partner, acheiving highest level of partnership with Inmarsat.
[Satellite Spotlight – 05/19/2014]

Lockheed Martin begins final assembly of new GOES-R U.s. weather satellite.
[Reuters – 05/18/2014]

Military missions simply cannot succeed without reliable communications – this means satellite technology is essential for operations.
[MilsatMagazine – May 2014]

[WBMSAT satellite communications consulting services

Filing suit in the Court of Federal Claims was the first step, then came the response from United Launch Alliance. And now, at the National Space Symposium in Colorado, they start swinging at each other.

The leadership at ULA may not read what’s happening with the Russian Federation’s attempts at global domination, but they do read Stars & Stripes…

In the most recent court filing, the California-based Space Exploration Technologies, which is in the process of developing a launch site here on Boca Chica Beach, said its amended complaint is the result of four recent developments:

• SpaceX has submitted all required flight data for its third qualifying certification launch, and SpaceX is therefore eligible to compete for the Air Force’s business.
• Recent Air Force statements indicate that it will purchase some or all of its future launch vehicles on a sole-source basis from ULA, even though SpaceX is eligible to compete.
• The Air Force recently indicated that, during the first quarter of fiscal year 2015, it will purchase a number of launch vehicles for which SpaceX is qualified to compete.
• SpaceX learned on April 17 that the Air Force decided not to open the purchase to competition because the Air Force has an “existing 36-core contractual requirement” with ULA.

This is among the most recent developments in the complaint that SpaceX brought against the Air Force April 28 in the federal claims court in Washington D.C. ULA intervened in the litigation.

Lawyered-up ULA comes back with a 5-page press release, nicely distilled and summarized in the Denver Post…

ULA CEO Michael Gass said the cost per launch averages $225 million, not the erroneously computed figure of more than $460 million that SpaceX founder Elon Musk frequently cites.

“SpaceX is very aggressive in their public relations and how they diffuse or obfuscate the issue is by not ever talking about apples and apples, it’s apples and oranges,” Gass said.

ULA’s simpler rockets cost $164 million and its most powerful rockets hit $350 million, he said.

At the heart of the debate is a $11 billion block-buy contract for 36 rockets awarded to ULA by the U.S. Air Force last year.

SpaceX sued the Air Force last month for what it claimed was illegal actions blocking competition by effectively giving ULA — a joint venture between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. — a monopoly on launch services.

“People use a pejorative term like monopoly. Those are incongruent when you talk about national security. It’s not a commercial market, it’s not consumerism,” Gass said. “I like to think of it as a sole-source provider.

“The nation made a decision to meet its military needs. They wanted assured access and two systems. ULA was formed to solve that problem. Consolidate the infrastructure, deliver two systems as one team, more cost effectively to meet the end-mission needs.”

Gass also said the U.S. space industry is currently at the all-time peak for the number of launches but said that will drop off by 20 to 30 percent in the next five years.

“There was a thing called sequestration,” he said. “Satellites aren’t being ordered.”

When asked how this will impact ULA’s large operations, Gass said “we will right-size to the demand that can flourish again.” This likely means a 20- to 30-percent reduction in workforce, he said.

About 1,700 of ULA’s 3,600 employees are in Colorado.

ULA also released its add-on launch costs if the government decides to grant the company up to 14 more launches. Much to the surprise of observers, each additional launch would cost less than $100 million for the lower-capability rockets.

But SpaceX refutes these figures.

“The Air Force budget for 2015 speaks for itself — in the budget, three single core vehicles add up to $1.212B, or $404M per vehicle. Mr. Gass’ statements run counter to budget reality,” SpaceX president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement Wednesday.

“ULA has the most expensive launch services in the world — nearly double that of the next most expensive competitor. When you don’t have to compete, there’s little incentive to control costs or innovate.”

A recent GAO report on annual assessments of major weapons programs puts the program unit cost at $420 million per launch, but that number looks at the whole life of the program not just this block buy.

And that’s how to get members of Congress to pay attention. Mess with us and there will be layoffs.

Give them a chance to compete. The launch market is looking good for SpaceX, so let them have a go at some EELV business. And their rocket engines are MADE IN THE U.S.A.

The original agreement for the International Space Station was to operate it until 2020.

So why is deputy prime minister Rogozin telling NASA to use a trampoline?

Thanks to Emily Gertz for pointing it out.

The U.S. is relying on Russia for transporting astronauts to and from the ISS for several years, and Russia’s space station modules currently provide propulsion for the structure. But on board the station itself, Oberg says, Russia’s sections and crew rely upon American-made and operated equipment for electricity and communications. Further, Russia’s effort to to complete and launch its own science section is “years behind schedule,” says Oberg, so it must rely upon the labs contributed by other nations.

No matter what happens with Russian space policy, Oberg is excited for the next decade of space science, which he believes will be shifting from a “CERN model” of multiple nations contributing to and collaborating at one research facility, to “the Antarctica model” of many smaller stations forming and ending cooperative efforts as the science requires.

If Russia does exit the ISS soon after 2020, he says, it will happen at about the same time that new “human-rated” spacecraft like SpaceX’s Dragon come into use, and end Russia’s current lock on crew transportation.

“The Ukraine crisis has not diverted the station’s evolution into a new path,” Oberg says. “It may have put into sharper focus the different paths the station could follow, but that was happening anyway.”

Good luck with those sanctions.

Ah, summer in Greenland. Temparatures in the mid-20’s F and the sun is out — all day. Time to go out and take a stroll.

Let’s verify what Cryosat-2 sees from space. No need to be alarmed. Just follow the little yellow rope back to where you came from.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Antarctica is losing ice at an alarming rate! Read this abstract from Geophysical Research Letters and see what all the fuss is about…

We use 3 years of Cryosat-2 radar altimeter data to develop the first comprehensive assessment of Antarctic ice sheet elevation change. This new dataset provides near-continuous (96%) coverage of the entire continent, extending to within 215 kilometres of the South Pole and leading to a fivefold increase in the sampling of coastal regions where the vast majority of all ice losses occur. Between 2010 and 2013, West Antarctica, East Antarctica, and the Antarctic Peninsula changed in mass by −134 ± 27, −3 ± 36, and −23 ± 18 Gt yr−1 respectively. In West Antarctica, signals of imbalance are present in areas that were poorly surveyed by past missions, contributing additional losses that bring altimeter observations closer to estimates based on other geodetic techniques. However, the average rate of ice thinning in West Antarctica has also continued to rise, and mass losses from this sector are now 31% greater than over the period 2005–2011.

The ESA’s been tracking this for some time and getting something done before summer vacations hit in Europe is an honored tradition.

What if Saturn was only a million kilometers away? The gravity would kill us all.

If you’re curious, click on the video by Yeti Dynamics.

Saturn’s rings were created using Voyager data and Cassini Data, and tables from the IAU, and NASA Interestingly enough, the Voyager data and Cassini data did NOT completely match each other. More interestingly, the differences between the two data sets were not consistent along the ring, specifically the small Gaps along the rings are inconsistent between Voyager and Cassini. There are 3 conclusions I can reach from this,
1. the data is simply not perfectly accurate,
2. I interpreted the data incorrectly,
3. the Rings have actually changed a bit between voyager and cassini.

To create the rings, I interpolated between the two data sets, so the rings are a mix between Voyager and Cassini data, there are multiple textures used, for scattering, translucency, transparency, and color, I think I probably have some of the highest resolution textures in use anywhere on the web(over 19k pixels across).

In Part 1, (the 2d blue print video) the Planets are all correctly scaled to each other, except the SUN.. The Orbits are also all correctly scaled to each other (except the Moon’s). However, the planet size, and the planet orbits are not scaled to each other. The orbital speeds are also all correct relative to one another,

In part 2, The illumination between the moon and Saturn is reasonably accurate, in case you didn’t understand. This is Saturn as Far away as the closest approach mars would get

In Part 3, the meteors ramp up and down in response to going through the very distended outer rings E, and G

The Meteors are Greenish, I’ve actually seen a Number of large daylight meteors, all of them had flashes of green and blue, The velocity and direction they are in the video is accurate to the motion of Saturn in this video

Disclaimer:
This will.. never never ever happen, ever (probably).

Hat tip: Bad Astronomer

Now’s a really good time to view Saturn.

Of course, the best way to get Saturn up on your wall, permanent-like, is to get a Big Bang Print.

Inmarsat refutes Malaysia’s claim that it does not have the raw data from Inmarsat used in the MH370 search, insisting it surrendered all information to investigators early on.
[The Malay Mail online – 05/16/2014]

New NSR report examines the potentials of the utility market for satellite communications.
[SatNews – 05/16/2014]

Azerbaijan’s next moves in satellite communications depend upon cooperation with France.
[TMCnet – 05/16/2014]

SpaceX launch of Canadian government space-weather satellite. Credit: SpaceX photo – Space News

Aerospace Corp., hired by U.S. Air Force to evaluate the Falcon 9 rocket for national security launches, says it won’t cut corners on SpaceX certification.
[Space News – 05/16/2014]

RapidEye+ will be a constellation of five satellites with an imaging capacity that will far exceed the current RapidEye constellation’s capacity of 5 million km2 per day.
[SatNews – 05/16/2014]

O3b signs agreement with FSM Telecommunications Corporation to provide its O3bTrunk service to Chuuk in Micronesia.
[SatNews – 05/16/2014]

KNS launches satellite antenna Z18MK3, Ku- and C-Band, to provide advanced communications for ships requiring broadband speeds at sea with exception reliability and durability.
[SatNews – 05/16/2014]

Dubai sunset – ThreatPost file photo

The emerging threat to satellite communications – satellite communications systems and devices subject to security risks.
[Threat Post – 05/15/2014]

Russian Proton-M rocket crashes while attempting to launch Express-AM4R satellite intended to provide affordable internet access to people in remote parts of Russia.
[NBC News – 05/15/2014]

Launch of GPS IIF-6 delayed because of poor weather.
[NASA Spaceflight – 05/15/2014]

Inmarsat 5 F2 – Boeing artist’s concept – Space News

State Department issues shipping licenses for two Russia-bound satellites.
[Space News – 05/15/2014]

Russian space program gets $52 billion boost as sanctions war vaporizes U.S.-Russian space cooperation.
[Space News – 05/15/2014]

Physicists and engineers research technique to ‘sweep’ Low Earth Orbit (LEO) debris from space using an Active Debris Removal (ADR) system of deployed micron-scale dust.
[SatNews – 05/15/2014]

COMSYS report confirms Hughes as the leading provider in VSAT. [Satellite Evolution Group – 05/15/2014]

ARKA file photo

Armenia’s government makes decision to create a satellite communication department in the national center for telecommunications.
[ARKA Telecom – 05/15/2014]

Airbus Defence and Space delivers full X-band operational capabilities to four UK Royal Navy Mine Counter Measure Vessels in Arabian Gulf ahead of equipping additional vessels.
[GISuser – 05/15/2014]

U.S. Air Force is discussing the possibility of building at least two more Wideband Global Satcom communications satellites with funding from potential international partners, according to Boeing.
[Space News – 05/15/2014]

Via Sat Brasil books full high throughput payload on EUTELSAT 3B for broadband services across Brazil.
[Market Watch – 05/15/2014]

SES launches new video distribution neighborhood for Latin America and new antenna seeding program for the NSS-806 satellite.
[SatNews – 05/15/2014]

MTN releases new connectivity solution for yachts.
[Via Satellite – 05/15/2014]

KVH receives $5.2 million international military order for its TACNAV tactical navigation system.
[SatNews – 05/15/2014]

Valleypoint Telecoms of Africa contracts with Avanti Communications to extend broadband coverage across Western Kenya.
[SatNews – 05/15/2014]

New report by Euroconsult provides comprehensive analysis of the how and why of the military’s usage of satellite communications, which saw tremendous growth over past 15 years.
[Space Daily – 05/14/2014]

U.S. officials complete final draft of regulations that will remove some satellite hardware and technology from the U.S. Munitions List.
[Space News – 05/14/2014]

Kennedy Space Center director says that without NASA’s planned heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket and Orion deep-space capsule, the center has no reason to exist.
[Space News – 05/14/2014]

Malaysia PM calls for real-time tracking of planes.
[abc News – 05/14/2014]

Rivals say Inmarsat’s offer of free tracking service for airlines is misleading, since outfitting a jet with the system could cost more than $100,000.
[Reuters – 05/14/2014]

Satellite Today file photo

Inmarsat states that its equipment is onboard almost 11,000 aircraft already and free global aircraft tracking can be done “almost instantaneously.”
[Via Satellite – 05/14/2014]

Via Satellite Asia covers various aspects of the satellite market in Asia, which “remains a showcase for satellite.”
[Via Satellite – 05/14/2014]

High Throughput Satellites are a growing opportunity in Asia.
[Via Satellite – 05/14/2014]

Abducted school girls – Leadership file photo

Delegate to Nigerian National Conference claims foreign intervention over rescue of abducted girls resulted because of NigComSat’s inability to locate the girls by satellite.
[Leadership – 05/14/2014]

India’s Telecom regulator TRAI recommends that BSNL be allowed to set up a new gateway for providing satellite phone services to address an urgent requirement by security forces.
[BGR – 05/14/2014]

[KVH introduces IP-MobileCast content delivery service, an industry first that will enable seafarers to receive daily digital newspapers, television news, sports updates, music, movies, and more.
[SatNews – 05/14/2014]

The International Media Associates (TIMA) signs three-year contract with Eutelsat for Eutelsat 10A capacity to serve the growing market for satellite news gathering (SNG) across Europe,
[Broadband News – 05/14/2014]

Xplornet and Hughes sign agreement for all Echostar XIX High Throughput Satellite broadband capacity over Canada.
[MarketWatch – 05/14/2014]

Mitsubishi to provide launch services for Sky Perfect JSAT for the first time, in 2016 from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan.
[Via Satellite – 05/14/2014]

Hispasat signs an agreement with Intelsat to co-locate its Amazonas 1 satellite at the same position as Intelsat’s Galaxy 11, at 55.5 degrees west.
[Via Satellite – 05/14/2014]

Skycasters unveils new portable, easy-to-assemble antenna system for installers who need to establish satellite Internet connections in remote areas at Governor’s Hurricane Conference.
[News9 – 05/14/2014]

Advantech Wireless announces release of new 2300-G series 60W to 125W Ku-Band SSPA/BUC designed to withstand extreme temperatures.
[University Chronicle – 05/14/2014]

South-Korean antenna manufacturer Intellian has officially opened its newly expanded Innovation Centre in Seoul, saying that the extra space will allow it to increase production.
[The Digital Ship – 05/14/2014]

Federal court lifts ban on RD-180 engines, but Russian cooperation is uncertain.
[Via Satellite – 05/13/2014]

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin calls for ban on U.S. military use of RD-180 engine, and says that Russia does not intend to continue cooperation with the U.S. on the international space program beyond 2020.
[Space News – 05/13/2014]

AT&T in talks to buy satellite TV provider DirecTV for $50 Billion as telecoms megadeal war looms.
[MailOnline – 05/13/2014]

Teachers and pupils in a GEC program classroom. Photo: Department for International Development – Via Satellite

Avanti Communications has partnered with the British Department for International Development (DFID) to deliver education programs to 60,000 students in Kenya.
[Via Satellite – 05/13/2014]

Speedcast announces buyout of Satcomms Australia.
[University Chronicle – 05/13/2014]

A North Sea oil rig. Photo: Snapper (Flickr) – Via Satellite

ITC Global confident that oil and gas sector is on a long-term upswing for satellite connectivity; the sector counted for roughly half of its first quarter 2014 business.
[Via Satellite – 04/13/2014]

Image taken from the DubaiSat 2 satellite of the Emirates palace in Abu Dhabi on December 1, 2013. Photo: EIAST – Via Satellite

Emirates Institution for Advance Science and Technology unveils results from its Super Resolution Tool which improved resolution of satellite imagery by 2.5 feet, including images from DubaiSat 2.
[Via Satellite – 05/13/20104]

Marlink announces that it has been contracted to provide its new WaveCall Plus bundle to MSC Cargo Italy’s entire fleet of 124 vessels.
[Digital Ship – 05/13/2014]

Satellite operators to proceed with launches from Russia.
[Spaceflight Now – 05/12/2014]

Thales Alenia Space signs a contract with the Korean satellite service operator KT Sat to build two telecommunications satellites, Koreasat-7 and Koreasat-5A.
[SatNews – 05/12/2014]

U.N. agency gathers in Canada to discuss better flight-tracking solutions after Malaysia jet loss.
[Reuters – 05/12/2014]

Satellite operator Inmarsat is to offer a free, basic tracking service for almost all of the world’s passenger jets after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
[NBC News – 05/12/2014]

SMU Research file photo – PHYS ORG

Satellite view of volcanoes finds the link between ground deformation and eruption.
[PHYS ORG – 05/12/2014]

Inmarsat Maritime to provide communications services to small vessels.
[Via Satellite – 05/12/2014]

NSR’s regional-centric analysis of DTH platforms points to a significant divergence in market trends not just between “developing” and “developed” markets, but also within the markets of the “developing world”.
[NSR – 05/12/2014]

Satcom Direct is expanding outside its traditional aeronautical market through a partnership with Thuraya.
[Via Satellite – 05/12/2014]

Tigo Star, owned by Millicom International Cellular, launches DTH service in Bolivia.
[Via Satellite – 05/12/2014]

Afghanistan’s first satellite begins formal operations.
[KHAAMA PRESS – 05/10/2014]

MarketBrief report examines the current trends and opportunities in the Canadian Fixed Satellite Services in the light of recent regulatory changes and industry developments.
[Satellite Markets – May 2014

Elon Musk is standing up to Russian imperialism: “It’s very questionable in light of international events. It seems like the wrong time to send hundreds of millions of dollars to the Kremlin.”

Not only is he standing up for doing the right thing, he’s standing up to two 800-lb. gorillas in the military-industrial-complex: Boeing and Lockheed Martin. They’re co-owners of United Launch Alliance, launch service providers to the U.S. Air Force. ULA buys RD-180 engines from NPO Energomash in Russia. Like most important businesses in Russia, it’s controlled by Putin’s Mafia State.

So the pussy lawyers had this to say…

“ULA and the U.S. Department of Justice filed motions to dissolve the preliminary injunction supporting ULA’s earlier statements that the purchase of the RD-180 engines from our suppliers and partners, RD AMROSS and NPO Energomash, does not violate the Ukraine sanctions.

“Unfortunately, SpaceX has made many public but unfounded speculations to create negative perceptions of a competitor solely for purposes of its own self-interest. This frivolous lawsuit caused unnecessary distraction of our executive branch leaders during a sensitive national security crisis.

“The letters from U.S. Departments of State, Treasury and Commerce clearly state that NPO Energomash is not subject to any of the current sanctions and that ULA’s continued purchase of the RD-180 does not directly or indirectly contravene the Ukraine sanctions.

“As a result, both ULA and the Department of Justice have requested that the injunction be immediately lifted.”

As he’s been doing to honest business people in Russia, Putin is now fucking with international business.

Take this business away from entities controlled by Russian mafia and give it to an honest, smart, hard-working American company: SpaceX.

Who would you rather do business with: innovative leaders or murderous managers?

And which launch system is more reliable? The American one, naturally. Atlas launches cost 40-50% more than Russian launches (86% success rate since December, 2010). It’s worth it to keep the engineering talent and expertise here in the U.S.

Here’s another Proton failure, an anomaly at T+9:00 with the third stage. With a beast of a bird onboard (Express-4R/«Экспресс-АМ4Р» — a Eurostar 3000 bus built by Astrium), its payload had 30 C-band, 28 Ku-band, 2 Ka-band, and 3 L-band transponders — so this has to hurt.

When Russian contractors work for American or European customers, everything they do has to be diligently verified. With only Russian customers, nobody really cares that much. This is a remnant of the Soviet system and must be changed. You can’t complete as a world-class company with this attitude.

Here’s the video (warning: there’s no dramatic explosion)…

The detail given comes to us courtesy of SpaceFlightNow.com

The Express AM4R spacecraft, worth approximately $200 million, was supposed to begin a 15-year mission beaming radio, television, broadband Internet and telephone services across Russia and neighboring countries.

But a few minutes after the 12,720-pound (5,770-kilogram) Express AM4R satellite launched from Baikonur, Russia’s primary space base, its Proton rocket ran into a problem.

The failure occurred during the third stage of the Proton’s ascent into orbit, according to a statement by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, the Moscow-based manufacturer of the Proton launcher.

An announcer declared an emergency during a live webcast of the launch, and Khrunichev’s statement also described the incident as an “emergency situation.”

Khrunichev said experts were analyzing telemetry to determine the cause of the failure.

A report by Interfax said debris from the rocket may have fallen the Altai or Amur regions of Russia’s Far East.

Spewing a brilliant flame of blue exhaust, the 19-story Proton rocket lifted off at 2142 GMT (5:42 p.m. EDT) to start a nine-hour flight to deploy the powerful European-built Express AM4R telecommunications satellite for Russian government and commercial customers.

The launch was at 3:42 a.m. local time at Baikonur.

The hydrazine-fueled rocket disappeared from the view of a ground-based tracking camera a few minutes later, with no visible signs of any trouble.

But a problem occurred about 545 seconds, or about 9 minutes, after liftoff, according to a report by the semi-official Itar-Tass news agency.

Another report by the Interfax media service said the time of the failure was about 500 seconds after launch.

Both of the times reported for the anomaly occurred during the firing of the Proton rocket’s third stage, which is powered by an RD-0213 main engine generating 131,000 pounds of thrust. A four-nozzle vernier steering engine is also mounted on the third stage to keep the rocket pointed in the right direction.

The rocket’s guidance, navigation and control system is a triple-redundant digital avionics package on the third stage.

Thursday’s mishap marks the fifth launch failure of the Proton rocket or its Breeze M upper stage in 36 flights since December 2010. Another Proton/Breeze M mission put the Russian Yamal 402 communications satellite in the wrong orbit, but the spacecraft was able to boot itself to the correct location.

The string of mishaps has brought focus on the quality control procedures of Khrunichev and its suppliers, with the Russian space contrator announcing expanded inspections, video monitoring in its factories and other measures to bolster the Proton’s reliability.

I suspect commercial payload customer on the Proton manifest are scrambling: Express AM6, Inmarsat 5 F2, ASTRA 2G and Turksat 4B.

Thank you, NASA!

This supercomputer simulation shows one of the most violent events in the universe: a pair of neutron stars colliding, merging and forming a black hole. A neutron star is the compressed core left behind when a star born with between eight and 30 times the sun’s mass explodes as a supernova. Neutron stars pack about 1.5 times the mass of the sun — equivalent to about half a million Earths — into a ball just 12 miles (20 km) across.

As the simulation begins, we view an unequally matched pair of neutron stars weighing 1.4 and 1.7 solar masses. They are separated by only about 11 miles, slightly less distance than their own diameters. Redder colors show regions of progressively lower density.

As the stars spiral toward each other, intense tides begin to deform them, possibly cracking their crusts. Neutron stars possess incredible density, but their surfaces are comparatively thin, with densities about a million times greater than gold. Their interiors crush matter to a much greater degree densities rise by 100 million times in their centers. To begin to imagine such mind-boggling densities, consider that a cubic centimeter of neutron star matter outweighs Mount Everest.

By 7 milliseconds, tidal forces overwhelm and shatter the lesser star. Its superdense contents erupt into the system and curl a spiral arm of incredibly hot material. At 13 milliseconds, the more massive star has accumulated too much mass to support it against gravity and collapses, and a new black hole is born. The black hole’s event horizon — its point of no return — is shown by the gray sphere. While most of the matter from both neutron stars will fall into the black hole, some of the less dense, faster moving matter manages to orbit around it, quickly forming a large and rapidly rotating torus. This torus extends for about 124 miles (200 km) and contains the equivalent of 1/5th the mass of our sun.

Scientists think neutron star mergers like this produce short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Short GRBs last less than two seconds yet unleash as much energy as all the stars in our galaxy produce over one year.

The rapidly fading afterglow of these explosions presents a challenge to astronomers. A key element in understanding GRBs is getting instruments on large ground-based telescopes to capture afterglows as soon as possible after the burst. The rapid notification and accurate positions provided by NASA’s Swift mission creates a vibrant synergy with ground-based observatories that has led to dramatically improved understanding of GRBs, especially for short bursts.

By 7 milliseconds, tidal forces overwhelm and shatter the lesser star. Its superdense contents erupt into the system and curl a spiral arm of incredibly hot material. At 13 milliseconds, the more massive star has accumulated too much mass to support it against gravity and collapses, and a new black hole is born. The black hole’s event horizon — its point of no return — is shown by the gray sphere. While most of the matter from both neutron stars will fall into the black hole, some of the less dense, faster moving matter manages to orbit around it, quickly forming a large and rapidly rotating torus. This torus extends for about 124 miles (200 km) and contains the equivalent of 1/5th the mass of our sun.