Really Rocket Science

NASA testing survivability of smart phones in space, hoping to determine their capabilities, even of piloting spaceships.
[Fox News – 02/11/2011]

Arianespace to launch 18 Globalstar Next-Gen satellites by September.
[Satellite Today – 02/11/2011]

KVH’s mini-VSAT broadband helps fishing companies run more efficiently.
[Satellite Spotlight – 02/11/2011]

Marlink, provider of maritime satellite communications, gets new three-year contract from Norwegian based operator of offshore and subsea vessels, DOF ASA.
[Trading Markets – 02/11/2011]

Globecomm Systems enters into strategic teaming agreement within Fujitsu Frontech North America to provide wide range of advanced technology digital media solutions for commercial and government markets.
[SatNews – 02/10/2011]

Harris to supply four Saudi studios with entire HD broadcast portfolio.
[Satellite Today – 02/11/2011]

Star Asia wins multi-year satellite uplink contract in the Philippines.
[Satellite Today – 02/11/2011]

Speculation that AT&T could buy Dish Network Corp drives Dish shares up 6%.
[Reuters – 02/10/2010]

Telenor ASA board approves investing in a new expansion satellite, to be named THOR 7, to be launched toward end of 2013.
[SatNews – 02/10/2011]

O3b and Etisalat enter partnership to enable Etisalat’s operating companies to benefit from O3b’s services.
[Satellite Today – 02/10/2011]

Orbit-raising activities for the AEHF-1 satellite continue according to plan with satellite expected to reach geosynchronous orbit by late summer 2011.
[SatNews – 02/10/2011]

Stratos Global providing integrated media solutions including Inmarsat BGAN, enabling many of world’s largest news organizations to broadcast ongoing coverage of political developments in Egypt.
[SatNews – 02/10/2011]

DirecTV will be first distributor of 3D network 3net, joint venture of Sony, Discovery Communications, and Imax.
[Hollywood Reporter – 02/10/2011]

SES WORLD SKIES signs agreement with Supernet Limited of Pakistan for high powered Ku-band transponder capacity on NSS-6.
[SatNews – 02/10/2011]

Globe Wireless announces the E.R. Schiuffahrt of Hamburg, Germany will install the iFusion solution on nearly 90 vessels.
[SatNews – 02/10/2011]

U.S. Navy exercises contract option worth $339.6 million for Lockheed Martin to build MUOS satellite.
[TMCnet – 02/10/2011]

Russia to launch a new Glonass-K navigation satellite from Plesetsk space center on February 24.
[SatNews – 02/10/2011]

Boeing receives $900,000 study contract from the MILSATCOM Systems Directorate of the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center to explore ways to modify commercial satellites to meet MILSATCOM needs.
[SatNews – 02/10/2011]

Inmarsat wins Digital Studio ‘Satellite Services/Provider of the Year’ award.
[Zawya – 02/10/2011]

Dish TV India to use four 54 MHz Ku-band transponders on AsiaSat 5 to enhance its HD and SD DTH offerings in India.
[SatNews – 02/10/2010]

ATCi tailors Simulsat multibeam design for Middle East market.
[AMEinfo – 02/10/2011]

NASA selects 20 small satellites to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard rockets planned to launch in 2011 and 2012.
[SatNews – 02/10/2011]

Bridging the Digital Divide in Europe with the Hylas satellite – toning down broadband expectations due to limits imposed by high latency of satellite communications.
[eWeek Europe – 02/10/2011]

SkyVision rolls out new satellite VPN services in Nigeria.
[Satellite Today – 02/10/2011]

TerreStar Networks receives 2010 Satellite Spotlight Product of the Year award.
[PR Newswire – 02/09/2011]

ND Satcom receives order for first 40 of a total of 200 XWARP stations from South African data center operator Business Connexion (BCX).
[SatNews – 02/09/2011]

Devas, partnering with Antrix, plans to commercially launch spot-beam technology platform in first quarter 2011 to provide mobile satellite services in India.
[Voice & Data – 02/09/2011]

FCC Commissioners vote to require television and radio stations, cable systems, and satellite TV providers to participate in a test that will broadcast an alert message directly from the President.
[Washington Post – 02/08/2011]

U.S. and French defense leaders sign cooperation agreement designed to help track space debris and avoid collisions of satellites.
[AFP – 02/08/2011]

Eutelsat to exhibit new broadcast and internet resources for users in North Africa and the Middle East at CABSAT in Dubai.
[Satellite Spotlight – 02/08/2011]

Australian Labor government confirms it secretly hosted U.S. military teams supporting operations of new ballistic missile defence satellites.
[The Age – 02/08/2011]

Iran unveils satellite prototypes, and plans for manned space missions.
[Satellite Today – 02/08/2011]

Comtech Telecommunications receives orders worth $1.4 million for SATCOM high-power amplifiers to be used in systems supporting commercial airborne satellite services.
[New York citybizlist – 02/08/2011]

Satellite service provider TigrisNet increases commitment to HYLAS 2 satellite with further 5 year $12.2 million contract for capacity.
[RTT News – 02/08/2011]

MTN Government Services earns ISO 9001:2008 certification.
[PR Newswire – 02/08/2011]

RRsat Global Communications signs with DISH Network for grant of license and delivery of a number of Israeli channels to be included in DISH Network’s new "ISRAELI SELECT" package.
[PR Newswire – 02/08/2011]

Comtech Telecommunications subsidiary Xicom receives $1 million order from U.S. Navy for high power amplifiers.
[Satellite Spotlight – 02/08/2011]

U.S. Electrodynamics of Brewster, WA achieves Department of Defense highest level security requirements for satellite services.
[GlobeNewsWire – 02/08/2011]

U.S. has secret tools capable of forcing internet on dictators.
[WIRED – 02/07/2011]

Last decade has been roller coaster ride in Latin American FSS market with numbers peaks and valleys in both supply and demand.
[NSR – 02/07/2011]

Integral Systems’ Raptor X-band ultra small aperture terminal receives Wideband Global SATCOM certification.
[The Street – 02/07/2011]

NASA’s twin STEREO solar observatories, on diametrically opposite sides of Sun for few seconds, stream back first 360 degree coverage of our solar system’s star.
[The Australian – 02/07/2011]

Educating Guatemala’s children via Internet key focus of NewCom address at Guateconnects summit.
[Newswire.com – 02/07/2011]

FAA to equip satellite air traffic control technology on JetBlue A320s.
[Satellite Today – 02/07/2011]

U.S. Military launches secret satellite to test new methods of collecting intelligence from space.
[Space.com – 02/06/2011]

New U.S. strategy aims to enlist other countries to help safeguard national space assets against both hostile threats and orbital space debris.
[msnbc – 02/04/2011]

RRSAT provides playout and distribution services to Ananey Communications for localized MTV Israel.
[Street Insider – 02/04/2011]

NSR report analyzes satellite capacity, VSAT and MSS opportunities in the Oil & Gas markets.
[NSR Report – February 2011]

VSAT success depends on up-to-date market perceptions as providers offer more services and number of competitors shrinks.
[Via Satellite Extra – February 2011]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications systems services

Interested in government payloads hosted by commercial spacecraft? There’s a blog for that! That’s right, rocket scientists: Space News and Intelsat General put together a Drupal-based blog entitled "Hosted Payloads" last week. Good idea, but will you have enough content to sustain it?

 Satellite operators Intelsat and SES have been talking about it for years, so why not blog about it? Cisco’s IRIS is up, and CHIRP will be going up this year, with a second EGNOS payload on Sirius-5 to follow. Brilliant idea to get Intelsat to sponsor the "microsite."

The timing is actually pretty good. Today’s Wall Street Journal has a piece on space budgets and actually gives some ink to hosted payloads, with Intelsat saying it’s working on three hosted payloads…

Intelsat and other companies have also joined with some Pentagon offices to champion putting more "piggyback" military payloads aboard privately funded and operated satellites.

Such arrangements offer expanded surveillance and communication capabilities significantly faster than, and at a fraction of the cost of, building and launching military satellites. Intelsat has three such agreements in place with the U.S. government and is discussing several others, industry officials said.

What I find peculiar is the Pentagon is talking to two Luxembourg-based companies for hosted payloads. Why not talk to the home boys at U.S. Space LLC? I’d rather deal with Telesat, as they fly a WAAS payload on Anik F1R.

To really get a taste of the details and possibilities of hosted payloads, you should read the Jon Glass story in GeoPlace.com. Excellent summary…

 "It’s the speed and cost efficiency that is really driving the government’s interest in this," adds Jeff Foust, senior analyst with Futron Corp., a technology-management consulting firm that helped organize several government/industry workshops on hosted payloads. "There’s a steady stream of opportunities for hosted payloads, because you have 20 to 25 commercial GEO satellites being ordered and launched every year, plus you have special opportunities such as Iridium NEXT that have a much larger number of satellites in a global system."

Because hosted payloads are relatively new, developing a set of policies and procedures that make it easier for government agencies and the private sector to partner on projects is a challenge. This includes developing mechanisms that regulate contracts and pricing as well as enable federal agencies to take advantage of available opportunities. Because of existing regulations and bureaucratic barriers, government agencies can find it difficult to move at the same speed as the private sector.

A key purpose of hosted-payload workshops has been to give industry and government officials a forum to identify potential barriers and begin to develop solutions. The important thing, notes Foust, is that with the new U.S. space policy, government supporters of hosted payloads now have the official backing of the administration to pursue opportunities.

"It’s a trite phrase, but the use of hosted payloads has the potential to be a win-win," adds Foust. "It’s an opportunity for the industry to maximize potential revenue by making use of satellite capacity that otherwise might go unused. For the government side, it provides a greater degree of flexibility to get important payloads up faster and less expensively than the traditional way of doing business. There’s a great potential here to do more with less and provide some real savings to the taxpayers."

Oh, and SES WorldSkies has a blog now, too. Good luck commenting on that one. SEO, anyone?

Arianespace’s 200th mission will carry its heaviest payload: the ATV-2 Johannes Kepler.  The launch is set for 15 February 2011, from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. A space cargo robot, it will dock with the ISS at 28,000 k/ph. I like to call it a "space truck" — with fireworks. 

That’s right, fireworks. When its mission is done, it will re-enter the atmosphere and break up over the South Pacific. Awesome.

Orbital Sciences will pay $10 million over several years for 20 percent of Iridium Next hosted capacity.
[Satellite Today – 02/04/2011]

Program problems and budget restrictions change thinking on how military space capabilities should be developed and deployed.
[Aviation Week – 02/04/2011]

KVH Industries completes major capacity increase across three key regions of its global mini-VSAT Broadband satellite communications network.
[SatNews – 02/04/2011]

Hughes Europe, subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, sells seventh HX hub to international satellite Internet services provider Bentley Walker for Caribbean and South America.
[SatNews – 02/04/2011]

Leaks reveal Chinese-U.S. tensions over anti-satellite tests by both countries.
[Global Security Newswire – 02/03/2011]

Pentagon report warns that field of space debris is so dense that a single collision between satellites could set of an uncontrolled chain reaction capable of destroying the communications network on earth.
[The Telegraph – 02/03/2011]

SES WORLD SKIES signs capacity extension with TIBA to enable distribution of an expanding lineup across Latin America through 2030.
[SatNews – 02/03/2011]

Globalstar hails FCC decision to allow LightSquared to use mobile satellite spectrum for terrestrial-only devices as necessary and looks forward to similar decisions benefitting Globalstar and other mobile companies.
[IEWY – 02/03/2011]

Comtech EF Data and Tachyon to jointly develop airborne COTM solutions delivering the highest bandwidth airborne terminals available in the industry.
[SatNews – 02/03/2011]

Vizada to release new Viznet DVB-S2/ACM-based broadband platform.
[Satellite Today – 02/03/2011]

Gilat Satellite Networks selected to provide SkyEdge II broadband network to a defense agency for military communications.
[Defence Professionals – 02/03/2011]

Telespazio Argentina signs contract to provide Mobile Tele-offices using C-COM’s auto-pointing  iNetVu antenna systems to Argentina Ministry of Interior.
[SatNews – 02/03/2011]

Last minute deal saves Super Bowl telecast, temporarily ending dispute that had kept Fox programming off DirecTV’s system for weeks.
Connect Amarillo – 02/03/2011]

Independent global study confirms IsatPhone Pro as the ultimate handheld satellite phone.
[Business Wire – 02/03/2011]

u-blox introduces ultra-compact MAX-6 family of GPS modules.
[SatNews – 02/03/2011]

Israel and the European Space Agency sign cooperation agreement to identify common areas of mutual interest, notably in the area of space science and exploration.
[SatNews – 02/02/2011]

Russia loses contact with military satellite launched Feb. 1.
[GPS World – 02/02/2011]

Orbcomm’s last remaining AIS-capable low-Earth orbit satellite fails; AIS service down.
[Satellite Today – 02/02/2011]

Hughes Network Systems selected by Boeing to provide the Ground Communications Network for the MEXSAT Satellite Based Network system.
[PR Newswire – 02/02/2011]

First flight of Russia’s Soyuz-ST-B carrier rocket from the European space center in French Guiana is set for August 31, 2011.
[SatNews – 02/02/2011]

Orbital Sciences contracts with Thales Alenia Space for Iridium Next systems integration and testing.
[Trading Markets – 02/02/2011]

German satellite service provider atrexx finalizes largest ground services contract, for connecting a major European country’s embassy sites in Africa and the Middle East with VSAT technology.
[SatNews – 02/02/2011]

Frequency Electronics receives major contract from Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems to supply on-board timing and frequency generation components for MEXSAT system.
[Globe Newswire – 02/02/2011]

KVH unveils new KVH CommBox(tm) Ship/Shore Network Manager at Digital Ship Scandinavia Conference.
[SatNews – 02/02/2011]

Comtech Xicom TWTAs to feature touch-screen control interfaces.
[Satellite Today – 02/02/2011]

Looking to aid Egyptians?  Perhaps you want to "Buy This Satellite."
[Time – 02/02/2011]

Marine Instruments selects Quake Global modems for satellite tracking of vessels and buoys in the open ocean.
[Business Wire – 02/02/2011]

Dish Network to buy hybrid satellite and terrestrial communications company DBSD for $1 billion.
[Denver Business Journal – 02/01/2011]

Raytheon completes acquisition of Applied Signal Technology.
[Satellite Today – 02/01/2011]

India’s space agency focuses on manned spaceflight, lunar exploration, and planetary probes, and considers a Moon mission.
[TMCnet – 02/01/2011]

Globecomm Systems wins $2.6 million contract to provide turnkey RF electronics install for multiple Telemetry, Tracking & Control Earth stations.
[SatNews – 02/01/2011]

Optus orders Irdeto conditional access technology to extend customer access to its satellite digital-only and HDTV channels in Australia.
[Satellite Today – 02/01/2011]

Stratos introduces BGAN Humanitarian Pricing plans for first responders.
[PR Newswire – 02/01/2011]

PolarSat introduces 8-PSK modulation capability on VSATPlus3 modem.
[Satellite Today – 02/01/2011]

Metamaterials hold promise of lighter, more efficient antennas for satellites.
[R&D Magazine – 01/31/2011]

European Space Agency investigates novel self-aligning flat antennas.
[R&D Magazine – 01/31/2011]

UK Space Agency selects Amsat-UK to provide its FunCube hardware board sets for the agency’s first satellite UKube-1.
[Satellite Today – 01/31/2011]

Gilat’s Spacenet receives multi-year contracts for over 27,000 lottery sites.
[Trading Markets – 01/31/2011]

Integral Systems Incorporated wins $13 million plus contract modification from US Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center to consolidate satellite ground systems.
[SIGNALSCAPE – 01/31/2011]

Hughes Network Systems receives TMCnet Satellite Spotlight Product of the Year Award.
[PR Newswire – 01/31/2011]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications systems services

I had cable TV for many years, then switched to Dish Network for a few. Along comes HDTV and I went back to cable just so I could get MSG-HD (Let’s Go Rangers!). Dolan says forget you (check the Cee Lo Green song for proper pronunciation), so I get a deal on DirecTV bundled with Verizon Phone+DSL. Waiting for FiOS-TV, thought that would be a good idea. That’s not happening in my neighborhood, and DirecTV’s signal attenuation (rain fade) was driving me nuts, so back to DISH I west. Brilliant move as they’re now splitting the U.S. up into and East & West scheme: east coast capacity is at 61.5 West, and the west coast is using 129 West et. al. Better look angle for me and the signal is super — no loss at all and plenty of HD content. Price is right, too.

So now what am I supposed to so with the old reflector? We’ve featured quite a few DIY projects that recycle or re-use old satellite antennas. From using an old Primestar reflector to improve WiFi, to the wireless Internet cantenna, to more physical structures such as this BUD gazebo and the ever-popular solar cooker. Not to mention one for the birds. 

With the Captain America movie set to release this summer (Hollywood’s run out of ideas again), it was inevitable somebody would get to taking an old dish and making it into a shield, via Instructables contributor seamster…

 I’m not really into comics and the like, but I had been wanting to make a Captain America shield for some time.

I originally tried using an old plastic sled, but it gave me all sorts of grief. The type of plastic would not take paint very well (not even Krylon Fusion for plastics), or any type of adhesive that I tried.

I eventually came across a used satellite dish, and with a little bit of modifying this turned out to the be best option for a Captain America shield. It will make a great gift for someone this year.

If you are interested in making one of these, you may have to do a bit of searching and asking to find a used satellite dish. I’ve seen them show up at thrift stores from time to time. Keep your eyes open, and you should be able to find one.

Great idea — and execution, too.

 

 £1,000 per month for English Premier League football? Are you out of your bloody mind?

That may or not have been Karen Murphy’s sentiment when she balked at paying B-Sky-B that much to show English soccer matches in her pub in Southern England, The Red White & Blue. You’d have to sell a lot of draught beer & ale to make ends meet, mate.

So she did what many Europeans do: get a satellite receiver from another country and watch their channel for the content you want. It’s true some go further and pay a one-time purchase and get a black-market decoder card and watch thousands of channels, FTA and premium, for nothing, forever (or until they change their encryption). I’ve seen it myself; happens all the time.

She gets a satellite receiver from Greece, points her antenna at Eutelsat’s Hotbird location (13° East) and that’s where she found Nova Sports, the channel with Premier League broadcast rights in Greece. Good move as the signal’s pretty hot in Southern England. B-Sky-B and the Premier League got pretty hot themselves and she was fined quite a few quid. She decides to take them to court — in Luxembourg.

Not exactly a Luxembourgish court, rather the European Court of Justice, which happens to be located there. Who else is based there? Why, ironically, it’s SES S.A., owners of the ASTRA Satellite System and arch rival to Eutelsat. Oh, and you should know, they also became as successful as they are today thanks to B-Sky-B, the anchor tenant on the 28.2 East orbital location. You’ll also recall B-Sky-B owes their success to gaining the exclusive rights to Premier League broadcasts in the U.K.

The legal opinion, prepared by a senior ECJ figure known as an Advocate General, is submitted in advance of a court ruling that usually follows several months later. The ruling will serve as a guideline for how European law should be applied to the case.

The announcement Thursday could have big implications for BSkyB, which has become Britain’s biggest pay-TV operator by owning the exclusive rights to show live Premier League matches in the U.K.

"In the view of Advocate General [Juliane] Kokott, territorial exclusivity agreements relating to the transmission of football matches are contrary to European Union law," the ECJ said in a statement.

"European Union law does not make it possible to prohibit the live transmission of premier league matches in pubs by means of foreign decoder cards."

Good show! Poetic justice, anyone?

So you get yourself an app phone, like the iPhone or some Android thing. Buy the DishPointer app so you can figure what satellite you can see. What then, rocket scientist?

You need a satellite survey tool to make something out of the data you collected. Here’s a beauty via Instructables. Here’s all you’ll need…

• 1 compass that has degree markings zero to 360. and a sighting glass.
• 1 childs protractor.  Mine was same size as a computer CD. Lucky me.
• 1 half-inch plastic PVC pipe. cut into 3 pieces.  Length is not real critical. I used a piece 12 inches long, another one 6.5 inches, and a third one about 1.5 inches.
• 1 end-cap for pvc
• 1 plastic "tee" fitting
• 2 pvc "splice" fittings
• Some string
• 1 cotter pin 
• 5 or 6 inches of solder to wrap around the cotter pin.
• a hot-glue gun and 3 or 4 glue sticks
• a piece of sandpaper to sand off the lettering on the pvc pipes.

 Then go to Lyngsat and find your free-to-air channels.

Good luck trying to shut down the Internet in Egypt. You can’t close off the satcom links — especially Thuraya, Iridium, Globalstar or Inmarsat satellite phones.

Although the Internet remains locked down in Egypt, Al-Najjar has been participating in the lively stream of posts on Twitter using the hashtags #Jan25 and #Egypt.

Some of those postings suggest the use of satellite Internet services offered by companies such as Thuraya, Iridium and Inmarsat.

"While in conversation last night, two guys said that they will have the ability to buy one of those phones and transmit," Al-Najjar said. "They were given 18 [phone] numbers outside Egypt to send [photos] to."

Foreign media posted in Cairo published dramatic photos on Friday of protestors battling police firing tear gas and using water cannons to disperse crowds. But absent Internet or mobile phone access, it’s much more difficult for most Egyptians to self-publish, an act that has become an increasingly important component of breaking news coverage.

Satellite Internet services aren’t cheap, however, compared to wired Internet access. Al-Najjar said a satellite-capable phone could cost around US$1,300 in Egypt.

A Thuraya customer service representative said on Friday there were no issues with its service in Egypt, but she did not know if there was an uptick in traffic coming from the country.

Satellite services are not dependent on local carriers for connectivity. So someone in Egypt, for example, could snap a photo of the protests and upload it to a computer connected to a BGAN satellite modem.

As long as the person has aimed the portable modem properly at the satellite, the person should have broadband Internet access, said a sales representative based in South Africa for GlobalCom, which sells portable Internet access for Iridium, Thuraya, Inmarsat and Globalstar Satellite.

 Who started this mass protest stuff? The Ukrainians with their Orange Revolution!

Orbital Sciences signs systems integration and test contract with Thales Alenia Space, prime contractor for Iridium NEXT.
[SatNews – 01/28/2011]

Avanti wins two new contracts to further develop and demonstrate technology to deliver fideo to the edge of terrestrial networks using its HYLAS 1 satellite.
[SatNews – 01/28/2011]

Boeing successfully conducts first over-the-air ground test of Ka-band satellite communications phased-array antenna system for enabling wideband SATCOM on aircraft.
[SatNews – 01/28/2011]

Russian unmanned cargo spacecraft lifts off, bound for international space station.
[SatNews – 01/28/2011]

DigitalGlobe collaborates with Satellite Sentinel Project to deliver first images of evolving situation in Sudan following historic vote on independence.
[SatNews – 01/28/2011]

Ziplink announces that OmniGlobe has deployed its advanced optimization technology to reduce bandwidth requirements while improving customer’s satellite broadband performance.
[SatNews – 01/28/2011]

MSCI’s announcement of 78+ satellite constellation "COMMStellation" of 12Gb per satellite for global broadband reminiscent of ambitious LEO plans of the past – is the plan justified by the numbers?
[NSR – 01/27/2011]

LightSquared ambitious plan for nationwide terrestrial/satellite LTE mobile network gets] boost with FCC decision to allow use of handsets that are not satellite-capable.
[The Register – 07/27/2011]

ViaSat is awarded first Defense Security Service Award of Excellence in Counterintelligence.
[SatNews – 01/27/2011]

Japanese unmanned robot cargo ship arrives at international space station.
[Space.com – 01/27/2011]

International Datacasting receives contract from Canadian Department of National Defence for continued operation of Canadian Forces Radio and Television.
[SatNews – 01/27/2011]

Russian astronomers predict slim possibility of Earth strike by asteroid Apophis on April 13, 2036.
[SatNews – 010/27/2011]

Tesacom receives Iridium certification for maritime satellite communication and tracking system.
[PR Newswire – 07/27/2011]

Orange Business Services to provide and manage a VSAT satellite system developed for marine communications for the diving support vessels of Crest Subsea.
[Satellite Spotlight – 07/27/2011]

Air Force awards Raytheon and Lockheed Martin contracts to provide designs for new "Space Fence" radar system that can detect much smaller satellites and debris than present system.
[Information Week – 07/27/2011]

KVH promotion offers free small screen HDTV to boat owners purchasing certain marine satellite HDTV systems.
[SatNews – 01/27/2011]

Russian space experts point to gross underfunding of space programs and advocate teaming up with India and Kazakhstan.
[SatNews – 01/27/2011]

Sirius XM asks FCC to end its subscription price cap.
[Satellite Today – 01/27/2011]

US Air Force Academy’s FalconSAT-3 satellite provides unique joint service with United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
[SatNews – 01/26/2011]

Blue Sky Network introduces HawkEye 5300, a dual-mode asset tracking device using both GSM and Iridium satellites for 100% global coverage.
[Trucking Info – 01/26/2011]

TVN signs with Teracom to supply headend technology for Sweden’s roll-out of DVB-T2 scheduled for the end of 2012.
[Satellite Today – 01/26/2011]

ITT announces successful completion of environmental tests of the next-gen weather satellite instrument for the GOES-R program.
[SatNews – 01/26/2011]

Iridium signs partner agreements with five new companies including KORE Telematics.
[Telecom Engine – 07/26/2011]

Shaanxi Broadcast & TV Network Intermediary Company begins trials of Irdeto’s Cloaked CA, a conditional access system to be part of transitioning two million subscribers from analog to digital services.
[SatNews – 01/26/2011]

SES WORLD SKIES announces order from Artel under U.S. FCSA program to provide C-band capacity in support of government initiatives.
[Business Wire – 01/26/2011]

Economics of Earth Observation market distorted by reliance on a few large users – government and military organizations.
[NSR – 01/25/2011]

New MST-100M man-pack satellite terminal from Agile Communications features fully motorized platform with auto-acquisition.
[EON – 01/25/2011]

LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja attempts to reassure authorities that modification of its license to allow terrestrial as well as satellite offerings will not interfere with GPS services.
[telecoms – 01/25/2011]

Orbit wins US follow-on order worth $7.2m to install dozens of its OrSat Ku-band systems on the undisclosed customer’s fleet of ships.
[Globes – 01/25/2011]

Iridium to establish maritime service centers to support Iridium OpenPort products worldwide.
[Satellite Spotlight – 01/25/2011]

NASA announces contest for best images of currently orbiting NanoSail-D solar sail.
[SatNews – 01/25/2011]

Lockheed Martin plans to increase affordability and efficiency of space system development with new advanced technology and virtual simulation facility, Collaborative Human Immersive Laboratory.
[SatNews – 01/25/2011]

Broadpoint signs new contracts with global shipping company V.Ships Offshore to provide Ku- and C-band services for the company’s worldwide operations.
[SatNews – 01/25/2011]

Non-profit Space Data Association announces offering of conjunction assessment processing to a majority of all operational geosynchronous satellites.
[Satellite Spotlight – 01/24/2011]

Airborne is awarded contracts for solar array panels for first 14 satellites of the Galileo program.
[SatNews – 01/24/2011]

Surrey Satellite Technology Limited to conduct an experiment, launching a smartphone into orbit to see what it is capable of.
[Satellite Spotlight – 01/24/2011]

Hughes Communications dominant stakeholder Apollo appoints Barclays Capital to begin sales process.
[Fierce Telecom – 01/22/2011]

Global Navigation Satellite System industry faces challenges in using multiple systems interchangeably as number of satellites is projected to far exceed the "optimal intersection" of 70 postulated by head of Galileo Operations and Evolution department of ESA.
[Inside GNSS – January/February 2011]

WBMSAT PS satellite communications systems services

Zenit-3SB rocket launches Elektro-L1 meteorological satellite from Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
[SatNews – 01/21/2011]

Azerbaijan experts from Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies travel to U.S. to discuss development of its first national satellite.
[ABC.AZ – 01/21/2011]

EUMETSAT now delivering globally direct readout of data from instruments on board its Metop polar-orbiting satellite via the Advance High Resolution Picture Transmission system.
[SatNews – 01/21/2011]

Indian Air Force to get dedicated communication satellite this year.
[The Economic Times – 01/21/2011]

Satellite Broadband Ireland inks over EUR 5 million utility deal with Eutelsat.
[RTT News – 01/21/2011]

SatCom Group changes its name to One Horizon Group.
[Satellite Today – 01/21/2011]

ATCi answers demand for disaster recovery services voiced at Pacific Telecommunications Council Conference in Hawaii January 15-17, 2011.
[PR Newswire – 01/21/2011]

Avanti UK wins key broadband satellite testbed contract from UK’s Technology Strategy Board.
[ISPreview – 01/21/2011]

International Communications Group Datalink-100 Receives Iridium Certification & ARINC AQP Approval.
[Trading Markets – 01/21/2011]

Space Florida gets $48 million launch contract to provide launch services for federal government.
[SatNews – 01/21/2011]

United Launch Alliance DeltaIV Heavy rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Launch Complex with payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
[SatNews – 01/20/2011]

TanMar Communications, a provider of communication solutions to the oil and gas and maritime industries and government agencies deploys Spacenet satellite equipment and services.
[TMCnet – 01/20/2011]

Norsat acquires military antenna developer Sinclair Technologies for $19.2 million.
[Satellite Today – 01/20/2011]

Broadband satellite communications company Hughes Communications looking for new owner.
[SatNews – 01/20/2011]

Arinc completes Air Force space weather sensor upgrade at 29 locations of the Ionospheric Data Network.
[Satellite Today – 01/20/2011]

Microsat Systems Canada announces development of COMMStellation, a polar communications satellite constellation of 78 microsatellites.
[SatPRNews – 01/19/2011]

NASA to unveil new rocket integration and launch facility at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
[Satellite Today – 01/19/2011]

Worldwide Satellite Telecommunications Industry report published by Barnes Reports features 2010 current and 2011 forecast estimates on size of industry for 47 largest countries in world.
[Satellite Spotlight – 01/19/2011]

A communications cross-link between missile defense satellites tested successfully after activation by U.S. companies Northrop Grumman and Raytheon.
[UPI – 01/19/2011]

NanoSail-D nanosatellite successfully ejected from Fast Affordable Scientific and Technology Satellite – ham operators asked to listen for signals and report.
[SatNews – 01/19/2011]

GMPCS joins with Global Marie to deploy Speedmail, a fast, reliable and easy-to-use satellite phone email service.
[Satellite Spotlight – 01/19/2011]

FCC authorizes Sirius Radio to temporarily establish 2,000-watt transmitter in Hawaii.
[ABC News – 01/19/2011]

OmniAccess S.L. launches BroadBEAM Ultra, latest addition to its maritime VSAT broadband services, based on iDirect’s next generation DVB-S2 Evolution platform.
[SatNews – 01/19/2011]

Integral Systems’ SATCOM Solutions Division General Manager To Discuss Naval Maritime Satellite Communications Requirements At The 2011 Naval And Maritime SATCOM Workshop.
[TheStreet – 01/19/2011]

Stratos Global reaches mileston of 2,000 IsatPhone Pro activations.
[SatNews – 01/19/2011]

WTA releases new white paper "How to Buy Satellite Capacity."
[worldteleport.org – 01/19/2011]

Hughes Network Systems ships more than 327,000 broadband satellite terminals in 2010, the most ever in one year.
[SatNews – 01/19/2011]

Berry Smnutny, chief executive of Germany’s largest satellite company OHB-System, suspended for criticizing the E. U. Galileo satellite project.
[New York Times – 01/18/2011]

U.S.A.F. 50th Space Wing completes phase on of two phase Global Positioning System constellation expansion.
[SatNews – 01/18/2011]

Iridium signs agreements with 17 service partners to participate in the company’s Network Quality Guarantee program.
[Satellite Today – 01/18/2011]

T-HT of Croatia selects Eutelsat satellite neighborhood at 16 degrees East to extend reach of its MAXtv pay-TV platform to homes across Croatia.
[Satellite Spotlight – 01/18/2011]

RRsat selected to distribute BabyTV to North America.
[PR Newswire – 010/18/2011]

Hughes ships its 2.5 millionth broadband satellite terminal.
[PR Newswire – 01/18/2011]

Indian Space Research Organisation plans three major satellite launches in first quarter of 2011.
[IBN Live – 01/17/2011]

SES ASTRA expands further into Central and Eastern European market, with three transponders to be used by Bulgarian DTH operator Satellite BG.
[SatNews – 01/107/2011]

COM DEV of Canada is awarded US$9 million to provide equipment for a military communications satellite.
[Ottawa Citizen – 01/17/2011]