September 2014

From right to left: David Thompson, chairman and CEO, Orbital; Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, CEO, Yahsat; Stéphane Israël chairman and CEO, Arianespace. Photo: Yahsat [Via Satellite 09-10-2014] United Arab Emirates (UAE) based satellite operator Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), has selected Orbital Sciences to build its next satellite, Al Yah 3. Slated for launch…

An artist’s rendering showing two Boeing 502 Phoenix satellites in orbit. The inaugural customer for the 502 Phoenix is HySpecIQ of Washington D.C., which ordered a complete hyperspectral imaging system in Sept. 2014. The small satellites measure 1.25m wide x 1.25m deep x 1m tall. Photo: Boeing [Via Satellite 09-10-2014] Boeing has received a contract…

U.S. Army Spc. Devon Boxa, 7-158th Aviation Regiment, flying over Afghanistan on a CH-47D Chinook helicopter. Photo: Spc. Ken Scar, 7th MPAD, U.S. Army [Via Satellite 09-10-2014] DRS Technologies has renewed its contract with Intelsat General for satellite capacity over Afghanistan. Intelsat General began providing the service in August 2012 through an Intelsat 9 series…

SSTL and Kyprosat execs signing a partnership agreement. Photo: SSTL [Via Satellite 09-10-2014] Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) and Kypros Satellites (Kyprosat) have teamed up to provide a turnkey telecommunications SmallSat for Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO). Kyprosat is providing orbital slot assets and asset management services, while SSTL is providing its GMP-T satellite platform capable…

Jan De Nul Group vessels working offshore. Photo: Jan De Nul Group [Via Satellite 09-10-2014] Jan De Nul Group (JDN), a provider of dredging, marine construction, and specialized services for the offshore oil and gas, and renewable energy industries, has awarded a multi-year contract to SpeedCast International. The SpeedCast satellite communications services will be used…

Artist’s rendition of the first Global Xpress satellite, Inmarsat 15. Photo: Inmarsat [Via Satellite 09-10-2014] Inmarsat has finalized its agreement with Rockwell Collins to become a Value Added Reseller for Global Xpress (GX) capacity. Rockwell Collins will focus specifically on the commercial air market, selling connectivity and In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) services. According to Inmarsat, GX…

[Via Satellite 09-10-2014] Broadcom, a provider of semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications, announced its family of eight new hybrid satellite and terrestrial System-on-a-Chip (SoC) broadcast devices for Set-Top Boxes (STBs). The new series is engineered with pin-to-pin compatibility, allowing a single set-top design to be leveraged across the entire family. The new series…

Telesat’s Mt. Jackson teleport. Photo: Telesat [Via Satellite 09-09-2014] CEOs from the “Big Four” Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) operators engaged in a lively debate about the future of the satellite industry in a panel that also included Evert Dudok, president of communication, intelligence and security at Airbus Defence and Space. This was one of the…

An Ariane 5 moving into the launch zone. Photo: Arianespace [Via Satellite 09-09-2014] Arianespace has secured contracts for five Ariane 5 launches in 2016 and 2017. The launch provider received contracts from Intelsat to launch Intelsat 36, Sky Perfect JSAT for JCSat 15, Korea Telekom for KoreaSat 7, Avanti Communications for Avanti 4, and YahSat…

Artist’s rendering of the A2100. Photo: Lockheed Martin [Via Satellite 09-09-2014] Lockheed Martin has announced two new upgrades to the A2100 satellite bus, which the company has been aggressively renovating to play a more prominent role in the commercial sector. The improved bus now features a fully reprogrammable payload processor through which users can modify payload…