December 2014

A deployed Spectrolab-produced solar wing. Photo: Boeing. [Via Satellite 12-03-2014] Spectrolab, a solar cell company purchased by Boeing in 2000, has manufactured its 4 millionth gallium arsenide-based solar cell for space. Collectively, these cells have powered more than 380 spacecraft flights. Hundreds of spacecraft, as well as the International Space Station (ISS), have used Spectrolab…

Lars Dyrud, CEO of OmniEarth. Photo: OmniEarth [Via Satellite 12-02-2014] Data and satellite imagery startup OmniEarth has inked East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) as its first customer. The company is in the process of raising capital for a constellation of 18 Earth imaging satellites to collect space-based data. Ball Aerospace is contracted to build…

exacEarth’s exactView 1 satellite, built by SSTL and launched in 2012. Photo: SSTL [Via Satellite 12-02-2014] ExactEarth has purchased one in-orbit Automatic Identification System (AIS) satellite and has received license to obtain AIS data from two more spacecraft. The company has integrated all three into its constellation, bringing the total number of satellites to eight…

The MUOS 2 satellite. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for MUOS. [Via Satellite 12-02-2014] Lockheed Martin has finished thermal vacuum testing on the United States Navy’s fourth Mobile User Objective System satellite (MUOS 4). The next step is Final Integrated System Testing, ahead of launch in the second half of 2015. Once MUOS 4…

Digital rendering of Azersky in space. Photo: Azercosmos. [Via Satellite 12-02-2014] Azercosmos, the national satellite operator of Azerbaijan, has entered a cooperative agreement with Airbus Defence and Space to operate and commercialize the Spot 7 optical Earth Observation (EO) satellite. As part of the agreement, Spot 7 will be renamed Azersky. The Azersky satellite was…

Intelsat’s Fillmore, Calif. teleport. Photo: Intelsat [Via Satellite 12-02-2014] Level 3 Communications is providing Intelsat with fiber for additional network capacity and diverse routing options in the United States. The company will connect Intelsat’s new Tysons Corner, Va. headquarters, extending its network to the new building as well as to existing satellite teleport and data…

Technology used on Hughes Jupiter 1 satellite, built by SSL, became a major subject of controversy, prompting ViaSat to take legal action. Photo: SSL [Via Satellite 12-02-2014] Loral Space and Communications and MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) have reached an agreement on paying the $100 million settlement from ViaSat’s litigation with Space Systems/Loral (SSL). ViaSat…

Tokyo Japan, site of the 2020 Olympic Games where NHK plans to broadcast in 8K. Photo: Chris Winkler [Via Satellite 12-01-2014] Japanese public broadcaster NHK has been at the forefront of advances in video technology with its ambitious plan to deliver content in 8K, or “Super Hi-Vision” (SHV). Previously NHK had planned to begin testing…

An ESA graphic of the European Data Relay System (EDRS), also known as the Space Data Highway. Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 12-01-2014] Airbus Defence and Space and the European Space Agency (ESA) have completed a test linking the Thales Alenia Space-built Sentinel 1A satellite with the Airbus-built Alphasat satellite using Laser Communication Terminals (LCTs). The…

A post office in Croatia. Photo: Hrvatska pošta [Via Satellite 12-01-2014] Croatian post offices are now offering Eutelsat’s Tooway satellite broadband through the KA-SAT High Throughput Satellite (HTS). Intersat Telecom, Eutelsat’s regional partner, is providing the service. Homes outside the reach of terrestrial broadband are given priority for the service, which offers download speeds of…