March 2015

Front dashboard view of the European LTE connected car from the ng Connect Program. Photo: ng Connect Program [Via Satellite 03-25-2015] The connected car is a rapidly progressing trend in the automobile space, but the opportunities for satellite to play in this market are limited, according to analysts. While research from Ward’s Automotive Group estimates…

A weaponized MQ-9 Reaper . Photo: GA-ASI [Via Satellite 03-25-2015] Communications & Power Industries (CPI) Malibu Division received a $2.5 million contact to build ground-based data links for General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ (GA-ASI’s) Predator/MQ-9 Reaper drones. The company is supplying C-band advanced data link antennas to enable tracking and communications support. CPI will complete the…

Arnaud de Rosnay, head of telecommunications satellites at Airbus Defence and Space, and Jacques Pasquier, Snecma VP, Space Engines division. Photo: Snecma [Via Satellite 03-25-2015] Airbus Defence and Space has reselected Snecma to provide thrusters for the Eurostar E3000 Electric Orbit Raising (EOR) platform. The contract, signed this month, follows an original collaboration agreement from…

UNITECH’s Matheson Library. Photo: Wikipedia [Via Satellite 03-25-2015] O3b Network’s inked a contract with the Papua New Guinea University of Technology (UNITECH) for trunking services, making it the company’s first education customer. The university will use O3b’s Ka-band High Throughput Satellite (HTS) system located in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) for Internet access, replacing terrestrial fiber…

Intelsat’s Paumalu, Hawaii teleport. Photo: Intelsat [Via Satellite 03-25-2015] Intelsat has awarded satellite communications RF signal distribution equipment specialist ETL Systems a contract to upgrade its teleport facilities. ETL Systems’ Enigma routers enable rapid switching time for continuous cycling through various channels to prevent missing an outage. Additionally, the Enigma matrix supports alarms and thresholds…

Digital rendering of JPSS 1. Photo: NOAA/Ball Aerospace [Via Satellite 03-25-2015] Orbital ATK received a contract valued at up to $470 million to build the Joint Polar Satellite Systems 2 (JPSS 2) weather satellite, with options for two more spacecraft. The JPSS 2 contract, worth $253 million, is a firm order, while the JPSS 3…

Photo: RR Media [Via Satellite 03-25-2015] RR Media has expanded its 4K capabilities to cover the complete content lifecycle from creation all the way to consumption. The company will cover the full gamut of services including preparation, creation of content and optimizing delivery. RR Media currently distributes 4K channels for France TV and the Explorer…

Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia. Photo: Wikipedia/ctsnow [Via Satellite 03-24-2015] O3b Networks has swept up a number of customers in Africa this month, most notably in Somalia where the operator’s Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)-based satellite services have found popularity. Hormuud Telecommunication, the largest operator in Somalia by customer base and coverage, entered a multi-year…

Stril Server support vessel. Photo: Marlink [Via Satellite 03-24-2015] Marlink has concluded a project aimed at increasing Internet speeds aboard the Simon Mokster-owned Stril Server Multi-Purpose Support Vessel (MPSV). Client engineers on a project at the Westernmost Rough offshore wind farm on the U.K.’s east coast required the extra bandwidth. Marlink increased the available bandwidth…

Monitoring of the Space Fence. Photo: Lockheed Martin [Via Satellite 03-24-2015] The U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin broke ground at the future 6-acre site of the new Space Fence radar system in a special ceremony on Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean — more than 2,100 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu. The event marks…