April 2015

MCP provides communications to cruise ships and other vessels. Photo: MCP [Via Satellite 04-23-2015] Telenor Maritime Radio is integrating its MarCom commercial maritime communications business unit with Maritime Communications Partner (MCP). Telenor ASA fully owns MCP, which has focused primarily on global coverage for cruise, ferry and offshore verticals. MarCom has focused on the Nordic…

Globalstar’s SmartOne satellite tracker. Photo: Globalstar [Via Satellite 04-23-2015] Spanish technology and fleet tracking solutions specialist FAGOR Electrónica has entered an agreement with Globalstar Europe Satellite Services for a satellite tracking solution in Latin America. The company is providing Globalstar’s SmartOne data modem through its authorized distributor Skytracking to incorporate satellite in a hybrid tracking…

London, U.K. Photo: Raph.ae (Flickr) [Via Satellite 04-22-2015] At the Satellite Finance Network Annual Conference in London, speakers were buoyant about the state of the space industry in the United Kingdom, and even an upcoming election — the outcome of which remains to be discovered — failed to dampen the mood. Simon Acland, CIO of…

RSCC’s Express AM6 satellite. Photo: RSCC [Via Satellite 04-22-2015] Russian Satellite Communications Company’s (RSCC’s) Express AM6 satellite, launched Oct. 21, 2014 aboard a Proton rocket, has initiated service from the 53 degrees east orbital slot. Built by ISS Reshetnev with support from the Radio Research Institute of Russia and MDA Corporation of Canada, the satellite…

Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center, left; Mary Smith, with the Space and Missile Systems Center’s Defense Weather Systems Directorate; Edward Tagliaferri, with SMC’s Infrared Space Systems Directorate; and Col. Michael Guetlein, the first director of the Remote Sensing Systems Directorate. Photo: U.S. Air Force [Via Satellite 04-22-2015] The…

KVH TracVision TV Series. Photo: KVH Industries [Via Satellite 04-22-2015] KVH Industries has released a new antenna system for satellite TV out at sea. The fully stabilized 81-cm (32-inch) diameter TracVision TV8 antenna system enables satellite television for maritime customers such as yacht owners, commercial fishing vessels, tankers and others. Compatible with most Ku-band services,…

The SLM-5650A satellite modem. Photo: Comtech EF Data [Via Satellite 04-22-2015] Comtech Telecommunications’ subsidiary Comtech EF Data received an order from the U.S. government worth $1.3 million for satellite modems. The contract calls specifically for the SLM-5650A satellite modem for use in a government network. The SLM-5650A modem supports data rates from 8 kbps to…

Eduardo Bonini, president of Visiona Tecnologia Espacial. Photo: Visiona [Via Satellite 04-21-2015] Visiona Tecnologia Espacial, a joint venture between Telebras Telecomunicações Brasileiras and Embraer Defense and Security, estimates it is almost halfway to the point where it can build a satellite completely in-house. Established in 2012, the company’s goal is to create a domestic satellite…

Gazprom officials relocating the Yamal 300K satellite. Photo: Gazprom Space Systems [Via Satellite 04-21-2015] Gazprom Space Systems on April 15 began its campaign to move the Yamal 300K satellite from the 90 degrees east orbital slot to a new location at 183 degrees east. The satellite is using electric propulsion to shift east at a…

SKYM 1 in Orbital ATK’s Dulles, Va. satellite manufacturing facility. Photo: Orbital ATK [Via Satellite 04-21-2015] Orbital ATK has transported the Sky Mexico 1 (SKYM 1) satellite for DirecTV to Arianespace’s Kourou, French Guiana launch site after completing the manufacturing in 20 months — four months ahead of schedule. The satellite, Orbital ATK’s first for…