April 2015

[Via Satellite 04-15-2015] Honeywell Aerospace, Inmarsat, and Kymeta are working together to design, create and test a new, higher-speed, Ka-band wireless antenna for business and commercial aircraft customers around the globe. The smaller and more compact design will allow the antenna to be installed on a wider variety of aircraft, including smaller business aviation aircraft.…

Sophisticated upper atmospheric models will be compared to GOLD data. Photo: Florida Space Institute [Via Satellite 04-15-2015] The University of Colorado has awarded a five-year contract to SES Government Solutions (SES GS) to host a NASA-funded payload on board the SES 14 satellite. The primary purpose of the Global-Scale Observations of the Limb and Disk…

Norsat’s GLOBETrekker 2.0 portable satellite terminals. Photo: Norsat. [Via Satellite 04-15-2015] Norsat International has received an purchasing order from the U.S. Defense Media Activity (DMA) for its GLOBETrekkerTM 2.0 portable satellite terminals, along with its 50W Atom series Block Upconverters (BUCs) to enable satellite uplink of live high definition or standard definition video from the…

GSP-1700 Satellite Phones. Photo: Globalstar [Via Satellite 04-15-2015] Globalstar announced its new aviation antenna is now available for use with Experimental Category Aircraft (STC for Part 23 aircraft approval pending), offering pilots fast and affordable satellite communication. Paired with the Globalstar Satellite Phone (GSP-1700) or the Globalstar Sat-Fi satellite hotspot, the new aviation antenna allows…

Artist rendition of the future Vulcan vehicle during lift off. Photo: ULA COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — United Launch Alliance (ULA) plans to recover the first stage engine of its Next-Generation Launch System (NGLS), called Vulcan, in mid-air after flight in an effort to dramatically reduce the cost of launch, company President and CEO Tory Bruno…

Aftermath of Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu. Photo: UNICEF Pacific [Via Satellite 04-14-2015] As communities in the South Pacific Islands of Vanuatu grapple with major devastation and severe power and communications outages left in the wake of Cyclone Pam, Intelsat, BT Group, and ITC Global have donated satellite capacity, equipment and manpower to help restore critical…

Ariane 5’s payload fairing is lowered over THOR 7. The details this satellite’s installation atop the SYLDA dispenser system. Photo: Arianespace [Via Satellite 04-14-2015] Arianespace has announced that, during the preparations for the roll-out of the Ariane 5 launcher for flight VA222, an anomaly occurred on a fluid connector between the cryogenic upper stage and…

MEOSAT’s main hub is based in the Basra Industrial Community (BIC) within the North Rumaila Oil Field in Southern Iraq. Photo: MEOSAT [Via Satellite 04-14-2015] O3b Networks announced a multi-year agreement to provide trunking services to Dubai-based MEOSAT, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) servicing the oil and gas industry. MEOSAT will use the significant O3b…

Photo: Eutelsat [Via Satellite 04-14-2015] Televisa has renewed and increased capacity on three Eutelsat Communications satellites with coverage of the Americas. The multi-year, multi-transponder contract strengthening the longstanding relationship between Televisa and Eutelsat was announced at the NAB show in Las Vegas, Nev. The new contract, which includes distribution of HD content, increases capacity on…

SES’ VP of business development for North America discussing the company’s 4K strategy at NAB. Photo: Caleb Henry/Via Satellite. [Via Satellite 04-13-2015] SES is planning its Ultra-HD foray in the United States with the start of its first 24/7 pilot channel in the coming months. The channel would be based on technology the company is…