July 2015

[Via Satellite 07-20-2015] Comtech EF Data subsidiary Memotec received a $1 million order from a North African GSM operator to support its satellite-based GSM backhaul network upgrade and expansion. Comtech EF Data is supplying the CDM-625A advanced satellite modem with DoubleTalk carrier-in-carrier bandwidth compression, and VersaFEC-2 forward-error correction will be deployed along with the CXU Radio Access Network (RAN) optimization. According to…

Casper Jensen, vice president of business development at Cobham Satcom. Photo: Cobham Satcom [Via Satellite 07-17-2017] Cobham Satcom is increasing its focus on land terminals as a growth market, and sees potential for High Throughput Satellites (HTS) to be a catalyst for the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) industry. In doing so, the company is…

Lockheed Martin’s GPS 3 anechoic chamber. Photo: Lockheed Martin [Via Satellite 07-17-2015] Satellite manufacturers will build more than 430 communications satellites between now and 2024, reaching an estimated production value of $60.2 billion, according to new research from Forecast International. The firm’s new report, “The Market for Commercial Communications Satellites,” finds that demand for telecommunications…

Arianespace’s new Fregat Fueling Facility (FCube). Photo: Arianespace [Via Satellite 07-17-2015] Following the completion of a design and construction phase that lasted slightly more than two years, Arianespace has inaugurated its new Fregat Fueling Facility (FCube) at Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The building, constructed mostly by local contractors, met its…

Artist’s rendition of Firefly Alpha. Photo: Firefly Space Systems [Via Satellite 07-17-2015] Firefly Space Systems, has released its Payload User’s Guide for the Alpha vehicle, the company’s first small satellite rocket in a scalable family of launch vehicles currently under development. The Payload User’s Guide provides Firefly’s customers with information detailing the operations and capabilities of…

EMC’s headquarters in Miramar, Fla. Photo: EMC [Via Satellite 07-17-2015] Emerging Markets Communications (EMC) has completed its acquisition of Maritime Telecommunications Network (MTN), previously announced on April 29. The combined global company retains the name EMC and is now headquartered at MTN’s Miramar, Fla. offices. Through the acquisition, EMC will merge its government, oil and gas, and commercial shipping…

Globalstar’s Spot Gen3 satellite device. Photo: Globalstar [Via Satellite 07-17-2015] Junta de Castilla La Mancha, the administrative authority that oversees forest and wildfire management for Castilla La Mancha in central Spain, has selected Globalstar subsidiary Globalstar Europe Satellite Services to provide Spot Gen3safety devices to track and protect teams of firefighters. Wildfire solutions specialist Technosylva…

Artist’s rendition of the Houston, Texas spaceport. Photo: Houston Airport System [Via Satellite 07-15-2015] The Houston Airport System (HAS) is looking to position itself at the heart of the space industry as it moves forward with plans to establish a commercial spaceport at Ellington Airport (EFD). FAA officials have recently granted HAS a launch site…

Russia’s Angara 1.2 rocket. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defence [Via Satellite 07-16-2015] International Launch Services (ILS) is now actively marketing the Angara 1.2 launch vehicle along with the flagship Proton rocket, expanding the company’s range of launch options. Built by Khrunichev State Research and Space Production Center (Khrunichev), the majority owner of ILS, the Angara…

Arianespace’s VA224 mission on July 15, 2015. Photo: Arianespace [Via Satellite 07-16-2015] On the heels of its third Ariane 5 launch of the year, Arianespace clenched a new contract from the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) to orbit geostationary satellites from the upcoming Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) series. The company received…