September 2015

A satellite dish. photo: WTA [Via Satellite 09-14-2015] The World Teleport Association (WTA) has started its Teleport Certification Program with a team of four beta customers: du, Elara Comunicaciones, GlobalSat and The Talia Group. WTA’s Teleport Certification Program aims to serve both teleport operators and their customers by creating an objective, transparent, and internationally accepted…

IDC’s SuperFlex Pro Data. Photo: IDC [Via Satellite 09-14-2015] International Datacasting Corporation (IDC) has received new orders totaling more than CA$1,100,000 ($830,000) to support the U.S. government in the expansion of its secure worldwide satellite broadcast network. The company will supply the software-based Cyphercast Client and the hardware-based SuperFlex Pro Data 3104 receiver. The SuperFlex Pro…

Slava Levin, Co-founder and CEO of Ethnic Channels Group. Photo: Ethnic Channels Group. [Via Satellite 09-11-2015] Over-the-Top (OTT) broadcasting, an increasingly popular method of video distribution, is having a damaging effect on the industry, according to Ethnic Channels Group Co-founder and CEO Slava Levin. The broadcaster, which provides non-English language digital TV channels to multicultural populations…

Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine. Photo: Blue Origin [Via Satellite 09-11-2015] United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Blue Origin have signed a new agreement to expand production capabilities for the American-made BE-4 engine that will power the Vulcan next generation launch system. Under development by Blue Origin for more than three years, the BE-4 is to replace…

Headquartered in New York, with offices in Hong Kong and London, High 4K is an international 24/7 Ultra-HD entertainment channel that features content in 4K. Photo: High TV [Via Satellite 09-11-2015] High TV has debuted a 24/7 multi-genre linear Ultra-HD cable TV channel through the SES 3 satellite. The new Ultra-HD network is called High…

Arianespace’s Sept. 10, 2015 Soyuz launch of Galileo 9 and 10. Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 09-11-2015] Two Full Operational Capability (FOC) Galileo satellites for Europe’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) launched Sept. 10 aboard an Arianespace Soyuz rocket. Galileo 9 and 10, also known as Alba and Oriana, entered their target orbit close to 23,500-km…

An AvL Techologies Ka-band broadband antenna. Photo: AvL [Via Satellite 09-11-2015] ViaSat has granted terminal type approval certification to five new Ka-band mobile VSAT antenna models from AvL Technologies for use on the company’s Ka-band enterprise service network. The antennas include an 85cm flyaway, 85cm vehicle-mount, 1.2m flyaway, 1.2m vehicle-mount and a specialized dual-band 1.2m…

I-5 F3 Rendered Image. Photo: Inmarsat [Via Satellite 09-10-2015] With the successful launch of Inmarsat-5 F3 (I-5 F3), the third satellite in the Global Xpress (GX) constellation, Inmarsat is looking to trigger global service by the end of this year. After two Proton failures pushed back I-5 F3 back by almost a year, the operator…

Firefly FRE-R1 engine test on Test Stand 1. Photo: Firefly Space Systems [Via Satellite 09-10-2015] Firefly Space Systems, designer of a series of dedicated launch vehicles for small satellites, today tested its first rocket engine Firefly Rocket Engine Research 1 (FRE-R1). The test took place at the recently completed 200 acre test facility in Briggs, Texas,…

Astra satellite dishes. Photo: SES [Via Satellite 09-10-2015] TV Entertainment Reality Network (TERN), a Netherlands-based company, has contracted capacity from SES under a long-term agreement for a new Free-to-Air (FTA) channel, which will start to air in October in both HD and Ultra-HD quality. The new channel will be exclusively available via satellite in Europe…