January 2016

UltiSat is seeing a lift in contract awards as government budgets loosen. Photo: UltiSat [Via Satellite 01-14-2016] UltiSat, a satellite communications provider that operates out of Maryland in the United States, is looking forward to growing government activity after a “perfect storm” of sequestration and overcapacity capped the market in the last few years. The…

An Atlas 5 lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. SMC’s OTA awards are part of a comprehensive Air Force plan to transition off the Russian-supplied RD-180 propulsion system used on the Atlas 5 rocket by investing in industry solutions with the ultimate goal to competitively procure launch services in a domestic launch…

The PRC-155 Manpack Radio. Photo: General Dynamics [Via Satellite 01-14-2016] General Dynamics Mission Systems‘ has successfully provided voice and data communications with on-orbit Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellites during a recently concluded government test of the MUOS satellite network. The demonstration used the two-channel AN/PRC-155 MUOS-Manpack radio, and was part of an Army conducted…

Fashion One 4K. Photo: Fashion One [Via Satellite 01-14-2016] RR Media has announced an upgraded contract renewal with fashion, entertainment and lifestyle broadcaster Fashion One television network, to provide content management and global delivery services for nine of the network’s channels in multiple configurations and localized versions both in SD and HD formats. Fashion One…

[Via Satellite 01-14-2016] Globalstar appointed David Kagan as the company’s new president and Chief Operating Officer (COO) effective Jan. 13. Kagan is responsible for all functions in support of the company’s revenue growth and will report to Jay Monroe, chairman and CEO. Immediately before joining Globalstar, Kagan was president of ITC Global. He also served as president and…

The H-2A rocket launch of the Telstar 12 Vantage. Photo: MHI [Via Satellite 01-13-2016] Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MH) hopes the successful launch of Telesat’s Telstar 12 Vantage satellite on the H-2A rocket will be the precursor to more international business. Ko Ogasawara, vice president and general manager at MHI Launch Services, told Via Satellite that…

SES Channel Growth Infographic. Click to expand. [Via Satellite 01-13-2016] SES announced the transmission of a record number of TV channels on board its satellite fleet as of Dec.31, 2015. SES reports its TV channel count grew by 11.3 percent to 7,268 channels during 2015, compared with an overall growth of 2 percent for the…

Dolgarrog, a village in Whales, served by the the Access Broadband Cymru program. Photo: Ian Greig [Via Satellite 01-13-2016] Satellite Internet, a specialist satellite Internet Service Provider (ISP), is supporting the Access Broadband Cymru (ABC) plan as a registered supplier. The scheme provides grants to help significantly improve broadband speeds in Wales. Continuing its policy…

Artist rendition of the LM 300 satellite bus. Photo: Lockheed Martin [Via Satellite 01-13-2016] Lockheed Martin has selected Northrop Grumman to supply its LN-200S fiber-optic Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) for the LM 300 satellite bus. The LN-200S is a small, lightweight navigational element that senses acceleration and angular motion, providing data outputs used by vehicle…

Photo: Qualcomm [Via Satellite 01-13-2016] Qualcomm and TDK announced an agreement to form a joint venture to enable delivery of RF Front-End (RFFE) modules and RF filters into fully integrated systems for mobile devices and fast-growing business segments, such as Internet of Things (IoT), drones, robotics, automotive applications and more, under the name RF360 Holdings…