February 2016

LONESTAR satellite deployment. Photo: MEI Technologies [Via Satellite 02-24-2016] Two satellites, Texas A&M University’s AggieSat4 satellite and University of Texas’ Bevo 2 satellite, have deployed from the International Space Station (ISS), MEI Technologies (MEIT) announced Feb. 23. The satellites are for a mission dubbed the Low Earth Orbiting Navigation Experiment for Spacecraft Testing Autonomous Rendezvous…

The EchoStar 19 satellite’s infrastructure, scheduled to launch in 2016, will be similar to that of the EchoStar 17 (above). Photo: [Via Satellite 02-24-2016] Mexico-based Internet service provider StarGroup has entered a contract worth more than $200 million for a significant portion of the capacity on EchoStar 19 and a Hughes Jupiter System for the…

ISU’s Strasbourg, France headquarters. Photo: ISU [Via Satellite 02-24-2016] The International Space University (ISU) has set the date of Feb. 29 as the final call to submit statements of interest to host the new Robert A. Heinlein Institute for Space Entrepreneurship and Space Innovation. ISU is seeking applications from American institutions to establish the institute…

[Via Satellite 02-24-2016] Comtech Telecommunications has closed its acquisition of TeleCommunication Systems (TCS), the company announced on Feb. 23. As a result of the completion of the merger, the common stock of TCS is no longer listed for trading on the Nasdaq Global Market or any other exchange, and trading ceased at the close of…

Jerry Bowman, president and CEO of InfraGard. Photo: InfraGard [Via Satellite 02-23-2016] Satellite companies should be ready for increased attention from cyber criminals that will very likely lead to an increase in cyber attacks, according to Jerry Bowman, president and CEO of the InfraGard National Members Alliance. InfraGard is a partnership between the U.S. Federal…

Photo by Masahiko Ohkubo, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. [Via Satellite 02-23-2016] Pricing for satellite capacity has fallen at a rate of 2 to 3 percent per year on average since 2010, according to new research from Northern Sky Research (NSR). The firm links the drop in price to industry factors such as…

Jay Monroe, chairman and CEO, Globalstar (left) and Avidyne’s President and CEO, Dan Schwinn, sign new partnership agreement. Photo: Globalstar [Via Satellite 02-23-2016] Globalstar has entered a strategic partnership with integrated avionics and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) systems producer Avidyne Corporation to develop and certify satellite-based Internet and voice communications products for the aviation market.…

Photo: SES [Via Satellite 02-23-2016] Gogo has contracted SES for major High Throughput Satellite (HTS) spot beam and wide beam capacity aboard two of SES’s next-generation HTS satellites, SES 14 and SES 15, which are set for launch in 2017. The pair of satellites will enable Gogo to support an enhanced In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity…

Qantas has selected ViaSat as its connectivity provider for domestic flights. Photo: Qantas [Via Satellite 02-23-2016] ViaSat has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement with Qantas Airways, Australia’s largest domestic and international airline, to provide In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) to Qantas passengers on its domestic flights. The agreement with Qantas represents the broadband company’s first Asia-Pacific…

Vaibhav Abhyankar, CEO of AOneSat. Photo: AOneSat [Via Satellite 02-22-2016] AOneSat, a new Swiss satellite operator formed by Indian space industry entrepreneurs, is forming the plans to purchase and build its first satellites within the next year or two. The company founders got their start supplying key systems to the Indian space program, and over…