Industry Latest

Orion-related work drive sales for Lockheed Martin’s Space Segment in Q4 2014. Photo: Lockheed Martin [Via Satellite 01-28-2015] Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems segment increased net sales by 10 percent during the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to the same quarter in 2013. The $368 million increase mainly stemmed from higher net sales of approximately $325…

Michel de Rosen, chairman and chief executive officer, Eutelsat. Photo: Eutelsat [Via Satellite 01-28-2015] Leaders from African nations have gathered for a meeting arranged by the African Telecommunication Union to ready for the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) this November in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting, held in Abuja, Nigeria, is where African states will define…

Technicians preparing Proton for launch. Photo: Khrunichev [Via Satellite 01-28-2015] Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center reports the Proton Integrated Launch Vehicle (ILV) has been transferred to the fueling area at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Fueling the Breeze-M upper stage low-pressure tanks will take two days to complete, after which the rocket will be rolled…

Harris Corp Washington building. Photo: Harris [Via Satellite 01-28-2015] The Air National Guard (ANG) has contracted Harris Corporation to supply five-channel vehicle communication systems for ground-to-air communications. The systems include the Falcon 3 AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack radios, the RF-7800I advanced vehicle intercom system and a Unity XG-100M full-spectrum multiband mobile radio. In addition to providing…

Iridium’s satellite network operations center (SNOC). Photo: Iridium [Via Satellite 01-28-2015] Appareo Systems, an electronics and software service provider for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) has entered a long-term partnership with Iridium to provide its customers with satellite connectivity. Customers in agriculture and general aviation will be the first focus, followed by the aerospace and construction…

Artist’s rendition of the first 6 OG2 satellites. Photo: SNC [Via Satellite 01-27-2015] Orbcomm’s acquisitions of SkyWave and InSync bring to eight the number of acquisitions it has conducted since 2011. SkyWave, formerly Inmarsat’s largest reseller in the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) market, was Orbcomm’s biggest acquisition of the eight, for $130 million. Through its Merger and…

Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves, SMC commander, speaks at the AD standup ceremony, Jan. 9. Photo: Sarah Corrice [Via Satellite 01-27-2015] The United States Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) has activated the Advanced Systems and Development Directorate (SMC/AD), effective Jan. 9, having completed the merger of the Space Development and Test Directorate, and…

Orbital Sciences President and CEO David Thompson on the left, and ATK President and CEO Mark DeYoung on the right. Photos: ATK and Orbital Sciences [Via Satellite 01-27-2015] In separate meetings, stockholders from Orbital Sciences and Alliant Techsystems (ATK) voted to approve the merger of Orbital Sciences with ATK’s Aerospace and Defense Group originally announced…

Official launch ceremony of RPO RMTR TV platform with Vice Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, Elvira Sarieva (left) and Eutelsat’s David Geiling. Photo: Eutelsat [Via Satellite 01-27-2015] With analogue broadcasts switching off in June this year, the Kyrgyz Republic’s public broadcaster RPO RMTR has signed onto the Eutelsat 70B satellite. The multi-year agreement ramps up the…

EDRS-A undergoing thermal vacuum testing. Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 01-27-2015] The European Space Agency (ESA) has confirmed its intention to see the European Data Relay System (EDRS) through to completion. The decision followed meetings between the agency, the European Commission and Airbus. On Jan. 28, ESA and Airbus — the two primary partners for EDRS…