General news on the satellite and space industry from around the web
Photo of Earth from Space. Photo: Tempus Global Data [Via Satellite 01-08-2015] Commercial weather company Tempus Global Data has signed a joint operating agreement with Ball Aerospace for the manufacture of six hyperspectral atmospheric sounding sensors based on the Sounding and Tracking Observatory for Regional Meteorology (STORM) instrument. As prime contractor, Ball Aerospace will build…
UHD Alliance. Photo: Samsung [Via Satellite 01-08-2015] Several companies involved in different aspects of the broadcasting ecosystem have joined forces to create the Ultra-High Definition (UHD) Alliance. Announced at CES 2015, the UHD Alliance is comprised of companies such as DirecTV, LG Electronics, Netflix, Sony Visual Product, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, Sharp Corporation, Dolby, Technicolor, The…
David Wajsgras (left) and Anthony O’Brien (right). Photo: Raytheon [Via Satellite 01-08-2015] Raytheon announced the appointment of two executive positions. Chairman and CEO Thomas Kennedy appointed David Wajsgras as president for Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services (IIS) business, succeeding Lynn Dugle, who announced plans to retire. Additionally, Anthony O’Brien has been appointed as vice president…
Artist’s rendition of an Astra satellite. Photo: Airbus Defence and Space [Via Satellite 01-08-2015] SES’ Astra 2G satellite, launched Dec. 27 aboard a Proton rocket from International Launch Services (ILS), reached Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) on Jan. 2, 2015. The satellite’s manufacturer, Airbus Defence and Space reported the solar arrays and reflector antennas have been…
Photo: Indi Samarajiva (Flickr) [Via Satellite 01-07-2015] As the 2015 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-15) draws nearer, the satellite industry is preparing again to defend its use of C-band spectrum. The International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) industry, which pushed for access to the lower portion of C band at WRC in 2007, has upped its demands for…
Kaena Point Satellite Tracking Station on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Photo: U.S. Air Force [Via Satellite 01-07-2015] Versar’s joint venture with Johnson Controls Federal Systems has received a $6.1 million award to repair electrical, water transmission and compressed air systems at Kaena Point Satellite Tracking Station in Hawaii and Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.…
Iridium NEXT satellites. Photo: Iridium [Via Satellite 01-07-2015] The Iridium NEXT platform software, developed by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space with contributions from Selex Galileo, has completed the first testing phase. Designed to handle all flight functions, such as attitude control, solar array positioning and navigation, the test was one of three to be completed…
Various space products from MESL Microwave. Photo: MESL Microwave [Via Satellite 01-07-2015] On Dec. 31, 2014 Com Dev International closed its purchase of MESL Microwave for approximately $19.3 million. The acquisition, announced on Dec. 12, was for 100 percent of the Scotland-based company. MESL Microwave designs components and subsystems for radar, communications, defense and aerospace…
Rob Ruijter, non-executive director at Inmarsat. Photo: Inmarsat. [Via Satellite 01-07-2015] Inmarsat has appointed Robert Ruijter as a non-executive director for the company. Effective Feb. 1, 2015, Ruijter will join the board of directors, where his diverse background in the commercial and financial sectors is expected to bring positive insights. A certified public accountant in…
[Via Satellite 01-07-2015] Semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics has started shipping its Ultra-HDp60 quad-core System-on-a-Chip (SoC) Integrated Circuits (ICs) (STiH314/318 and STiH414/418) to customers. Designed for use in Set-Top Boxes (STBs) the SoCs can decode Ultra-HD video using High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) at 60 frames per second with 10-bit color depth streams from all main video-encoder…