Industry Latest

Artist’s rendition of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Photo: NASA [Via Satellite 12-17-2014] NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. TESS will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, with liftoff targeted for August 2017 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The total cost for…

Advantech’s 2.5kW TROPO C-Band Modular Solid State GaN Power Amplifier. Photo: Advantech Wireless [Via Satellite 12-17-2014] Advantech Wireless has released its new 2.5kW Tropo C-Band Modular GaN-based Solid State Power Amplifier (SSPA). The new model ARMA-CL2500A operates over the low C-band tropo frequency of 4.4 – 5.0 GHz, and it is fully modular with built-in…

Photo: m01229 (Flickr) [Via Satellite 12-16-2014] Gogo does not see Air-to-Ground as sufficient as a standalone solution for in-flight connectivity, according to President and CEO Michael Small. “I would say that an air-to-ground solution by itself is no longer competitive,” said Small during a UBS investor presentation. “If connectivity is transformative to aviation, you can’t…

Vern Fortheringham, chairman and CEO, Kymeta. Photo: Kymeta [Via Satellite 12-16-2014] Vern Fotheringham, CEO of Kymeta, is stepping down at the end of the year. In his place, Nathan Kundtz, president, CTO and co-founder will serve as CEO on an interim basis while the board of directors initializes a search for a new CEO. “We…

ESA Ministerial Council meeting in Luxembourg. Photo: ESA [Via Satellite 12-16-2014] Based on negotiations at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ministerial Council in Luxembourg on Dec. 2, the U.K. Space Agency has decided on an extra investment worth more than $315 million into European space programs. Approximately $205 million is dedicated to satellite telecommunications programs.…

Rendering of three satellites in the Eutelsat Hot Bird satellite group. Photo: Eutelsat [Via Satellite 12-16-2014] Eutelsat Communications has received a contract renewal from Poland’s nc+ for nine transponders at the Hot Bird video neighborhood. Through this renewal, nc+ plans to expand the digital services it broadcasts Direct to Home (DTH) for 2.2 million subscribers.…

Photo: Indi Samarajiva (Flickr) [Via Satellite 12-16-2014] The satellite communications industry has elected five new members to the Global VSAT Forum’s board of directors, bringing the total number of board members to seven. The newly elected members are Arabsat’s Yasir Hassan Michael and Intelsat’s DeMarco. Re-elected board members are Nancy Eskenazi of SES, Arunas Slekys…

A digital rendering of Arabsat’s Badr 5 satellite. Photo: Airbus Defence and Space [Via Satellite 12-16-2014] Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operator STC has finished the renewal and upgrade of the company’s satellite hub for Arabsat in Riyadh. Arabsat President and CEO Khalid Balkheyour said the multi-million dollar renewal enables reliable communications on the…

Carmen González-Sanfeliu, regional vice president of Latin America and Caribbean operations for Intelsat. Photo: Intelsat [Via Satellite 12-15-2014] On Oct. 16, Intelsat began the first of four consecutive satellite launches aimed at expanding services in Latin America where the company already dedicates a quarter of its fleet. In 2013, 16 percent of the company’s revenues…

Samsung Electronics shows off Ulra-HD TV to the Vienna State Opera. Photo: SamsungTomorrow (Flickr) [Via Satellite 12-15-2014] The public television broadcasters Ceska Televize (CT) of the Czech Republic and RTVS of Slovakia are collaborating with Czech digital infrastructure provider Ceske Radiokomunikace to test Ultra-HD broadcasts using SES’ Astra 3B satellite. SES recently joined the Ultra…