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Huancavelica city, one of the regions the Gilat-backed project will benefit. Photo: David Alexis, Wikimedia Commons [Via Satellite 03-06-2015] Peru’s telecommunications investment fund Fitel has awarded a $285 million regional telecommunications infrastructure project to Gilat Satellite Networks. This is the largest contract ever won by the company since its inception. Fitel’s regional initiative represents the…

Four RWA-1000 reaction wheels. Photo: PRNewsFoto/Millennium Space Systems [Via Satellite 03-06-2015] Millennium Space Systems has shipped out their first set of RWA-1000 small satellite reaction wheels to commercial customer Space Systems/Loral (SSL) in Palo Alto, Calif. This first delivery — under a contract from SSL inked four months ago — establishes Millennium’s entry into the…

Ginza district in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Francisco Diez, Wikimedia Commons [Via Satellite 03-06-2015] Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation has established a new subsidiary to expand delivery of Japanese content to overseas audiences. Cool Japan Fund and Sky Perfect JSAT will invest in the new WakuWaku Japan Company. WakuWaku Japan was formerly a business product from Sky…

UK spaceport artist rendition. Photo: Gov.UK [Via Satellite 03-06-2015] Publishing the outcome of a 3-month spaceport consultation with a range of interested parties, the U.K. government confirmed widespread support for its plans. This paves the way toward making commercial spaceflight operations in the U.K. a reality. The U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had shortlisted a…

Small Sats Deployed from the ISS. Photo: NanoRacks [Via Satellite 03-05-2015] Euroconsult’s newly released small satellite research report projects a total of 510 smallsats to be launched in the next five years — a two-thirds pick up from the average number of these spacecraft orbited in the last decade. The report, entitled “Prospects for the…

Arabsat 5C before launch. Photo: Arianespace [Via Satellite 03-04-2015] Arabsat and CETel, a global solutions provider for satellite- and fiber-enabled communications and networks, are starting a partnership with their jointly built Earth station, offering business expansion possibilities with the launch of CETel services over Arabsat’s extended C-band. The collaboration will include CETel’s teleport facilities, network…

Hughes’ EchoStar 19 satellite, scheduled to launch in 2016, will have a similar infrastructure to that of the EchoStar 17 (above). Photo: Hughes [Via Satellite 03-04-2015] Hughes Network Systems is providing its high-throughput, Ka-band Jupiter System for a major technology upgrade on Malaysian satellite communications services provider TS Global Network’s (TSGN) existing C-band satellite network.…

[Via Satellite 03-04-2015] Inmarsat Government announced that its new L-band Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (LAISR) service has completed successful customer airborne testing and will be available for U.S. government customers by June. This new LAISR service will meet the high-speed, Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) connectivity requirements of Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (AISR)…

CDM 625A modem. Photo: Comtech EF Data [Via Satellite 03-04-2015] Comtech EF Data received a $1.1 million order for satellite communications equipment and services during its third quarter of fiscal 2015. The equipment will be used by one of the largest pan-regional Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to upgrade and significantly expand its infrastructure throughout the…

Vern Fotheringham, CEO of Leosat. Photo: Kymeta [Via Satellite 03-04-2015] Former Kymeta CEO Vern Fotheringham has joined startup company Leosat to lead it in building a constellation of High Throughput Satellites (HTS) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). As CEO, he will guide the creation of a constellation expected to provide 1.2 Gbs of synchronous connections…