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Mark Daniels, VP of engineering and operations for Intelsat General. Photo: Intelsat General [Via Satellite 10-07-2014] As Intelsat prepares for EpicNG, its next generation High Throughput Satellites (HTS), a key focus will be on gaining strength in the military market. This sector has presented a challenge to Intelsat recently, as sequestration and contract consolidation led…

Inmarsat 5 F1 and Inmarsat 5 F2 in a Boeing facility. Photo: Inmarsat [Via Satellite 10-07-2014] Inmarsat, in partnership with its Value Added Resellers, has started providing wideband communications capability to U.S. government customers through its Global Xpress service carried over the first Inmarsat 5 satellite. Using 72 fixed beams in commercial Ka-band, along with…

Some members of the Phoenix-20 HS design team with an artist’s impression of the product are Duncan Stanton project manager, Hendrik Burger chief technical officer, and Marcello Bartolini systems engineer. Photo: SCSH [Via Satellite 10-07-2014] South African aerospace group Space Commercial Service Holdings (SCSH) has launched its first self-developed export product. The Phoenix-20 HS is…

DHF 4 bus, which was used for the VeneSat 1 satellite. Photo: China Great Wall Industry Corporation [Via Satellite 10-07-2014] The Venezuelan government has signed a new agreement with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), China’s state-owned sole commercial satellite launch service provider, to build and deliver into orbit the country’s third satellite, according to…

Exelis’ Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). Photo: Exelis [Via Satellite 10-07-2014] The Exelis-built Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) will launch Oct. 7 on board a Mitsubishi Electric Corporation weather satellite, Himawari 8. The instrument will help improve weather forecasts and early warnings for severe weather in Eastern Asia and Western Pacific. The Himawari imagers are based on…

FlexNsert+ DAB+ Distribution Inserter. Photo: 2wcom [Via Satellite 10-07-2014] Italian network operator Club DAB Italia has rolled out the country’s nationwide Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) service in partnership with 2wcom’s FlexNsert+ and FlexXtract+. The 2wcom technology was deployed to allow the DAB network to be fed with an Ensemble Transport Interface (ETI) stream and distributed…

A Transaero Boeing 737 connected flight. Photo: Transaero. Last week, on a return flight from Moscow to London, I was able to test Transaero Airlines’ In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) service “Transaero Connect” for the firs time. I was eager to see what I would make of the experience and, perhaps more importantly, whether this is an…

ISRO’s PSLV C25 mission. Photo: ISRO [Via Satellite 10-062014] Com Dev International has signed a new launch contract for the M3M satellite originally slated to launch on a Russian Soyuz in June 2014. Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has scheduled the satellite for a 2015 launch on the Polar…

Myanmar. Photo: Jose Javier Martin Espartosa (Flickr) [Via Satellite 10-06-2014] Following meetings with the Ministry of Communications of Myanmar, GS Group has announced intentions of providing satellite-broadcasting services with a local partner. GS Group participated in the Inter-governmental Russian-Myanmar Commission’s first session in August, where representatives presented on how to facilitate international digital TV broadcasting…

Pléiades Satellite Image – Refloating of the Costa Concordia, Italy. Photo: Airbus Defence and Space [Via Satellite 10-06-2014] Exelis and Airbus Defence and Space have partnered to streamline access to and use of geospatial imagery products from both companies. Beginning today, customers who purchase Exelis’ ENVI or ENVI SARScape by the end of the year…