News & Events

An ESA Swarm satellite at IABG Space Test Center. Photo: Airbus Defence and Space [Via Satellite 08-26-2015] An average of 140 satellites with launch masses greater than 50 kg will enter orbit by 2024, according to Euroconsult’s new “Satellites to be Built & Launched by 2024,” report. Of the 1,400 satellites over the next decade,…

Artist’s rendition of a satellite built on SSL’s flagship 1300 series platform. Photo: SSL [Via Satellite 08-26-2015] The United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a contract to Space Systems/Loral (SSL) to study on-orbit robotic assembly of geostationary communications satellites. The program, dubbed Dragonfly, will evaluate ways to build satellites in space…

Welzheim Observatory telescopes. Photo: Welzheim Observatory [Via Satellite 08-26-2015] Signalhorn has agreed to modernize the satellite communications equipment for the Welzheim Observatory in Germany. The site, intentionally distanced from major population centers, collects light from celestial bodies that would otherwise be washed out by light pollution. Due to its location, the remote site is reliant…

Pierre-Jean Beylier, CEO of SpeedCast. Photo: SpeedCast [Via Satellite 08-26-2015] SpeedCast delivered a statutory profit of $2.2 million for the first half of 2015, improving from a loss of $5.5 million during the comparative period in 2014. The company demonstrated double digit year-on-year growth across all major Profit and Loss (P&L) metrics, with statutory revenues…

Artist rendering of a CYGNSS satellite monitoring a hurricane. Photo: NASA [Via Satellite 08-25-2015] The University of Michigan recently started building a constellation of eight microsatellites for use on NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission, which aims to improve hurricane forecasting. The mission, when launched in October 2016, will be the first in…

Digital rendering of a BCT satellite based on the XB1 bus. Photo: BCT [Via Satellite 08-25-2015] Commercial weather startup PlanetiQ has opened a science and engineering facility in Boulder, Colo., where the development and manufacture of the first 12 Pyxis sensors will take place. The facility includes a laboratory clean room, and is collocated with Blue…

Artist’s rendition of Es’hail 2. Photo: Mitsubishi Electric [Via Satellite 08-25-2015] Qatari satellite company Es’hailSat has selected a 50,000 square meter site north of the city of Doha, Qatar, to establish a new teleport. Promer Qatar Contracting Company will design and build the teleport, with design finalization expected by the first quarter of 2016, and…

Lockheed Martin’s High Power Microcryocooler. Photo: Lockheed Martin [Via Satellite 08-25-2015] Lockheed Martin scientists have improved threefold the power density of the company’s High Power Microcryocooler. The new system cools optics and electronics to as low as minus 320 F (minus 195 C) while maintaining roughly the same power efficiency rating as lower-power coolers. Highly…

[Via Satellite 08-25-2015] Top Brazilian television network TV Globo has selected Newtec’s M6100 broadcast satellite modulator to upgrade its Satellite Newsgathering (SNG) fleet. The company is transitioning its news feeds to High Definition (HD) as part of an all-HD production strategy that includes the entire SNG fleets of the Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and…

David Williams, CEO of Avanti. Photo: Avanti [Via Satellite 08-24-2015] British satellite operator Avanti, having finished the financing for its latest satellite, now plans to redouble its focus on sales and marketing for satellite services throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The company announced Aug. 18 that it had completed financing for Hylas…