NASA, NPOESS, FCSA: Everything Changes in February
While Washington D.C. gets buried under two major snowstorms, the White House, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) announced initiatives that completely will change the way the U.S. government space and satellite sectors function.
    I can imagine that neither business strategists nor executive directors in the government sector got any sleep this week. In the first 10 days of February, NASA’s manned Constellation lunar mission and the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program have been dismantled. GSA and DISA issued their solicitation for the $5 billion, 10-year Future Commercial Satellite Communications Services Acquisition (FCSA) contract vehicle.
    These shifts are a lot to take in and comprehend at the same time. As a news editor, I can confirm that even the task of reporting on the government beat this month has required several cups of coffee and days of playing phone tag with government officials who are either trapped at home or sleeping in their offices due to the blizzard.
    The brutal winter weather, mixed with the U.S. government policy du jour, has injected both energy and emotion into a sector that already has carried some satellite companies through one of the hardest economic periods in recent history. In the words of Dana Carvey, the best response to this oncoming traffic is: “Game on!”

-Jeffrey Hill
News Editor, Satellite TODAY

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Top Story
Obama Proposes Sweeping Changes to NASA, NPOESS Programs
U.S. President Barack Obama has proposed drastic changes to NASA’s manned Constellation lunar mission and the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program in the U.S. government’s 2011 fiscal year budget. The budget terminates NASA’s work on Orion, the follow-up vehicle to the space shuttle; ending development on two NASA rockets designed to fly manned missions to the moon while handing over space transportation and future human exploration mission to private commercial companies... More»

Industry News
GSA, DISA Issue $5 Billion FCSA Solicitation
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the ... More»

White House Looks to Dismantle NPOESS Program
The National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program will be dismantled and split between separate projects headed by the ... More»

Obama Cuts NASA’s Moon Spacecraft Program
The White House has terminated NASA’s work on Orion, the follow-up vehicle to the Space Shuttle; ended development on two NASA rockets designed to fly manned missions to the moon; and will hand over space transportation and future human exploration mission to private commercial companies, according to President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2010 governmental budget, released Feb... More»

ATK Appoints CEO; Posts Strong Third Quarter Results
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) appointed Mark DeYoung President and CEO, effective immediately, the company announced Feb... More»

MSTP Founder Warns of Potential Global Space Arms Race by 2025
A second global arms race may erupt by 2025 if the international community does not take steps toward a space treaty program, according to a forecast published by the Military Space Transparency Project (MSTP), released Feb... More»

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Industry Focus
Australian Government Official Outlines Hosted Payload Deal with Intelsat
The Australian Defense Force’s (ADF) deal with Intelsat to purchase a specialized UHF communications payload aboard the IS-22 satellite represented the best value-for-money tender received during its industry solicitation process, an ADF spokesperson said. IS-22’s “capability meets our strategic needs over the Indian Ocean Region, will be delivered in a timeframe that meets our needs and will reduce our [satellite communications] lease operating costs over the 15 year life of the IS-22 capability,” the spokesperson, who asked not to be named, said... More»

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Executive Q&A
GeoEye Vice President Mark Brender: Satellite Imagery's Role in Afghanistan
GeoEye has a long history of providing the U.S. military and its allies with imagery of Afghanistan. In 2009, GeoEye’s single largest customer, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), upgraded its business relationship with GeoEye to a service-level agreement, which Vice President Mark Brender considers a milestone for the company. “The service-level agreement is good for NGA because they can rely on a predictable and constant supply of imagery and it is good for us because we can count on a predictable revenue stream,” said Brender... More»

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Contracts
U.S. Navy Selects CapRock CommandAccess for Haitian Relief Efforts
The U.S. Navy has issued a contract to CapRock Government Solutions to provide emergency satellite communications services as part of ... More»

Northrop to Build GOES-R Cryocoolers
Northrop Grumman has been selected by ITT Corp... More»

U.S. Military Orders Additional LinkWayS2 Modems from ViaSat
ViaSat has received $1.9 million in additional orders from the U... More»

Astrium Wins Second Subsystem Order from Turkish Navy
Astrium has been awarded a follow-on contract for the delivery of a second set of subsystems to the Turkish Navy’s Milgem satellite communications program, the company announced Feb... More»

IDC Wins Canadian Military Broadcasting Contract Extension
International Datacasting Corp. (IDC) received a $2... More»

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