E-letter: Briefs

Northrop Grumman conducted its first ground test of an extended length 63-inch-diameter Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM 63XL) in Promontory, Utah on Thursday. This variation of the company’s GEM 63 strap-on […]

Maxar Technologies hired Jim McClelland as vice president of it its newly established Mission Architecture function. McClelland most recently served as chief technology innovation officer at Airbus U.S., Space and […]

BlackSky has selected Atlas Space Operations to provide telemetry, commanding, and data support for the two satellites recently launched in its Earth imaging satellite constellation. Atlas said in a Friday […]

Azercosmos has signed a capacity agreement with iSAT Africa for capacity on the Azerspace-2 satellite. iSAT Africa, a data, video, and internet service provider, will use the capacity to provide […]

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) revealed two two new satellite platforms: the SN-200M satellite bus designed for Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) and the SN-1000. These satellite platforms offer increased payload capacity for […]

Isotropic Systems appointed John-Paul (JP) Szczepanik as Senior Vice President (SVP) of Engineering. Szczepanik is an antenna development veteran and the former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Phasor. Szczepanik will […]

The Mission-Critical Technologies group of Comtech Telecommunications has been awarded $20 million in additional funding from the U.S. Army for a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) contract. The additional funding, […]

Iridium is partnering with CLS Telemetry, Everywhere Communications, Marlink, M2M Connectivity, Rock Seven, and Tesacom to test its newest satellite Internet of Things (IoT) device Iridium Edge Solar.  The solar-powered […]

KSAT is providing ground station support for a smallsat mission from a Norwegian university that is working to detect toxic algae blooms that threaten the region’s fish farm industry. This […]

Despite the pandemic and its effects on the economy, Planet says it is exceeding business targets in 2020. Co-founder and CEO Will Marshall shared in an update on Tuesday that […]

The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) awarded Cubic Mission Solutions (CMS) a follow-on, single-award, Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (ID/IQ) contract with a ceiling of $172 million. The contract is for the delivery […]

The newest military GPS satellite has recently received Operational Acceptance approval. Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) public affairs announced Monday that the GPS III Space Vehicle 03 received approval […]

Gilat Satellite Networks has been awarded more than $10 million for a five-year service project to provide 4G backhaul services in Latin America. Gilat said in a Monday announcement that […]

SES revealed on Tuesday that Guatemalan broadband provider COMNET will use SES Networks’ Signature Enterprise Solutions and the SES-14 satellite to extend its broadband service QUANTTUM across Latin America. COMNET […]

The GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA) revealed on Monday that BAE Systems is the newest member of the organization. BAE Systems will work with GPSIA to support its goal of enhancing […]

GoGo reported consolidated revenue of $96.6 million and a net loss of $86 million in its Second Quarter (Q2) 2020 financial results released on Monday. GoGo, which provides In-Flight Connectivity […]

United Launch Alliance (ULA) and SpaceX have been National Security Space Launch  (NSSL) service contracts, the U.S. Space Force announced Aug. 7.  The Phase 2 Procurement contracts are for launch […]

SpaceX launched a batch of 57 Starlink satellites with two BlackSky Earth Observation (EO) satellites along for the ride on Friday, August 7 at 1:12 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex […]

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) awarded Thinkom Solutions a contract for next-generation communications on U.S. Navy ships. ThinKom will test and evaluate one of its […]

1Sat Telecomunicaçoes on Monday launched BluTv, a new Direct-to-Home (DTH) broadcast platform serving the Brazilian market. BluTv will use Eutelsat Communications‘ EUTELSAT 65 West A satellite, which is a tri-band […]

The Global Certification Forum (GCF) activated certification of a test plan for Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything Communications (C-V2X). This test plan uses technology from Qualcomm Technologies and Keysight Technologies. The test cases […]

The U.S. Air Force awarded Earth Observant Inc. (EOI) a contract to develop a Very Low-Earth Orbit (VLEO) optical payload. Earth Observant received this award under the under the Pentagon’s […]

Viasat is the latest to join a long list of satellite operators reporting quarterly losses that weren’t nearly as bad as analysts expected. Again, COVID-19 is the culprit, taking a […]

DISH Network‘s second quarter 2020 (2Q) financial report produced mixed results — an increase in net profit, offset by subscriber losses, service disruptions in hospitality and airline markets, and a […]

Like most of its global satellite operator peers, Intelsat faced COVID-related headwinds that challenged its business in the second quarter (2Q) of 2020. The Virginia-based company, which is currently operating […]

Spirent Communications on Thursday released SimIQ, a new software to allow earlier and more efficient Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) testing during product development. SimIQ aims to help developers collaborate […]

EchoStar reported its financial results for both the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, in which it reported consolidated revenues of $459.5 million for Q2 2020. Consolidated revenue […]

This week’s Thursday Morning Conversation is with Khali Heath, principal product marketing manager at Intelsat. In this conversation we talk about her love of tennis, James Brown and R&B, as […]

Globalstar Europe Satellite Services has revealed details of a key new deployment of its technology in Spain. The company announced Aug. 6 that its 550 SPOT Gen3 satellite enabled safety […]

Astronics’ Ku-band tail-mounted antenna technology successfully completed a test flight. The technology was used on a Collins Aerospace KuSAT-2000 satcom terminal for their LuxStream business jet connectivity solution. During the […]