E-letter: Briefs

[Via Satellite 12-22-2014] To upgrade its ground stations around the world, Globalstar has selected Level 3 Communications to supply a fully meshed Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network. Globalstar is upgrading […]

[Via Satellite 12-22-2014] Delnet International Corp., a Philippine communications solutions provider, selected Gilat’s Ku-band SkyEdge 2 VSAT network to enable Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) to offer an enterprise VSAT […]

[Via Satellite 12-22-2014] Laser Light, designer of an all-Optical Satellite System (OSS), and Pacnet Services Asia Pacific, a prominent independent regional communications service provider, have partnered on commercial opportunities for […]

[Via Satellite 12-192014] In its 11th launch of the year, Arianespace successfully took four more satellites in the O3b Networks constellation to orbit. Using the Soyuz rocket from the Guiana […]

[Via Satellite 12-192014] Galileo’s fifth satellite, which was recently salvaged from the wrong orbit to begin navigation testing, has been combined with three of its predecessors to provide its very […]

[Via Satellite 12-192014] Exelis and Iridium Communications have successfully demonstrated a new global-reach communications capability for the United States Defense Information Systems Agency’s (DISA) Distributed Tactical Communication System (DTCS). The […]

[Via Satellite 12-19-2014] Eutelsat-developed GSM Demodulation Tool is now being offered to all members of the Satellite Interference Reduction Group (IRG) including new members joining throughout 2015. The tool, which […]

[Via Satellite 12-192014] Norsat International has received an approximately $430,000 order for its Atom series Block Upconverter (BUC) products from a large international defense electronics company. This represents the second […]

[Via Satellite 12-18-2014] Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF), the Inmarsat-sponsored telecoms agency, has entered Eastern Samar in the Philippines to provide crucial emergency communications in the wake of Typhoon Hagupit. Following […]

[Via Satellite 12-18-2014] Globecomm has donated desktop computers to a school in the Tanzanian village of Selela to support the mission of the Tanzania Support Foundation helping small communities become […]

[Via Satellite 12-18-2014] As a result of its annual satellite life review, DigitalGlobe will extend the useful lives of two of its satellites: WorldView 1 and WorldView 2. The company […]

[Via Satellite 12-18-2014] Raytheon and Lockheed Martin have completed the fourth of five planned launch and early orbit exercises for the U.S. Air Force’s next generation GPS 3 satellite and […]

[Via Satellite 12-18-2014] Comtech EF Data has introduced its new LPOD-R Block Up Converter models. Each LPOD-R consists of a Solid-State Power Amplifier (SSPA) module with a monitor/control processor, a […]

[Via Satellite 12-17-2014] Satellites may soon carry Raytheon’s Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology into orbit. The company has successfully validated its GaN Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) technology for use in […]

[Via Satellite 12-17-2014] As commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA), Airbus Defence and Space engineers have developed a new upper-stage engine demonstrator. Although engines that run on storable fuel […]

[Via Satellite 12-17-2014] The European Space Agency (ESA) has made a test — originally created for its Rosetta comet-chaser mission — readily available to all European space missions. The test […]

[Via Satellite 12-17-2014] NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. TESS will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, with liftoff targeted […]

[Via Satellite 12-17-2014] Advantech Wireless has released its new 2.5kW Tropo C-Band Modular GaN-based Solid State Power Amplifier (SSPA). The new model ARMA-CL2500A operates over the low C-band tropo frequency […]

[Via Satellite 12-16-2014] Vern Fotheringham, CEO of Kymeta, is stepping down at the end of the year. In his place, Nathan Kundtz, president, CTO and co-founder will serve as CEO […]

[Via Satellite 12-16-2014] Based on negotiations at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ministerial Council in Luxembourg on Dec. 2, the U.K. Space Agency has decided on an extra investment worth […]

[Via Satellite 12-16-2014] Eutelsat Communications has received a contract renewal from Poland’s nc+ for nine transponders at the Hot Bird video neighborhood. Through this renewal, nc+ plans to expand the […]

[Via Satellite 12-16-2014] The satellite communications industry has elected five new members to the Global VSAT Forum’s board of directors, bringing the total number of board members to seven. The […]

[Via Satellite 12-16-2014] Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operator STC has finished the renewal and upgrade of the company’s satellite hub for Arabsat in Riyadh. Arabsat President and CEO […]

[Via Satellite 12-15-2014] The public television broadcasters Ceska Televize (CT) of the Czech Republic and RTVS of Slovakia are collaborating with Czech digital infrastructure provider Ceske Radiokomunikace to test Ultra-HD […]

[Via Satellite 12-15-2014] Eutelsat Communications is working with NetHope to provide satellite connectivity for doctors and volunteers in Africa who are working to address the outbreak of Ebola. Equipment for […]

[Via Satellite 12-15-2014] The state-owned Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC), owner and operator of the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC), has selected Lockheed Martin’s Athena launch vehicle to conduct the spaceport’s small […]

[Via Satellite 12-15-2014] International Launch Services (ILS) has successfully launched Gazprom Space Systems’ Yamal 401 satellite aboard a Proton launch vehicle. The launch, which took place from the Baikonur Cosmodrome […]

[Via Satellite 12-15-2014] Thuraya has announced the availability of a new satellite phone targeting casual, non-enterprise customers. The Thuraya XT-LITE can make phone calls and send SMS messages in satellite […]

[Via Satellite 12-12-2014] NASA has awarded a $49 Million Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority of Norfolk, Virginia. The follow-on contract is to […]

[Via Satellite 12-12-2014] Lockheed Martin has opened a radio terminal development and certification facility for the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) at its Sunnyvale, Calif. campus. The $6.5 million Test […]