E-letter: Briefs

The U.S. Air Force Feb. 28 awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. for launch services. Lockheed Martin is being awarded a $108 million contract under the Evolved […]

The European Space Agency has released the technical details of the signals transmitted by the first Galileo test satellite, allowing receiver manufacturers and research institutions to use a real signal […]

SES Americom deorbited the Satcom C-4 satellite, the company announced March 2. The spacecraft, built by GE Astro Space (now Lockheed Martin) and was placed into orbit in August 1992 […]

EchoStar Communications Corp. reported revenue of $9.8 billion in 2006, up from $8.5 billion in 2005, the company announced March 1. Profits slipped from $1.5 billion in 2005 to $608 […]

Boeing Co. completed a critical design review of its family of advanced beyond-line-of-sight terminals (FAB-T) program, the company announced March 1. The review — attended by senior U.S. Air Force, […]

GIT Satellite and Iridium Satellite will provide communications for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, which begins March 4. GIT Satellite will donate a complete complement of Iridium equipment, airtime, and […]

Ascent Media Network Services has appointed Wee Way Kiat managing director of its Asian business, the company announced March 1. Wee, who will be based in Singapore, will have operational, […]

Boeing GPS Ground Station Test Validates Ability to Command Satellite Fleet Boeing completed a live demonstration of the GPS ground station, which when fully operational will control the GPS constellation, […]

Iridium Satellite, Arinc, ICG Partner To Supply Satellite Voice Service For Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways of Hong Kong will be the first commercial airline customer to adopt an Iridium-based […]

FTMSC Signs New Emergency Telecoms Deal France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications (FTMSC) signed a new deal with Télécoms Sans Frontieres (TSF) to develop an emergency mobile satellite communications system. The […]

Near Earth Adds Advisory Board Members Near Earth LLC has added three members to its advisory board: Ted Bolton, president of Bolton Research Corp.; Gary Hatch, president and CEO of […]

Inmarsat posted a 2006 profit of $127.7 million, up 98 percent over 2005, the company announced Feb. 27. Revenues were $500.1 million in 2006, compared to revenues of $491.1 million […]

EchoStar Satellite LLC and DirecTV have settled pending litigation regarding the use of trademarks as keywords to trigger sponsored links on Internet searches such as Google Adwords and similar search […]

Shin Satellite will launch a video-on-demand service in Australia, the company announced. The operator is teaming up with ReelTime Media, an Australian broadband TV company, to offer a variety of […]

NDS will supply conditional access services to Gateway Communications for a new satellite pay-TV service in sub-Saharan Africa. Gateway plans to launch an African-focused, subscription-based service by mid-year. GTV initially […]

Adventech Satellite Networks Inc. has sold a digital video broadcast-return channel satellite system to a NATO Consultation, Command and Control (3C) Agency, Advantech AMT Inc. announced Feb. 27. NATO will […]

XM Satellite Radio brought in revenues of $933 million in 2006, up 67 percent from 2005, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. announced Feb. 26. XM also added 1.7 million net […]

Ericsson has made an unsolicited offer to acquire Tandberg Television for 9.8 billion Norwegian kroner ($1.6 billion), Ericsson announced Feb. 26. Ericsson has acquired 11.7 percent of the outstanding shares […]

Shin Satellite reported a net loss of 46 million Baht ($1.4 million) in 2006, the company announced Feb. 26. Discounting a 675 million Baht ($20.1 million) write-off of the Thaicom-3 […]

The European Space Agency (ESA) officially opened the construction site of the Soyuz launch base in French Guiana in a ceremony attended by French authorities and representatives of all the […]

GuardianBox will provide security for satellite broadband systems offered by Bentley Walker, a European VSAT distributor, GuardianBox announced Feb. 26. GuardianBox reported that an evaluation of its system resulted in […]

The European Technical Standards Institute (ETSI) has approved and published the SES SDR standard for satellite digital radio services in Europe, Ondas Media announced. The standard has been developed by […]

Blue Sky Network, a logistics solution provider for two-way linking and managing transportation assets via satellite, announced the expansion to its aviation product line with a carry-on, flight-tracking device, the […]

Mexico’s telecommunications regulator, Federal Commission of Telecommunications (Cofetel), has approved the rules for a Ka-band satellite license auction, the regulator announced Feb. 21. This is Cofetel’s second attempt to auction […]

Hughes Network Systems LLC and Sea Tel Inc., have completed interoperability testing on a VSAT platform for the maritime market, Hughes announced. The platform combines the Hughes HX family of […]

SAT Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Integral Systems Inc. has released two new software options that extend the ability of its product lines to detect and locate the source […]

China Mobile Broadcasting Satellite Ltd., a Hong Kong-based affiliate of EchoStar Communications Corp. will provide S-band satellite capacity for a mobile video project in China slated to launch prior to […]

Comtech Mobile Datacom Corp. has signed a joint technology development agreement with Thrane & Thrane A/S to develop next-generation mobile satellite solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense and other […]

International Datacasting Corp. (IDC) will provide a next generation DVB-S2 broadband satellite communications system to Telesat Canada. IDC and U.S.-based Efficient Channel Coding a subsidiary of ViaSat, will supply a […]

NASA officials signed a memorandum of understanding with Virgin Galactic LLC Feb. 20 to explore potential space technology development cooperation, NASA announced. NASA Ames Research Center and Virgin Galactic LLC, […]