COMSAT West Coast Earth Station. Photo: COMSAT

[Via Satellite 03-08-2016] Satcom Direct Communications (SDC), has closed its purchase of Airbus DS SatCom Government, Inc. (ASGI), expanding its market presence and offerings to the U.S. government sector. ASGI has been renamed Satcom Direct Government, Inc. and to acknowledge its heritage as part of COMSAT Mobile, will do business as COMSAT.

SDC has acquired all of ASGI’s business operations as well as two satellite earth stations located on the east and west coasts of the U.S. Created at the dawn of the satellite communications industry, COMSAT’s key milestones include being a founding member of Intelsat; operating the Marisat fleet network, which provided the first mobile satellite communications services to the U.S. Navy; and founding the initial operating system of Inmarsat from the company’s two earth stations.