Staff Writer

Globalstar said Dec. 7 it received approval from the U.S. State Department to proceed with plans to launch up to eight spare satellites, with the first launch expected to occur […]

The major Inmarsat service providers – France Telecom Mobile Satellite Telecommunications, Stratos Global Corp., Telenor Satellite Services and Xantic – announced separately Dec. 7 the commercial availability of Inmarsat’s Broadband […]

Members of the European Space Agency (ESA) approved a budget for 2006 through 2008 that includes a new earth observation program, ESA announced Dec. 6. The Global Monitoring for Environment […]

ViaSat said Dec. 5 it is supplying its Surfbeam broadband satellite network to Telesat, enabling Telesat customers in Colombia to provide Internet access to schools and other projects. Telesat customers […]

Worldspace Satellite Radio said Dec. 5 it launched subscription service in Chandigarh, the capital of India’s Punjab state. Chandigarh, the ninth city Worldspace has rolled out service to in 2005, […]

Radyne Corp. said Dec. 6 it completed shipment of a previously undisclosed order of DMD-20 satellite modems, valued at more than $1.6 million, to Chinasat Communications Group. The modems will […]

The Modern Times Group (MTG), which owns the Viasat direct-to-home satellite television platform in the Nordic region, increased its stake in Nordic Betting Ltd. to 90 percent, MTG announced. MTG […]

Globalstar LLC said Dec. 6 that Elsacom, an independent gateway operator and Globalstar service distributor in Central and Eastern Europe, won a 20 million euro ($23.6 million) contract to provide […]

Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (CSR), the Canadian affiliate of XM Satellite Radio, said Dec. 6 it will offer more than 3.4 million shares of stock in an initial public […]

German companies will receive additional work on Europe’s Galileo program, under an agreement reached Dec. 5 among European companies involved in the project. The latest agreement, signed by the eight […]

International Launch Services (ILS) has delayed the launch of a Proton rocket that will carry the AMC-23 satellite into orbit for SES Americom. Liftoff had been scheduled for Dec. 5. […]

Former U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege has been elected vice chairman of the executive council of the Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC). Raduege assumes the position held […]

German satellite pay TV operator Premiere broadcast its first live high-definition (HD) program Dec. 3 as part of a field test for subscribers. The soccer match between VfB Stuttgart and […]

U.K. cable operator NTL confirmed that it has made an approach for wireless operator Virgin Mobile. If the deal, which would be in the $1.5 billion range, were to go […]

EMS Satcom, a division of EMS Technologies Inc., said Dec. 5 that Venezuela’s Insituto National de Aviacion Civil awarded EMS Satcom a $2.9 million contract for the company’s search and […]

Orbital Sciences Corp. said Dec. 5 it received an $11.7 million contract from Foothill Transit of West Covina, Calif., to provide a Smartbus System to track and manage Foothill Transit’s […]

Datapath Inc. said Dec. 5 it received a $42.4 million contract from the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command in Ft. Monmouth, N.J., for custom satellite earth terminals and associated services. Datapath […]

Alcatel Alenia Space signed a deal with China Satellite Communication Corp. to design and manufacture the Chinasat 6B satellite, Alcatel announced Dec. 5. Chinasat 6B will be based on the […]

ViaSat Inc. hopes that its acquisition of Efficient Channel Coding Inc. (ECC) provides entry into markets in the Asia Pacific region served by the recently launched IPStar satellite. ECC, a […]

Eutelsat Eutelsat Communications began trading on the Eurolist by Euronext Paris exchange Dec. 2. The company relaunched its initial public offering (IPO) Nov. 28 citing the “improvement and stabilization of […]

The Japan Aerospace Explora-tion Agency (JAXA) has scheduled the launch of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) for Jan. 19 aboard a H-2A launch vehicle. The rocket will be launched […]

Orbital Data will provide satellite communications solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense under an original equipment manufacturer agreement with Datapath Inc., Orbital Data announced Nov. 28. The solutions are […]

Airspan Networks Inc. has joined iDirect Technologies‘ IP Alliance program, which will enable WiFi wireless local area network connectivity to users in remote locations, iDirect announced Nov. 28. Airspan’s As.max […]

Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) received a patent from European Patent Office for ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) technology that will be used in the formation of a hybrid satellite/wireless communications network, […]

Vision Technologies Electronics Inc. (VTEE), completed its acquisition of iDirect Technologies Dec. 1, iDirect announced. VTEE, a subsidiary of Vision Technologies Systems Inc., paid $165 million in cash for iDirect. […]

India’s Union Cabinet approved funding for the development and launch of the GSAT-6/Insat-4E satellite, the government announced Dec. 1. The spacecraft, which will be built by the Indian Space Research […]

SES Astra said Nov. 25 it closed a new long-term agreement with MTV Networks Europe for further capacity on an Astra satellite located at 19.2 degrees East, which MTV will […]

Panamsat signed a multiyear deal to distribute programming for CNBC Pakistan, Panamsat announced Nov. 29. Under the agreement, Panamsat will support the contribution, studio interchange and distribution of the business […]

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) scrubbed the inaugural launch of its Falcon 1 rocket Nov. 25 and does not expect to perform the mission until December, the company announced. The […]

Orbital Sciences Corp. received a contract from NASA to build and launch the next satellite in the space agency’s New Millennium Program technology demonstration satellite, Orbital announced Nov. 28. The […]