Hughes Sells Jupiter Capacity to Barrett Xplore

Hughes Network Systems sold 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) of capacity on its Jupiter satellite to Canadian broadband provider Barrett Xplore in a deal valued at $100 million. The capacity represents 10 percent of total available capacity on the 100 Gbps satellite and puts a $1 billion value on Jupiter’s total capacity.

Jupiter, scheduled to launch in 2012, will use multi-spot beam Ka-band to provide Barrett Xplore with additional capacity in order to serve rural and unserved Canadian households with a broadband service offering a range of packages of up to 10 megabits per second (Mbps) for residential service and up to 25 Mbps for business.

Mitsubishi to Supply Orbital With Guidance Systems

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. received a $66 million contract from Orbital Sciences Corp. to supply proximity link system (PLS) components to Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft to guide it to the International Space Station during NASA resupply missions.

The PLS components originally were developed for JAXA’s H-2 transfer vehicle, which docked with the space station in September. Mitsubishi Electric will deliver the components to Orbital between 2010 and 2014.

SES World Skies Signs Pair of capacity Deals

SES World Skies signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar capacity deal for half a transponder on the NSS-9 satellite to enable Solomon Telekom to increase Internet and wireless access throughout the Solomon Islands starting Jan. 1. The service will be deployed over the spacecraft’s West Hemi beam carrying access speeds up to 30 megabits per second between Australia and the Solomon Islands capital city of Honiara.

Separately, SES World Skies signed a multi-year agreement with MediaScape Inc. to provide an additional transponder of capacity on the NSS-11 satellite, increasing MediaScape’s transponder utilization on NSS-11 from two to three. The company will use the additional satellite capacity to distribute HDTV channels to households in the Philippines.

ViaSat to Build Australian Military Ground Stations

BAE Systems Australia has contracted ViaSat to provide satellite ground stations for a high-speed upgrade to Australian Defense Force (ADF) satellite communications for $9.4 million.

ViaSat will provide multiple 9-meter Ka-band and 16-meter X-band Earth terminals and services, with delivery scheduled for the 2011 third quarter. The terminals will be installed at the ADF satellite ground station in Western Australia. 

Orbit Appoints Maritime Sales Director

Orbit Technologies appointed William Thompson marine satcom sales director for the Americas as the company looks to aggressively target the North and Latin American maritime markets.

Thompson will promote the company’s marine satellite communications solutions for commercial shipping, oil and gas industries, and government maritime operations.

SS/L CEO to Become Chairman After Retirement

Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) appointed CEO Patrick DeWitt the company’s chairman. DeWitt will relinquish his duties as CEO and retire at the end of 2009 to take up his new position.

John Celli, SS/L’s president and COO, will lead the company’s day-to-day operations.

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