July 14, 2020 – The Australian Space Agency (the Agency) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have been in close cooperation on JAXA’s asteroid sample-return mission, ‘Hayabusa2’. The sample capsule is planned to land in Woomera, South Australia and the Agency and JAXA are working towards the planned safe re-entry and recovery of the…
July 16, 2020 – The EDRS-C satellite, the second node of Airbus’ SpaceDataHighway constellation, completed its commissioning tests on 15th July 2020 and is now ready to start operational services. Following its successful launch in August 2019 and manoeuvring to its geostationary orbital slot at 31 degrees east, in-orbit testing has been executed and laser…
July 20, 2020 – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) successfully delivered the Emirates Mars Mission’s (EMM) HOPE spacecraft developed by the UAE Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) into orbit via the H-IIA launch vehicle F42. The launch vehicle trajectory was executed as planned, and at about 57 minutes after liftoff, separation of the HOPE spacecraft…
July 8, 2020 – The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced the selection of Airbus Defence and Space for major Copernicus environment missions. Copernicus is the biggest provider of Earth observation data in the world – and while the EU is at the helm of this environmental monitoring programme, ESA develops, builds and launches the…
July 8, 2020 – Viasat Inc., a global communications company, has announced it has removed internet speed limits delivered to the aircraft across all of its business aviation Ka-band service plans. Additionally, the company has doubled its minimum committed internet speed to the aircraft for the same Ka-band service plans. The move, an industry-first, demonstrates…
July 8, 2020 – BBC Studios (BBCS) and its subsidiary UKTV have selected SES to manage the playout and distribution of over 50 linear channels, and their associated video on demand (VOD) services, SES has announced. SES will provide playout, content processing, distribution, and VOD services, delivering BBCS and UKTV content to a network of…
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July 2, 2020 – Optus announced a giant leap in its satellite business, confirming a contract with Airbus Defence and Space for a brand new, OneSat software-defined satellite, Optus 11, to be deployed for Australia and New Zealand in 2023 at the current Optus D1 orbital location of 160°East. Optus has entered into a revised…
June 26, 2020 – Thaicom Public Company Limited and CAT Telecom Public Company Limited has announced a satellite business joint venture in order to strengthen Thailand’s telecommunications infrastructure and to support the growth of the digital economy industry and satellite industry. The two companies are partnering to form a joint venture company called ‘Nation Space…
June 25, 2020 – The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed an annual renewal contract with Airbus on continuing the operation and use of European components on the International Space Station (ISS). The contract is worth around €16 million. For astronauts conducting research on the ISS, it is essential that all systems function reliably. An…
June 23, 2020 – China launched the last satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) on June 23, marking the completion of the deployment of its own global navigation system. The satellite, the 55th in the family of BeiDou, was launched at 9:43 a.m. (Beijing Time) and sent into the preset orbit by a…
June 23, 2020 – ST Engineering iDirect has further strengthened its long-standing relationship with leading telecom provider VIVACOM with a new agreement to supply MCX7000 modulators to facilitate additional broadcast offerings in Eastern Europe and Africa. VIVACOM, the largest telecommunications provider in Bulgaria, will use the MCX7000, a dense DVB-S2X multi-carrier satellite gateway, to launch…
June 15, 2020 – Maxar Technologies announced it will build four geostationary communications satellites for satellite operator Intelsat. The contract was previously disclosed with Maxar’s 2020 first quarter results. Intelsat ordered the satellites to transition its existing media distribution and contribution services-uninterrupted-from the 3.7 to 4.0 gigahertz portion of the C-band, to the 4.0 to…
June 16, 2020 – SES has selected two U.S. satellite manufacturers, Northrop Grumman and the Boeing Company, to deliver four new satellites as part of the company’s accelerated C-band clearing plan to meet the Federal Communications Commission’s objectives to roll-out 5G services. Northrop Grumman will deliver two flight-proven GeoStar-3 satellites, each equipped with a high-quality…
June 16, 2020 – Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will acquire CPI ASC Signal Division, Inc. (ASC) from Communications & Power Industries LLC(CPI) for $35 million in cash. ASC is a manufacturer of high-performance, highly engineered antenna systems for satellite communications, radar, electronic warfare (EW), and high-frequency (HF) applications. The transaction is expected to…
June 18, 2020 – RCS Communication, an ICT company in South Sudan, has adopted a Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) built upon SES Networks’ SD-WAN service that will enable RCS to deliver an improved user experience while optimising resiliency and bandwidth usage, SES announced today. SES Networks’ SD-WAN service is the first of its kind…
June 12, 2020 – With this mission, designated Flight VV16, Arianespace underscores its comprehensive range of innovative and competitive services to address the nano- and micro-satellite market sub-segment, serving both institutional and commercial needs. The creation of such a new service using the company’s light-lift Vega led to the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) project.…
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