For its seventh launch of the year, and the fourth Ariane 5 mission in 2017 from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, Arianespace will orbit two payloads: Hellas Sat 3-Inmarsat S EAN, a “condosat” for Inmarsat and Hellas Sat; and GSAT-17 for the Indian space agency ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization). With this 290th mission performed by its family of launchers, Arianespace is at the service of three major satellites operators: Hellas Sat, Inmarsat and ISRO. The la...

In a series of seven ballistic and guided flight tests, Rockwell Collins' Military-Code (M-Code) Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers successfully completed each test, demonstrating live fire tracking for precision guided munitions. The precision guided munitions test program, made possible through industry collaboration with the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force demonstrates M-Code readiness, and ease of M-Code integration into traditional GPS systems. "Together with the U.S. Army and Air...

ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global broadband services and technology company, proudly announced today that following the successful launch of the ViaSat-2 satellite on June 1, 2017, the satellite has now completed additional major milestones including the chemical orbit raising phase of the program; and deployment of its solar arrays. The ViaSat-2 satellite employs a hybrid propulsion approach, using both traditional chemical as well as electric propulsion. The chemical propulsion subsystem...

EchoStar Mobile Limited, a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS) and Thales, a global technology leader for the aerospace, transport, defence and security markets, today announced that they are collaborating to jointly develop advanced mobile satellite voice and data services to meet the growing public safety needs of security forces and first responders dealing with emergency situations in France and throughout Europe. This collaboration will focus on developing end-to-end mobile...

Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) has delivered an advanced digital weather satellite instrument to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute that will help forecasters safeguard people in the region from typhoons and other severe weather. The Harris-built Advanced Meteorological Imager, or AMI, will be integrated into the next-generation GEO-KOMPSAT-2A weather satellite, scheduled to launch in 2018. The AMI will deliver images with three times more data and four times the resolution at refresh rate...

Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced that is has completed analysis of the critical components demonstrated in the Orion Launch Abort System Attitude Control Motor (ACM) test conducted at the company's Elkton, Maryland, facility. Results from the test indicate the motor's HT-11 'High Thrust' test was fully successful. The ACM consists of a solid propellant gas generator and eight equally-spaced valves capable of providing 7,000 lbs. of...

Thales Alenia Space has signed its first contract with OHB, at this year's Paris Air Show, to provide new-generation electronic equipment*, made in Belgium, for the Electra platform. Developed in a public-private partnership (PPP) by the operator SES, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German space agency DLR, Electra is a generic geostationary platform with all-electric propulsion. It will have a payload capacity of 300 kilograms, with up to 3 kW of power, and offers a design life of up...

The LISA trio of satellites to detect gravitational waves from space has been selected as the third large-class mission in ESA's Science programme, while the Plato exoplanet hunter moves into development. These important milestones were decided upon during a meeting of ESA's Science Programme Committee today, and ensure the continuation of ESA's Cosmic Vision plan through the next two decades. The 'gravitational universe' was identified in 2013 as the theme for the third large-class missi...

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) was awarded a contract valued up to $154 million over seven years to continue support at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. The NBL is a massive 6.2 million gallon instrumented pool at NASA Johnson Space Center where astronauts learn to work in space and train on a submerged full-sized mockup of the International Space Station. The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Operations Contract continues the innovative technical and engineering support Raytheon has provided sinc...

Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced the completion of its Rendezvous, Proximity Operations and Docking (RPOD) system preliminary design review. The RPOD system comprises the sensors, actuators and control algorithms which allow for the detection, tracking, and safe approach to a client spacecraft. The company's first Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-1) will provide satellite life extension services to Intelsat S.A. beginning in 2019. Or...

Today at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, Leonardo announced the signing of an agreement between e-GEOS (a joint venture between Telespazio and the Italian Space Agency) and the US-based company Orbital Insight to provide revolutionary satellite services. The partnership will see the convergence of Space technologies and big data analytics to provide radically new products and services for numerous applications including emergency management, precision agriculture, environmental monitoring and ...

NASA's Kepler space telescope team has released a mission catalog of planet candidates that introduces 219 new planet candidates, 10 of which are near-Earth size and orbiting in their star's habitable zone, which is the range of distance from a star where liquid water could pool on the surface of a rocky planet. This is the most comprehensive and detailed catalog release of candidate exoplanets, which are planets outside our solar system, from Kepler's first four years of data. It's also the ...

In May 2017, Inmarsat, the world's leading provider of global mobile satellite communications, and Thales, the leading supplier of ground secure satellite communication solutions, executed a series of tests that successfully demonstrated communications using Thales' System 21 on Inmarsat's Global Xpress (GX) high-capacity steerable antennas. These tests illustrate the ability of Thales's System 21 modem to support resilient, protected and secure, high-data-rate connectivity for mission-critical...

Derelict satellites could in future be grappled and removed from key orbits around Earth with a space tug using magnetic forces. This same magnetic attraction or repulsion is also being considered as a safe method for multiple satellites to maintain close formations in space. Such satellite swarms are being considered for future astronomy or Earth-observing missions - if their relative positions can stay stable they could act as a single giant telescope. To combat space debris, interest...

Last month, Rockwell Collins delivered the last of a 770 Military-Code (M-Code) Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver order to the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (USAF SMC). Committed to the Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) program, the M-Code receiver operates using a more powerful signal, resistant to cyber threats. "From advanced fifth-generation aircraft to ground and maritime applications, this technology meets the warfighters' needs for reliable and secure GPS navi...

Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, along with NASA and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), successfully performed a ground firing test of the abort motor for NASA's Orion spacecraft Launch Abort System (LAS) at Orbital ATK's facility in Promontory, Utah. The launch abort motor is a major part of the LAS, which provides a tremendous enhancement in spaceflight safety for astronauts. "We at Orbital ATK are very proud to work with NASA and Lockheed Martin on t...

Engility (NYSE: EGL) won a $42 million task order from the U.S. Air Force to advise and assist their Space and Missile Systems Engineering Directorate at Los Angeles Air Force Base to ensure their space and launch vehicles are mission ready. Engility engineers will conduct independent readiness reviews to help with technical analysis and risk assessment. "This new win deepens our partnership with the Space and Missile Systems Center and Air Force Space Command," said Engility CEO Lynn Dugle. ...

Following the launch of the first ten Iridium NEXT satellites in January 2017, their commissioning has proceeded very smoothly, as they passed all in-orbit tests with flying colors. These satellites are now interconnected, and are operating in full compatibility with the initial Block One constellation. Having passed this milestone, the second batch of ten satellites is now ready for launch on June 25 by SpaceX from the Vandenberg Air Force base in California. "The challenge for Thales ...

The report, now available on ASDReports, "Small Satellite Market by Type (Nanosatellite, Microsatellite, Minisatellite), End User (Civil, Defense, Commercial), Application (Earth Observation & Meteorology, Communication, Scientific Research & Exploration), and Region - Global Forecast to 2022", The small satellite market is estimated to grow from USD 2.92 Billion in 2017 to USD 7.53 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 20.83% during the forecast period. Key factors such as increasing focus on reduci...

Ball Aerospace today announced it has completed a six-month Phase A study of the scientific and technology requirements for the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) project's Wide Field Instrument (WFI). WFIRST will be NASA's next flagship space telescope under development and will follow NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. "Ball is honored to have participated in the Wide Field Instrument Phase A Study, where we were able to leverage our successful experience from many astrophysics, ...