MDA Planning In-orbit Servicing Demo
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| Canada’s MDA Corp., which has a well-established record in space robotics, is designing a satellite-servicing demonstration to refuel spacecraft in orbit and, when necessary, to push dead satellites into graveyard orbits, an MDA official said March 3. The company is prepared to finance the first mission at least in part on its own. MDA has signed an option with an unidentified satellite fleet operator that has agreed to provide an aging telecommunications spacecraft for a refueling operation as the inaugural customer, according to Logan Duffield, vice president for strategic business development of MDA Information Systems. Richmond, British Columbia-based MacDonald, Dettwiler... |
USAF first GPS IIF satellite arrives at Cape Canaveral
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| The US Air Force has received its first global positioning system (GPS) IIF satellite. It will undergo final preparations for launch at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a media report said. The USAF's Space Vehicle 1 (SV-1), the first of 12 GPS IIF satellites, is scheduled to be launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV vehicle, by end of this year, a statement by Boeing said. Boeing delivered the next-generation navigation spacecraft, from its satellite manufacturing facility in El Segundo, aboard a Boeing-built C-17 Globemaster III airlifter. The GPS IIF system will bring enhanced performance to the GPS constellation... |
Russian company eyes offensive military satellite
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| Leading Russian spacecraft producer Energia has presented a concept of a universal military satellite with offensive capabilities. The 20-ton orbiter with a life expectancy of 10 to 15 years would be powered by a 150 to 500 kilowatt nuclear reactor and will be able to “monitor territories and airspace, provide informational superiority – including in armed conflicts – and perform target designation and traffic control. It will also be offensive-capable,” said Energia head Vitaly Lopota, as cited by ITAR-TASS news agency. He did not specify what offensive capabilities the satellite would have; whether it will be able to target other... |
China Aiming To Have Its Own GPS In Place By 2012
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| The Beidou (Compass) Navigation Satellite System, which will be completed in 2020 with 35 satellites, will enable China to shake off its dependence on GPS and achieve huge economic benefits," Pang Zhihao, a senior researcher with the China Academy of Space Technology, told China Daily. Navigation systems deliver data from satellites that allow travelers, drivers, and military officials directions on locations and travel advice. The third Beidou satellite will lift off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province at "an appropriate moment soon", atop a Long March-3C carrier, the center said on Friday in a statement. Both the... |
Russia Prepares To Launch US Telecoms Satellite
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| Obama Commercial Space Business? Russia Prepares To Launch US Telecoms Satellite File image. Proton-M launch. by Staff Writers Moscow, Russia (RIA Novosti) Feb 10, 2010 A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying a U.S. telecommunications satellite has been delivered to a launch pad at the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan in preparation for the February 12 launch. The carrier rocket will put into orbit the Intelsat-16 satellite, which was developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation for the Intelsat Ltd., a leading provider of satellite services worldwide. The Intelsat-16 satellite is equipped with 24 transponders and will provide telecommunications services to customers in Brazil... |
2011 Funding Request Includes New Sat System
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| The Obama administration’s proposed 2011 spending plan includes some changes to major missile defense and space programs that emphasize a focus on space situational awareness and ballistic missile tracking capabilities. The proposal also underpins the aging nuclear weapons infrastructure, while adhering to the aim of eventually scrapping nuclear forces altogether and securing so-called nuclear loose material worldwide. Few new expensive programs are being started in Fiscal 2011, and the most dramatic shift in the funding request is the termination of the joint Defense-Commerce Dept. National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (see p. 14). By contrast, the Air Force is setting... |
(Vanity) Do the Iranians or their proxies currently have a 'scientific' satellite in a polar orbit?
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| For the FReeper national security community -- Whereas the Iranians have promised/threatened something big on the 11th, and Whereas polar orbit satellites pass over the CONUS repeatedly, and Whereas satellite orbits can be willfully decayed to reach a given altitude at a given Long/Lat., and Whereas the US has no defense against or ability to recover from an EMP attack from near space, and Whereas the TOTUS is a FNG/REMF when it comes to serious national security; Do the Iranians or their proxies have a satellite in low-earth/ polar orbit at the present time? |
U.S. Air Force Scales Back Missile Warning Technology Program
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| The trend over the last several years of annual funding increases for U.S. Air Force space activity appears to be at an end, and that, coupled with the ongoing recapitalization of the service’s operational satellite fleets, means there is little money left for new development initiatives. The service’s 2011 budget request, submitted to Congress Feb. 1, scales back the Third Generation Infrared Surveillance (TGIRS) program and curbs funding for the Operationally Responsive Space Office. This follows U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision early last year to cancel the $26 billion Transformational Satellite communications system. Overall, the request includes $8 billion for... |
Iran fires satellite carrier into space
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| Iran fires satellite carrier into space Iran on Tuesday test-fired the Kavoshgar 3 satellite carrier, sending its third explorer — with living organisms onboard — into space. The Kavoshgar 3 (Explorer) rocket, carrying an experimental capsule, transfers telemetric data, live pictures and flight and environmental analysis data. The Iranian Aerospace Organization (IAO) says live video transmission and the mini-environmental lab will enable further studies on the biological capsule — carrying a rat, two turtles and worms — as it leaves earth's atmosphere and enters space. In February 2008, Iran became the 11th country to have acquired space-related technology by blasting... |
Satellite Substitutes Seriously Sought
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
U.S. Air Force is concerned about American dependence on space satellites, particularly the GPS birds. The air force believes China is developing the ability to carry out a major attack on American military satellites. Their proposed solution is to take GPS out of orbit, and make it portable. High flying aircraft, UAVs or blimps would take over satellite communications, surveillance and navigation (GPS) chores, although for smaller areas. This would make GPS, and other satellite functions, more resilient to attack. This is part of a trend in which military satellites are getting priced out of the market by cheaper manned...
India Targets China's Satellites
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| Memories in New Delhi run deep about how India's relative tardiness in developing strategic offensive systems [nuclear weapons] redounded in its relegation on 'judgment day' [when the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed in 1968] to the formal category of non-nuclear weapons state," said Sourabh Gupta, senior research associate at Samuels International Associates in Washington, DC. "With its early support of the former US president George W Bush's ballistic missile defense program and its current drive to develop anti-ballistic missile/anti-satellite capability, New Delhi is determined not to make the same mistake twice," added Gupta. "If and when globally negotiated restraints are... |
Space-based router promises more reliable communications
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| The first IP router on a commercial satellite has successfully passed its in-orbit test, moving the military and commercial customers closer to an era of faster satellite communications. The Internet Routing in Space (IRIS) technology is expected to reduce latency and increase efficiency, said Steven Boutelle, vice president of Cisco Global Government Solutions Group. Boutelle, who served as the U.S. Army’s chief information officer prior to joining Cisco, said IRIS can route data to multiple ground receivers in a single step, eliminating the need to double-hop to a teleport, reducing latency and increasing transponder utilization. The router and modem software... |
Iridium Unveils Smaller, Lower-Cost Satellite Date Transceiver
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
Iridium Communications Inc. today unveiled its next-generation “Iridium 9602” satellite data transceiver at its annual Partners Conference in Phoenix, Ariz. The Iridium 9602 is a full-duplex short-burst data (SBD) transceiver designed for embedded applications in the rapidly growing market for remote asset tracking and monitoring solutions. The product, which is the culmination of a two-year R&D program, has completed prototype testing, and Iridium expects to begin commercial deliveries in June. “The smaller, lower-cost Iridium 9602 will serve as the data communication engine for a wide range of portable tracking and monitoring devices, leveraging Iridium’s global coverage and low-latency, two-way data...
Iran to unveil three new home-built satellites
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| Iran will unveil three new satellites in February, a report said Wednesday, amid Western concerns that Tehran is using its nuclear and space industries to develop atomic and ballistic weapons. ISNA news agency quoted Communications Minister Reza Taghipour as saying that one of the three home-built communications satellites is still under construction. Taghipour named the three satellites as Toloo (Dawn), Ya Mahdi and Mesbah-2, but did not elaborate on exactly when they would be launched. Ya Mahdi, Taghipour said as quoted by ISNA, was an "experimental satellite" and the launch would be for testing camera and telecommunications equipment. Mesbah-2, which... |
Possible Space Wars In The Near Future
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| The U.S. media suspects China and India of developing anti-satellite weapons. An article to this effect has been published the New Scientist magazine. Until recently, only the Soviet Union, its legal successor Russia and the United States were capable of developing anti-satellite weapons. U.S. analysts now think that China and India are acquiring similar capabilities. To what extent are such fears justified? It is hard to overestimate the role played by military satellite systems. Since the 1970s, an increasingly greater number of troop-control, telecommunications, target-acquisition, navigation and other processes depend on spacecraft which are therefore becoming more important. At this... |
US Space-Based Missile Warning System Achieves Key Milestone
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| The U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin team developing the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) program has achieved two key milestones: a testing milestone demonstrating that the ground system is on track to support launch of the first SBIRS geosynchronous (GEO-1) satellite in the constellation, and a maturity milestone moving the ground system into the next level of integration. SBIRS will deliver unprecedented, global, persistent infrared surveillance capabilities by providing early warning of missile launches, and simultaneously supporting other missions including missile defense, technical intelligence and battlespace awareness. The testing milestone, known as the Combined Day-In-The-Life Test (CDITL), validated the functionality, performance, and... |
The Rome-Tehran Axis
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| Italian companies—with Rome's backing—have equipped Iran's military and contributed to the regime's satellite and possibly nuclear programs. When it comes to appeasing the Islamic Republic, no other Western nation has stooped lower than Italy. Amid the international outrage over the Iranian regime's brutalization of its own people, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini warned Europe "must not burn every bridge because Iran is a key figure" in the region. While rejecting any military action to stop Tehran's nuclear weapons program, Mr. Frattini urged the West to "avoid those [sanctions] that are connected with Iranian national pride." What may sound like a... |
Sattelite Photo of Port-au-Prince Haiti Devastation
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| Click here for the zoomable photo. |
NASA May Test Refueling Satellites On ISS
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| Engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center are developing an in-orbit test bed to validate techniques for refueling satellites that weren’t designed to be refueled, using procedures growing out of the experience gained servicing the Hubble Space Telescope. Preston Burch, the Hubble program manager, said Jan. 11 that the experiment would use the Canadian-built Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, known as Dextre, to simulate cutting into a spacecraft’s insulation, tapping into its fuel plumbing, and refilling its tanks to extend its service life. “We’ve already developed a prototype tool that’s pretty cool that can cut through the external skin or insulation... |
U.S. Navy To Rely on Netted Iridium Service as Gap-Filler
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| Facing a looming gap in its mobile satellite communications coverage, the U.S. Navy plans to tap a new service developed by commercial provider Iridium Communications LLC as it waits for its next-generation constellation to come on line. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), which buys commercial satellite capacity on behalf of Pentagon users, plans to spend about $20 million this year on the Netted Iridium service, Bruce Bennett, DISA’s director of satellite communications, teleports and services, said in a Dec. 14 interview. DISA spent about $70 million on Iridium mobile satellite services in 2009, and the total amount should increase... |
Top NPOESS Official To Resign
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| As the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and U.S. Air Force await direction from the White House on possible changes to a troubled civil-military weather satellite effort, the program’s top official announced he will resign Jan. 8. Dan Stockton, program executive officer for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), informed NOAA, NASA and Defense Department leadership that he will step down to take a job in the private sector, according to a Dec. 24 e-mail sent to colleagues that was obtained by Space News. NOAA spokesman John Leslie confirmed Stockton’s resignation. Stockton has been the program’s... |
U.S. Air Force Will Pay to Place SBSS Satellite in Storage
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| The U.S. Air Force will contract to have its Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) system satellite placed into storage due to continued technical difficulties with the Minotaur 4 rocket that have delayed the spacecraft’s launch indefinitely, according to government documents. The Minotaur 4 rocket, built by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., and based in part on excess missile motors, was originally planned to debut in October 2009 with the SBSS launch. But the Air Force issued a statement that month saying the rocket had problems and would remain grounded indefinitely, though no further explanation was given. In a solicitation... |
India Developing Anti-satellite Technology
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| India has begun development of lasers and an exoatmospheric kill vehicle that could be combined to produce a weapon to destroy enemy satellites in orbit, the director-general of India’s defense research organization said Jan. 3. “The kill vehicle, which is needed for intercepting the satellite, needs to be developed, and that work is going on as part of the ballistic missile defense program,” said V.K. Saraswat, director-general of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, which is part of India’s Ministry of Defence. In a televised press briefing during the 97th Indian Science Congress in Thiruvananthapuram, Saraswat said the program includes... |
Launcher Issues Blamed for 14-Month SBSS Slip
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| Ongoing problems with the Minotaur 4 rocket will delay by 14 months the launch of the U.S. Air Force’s Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) satellite, government documents show. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center planned to launch SBSS in October 2009 with what would have been the first launch of the new Minotaur 4 rocket, built by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. The service announced that month the launch would be indefinitely delayed with technical problems, though no further explanation was given. The Minotaur 4 relies on retired U.S. Peacekeeper missile motors for its first three stages... |
Couple Stuck in Oregon Snow for 3 Days After GPS Leads Them Astray
Thursday 11th of March 2010 08:32:06 PM
Posted by admin / Under Satellite Cable Tv
| KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — A Nevada couple letting their SUV's navigation system guide them through the high desert of Eastern Oregon got stuck in snow for three days when the GPS unit sent them down a remote forest road. |
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