NASA Awards Launch Contract for GOES-R and GOES-S Missions

April 5, 2012 - NASA has selected United Launch Services to launch the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R and S, or GOES-R and GOES-S. The spacecraft will launch in October 2015 and February 2017, respectively, aboard Atlas V 541 rockets from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The advanced spacecraft and instrument technology used on GOES-R and GOES-S will result in more timely and accurate weather forecasts. It will improve detection and observation of meteorological phenomena that directly affect people's lives. The GOES-R and GOES-S Flight Projects Office, which oversees the development of the Space Segment, is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., The overall GOES-R and GOES-S Program is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NASA's Launch Services Program based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for Atlas V launch vehicle program management and launch services.

April 10, 2012 - Astrium has been awarded a contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) to pursue development of the Ariane 5 Midlife Evolution (A5 ME) launcher. The decision on the final development phase of Ariane 5 ME will be taken by the ESA member states at the upcoming Ministerial Council meeting slated for November 2012. Ariane 5 ME is a major ESA program adopted by the Ministerial Council in 2008 and aims to modernize the current Ariane 5 launcher. Based on the “two-in-one launcher” concept, the program will be capable of placing up to 12 metric tons of payload in geostationary orbit, with two satellites of over five tons being launched in a single flight. The main upgrade for the Ariane 5 launcher is a new upper stage equipped with a Vinci restartable cryogenic engine developed by SNECMA (Safran Group). The nose fairing will also be extended by three meters to accommodate larger and heavier payloads. Ariane 5 ME will thus boost launch capacity by 20% compared to the current Ariane 5 ECA and Ariane 5 ES, for the same price. Meaning costs are reduced by 20% per kilo. Astrium’s unique role as an end-to-end prime contractor for Ariane 5 since 2003 has generated the added value that drives down

April 10, 2012 - An agreement was signed by ESA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for cooperation on Astro-H, an important mission that will provide a unique opportunity for probing extreme phenomena in the Universe. Astro-H will study astrophysical objects including black holes and neutron stars, explore the non-thermal Universe, and investigate the large-scale structure of the Universe and its evolution. This agreement will see ESA providing JAXA with hardware components and support for operations and users. In return, ESA will be granted observing time on the Astro-H mission, to be allocated to scientists at institutions in ESA Member States through an open Announcement of Opportunity.

April 12, 2012 - Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) announced that it is teaming with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to host a laser communications relay demonstration (LCRD) on a commercial satellite to be launched in 2016. NASA's Space Technology Program selected Goddard’s mission proposal to use the SS/L satellite platform to help enable the next era of space communications. Optical communications use an uncongested portion of spectrum compared to the radio frequency (RF) communications currently used to transmit data from space. Additionally, laser communications (lasercom) has the potential to provide order of magnitude higher data rates than RF, providing the potential to enable access to much more of the vast amounts of data that are being gathered from distant planets, including images and video. For commercial satellites, lasercom could provide data at rates that are faster than today’s RF rates, with much less mass and power, which are the typical constraints on satellite design.

April 16, 2012 - Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin successfully completed the first significant integration milestone between Raytheon's Global Positioning System (GPS) Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX) and Lockheed Martin's GPS III satellite system. The joint Lockheed Martin/Raytheon team successfully exchanged satellite commands and telemetry data between the GPS III satellite simulator in Newtown, Pa., and the OCX development site in Aurora, Colo. The integration of the two sites will facilitate development testing of the OCX system and allow early risk reduction testing of the ground-satellite interface in a test-like-you-fly configuration.

April 17, 2012 - DigitalGlobe unveiled unique capabilities of its WorldView-3 satellite, slated for launch in mid-2014. WorldView-3 will extend the already industry-leading capabilities of DigitalGlobe's commercial imaging constellation, which today is comprised of QuickBird, WorldView-1 and WorldView-2. This constellation captures well over 75 percent of all half-meter resolution commercial imagery worldwide, including the most color imagery, with an average of twice-daily revisit to any point on the ground globally. In addition to offering 0.31 meter resolution panchromatic and eight-band multispectral imagery, WorldView-3 was recently licensed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to collect eight-band short-wave infrared (SWIR) imagery. This will make DigitalGlobe the only company with multi-band SWIR capabilities, greatly expanding the range of customer applications enabled by the DigitalGlobe constellation, and the overall value DigitalGlobe can provide to customers.

April 24, 2012 - International Launch Services (ILS) successfully carried the Y1B satellite into geostationary transfer orbit on an ILS Proton for Al Yah Satellite Communications (Yahsat) of Abu Dhabi. This was third ILS Proton launch so far this year and the 72nd ILS Proton launch overall. Y1B, built on the Eurostar E3000 platform, will deliver communications in Ka-band to serve both commercial and government users. Y1B is the 14th Eurostar satellite launched on ILS Proton. The dual use satellite's platform was developed by Astrium and the payload by Thales Alenia Space. Y1B is equipped with a commercial multi-beam Ka-band payload, which will be used to provide a variety of government and commercial applications, including “YahClick”, a new reliable and affordable satellite broadband service for the Middle East, Africa, and South West Asia.

April 24, 2012 - Astrium Services and Hisdesat, the Spanish government satellite service operator, have signed a framework agreement for a joint technology development project with the aim of establishing a constellation approach for the radar satellites TerraSAR-X and PAZ. The German satellite TerraSAR-X, launched in 2007, reliably delivers high-resolution radar data for versatile applications to worldwide customers. PAZ is the first Spanish radar satellite designed as a dual use (military and civilian) mission to meet operational requirements in the field of high resolution (up to 1 meter) observation. PAZ is scheduled for launch in 2013 into a polar orbit, which will be specifically optimized to improve the time to get images over key areas of interest when combining TerraSAR-X and PAZ into a constellation.

April 26, 2012 - India successfully launched its home-made remote sensing spy Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1) from the spaceport of Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The satellite would be used for disaster prediction and agriculture forestry as well as for defense purposes. The satellite has been made by scientists at Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). It was launched using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). It can acquire data at C-band and capable of observation on all weather, day and night conditions. This is not only the first radar imaging satellite to be built by India but this is the heaviest remote-sensing satellite built by the ISRO.

April 26, 2012 - The first two Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) satellites built by Astrium, Europe’s leading space company, are working perfectly and now begin full in-orbit operations. The satellites successfully passed a series of in-orbit tests following their launch on the first Soyuz flight from the Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana on 21 October 2011. The satellites now fully qualified in orbit are the first two of four IOV satellites developed by Astrium for the Galileo system - Europe’s global navigation satellite system that will provide a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control. The first two spacecraft will be joined in orbit later this year by the third and fourth IOV satellites, which are also being manufactured under Astrium’s leadership. Once in orbit, these four satellites will validate the unique and high performing Galileo system - four satellites are the minimum required to provide positioning information in three dimensions.

April 26, 2012 - Thales Alenia Space Deutschland GmbH signed a contract with Thales Alenia Space-France in the frame of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) weather satellites. This contract includes the development and the validation of the operations Satellite Simulator (SATSIM), as well as the Payload Data Generator for all the satellites. The Operations Satellite Simulator (SATSIM) is a real-time numerical model of the space segment and of the space to ground interface highly representative of the satellite housekeeping telemetry and telecommand. It will be used by Eumetsat to develop its ground segment and prepare the satellites operations. The Payload Data Generator is a simulation tool to be used by Eumetsat for the advanced verification and validation of the Instrument Data processing Chain (IDP) part of the ground segment.

April 30, 2012 - China successfully launched two satellites into space, the 12th and 13th satellites for its Beidou global navigation and positioning network. The Beidou-2 satellites, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, were boosted by a Long March-3B carrier rocket and have entered the scheduled orbit. It is the first time China has launched two navigation satellites with one rocket, and the two satellites will help to improve the accuracy of the Beidou, or Compass system, the center said in a statement. China will launch three more satellites for the Beidou network this year and a global satellite positioning and navigation system will be completed in 2020 with more than 30 orbiters,

April 2, 2012 – Thuraya concluded elections of a new Board of Directors at its Annual General Meeting on April 1st. With those elections, two independent members join the Board for a term of 3 years. They are Michael Butler, former President and Chief Operating Officer of Inmarsat and Charles W. Moore, President of Lockheed Martin Global, ME and Africa. Thuraya will benefit greatly from their combined experience and from the perspective they bring to an already highly experienced and diverse Board of Directors.

April 10, 2012 - Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that Stephanie Foster has joined the company as Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Management. Orbital’s supplier network includes dozens of domestic and international suppliers that provide the company with critical components and subsystems that Orbital engineers and integrates to produce some of the world’s most reliable and cost-effective satellites and launch vehicles. Foster joins Orbital from Raytheon Company where she was the Vice President of Integrated Supply Chain overseeing all subcontracts, procurement, compliance, small business, supply chain technology, logistics and asset management for a US$ 3.5 billion business unit of Raytheon with multiple locations throughout the world.

April 11, 2012 - DISH announced that James G. Moorhead has been named senior vice president, chief marketing officer. Mr. Moorhead will be responsible for marketing, advertising, public relations and market research. He will report to DISH CEO Joe Clayton and serve on DISH's senior leadership team. For the past eleven years, Moorhead held increasingly senior marketing roles at The Procter & Gamble Company. He brings to DISH a strong brand-building background and a successful track record of leading health care and grooming brands, including Prilosec OTC, Vicks, Old Spice and Gillette. Most recently, he led the strategy and marketing for a diverse portfolio of Gillette products. Before assuming these responsibilities, Moorhead oversaw the Old Spice brand and is credited with the brand's revival and market leadership position.

April 16, 2012 - Hughes Network Systems has appointed Colonel Charles (Chuck) H. Cynamon (Retired) as senior director of its Defense and Intelligence Systems Division (DISD). In this role, Col. Cynamon will be responsible for the analysis and application of commercial SATCOM technology to the overall DoD marketplace. Col. Cynamon joins DISD after retiring as the Chief, MILSATCOM Advanced Concepts Division, Military Satellite Communications Systems Directorate, Space and Missile Systems Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base. Cynamon was responsible for the advanced technology insertion for the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) and Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) systems and planning the Department of Defense’s next generation satellite communications architecture.

April 17, 2012 - Intellian has appointed Vikaash Sukul as EU Operations Manager, located at the company’s European sales and support office in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Within the satellite communications field, Vikaash was previously a Product Manager and subsequently a Service Manager, heading up the international support department. In close co-operation with Intellian’s offices in the USA and South Korea, Vikaash will manage the European sales and support operations out of Rotterdam. A key element of the role includes arranging and updating logistics as well as monitoring and optimizing procedures. Vikaash also works closely with the technical teams to ensure a seamless service is provided to Intellian’s growing European customer base.

April 30, 2012 - International Datacasting Corporation announced that Cory Garbolinsky has resigned as the Corporation's Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance, effective June 6, 2012. He has committed to assist the Corporation with the completion of its first quarter of fiscal 2013 consolidated financial statements and related filings. The Corporation has initiated a search for a new Chief Financial Officer.

April 23, 2012 - The Satellite Imaging Services industry has launched into the commercial market and is benefiting from increasing income from government contracts. The two companies in this industry, DigitalGlobe Inc. and GeoEye Inc., produce high-resolution satellite and aerial images, tools and corresponding analysis. The industry's primary customer is the US government, in particular, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), which supplements proprietary satellite images with higher-quality industry products. “Thanks to restructured contracts and increasing demand for industry products, revenue from commercial clients and other government agencies is also rising,” says IBISWorld industry analyst Agata Kaczanowska. As such, IBISWorld expects industry revenue to reach US$ 735.5 million in 2012, representing 15.2% annualized growth since 2007.

NSR projects in its Oil and Gas via Satellite, 2nd Edition study, North American Exploration and Production VSAT In-service Unit growth from 2011 - 2021 will be less than 5%, well behind the 13% or 14% growth of Latin America or Asia, respectively. This lack-luster long-term growth in North America stems from a robust terrestrial infrastructure that will be installed as the Shale Gas industry transitions from the “exploration” to “production” stage.

UPCOMING EVENTS
MilSatCom Asia 2012, May 9-10, Singapore, www.milsatcomasia.com

Hear industry updates at SMi’s 2nd installment of MilSatCom Asia on the 9th and 10th of May 2012 in Singapore. With satellite communications increasing in the region this event will allow fantastic networking opportunities with senior SATCOM professionals from across the region and internationally. The agenda has been developed to bring in decision makers, influencers and those at the forefront of current programs together to give you the crucial feedback and lessons learned. To view the full speaker line-up and program, please refer visit www.smi-online.co.uk/goto/milsatasia75.asp

19 June, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, www.communicasia.com

APSCC is a non-profit, international organization representing all sectors of satellite and space-related industries. The aim of the organization is to exchange views and ideas on satellite technologies, systems, policies and outer space activities in general along with satellite communications including broadcasting for the betterment of the Asia-Pacific region.