Archives for May 2020

Work on the FalconSAT-8. Photo is courtesy of the U.S. Air Force Academy. A satellite built by U.S. Air Force Academy cadets will launch into space on May 16 aboard the X-37B, Orbital Test Vehicle sponsored by the Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office and built by Boeing — this is the first […]

AsiaSat bandpass filter (BPF). In light of the roll-out of 5G in Hong Kong, AsiaSat has accelerated efforts to provide the necessary protection for its C-band TT&C (Telemetry, Tracking and Control) and TVRO antennas against potential interference from 5G deployment, to ensure the continuity of satellite operation and uninterrupted service to customers. There are currently […]

Crowley Maritime Corp. will install Fleet Xpress from Inmarsat on a majority of its vessels. The 127-year old, Florida-headquartered business owns, operates and manages a diverse fleet of almost 100 vessels, including conventional and dual fuel (liquid natural gas – LNG) container ships, tankers and ship assist and offshore services tugboats and barges. The deal […]

    A University of New Mexico professor is leading a NASA project that will develop a more efficient method of cooling that relies on electromagnetic fields instead of moving parts and is believed to be well-suited for a zero-gravity environment, such as space. The proposal, titled “Efficient Microgravity Heat and Mass Transfer with No […]

  Inmarsat, addressing their support to the vital aid and NGO sector during the Covid-19 pandemic, has announced new initiatives to enable enhanced offerings across both platforms that is a direct response to the additional challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This measure ensures emergency responders can continue delivering critical aid and relief with Inmarsat’s Broadband […]

Russia is planning to launch their Arktika-M satellite at the end of the year, according to Vladimir Kolmykov, the General Director of the Lavochkin aerospace firm. The Arktika-M remote-sensing and emergency communications satellites is designed to gather meteorological data in the polar regions, which will allow for improved weather forecasts and enable scientists to better […]

    NASA has NanoAvionics lined up to build a 12U nanosatellite bus for an in-orbit demonstration of NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3). It will be an approximately 800 square foot (74 square meter) composite boom and solar sail system.   This is a result of a contract between NASA Ames Research Center and AST for a 12U bus to carry NASA’s payload into low Earth orbit (LEO) including an […]

ST Engineering iDirect, a company of ST Engineering North America, and its long-term partner, Spacecom (Tel Aviv Stock Exchange: SCC), operator of the AMOS satellite fleet, have announced the successful demonstration of VSAT return capabilities on AMOS-17. The demonstration resulted in an exceptionally wide return link for a small VSAT of 40 Mbps using the […]

  Tom Roeder, photo by Mark Reis     Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan helped the military fix troubled programs to buy the F-35 fighter and the KC-46 tanker. Now he’s trying to help the new Space Force avoid similar woes in satellite buying. A 1983 Air Force Academy graduate, Bogdan is now […]

PUNCH smallsats on-orbit. Image is courtesy of SwRI. On April 8, 2020, the Polarimeter to UNify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission achieved an important milestone, passing NASA’s critical System Requirements Review/Mission Definition Review (SRR/MDR). Southwest Research Institute is leading PUNCH, a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) mission that will integrate understanding of the Sun’s corona, […]