WBMSAT News Bits 05/27/2011

WBMSAT Satellite Industry News Bits May 27, 2011

NBN Co steps up satellite plans to provide broadband service to remote communities in Australia.
[Satellite Today - 05/27/2011]

SES Astra signs first contract with an Italian broadcaster, Promosat, for DTH services in Italy.
[Satellite Today - 05/27/2011]

NASA selects Fibertek to design, develop, fabricate, test and deliver laser systems for the Ice,Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 mission to measure Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, scheduled for 2016 launch.
[SatNews - 05/26/2011]

U.S. Military satellite, the first Space Based Infrared System satellite, successfully reaches orbit and is performing as required.
[Satellite Today - 05/26/2011]

Northrop Grumman to transition work from NPOESS program to Defense Weather Satellite System (successor to the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program) under authorization from U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center.
[SatNews - 05/26/2011]

Satellite broadband gets contentious as smaller and independent companies and cooperatives fight for a share of funds to be provided government broadband programs.
[TMCnet - 05/26/2011]

Aquarius/SAC-D satellite with Argentina-built observatory to be launched June 9 on a three-year mission to map global changes in salinity at the ocean surface.
[PR Newswire - 05/26/2011]

AsiaSat expands its Tai Po Earth Station in Hong Kong.
[Satellite Today - 05/26/2011]

Nordic Maritime Singapore chooses KVH's TracPhone V7 for onboard communications.
[GlobeNewswire - 05/26/2011]

OnAir and TriaGnoSys launch most lightweight inflight connectivity solution for business jets, connecting to the plane's existing satellite communications system to provide inflight wireless connectivity for passengers.
[Business Video News - 05/26/2011]

SES Astra increases download speed of its broadband service beyond 10 Mbps.
[Satellite Today - 05/25/2011]

Space Micro wins NASA award for research and development of Satellite Interoperability for Microwave Access - SIMAX - intermodule cluster communications system.
[SpaceRef - 05/26/2011]

Remembering - on May 25, 1945, Arthur C. Clark predicts the future by inventing it, as he proposes using space satellites for global communications including television broadcast.
[Wired - 05/25/2011]

Space shuttle Endeavour, on its final mission, successfully delivers MIT researchers' Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, designed to search for antimatter and dark matter and measure cosmic rays, to the International Space Station.
[R&D Magazine - 05/25/2011]

Singapore's first locally-built micro-satellite in space, X-Sat, begins transmitting images back to Singapore.
[Satellite Today - 05/25/2011]

Telesat satellite 14R Estrela do Sul 2 hits a snag as its northern solar array fails to fully deploy.
[Satellite Spotlight - 05/25/2011]

Busy launch schedule for Arianespace continues - next up, two launches in July - from French Guyana (ASTREA 1N and BSAT 3c/JCSAT 110R), and from the Baikonur Cosmodrome (six Globalstar satellites).
[Satellite Spotlight - 05/25/2011]

Vizada unveils Vizada XChange, their new all-in-one maritime satellite communications platform providing secure and controlled communications integrating voice and broadband data for ship operations and crew.
[SatNews - 05/25/2011]

New Brunswick telecommunications company Xplornet Communications gets $230M in private financing as it plans two new satellites to expand its wireless and satellite broadband networks across Canada to reach rural households.
[Business Journal - 05/25/2011]

Iridium offers free calling from ships equipped with its terminals to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center, in newly announced anti-piracy program.
[GlobeNewswire - 05/25/2011]

South Africa should develop its own satellite manufacturing capacity and stop relying on other countries, says its Science and Technology Minister, as its Cabinet approves in principal buying an equity stake in satellite manufacturer SunSpace.
[Business Day - 05/25/2011]

Working group evaluating 150 different GPS devices and will explore mitigation solutions to address perceived problems with GPS signal interference by LightSquared's plans for ground-based use of its satellite spectrum.
[PoliceOne.com - 05/24/2011]

Eutelsat's Skylogic signs distribution agreement with Tliasonera for Tooway service in Finland.
[Satellite Spotlight - 05/24/2011]

SES Astra signs new 3-D TV capacity deal with Penthouse Digital Media Productions.
[ANTESKY - 05/24/2011]

Spot Connect satellite communications app available on App Store; allows iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users to transmit messages via satellite from virtually anywhere in the world.
[GlobeNewswire - 05/24/2011]

Qualcomm announces product support for Russian GLONASS satellite system, with ability to utilize both the GPS and GLONASS networks simultaneously for greater location performance.
[USA Market News - 05/24/2011]

Congolese service provider Microcom upgrades its network to extend the range of services for Central and Western Africa clients with Newtec Elevation hubs in Germany and the U.S.
[SatNews - 05/24/2011]

Detecon Al Saudia launches Geo-Redundant VSAT service in Saudi Arabia powered by iDirect's Evolution platform.
[PR Newswire - 05/24/2011]

Comtech EF Data and KNS integrate SuperTrack marine stabilized antenna systems and ROSS Open Antenna Management technologies for enhanced maritime solutions.
[GlobeNewswire - 05/24/2011]

Former Virginia Congressman Rick Boucher and communications consultant and political analyst Jamal Simmons join Internet Innovation Alliance, the broad-based coalition supporting broadband availability and adoption for all Americans, as honorary Chariman and Co-Chairman.
[Business Wire - 05/24/2011]

Recent discoveries in remote areas such as the Artic push the Oil & Gas sector further away from terrestrial service, driving satellite connectivity in the digital oilfield.
[NSR - 05/24/2011]

Both satellites launched May 20 by Ariane 5 ECA rocket, ST-2 and Gsat-8, are on-orbit and healthy in geosynchronous orbit.
[Space News - 05/23/2011]

New incoming Dish CEO Joe Clayton makes known that Dish plans to aggressively utilize recent acquisitions Blockbuster, Hughes Communications, and DBSD North America to create new video platform to compete with streaming providers like Netflix.
[Home Media Magazine - 05/23/2011]

Globalstar Europe Satellite Services signs authorized distribution agreement with Spanish company Equipos Navales Industriales.
[Satellite Today - 05/23/2011]

KVH ships 1000th CommBox Ship/Shore Network Manager, supporting changing needs for commercial maritime industry onboard communications.
[Globe Newswire - 05/23/2011]

Judge rules that creditors can vote on DBSD sale to Dish Network.
[Wall Street Journal - 05/23/2011]

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