Iridium Communications, CEO Matt Desch has called on the Federal Aviation Administration to transition to a new aircraft surveillance system by the end of this calendar year in an interview with Reuters posted Tuesday. Desch told Reuters’ Andrea Shalal at the Satellite 2016 conference the agency needs to make a decision ahead of the scheduled 2018 date for […] More

Harris Corp. has developed a digital technology to offer it as potential payload for the U.S. Air Force‘s 11th and succeeding Global Positioning System III satellites. The company said Monday its satellite navigational system offering is designed to have a modular architecture, atomic clock systems, radiation-resistant computers and a high-power transmitter. The platform combines technologies from […] More

Six companies will participate in a public-private sector partnership initiative launched by U.S. Strategic Command to monitor satellite launches and daily operations in an effort to build up collaboration in space programs, Air Force Times reported Wednesday. Phillip Swarts writes Inmarsat, SES Government Solutions, Intelsat, Eutelsat, DigitalGlobe and Iridium Communications will work at the Joint Space Operations Center […] More

Thales‘ in-flight entertainment and connectivity business and others in the aviation industry are eyeing broadband pipes for the transmission of non-safety Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System operational data, Runway Girl Network reported Thursday. Seth Miller writes that the transfer of ACARS data over broadband could present a potential threat to the in-flight connectivity system’s security. Dominique Giannoi, […] More

Exelis has completed a series of factory acceptance tests for the Aireon-built aircraft surveillance data processing and distribution ground system. Ed Sayadian, vice president of civil and aerospace systems at Exelis, said Monday the company conducted the factory acceptance test to confirm that the Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast surveillance technology meets all requirements and interfaces. […] More

Cobham, International Communications Group, Iridium Communications, L-3 Communications and Rockwell Collins have partnered to develop and distribute products that are built to work with Iridium’s new broadband service. The industry partners will design and manufacture broadband terminals to be compatible with Iridium Certus, Iridium said Thursday. Iridium expects the products from its partners to be available in late 2016 after the release of […] More

Orbital Sciences has ordered Aerojet Rocketdyne electric propulsion subsystems for installation on its communications satellite platform. Aerojet Rocketdyne will deliver the XR-5 subsystems over the next three years for the GEOStar-3 geostationary orbit satellite, Aerojet Rocketdyne said Tuesday. The XR-5 subsystem comprises 5-kilowatt class Hall thrusters with flow regulation valves, power processing units with thruster selection units and […] More

A new report from Research and Markets forecasts the mobile satellite services market will reach $5.62 billion by 2019. The market research firm estimates the market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.2 percent from 2014 to 2019, Research and Markets said Monday. “Satellites will continue to deliver efficient broadcast services on a global basis that […] More

Mobile broadband for public safety sector use will see an average year-on-year growth rate of 7.81 percent through 2018, Research and Markets forecasts say. The analyst has published a new report that it said Wednesday looks at the market’s prospects from 2013 to 2018, factors that could spur growth, top vendors in the field and the challenges they could encounter during […] More

ReportBuyer has released a report that forecasts the global mobile satellite services market to grow 7.39 percent by 2018. The report factors in the wholesale mobile satellite services revenue in order to calculate the market size, ReportBuyer said Sept. 23. Key regions covered in the report are the Americas, the Asia-Pacific and Europe-Middle East-Africa. ReportBuyer also cites the following companies as key […] More

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved an Avionica-made satellite data link platform for installation on Boeing 777 commercial planes. Avionica said Thursday it obtained an FAA supplemental type certificate for the company’s Iridium-based satLINK MAX flight communications technology. The clearance indicates that Avionica’s platform meets RTCA/DO-262A design standards for aircraft voice and data systems designed […] More

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory looks to receive a National Science Foundation grant to continue its observation missions using an Iridium satellite constellation, SpaceNews reported Monday. Dan Leone writes Johns Hopkins APL is eyeing the 66-satellite Next constellation Iridium plans to launch between 2015 and 2017 under the second phase of APL’s Active Magnetosphere […] More