TeleCommunication Systems has agreed to offer the satellite products and services of its channel partner O3b Networks to TCS’ government clients via the GSA IT Schedule 70 contract vehicle. TCS said Monday O3b’s medium Earth-orbit constellation provides broadband satellite services with up to 1.6 Gbps data throughput and LTE support. O3b’s satellite products include satellite terminals, antennas, gateway equipment and block upconverters, while services include field service […] More

Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, a senior vice president at Inmarsat, oversees direction and policy functions for the British satellite services provider’s U.S. government business unit. The nearly three-decade aerospace and defense veteran is also a former member of the Senior Executive Service and served as a program executive officer at the Defense Information Systems Agency before she entered the private […] More

Iridium Communications has completed the initial test phase on the primary functions of the Thales Alenia Space-developed Iridium NEXT platform software ahead of the first satellite launch this year. Iridium said Tuesday this testing phase is the first of a series of tests on the platform software’s systems integration and other functions to check Iridium NEXT’s operational autonomy. “Completion […] More

Dwight Hunsicker brings nearly  three decades of telecommunications and GovCon experience to his role as senior vice president and general manager of government solutions at Globecomm. His background also includes time at WorldLinks, a communications services firm he co-founded and served as chief operating officer at, and a business development leadership role at Westinghouse. In this conversation with ExecutiveBiz, Hunsicker […] More

The U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin moved closer to the completion of the Mobile User Objective System constellation with a new satellite delivery to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Nov. 5. MUOS-3 is the third spacecraft in the satellite array and is due for further tests before it is loaded onto an Atlas V rocket for  launch early next year. The […] More

Boeing has concluded the development and testing phase of a commercial crew transportation system the company built for NASA. The testing represents the final milestone for the the CST-100 spacecraft and Atlas V rocket under Boeing’s four-year agreement with NASA, the space agency said Friday. NASA intends for the spacecraft to transport crew members to the International Space Station […] More

A Lockheed Martin team has completed its work to couple the large system and propulsion modules for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‘s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R series. The A2100-based satellite’s system module comprises the command and data handling, communication and electrical power subsystems, Lockheed said Thursday. Harris Corp. has also installed the initial weather product applications into GOES-R’s ground segment hardware, […] More

A General Dynamics C4 Systems subsidiary will design and manufacture ground structures and provide systems integration services to Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for the U.S. Air Force‘s Space Fence program. The company said Thursday General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies will start to build the Space Fence radar ground system in mid-2015 at a facility in the Marshall Islands to support Lockheed’s $914 million contract with […] More

TeleCommunication Systems Inc. has teamed up with O3b Networks to provide O3b’s satellite network services to TCS’ government and commercial clients through contract vehicles. “D” D’Ambrosio, O3b Networks executive vice president of government solutions, said Monday TCS will deploy communications services to remote areas with “O3b’s fiber speed and satellite reach.” O3b’s medium Earth-orbit constellation […] More

Airbus Group‘s defense and space division will design and produce an electric telecommunications satellite for satellite operator Eutelsat as they prepare for its launch in early 2017. EUTELSAT 172B would be the first European satellite to use electric propulsion in performing orbit-raising and on-orbit maneuvers, Airbus said Thursday. According to François Auque, head of space systems at Airbus Defence and […] More

TeleCommunication Systems will supply Planet Labs with the X/Y Tracking Antenna Systems to help track the Flock-1 Earth-imaging satellite constellation. TCS said Wednesday that features of the tracking antennas for the low-Earth orbit satellites include uplink satellite command and imaging data reception. “Capturing these high-resolution views of the earth at significant volume is a major milestone in the space industry,” […] More

(Editor’s note: this interview took place prior to ATK’s April announcement that the company would spinoff its sporting division into an independent company and merge its aerospace and defense businesses with Orbital Sciences. Click here to read GovCon Wire’s coverage of both transactions.) As senior vice president and chief information officer at ATK, Jeff Kubacki acts as the Arlington, […] More