Carl Marchetto, formerly president and CEO of business development consulting firm Polaris Associates, has been appointed vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin‘s commercial satellite business, Denver Business Journal reported Tuesday. Marchetto succeeds Mike Hamel, who will oversee a joint venture between Lockheed and telecommunications firms in Saudi Arabia, Greg Avery writes. Marchetto is a […] More

Grant Thornton has added new hires Joe Tria, Laura Sue D’Annunzio and Tracy McShane-Wilson to its “People and Culture” leadership team, where they will work on the recruitment and development of the company’s human resources. The company said Thursday Tria and D’Annunzio will work from the Chicago office, while McShane-Wilson will be based in Dallas. “Joe, Laura Sue and Tracy […] More

The U.S. Air Force has launched a Boeing-built Wideband Global SATCOM 7 military communications satellite into space. Boeing said Thursday the satellite onboard a United Launch Alliance-made Delta IV rocket lifted off from a launch complex at Florida-based Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Wednesday. The company said the WGS-7 satellite has a digital payload component designed to improve […] More

Rick Lober serves as vice president and general manager of Hughes Network Systems‘ defense and intelligence systems division, an organization that delivers satellite communication technologies and services to defense and intelligence agencies. In this capacity, he manages a portfolio of fixed Ku, Ka and X band very small aperture terminals as well as mobilesat and […] More

General Dynamics NASSCO has kicked off construction of the second ECO tanker for American Petroleum Tankers at the company’s San Diego, California-based shipyard. Toni Atkins, speaker for the California State Assembly, hosted the keel-laying ceremony for the Magnolia State tanker and marked her initials onto a steel plate of the keel, General Dynamics said Monday. […] More

United Technologies Corp. has confirmed that it is currently in negotiations with multiple bidders for the acquisition of UTC subsidiary Sikorsky Aircraft, Defense News reported Saturday. Andrew Clevenger writes that sources have named the bidders as Airbus, Blackstone, Lockheed Martin and Textron. The report said the news comes after UTC announced its plan to either sell or spin […] More

Iridium Communications has completed the integration of communication and surveillance payloads with the Iridium NEXT satellite. The company said Monday it will send the satellite with the integrated Aireon-hosted tracking payload for aircraft surveillance to Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France for final qualification testing. The integrated module is part of the 66 low-Earth orbit satellites that will […] More

Northrop Grumman has received Milestone C approval for the RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system it built for the U.S. Air Force. The approval from the Milestone Decision Authority is part of the Defense Department‘s acquisition process and paves the way for the Global Hawk to move into the production phase, the company said Tuesday. “The most important date in any […] More

Boeing Co. has received the first signals of its ninth global positioning system IIF satellite from space. Boeing said the GPS IIF took off Wednesday aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and reached the orbit after more than three hours. Aerojet Rocketdyne supplied the propulsion system […] More

Lockheed Martin is developing a new spaceflight system consisting of the Jupiter space tug and Exoliner disposable supply module that the company hopes will support future cargo missions beyond low Earth orbit, Space.com reported Thursday. Mike Wall writes that Lockheed presented a concept video of the new system to show how it could be used for NASA missions to the International […] More

At least five companies have submitted bids to NASA to deliver supplies to the International Space Station through a second round of commercial resupply services competition, the Washington Post reported Monday. Christian Davenport writes NASA’s decision to partner with industry for ISS cargo resupply missions has drawn interest from bigger contractors and encouraged investor-backed startup […] More

The U.S. Air Force‘s Space and Missile Systems Center may open competition this spring for 28 commercial launches of military and intelligence satellites to bolster the use of U.S.-made rocket engines, Reuters reported Saturday. Andrea Shalal writes that both the government and private sector will fund the potential program, which aims to launch the first satellite by 2022. The effort […] More