The five Iridium Communications satellites that Hawthorne, Calif.-based firm SpaceX launched Tuesday have entered the testing and validation phase. “Three of the [Iridium NEXT] satellites from this launch will be going directly in to service in our sixth orbital plane, where the other two will serve as spares,” Iridium Chief Operating Officer Scott Smith said in a […] More

Iridium Communications plans to launch on March 18 at 8:19 a.m. Pacific time the fifth batch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites aboard a SpaceX-built Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The planned launch would bring the total number of Iridium NEXT satellites in orbit to 50 as part of a potential $3 billion program to replace an existing constellation […] More

Iridium Communications’ fourth batch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites took off Friday at 5:27 p.m. Pacific time from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket. The launch marks the first use of the rocket’s previously-flown first stage that SpaceX fielded in June to bring the second set of Iridium NEXT satellites into orbit and serves […] More

The Virginia Business magazine has unveiled its list of 50 Most Influential Virginians for 2017 that includes some prominent individuals in the government contracting sector. Some of the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s board members who made it to the publication’s list include Tony Moraco, president and CEO of Science Applications International Corp., NVTC said Monday. The magazine […] More

Iridium Communications has inked an agreement with SpaceX to launch additional communication satellites alongside the twin satellites of a collaborative mission between NASA and the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences. Iridium said Tuesday the launch of five Iridium NEXT satellites with the NASA/GFZ Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On payload aboard a Falcon 9 rocket in early 2018 is the company’s […] More

The trade publication Virginia Business has released the 50 Most Influential Virginians list that includes some prominent executives in the government contracting industry. The list included some of the Northern Virginia Technology Council‘s board members including SAIC President and CEO Tony Moraco, NVTC said Tuesday. NVTC added that representatives of the organization’s board member companies recognized in the […] 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

Lockheed Martin flight controllers will oversee the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft’s health and safety functions as the company and NASA prepare for MAVEN to enter Mars’ orbit on Sunday. MAVEN’s orbital insertion concludes its 10-month interplanetary mission and starts its mission to collect data on upper-atmosphere gases on Mars and their interaction with solar winds, NASA said Wednesday. “The MAVEN science mission focuses on […] More