The Federal Emergency Management Agency intends to award a sole-source contract to a business unit of Airbus Group‘s defense and space segment to help install the FEMA’s emergency notification system. FEMA said Friday in a FedBizOpps notice it will ask Airbus DS Communications to supply dialogic cards and cables for the company-built VESTA Communicator platform. The contractor will not modify […] More

Airbus’ defense and space business has received a sole-source contract from the U.K. defense ministry to develop, test and launch a military communications satellite, Defense News reported Monday. The Skynet 6A geostationary spacecraft is expected to enter service by mid-2025 and is designed to replace U.K. military satellites in the Skynet 5 constellation that are near the […] More

Airbus‘ defense and space segment has developed and tested an unmanned aerial vehicle demonstrator as part of efforts to aid the development of future UAV technology. The jet-propelled SAGITTA drone flew autonomously on a pre-programmed course for approximately seven minutes over a test site in South Africa, Airbus said Tuesday. SAGITTA is powered by electromechanical actuators and its airframe is made […] More

Airbus‘ helicopter manufacturing division has received a $35.2 million contract modification to sustain and provide logistics and parts support for the U.S. Army‘s UH-72 Lakota helicopters. The Army has revised contract line item numbers to increase the number of total estimated flying hours and amount of funds for the flying-hour rate, the Defense Department said Wednesday. Work […] More

Esri has partnered with an Airbus Group business unit to incorporate the latter’s elevation data to Esri’s online maps. Airbus Defence and Space‘s WorldDEM4Ortho elevation data will be added to Esri’s ArcGIS Online Living Atlas of the World to support online end-user applications and app developers who need elevation information, Esri said Monday. Sean Breyer, Esri […] More

Airbus DS Communications has formed a network solutions business organization that will be led by Jeroen de Witte and offer services intended to help public safety agencies adopt next generation 9-1-1 systems. De Witte will serve as vice president of the newly established unit and oversee a portfolio of VESTA NG9-1-1 service offerings, Airbus said Thursday. The 14-year company […] More

A joint venture of OneWeb and Airbus’ defense and space business has opened a new facility in Toulouse, France, to support assembly and integration work on a constellation of 900 satellites designed to provide internet communications services. OneWeb Satellites will use the 49,000-square-foot production line to validate manufacturing methods for the low-Earth orbit satellites and help establish […] More

A business unit of Airbus‘ defense and space arm will launch a tool that is designed to provide location data for 9-1-1 wireless calls to public safety answering points via RapidSOS‘ data repository. Airbus DS Communications said Thursday its new VESTA Map Local platform will work to check whether a caller’s device-based location data is available on RapidSOS’ NG9-1-1 Clearinghouse repository then present […] More

Airbus has formed a new subsidiary that aims to offer aerial imagery services across the energy, agriculture, insurance and state and local government sectors. Airbus Aerial has main offices in the U.S. and Europe and seeks to use aerospace and software platforms in efforts to help customers obtain and analyze data from unmanned aerial vehicles, high-altitude aircraft and satellites, the company […] More

Airbus’ defense and space segment has selected a Northrop Grumman subsidiary to supply mesh reflectors for two of Inmarsat‘s communications satellites. Northrop’s Astro Aerospace business will provide its AstroMesh reflectors for integration with Inmarsat 6 satellites designed to provide L-band communication services, Northrop said Thursday. John Alvarez, general manager of Astro Aerospace, said the company’s […] More

An Intelsat subsidiary has joined a channel partner program of Airbus‘ defense and space segment for military satellite communication services. Intelsat General will offer Skynet X-band and ultra-high-frequency services to the U.S. government under the channel partner agreement, Airbus said Wednesday. Richard Franklin, head of the secure communications business at Airbus Defense and Space, said the new partnership will provide services to customers via the newly […] More

Airbus‘ defense and space business has signed a research agreement with the Australia’s air force to collaborate on the development of an automatic air-to-air refueling capacity for the country’s multirole tanker transport aircraft, Defense News reported Thursday. Nigel Pittaway writes the two-year project aims to integrate an automatic refueling feature into the KC-30A aircraft’s aerial refueling boom system that will […] More