Satellite News

Following the first meeting of the joint government-industry committee on space, the French Minister of Higher Education and Research announced that the government was allocating EUR25 million to an upgrade of the Ariane 5 launcher, within the scope of France’s Investment Program for the Future (Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir, or PIA).

Magellan Aerospace Corporation (Magellan) announced the award of a C$110 million contract from MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) of Richmond, British Columbia, for the Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM) satellite bus manufacture. The RCM is comprised of three low Earth orbit spacecraft, each carrying a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload.

The Alphasat satellite, first application of the new Alphabus platform, was launched on 25 July. The orbital positioning phase has now been completed, validating the electric propulsion system developed by Thales Alenia Space, which will provide satellite station-keeping throughout its expected 15 year service life.

Raytheon Company received Interim Authorisation to Test (IATT) security certification for the Global Positioning System Next Generation Operational Control System (GPS OCX) Launch and Checkout System (LCS) four months ahead of schedule.

Inmarsat and Telespazio (Finmeccanica/Thales) are teaming up and developing joint offerings for energy and M2M customers in the European Region.