Satellite News

The launch of the U.S. Air Force’s Wideband Global SATCOM-2 satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is scheduled for 4 April with a launch window of 0031 – 0133 UTC. In related news, the Atlas V launch of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has slipped to June.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has been selected by Boeing as the contractor for the Ares I Instrument Unit Assembly (IUA) Flight Computer (FC) and Command Telemetry Computer (CTC).

The first captive firing test (CFT) of the first stage flight model tank for the H-IIB launch vehicle has been postponed again.

COM DEV USA, LLC has been awarded a contract by Boeing to supply passive microwave components for the next generation of NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS).

Inmarsat plc announced a strategic investment, long term global distribution agreement and new product development agreement with SkyWave Mobile Communications Inc. of Ottawa, Canada.

Infineon Technologies, SkyTerra, and TerreStar Networks jointly announced the world’s first multi-standard mobile platform based on Infineon’s software-defined-radio (SDR) technology. SkyTerra and TerreStar are both developing next-generation integrated satellite-terrestrial communications networks.

U.S. government spending on unclassified satellites and space programmes is out of control and soared 42 percent to US$16.9 billion in fiscal 2009 from US$11.9 billion in 2005, the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense said.