Satellite News

The Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) instrument Lockheed Martin helped develop for NASA’s next deep space telescope surpassed expectations during tests in late 2014. It will see farther into the cosmos and further back in time than any other instrument. Scientists are preparing NIRCam for new trials beginning this year.

Iridium Communications Inc. announced the successful completion of the first testing phase of the Iridium NEXT platform software. Developed by Thales Alenia Space, the platform software will manage all flight functions on Iridium NEXT satellites, including such systems as power management, solar array positioning, propulsion operations, navigation and attitude control.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has notified NASA that it has denied Sierra Nevada Corporation’s protest of the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract awards.

Orbcomm Inc. announced that it has completed the acquisition of SkyWave Mobile Communications (SkyWave), the largest M2M service provider on the Inmarsat global L-band satellite network, on 1 January.