Satellite News

ESA has awarded a new framework contract and two new work orders to Thales Alenia Space in France, to upgrade the Galileo Mission Segment (GMS) – that element of the world-wide Galileo ground segment dedicated to delivering navigation services – and the Galileo Security Monitoring Centre (GSMC) near Paris, as well as to implement a second GSMC in Spain, near Madrid.

Hispamar, the Brazilian subsidiary of the Spanish satellite-based telecommunications operator Hispasat, and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. have joined together to offer a new satellite-based broadband connectivity service, focusing on both the residential and corporate market, in order to extend Internet access to the parts of the country that are currently digitally isolated.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in United States has chosen Thales to develop and build an operational ground station in the southwest part of the country, at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, to track Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites operating in medium Earth orbit (MEO).

Thales Alenia Space has won a contract from the European Commission to develop and build an operational ground station on La Reunion Island to track Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites in medium Earth orbit (MEO). The contract includes one MEOLUT (Medium Orbit Local User Terminal), engineering support and maintenance services for one year, and the hosting site.

Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat and Telesat announced the creation of a consortium called the C-Band Alliance, or CBA, in a move that could accelerate making mid‐band spectrum available for 5G services.

ThinKom Solutions, Inc. has announced the successful completion of the first ground test of its ThinAir Ka2517 Ka-band phased-array satellite antenna with the SES’ O3b constellation of medium-Earth orbit (MEO) satellites.

Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited has received its second patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), titled, “Methods and Systems for Improving Spectrum Utilisation for Satellite Communications” (US Patent No. 10,050,698 B2).

Gazprom Space Systems (GSS) and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. have signed a contract with an estimated value of US$18 million, to provide broadband connectivity across Russia. Gilat will deliver its multiservice platform and user terminals to operate over the new Yamal 601 Ka satellite, which will replace Yamal-202.