Satellite News

Northrop Grumman Corporation has completed qualification testing of the payload flight software for the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) military communications satellite payload.

Intelsat, Ltd. announced two new customer agreements under which the company will provide satellite-based cellular backhaul solutions for wireless operators.

ProtoStar Ltd. and Antrix, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), announced an agreement to jointly provide 216 MHz of interim satellite capacity to support the expanding direct-to-home (DTH) television demand in India. In related news, ProtoStar for the first time also gave a launch date for its second planned satellite — surprisingly a Boeing 601HP model.

Engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center have developed a new 18 meter near Earth Ka-band Antenna Network, the first in NASA history.

Eutelsat Communications announced the conclusion of a five-year contract on its W4 satellite with Entertainment Highway Ltd (EHL) for a new pay-TV platform serving Nigeria.

XTAR, LLC, a joint venture between Loral Space & Communications and Hisdesat, announced that it has received a contract from the U.S. General Services Administration, Federal Acquisition Service for Information Technology Equipment, Software, and Services (FSC Group 70).

ProtoStar Ltd., a Bermuda corporation, and PlanetSky Ltd. of Limassol, Cyprus announced a lease agreement for PlanetSky to secure C band capacity on ProtoStar’s first satellite, to be launched in May 2008.

Measat Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia, and Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation, announced the signing of an agreement for the leasing of Ku-Band capacity on the Measat-3 satellite.