Satellite News

Space Systems/Loral (SSL) was selected to provide a communications satellite for Bulgaria Sat, an affiliate of Bulsatcom, which is a telecommunications company and the largest provider of pay-TV services in Bulgaria. The satellite, which will provide Direct-to-Home (DTH) television service in the Balkans and other European regions, will be Bulgaria Sat’s first dedicated satellite.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has been awarded a contract to deliver the Es’hail 2 communications satellite to operator Qatar Satellite company (Es’hailSat) in Doha. In-orbit delivery is scheduled for the end of 2016.

Lockheed Martin announced two major upgrades to its A2100 family of satellites: side-by-side launch capability and a new mission processor.

The launch of a NASA ocean winds sensor to the International Space Station (ISS) this month inaugurates a new era of Earth observation that will leverage the space station’s vantage point in space. Before the end of the decade, six NASA Earth science instruments will be mounted to the station to help scientists study Earth, the agency said.

O3b said recently that in-orbit testing of its latest satellites has been successfully completed and the satellites have been commissioned into the O3b constellation. The expanded constellation is now fully operational allowing the company to launch services on a global basis.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has begun to routinely utilise observational data acquired by JAXA’s Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) aboard the Global Change Observing Mission – Water “Shizuku” (GCOM-W) to monitor the land, ocean and atmosphere globally and around the U.S.

Airbus Defence and Space has been selected by EchoStar Satellite Operating Corporation–a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corp.–and SES S.A. to build a satellite called EchoStar 105/SES-11, a Eurostar E3000 satellite operating two payloads in Ku and C bands.

The most accurate and comprehensive collection of rain, snowfall and other types of precipitation data ever assembled now is available to the public. This new resource for climate studies, weather forecasting, and other applications is based on observations by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, a joint mission of NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with contributions from a constellation of international partner satellites.