Satellite News

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) proposed by MIT researchers could detect hundreds of Earth-sized planets – if NASA approves the mission.
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Beginning on 18 January, NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter will listen for possible, though improbable, radio transmissions from the Phoenix Mars Lander, which completed five months of studying an arctic Martian site in November 2008.
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Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has shipped five James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) beryllium primary mirror segments as well as the engineering development unit (EDU) to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center for cryogenic temperature testing.
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NASA recently extended a contract with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to provide science and operational support for the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
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COM DEV International Ltd. announced that it has been awarded a contract valued in excess of US$7 million to provide passive microwave equipment for a commercial communications satellite. COM DEV will supply switches, filters and multiplexers for use on the spacecraft.
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The U.S. Air Force said its Global Positioning Systems Wing and the 50th Space Wing are ushering in improved Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities through a new ground system software release.
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The European Commission has selected the consortium led by OHB-System AG and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) for building and testing 14 satellites for the Galileo satellite navigation system. The contract is worth EUR566 million. The winners of the launch and systems support contracts are Arianespace and Thales Alenia Space, respectively.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. said it has received a contract valued in excess of EUR15 million (US$21.5 million, C$22.3 million) from Thales Alenia Space to provide a number of advanced technology solutions.