Satellite News

Fengyun 1C, China’s first operational polar orbiting weather satellite, was destroyed in what appears to be a test of a Chinese anti satellite (ASAT) weapon. A report by Aviation Week & Space Technology was meanwhile confirmed by U.S. government officials.

A prototype structure that holds the primary mirrors for the optical element of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) passed a key readiness milestone after undergoing a series of rigorous cryogenic tests at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Northrop Grumman said.

Integral Systems, Inc. announced that it was awarded a contract modification for the GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites) N-P Program to upgrade a number of ground command and control subsystems.

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. said that its recently acquired Montreal operation has booked another advanced technology contract, at a value of approximately US$14 million through the Japanese company, Sumitomo Corporation.

European Space Agency director general Jean-Jacques Dordain admitted that the reasons for the delay of the second Galileo test satellite, GIOVE-B, were not solely of a technical nature. In particular, ESA appears to be unhappy with the performance of the industrial consortium that is to provide at least the first four Galileo satellites.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected BAE Systems to lead a team of 10 companies in the next development phases of the Novel Satellite Communications (NSC) programme.

Merrimac Industries, Inc. has received an order for US$430,000 to supply several Multi-Mix Microtechnology products for a next generation U.S. military communications satellite programme.

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. announced that its subsidiary Comtech EF Data Corp. received an order for approximately US$1.0 million from DirecTV.