Satellites

Got a good idea for a small satellite? NASA has issued a broad agency announcement seeking low-cost flight demonstration proposals for small satellites, which generally weigh less than 400 pounds and are usually launched as secondary payloads.

Boeing Satellite Systems Incorporated, El Segundo, California, is being awarded an almost $9 million fixed-price contract modification to retrofit the Block II space vehicles with radio frequency bypass out-of-band cascading filter solutions. Space and Missile Systems Center, El Segundo, California, is the contracting activity.

Israel overcomes geographic limitations to its security, defense and scientific endeavors by reaching for the sky-space, in particular-with upgraded and innovative new satellite technologies.

Whether for military ops, standard communications or a lofty connection linking nations together during crises, space systems are critical. Enhancing the ability to monitor space assets-and to augment them with newer, better equipment-is a major STRATCOM mission. The command continues to move forward and to seek commercial support, but are the requirements clear? Is the acquisition process easily navigable? Share your thoughts here.

Commercial satellite support for U.S. military forces in the Middle East and Asia is being boosted by an Intelsat orbiter that is being moved halfway around the world to cover the region. The international satellite consortium, responding to a U.S. Defense Department request in February, is repositioning its Galaxy 26 U.S. domestic satellite from its 93°W slot over the Western Hemisphere to a new location over the Indian Ocean. The Galaxy 26 orbiter will provide vital bandwidth for unmanned aerial vehicles conducting surveillance operations throughout its area of coverage, which ranges from Germany to Southeast Asia. The Defense Department awarded a contract to Intelsat via Artel Incorporated as part of its Defense Information Systems Network Satellite Transmission Services-Global (DSTS-G) contract.