It's been two years since European launch consortium Arianespace turned a profit. Despite Europe's economic crisis, the market for commercial satellite communications is strong and conditions for launch providers are generally favorable, yet the Evry, France-based launch services company continues to rely on government subsidies.
When it comes to the U.S. missile defense market, nothing and everything have changed. In the closing days of 2011, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced that Boeing would retain its decade-long position as prime contractor for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) missile shield for another seven years. But if the $3.48 billion contract signifies a renewal of the partners' sometimes-rocky marriage, there now seems to be a change in the wedding vows.
AERONAUTICS/PROPULSION •The AeroVironment Nano Air Vehicle Team developed and unveiled a tiny remotely piloted air vehicle, the Nano Hummingbird. Looking and flying like a tiny bird, it is designed to record video with an onboard camera and send color video to a hand-held controller.
The initial two service modules for the Orbital Sciences Corp. Cygnus commercial cargo carrier, which is scheduled to fly to the International Space Station this year, are nearing completion at the company's factory in Dulles, Va.
Tight budgets and other factors have left the U.S. facing “serious gaps” in its ability to monitor the Earth’s climate from space, both for near-term forecasting and for tracking longer-term changes, a panel of the National Research Council has found.
PARIS — Years have ticked by since European launch consortium Arianespace turned a profit. Despite Europe’s economic crisis, the market for commercial satellite communications is strong and conditions for launch providers are generally favorable. Yet the Evry, France-based launch services company continues to rely on government subsidies.
NASA’s twin Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (Grail) spacecraft will spend the next month refining their orbits around the Moon, where they will provide the most detailed gravity maps available and important clues to the origins of Earth’s big satellite.
“Mr. President, congratulations. You're a tough adversary. No hard feelings, old pal. It's a great two-party system we have. We gave our best and you outdid us. As a matter of fact you stunned us. I never figured you could beat us that badly. I want to wish you all the success in the world.” Those words were spoken three decades ago by then-U.S. House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill, a liberal Massachusetts Democrat, to President Ronald Reagan, a conservative Republican, after the chief executive prevailed in a tough budget battle.
The two largest space powers outside the U.S. had wildly divergent records in 2011, with Beijing boasting 19 launches and demonstrating in-orbit docking for a future space station while the Kremlin ordered an investigation into a string of high-profile engineering failures plaguing Russia's space program.
Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) has been presented with the 2011 Frost & Sullivan Middle East Market Penetration Leadership Award in Defence.
Schoolteachers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar along with a student from the UAE have a greater understanding of Space, thanks to an educational initiative from Boeing in the US.
CEOs from the world's leading airlines, aircraft manufacturers, satellite companies, and aerospace associations, as well as heads of the world's most prominent aerospace teaching and research facilities, will come together at the inaugural Global Aerospace Summit for four days of strategic level discussions, closed-door debates, networking, and site visits.
Arabsat-5C was safely launched by Arianespace from Kourou aboard an Ariane 5 on the evening of 21 September. The satellite was built by Astrium and Thales Alenia Space for satcom operator Arabsat, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Thales and Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to offer highly-secure satellite communication services to military forces and government agencies.
DubaiSat-1, the UAE-owned and operated earth observation satellite, has relayed images of the Holy Cities of Mecca, Medina and Al Quds from outer space.
