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Karen Monaghan
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Wednesday, 09 November 2011 |
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International Launch Services (ILS) and Eutelsat, of Paris, France, one of the world’s leading satellite operators, announced a contract today for the launch of the W3D satellite into geostationary transfer orbit on an ILS Proton in 2013. |
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Steffen Leuthold
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Tuesday, 25 October 2011 |
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OHB System AG, a company of OHB AG (ISIN: DE0005936124, Prime Standard) and Astrium, the industrial prime contractor in the implementation of the European Data Relay Satellite System (EDRS), signed an addendum to the existing preliminary authorization to proceed (PATP) for the development and construction of a dedicated EDRS satellite. |
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Kirstin Grantham
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Thursday, 20 October 2011 |
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Today, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) announced it has successfully completed the preliminary design review of its revolutionary launch abort system, a system designed for manned missions using its Dragon spacecraft. This represents a major step toward creating an American-made successor to the Space Shuttle.
NASA’s approval of the latest design review marks the fourth successfully completed milestone under the agency’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program and demonstrates the innovation that’s possible when NASA partners with the private sector.
“Each milestone we complete brings the United States one step closer to once again having domestic human spaceflight capability,” said former astronaut Garrett Reisman, one of the two program leads of SpaceX’s DragonRider, which is adding capabilities to the Dragon spacecraft for astronaut carriage.
Now that the Space Shuttle program has ended, the United States relies on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft for astronaut transport, costing American taxpayers as much as $62 million a seat. By comparison, Dragon is designed to carry seven astronauts at a time for an unparalleled $20 million per seat.
As with all SpaceX designs, increased safety and reliability are paramount. “Dragon’s integrated launch abort system provides astronauts with the ability to safely escape from the beginning of the launch until the rocket reaches orbit,” explained David Giger, co-lead of the DragonRider program. “This level of protection is unprecedented in manned spaceflight history.”
With the latest design review approved by NASA, SpaceX can now start building the hardware at the heart of its innovative launch abort system. The SpaceX design incorporates the escape engines into the side walls of Dragon, eliminating a failure mode of more traditional rocket escape towers, which must be successfully jettisoned during every launch. The integrated abort system also returns with the spacecraft, allowing for easy reuse and radical reductions in the cost of space transport. Over time, the same escape thrusters will also provide Dragon with the ability to land with pinpoint accuracy on Earth or another planet.
In its first flights, on June 4 and December 8, 2010, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle achieved consecutive mission successes. The December mission, which was the first demonstration flight under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, marked Dragon’s historic debut and established SpaceX as the first private company to launch and recover a spacecraft from orbit. As a result, many Falcon 9 and Dragon components required for transporting humans to Earth orbit have already been demonstrated in flight.
 Today, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) announced it has successfully completed the preliminary design review of its revolutionary launch abort system, a system designed for manned missions using its Dragon spacecraft.
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Dean Hirasawa
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Thursday, 06 October 2011 |
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Globalstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSAT), a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to businesses, government and consumers, today announced the Company has accepted the resignation of Dirk J. Wild, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer effective November 11, 2011. Mr. Wild has agreed to stay through this date to oversee the Company's next quarterly financial report which is expected to be filed prior to the effective date of his resignation.
Mr. Wild is leaving to pursue other career opportunities in southern Louisiana and the Company wishes him well in his new endeavors. Globalstar is currently engaged in a search for his replacement and Mr. Wild has agreed to help transition his duties.
Mr. Wild has held this position with the Company since August 2010 and he successfully completed the relocation of Globalstar's headquarters from Silicon Valley in California to Louisiana. He was instrumental in executing the transition to Louisiana, re-focusing the Company's operations and substantially improving Globalstar's cost structure as the Company deploys its new second-generation constellation and awaits the expected return of high quality two-way satellite voice and data services next year.
About Globalstar, Inc.
Globalstar is a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services. Globalstar offers these services to commercial customers and recreational consumers in more than 120 countries around the world. The Company's products include mobile and fixed satellite telephones, simplex and duplex satellite data modems, the SPOT family of mobile satellite consumer products including the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger™ and flexible airtime service packages. Many land based and maritime industries benefit from Globalstar with increased productivity from remote areas beyond cellular and landline service. Global customer segments include: oil and gas, government, mining, forestry, commercial fishing, utilities, military, transportation, heavy construction, emergency preparedness, and business continuity as well as individual recreational consumers. Globalstar data solutions are ideal for various asset and personal tracking, data monitoring and SCADA applications. All SPOT products described in Globalstar or SPOT LLC press releases are the products of Spot LLC, which is not affiliated in any manner with Spot Image of Toulouse, France or Spot Image Corporation of Chantilly, Virginia. Globalstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSAT), a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to businesses, government and consumers, today announced the Company has accepted the resignation of Dirk J. Wild, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer effective November 11, 2011. |
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Dean Hirasawa
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Tuesday, 04 October 2011 |
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Globalstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSAT), a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to businesses, government and consumers, today announced that the second of six satellites launched in July is now operational and processing mobile satellite voice and data call traffic to customers in North America and around the world. The deployment of these six satellites from the second launch is on schedule. The first satellite from the July launch was placed into service in August and the four remaining satellites are expected to become operational over the next few months.
The new second-generation satellites are designed to support Globalstar's current lineup of voice, Duplex and Simplex data products and services including the Company's SPOT retail consumer products. As each new Globalstar satellite becomes operational, service availability and reliability improvements will benefit those customers who use the Company's voice and Duplex data services. With each subsequent launch, these customers can expect a progressive return to high quality coverage and call completion reliability.
Globalstar is currently deploying its second-generation satellite constellation and launch services provider Arianespace has been contracted to conduct launches of six satellites each. The first two launches were successfully conducted in October of 2010 and July of 2011. Globalstar is currently planning to launch six additional satellites in December. Globalstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSAT), a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to businesses, government and consumers, today announced that the second of six satellites launched in July is now operational and processing mobile satellite voice and data call traffic to customers in North America and around the world. |
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Dean Hirasawa
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Monday, 03 October 2011 |
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Globalstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSAT), a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to businesses, government and consumers, today announced that it has placed an order with Thales Alenia Space for an additional six satellites. This is in addition to the 25 satellites already ordered under the 2006 second-generation constellation contract.
According to the terms of the contract these satellites will cost approximately EUR 55 million and should be delivered by mid-2013. The fast track delivery, agreed upon when the contract was signed in 2006, is due to the fact that Globalstar has previously purchased EUR 12 million in long lead items that facilitate the prompt manufacture of these six spacecraft. Additionally, the incremental purchase amount is particularly price competitive due to the fact that Globalstar has already prepaid over EUR 53 million as part of its 2009 COFACE financing. Thus, combined with the EUR 12 million long lead items, Thales has already received approximately EUR 65 million for these satellites. Further payments will not be made until Thales Alenia Space initiates the manufacturing process.
"Notwithstanding the previously announced arbitration proceedings, we look forward to receipt of these satellites for our second-generation constellation" said Jay Monroe, Executive Chairman and CEO of Globalstar, Inc. "This is a complicated project and we value Thales's ability to deliver on time and on budget."
About Globalstar, Inc.
Globalstar is a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services. Globalstar offers these services to commercial customers and recreational consumers in more than 120 countries around the world. The Company's products include mobile and fixed satellite telephones, simplex and duplex satellite data modems, the SPOT family of mobile satellite consumer products including the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger™ and flexible airtime service packages. Many land based and maritime industries benefit from Globalstar with increased productivity from remote areas beyond cellular and landline service. Global customer segments include: oil and gas, government, mining, forestry, commercial fishing, utilities, military, transportation, heavy construction, emergency preparedness, and business continuity as well as individual recreational consumers. Globalstar data solutions are ideal for various asset and personal tracking, data monitoring and SCADA applications. All SPOT products described in Globalstar or SPOT LLC press releases are the products of Spot LLC, which is not affiliated in any manner with Spot Image of Toulouse, France or Spot Image Corporation of Chantilly, Virginia. Globalstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSAT), a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to businesses, government and consumers, today announced that it has placed an order with Thales Alenia Space for an additional six satellites. |
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