Space Systems News

With a mission to power the current and next-generation of GPS-enabled products and systems, XONA Space Systems keeps the mantra ‘precision, power and protection’ in all that it does as this 2020-start-up designs, builds and launches its fleet of low earth orbit satellites. We spoke with XONA CEO Brian Manning for his insights on how this could impact the maritime, offshore energy and subsea sectors.The following was excerpted from Maritime Reporter TV’s interview with XONA CEO Brian Manning.

U.S. President Joe Biden intends to nominate Carlos del Toro for secretary of the Navy, the White House announced on Friday.Del Toro is a retired U.S. Navy commander with nearly 40 years’ experience in national security and naval operations, budgeting and acquisition.Over the course of a 22-year career in the U.S. Navy, Del Toro held a series of critical appointments, including Senior Executive Assistant to the Director for Program Analysis and Evaluation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense…

President Donald Trump says the U.S. is hashing out a plan to acquire up to 10 additional polar icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard.Trump, who over the years has emphasized his administration's commitment to growing the Coast Guard's icebreaker fleet, outlined the new plans in vague terms within remarks delivered at Southern Command headquarters in Doral, Fla., Friday.The President did not specify how the icebreakers would be obtained, or whether the vessels would be newbuilds…

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has announced this week the appointment of Herman Shelanski as vice president of business development at its Newport News Shipbuilding division.Shelanski has more than 38 years of experience with the U.S. Navy, achieving the rank of vice admiral before he retired earlier this year. Shelanski most recently served as the Navy’s inspector general.In his new role, Shelanski will report to Jennifer Boykin, president of Newport Shipbuilding.Shelanski served as director of the Navy’s Environmental Readiness Division…

The risk of cyber attacks targeting ships' satellite navigation is pushing nations to delve back through history and develop back-up systems with roots in World War Two radio technology. Ships use GPS (Global Positioning System) and other similar devices that rely on sending and receiving satellite signals, which many experts say are vulnerable to jamming by hackers. About 90 percent of world trade is transported by sea and the stakes are high in increasingly crowded shipping lanes.

Inmarsat, a provider of global mobile satellite communications, has confirmed the successful launch of the fourth, high-speed broadband communications satellite in its transformational Global Xpress (GX) constellation. Inmarsat GX is the world’s first globally available, broadband connectivity service and was created to enable communities across the world to benefit from the emerging digital society. Inmarsat-5 F4 (I-5 F4) was launched by SpaceX on a Falcon 9 rocket at 00:21 (BST) / 19:21 (ET) from the historic launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Navy's fifth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite has reached operational orbit and has successfully deployed its arrays and antennas. On Oct. 22, the MUOS team raised the MUOS-5 satellite to an operationally-suitable orbit. The team completed a series of deployments of the satellite's solar arrays and antennas, with the last occurring successfully Oct. 30. MUOS-5 launched June 24 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and experienced a failure of its orbit raising propulsion system that halted the satellite's transfer orbit maneuver to its geosynchronous test orbit. The MUOS team ensured the satellite remained stable, safe, and under positive control while it investigated the issue and examined options.

Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), operator of the world’s first Globalized Network, powered by its leading satellite backbone, announced the successful launch of the Intelsat 31 satellite, which is hosting the DLA-2 payload for DIRECTV Latin America. Intelsat 31 was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan aboard an ILS Proton launch vehicle. Liftoff occurred at 7:10 GMT. The Intelsat 31 satellite separated from the rocket’s upper stage at 22:41 GMT, and signal acquisition has been confirmed. Built for Intelsat by Space Systems/Loral (SSL), Intelsat 31 is a 20-kilowatt class Ku- and C-band satellite. The Ku-band payload, known as DLA-2…

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) delivered the "Jinryu" submarine to the Japanese Ministry of Defense (MOD) today in a ceremony held at the MHI Kobe Shipyard & Machinery Works' No.3 pier in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. The Jinryu is the seventh Soryu-class submarine supplied to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), and the fourth built by MHI. MHI also built the first Soryu-class submarine, and has produced a total of 26 submarines at the MHI Kobe Shipyard over the last 70 years. The delivery ceremony was attended by a number of MOD officials including State Minister of Defense Kenji Wakamiya, JMSDF Chief of Staff Tomohisa Takei, and Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency Commissioner Hideaki Watanabe.

After a two-day delay due to tropical storm conditions, the Navy's fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite launched at 6:18 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41. MUOS-4, whose signal was acquired approximately three hours after launch, completes the initial operational constellation and provides near global network coverage for warfighters and combatant commanders. This array allows mobile forces, including submarines, surface ships and aircraft, to communicate around the world via the narrowband spectrum. User communities that will primarily benefit include ground forces at the individual soldier level but also include members of all services and special forces.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) have planned to reorganize their  their Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works and Nagasaki Works respectively. The coordinated decisions are aimed at further strengthening global competitiveness, particularly in terms of technologies, costs and efficiency, by pursuing higher productivity through consolidation of their manufacturing sites by product: at MHI in the area of defense and space systems, and at MHPS in operations involving thermal power generation systems. The reorganization initiatives are slated for completion by the end of March 2018.

The Navy's third Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite was launched today at 8:04 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 41. This communications satellite will significantly improve capability for Navy and Department of Defense tactical operators. Over the next several days, the satellite will transition to its geosynchronous orbit location 22,000 miles above Earth. Its solar arrays and mesh antennas will then be deployed and on-orbit testing will begin for eventual commissioning into service. Upon acceptance for operational use, MUOS 3 along with MUOS 1 and 2 already on-orbit, will provide communications coverage to more than three-quarters of the globe.

U.S. Navy military and civilian engineers are preparing the latest military communications satellite for a planned Jan. 20 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The satellite is part of MUOS, or Mobile User Objective System, which operates like a smartphone network from space, vastly improving secure satellite communications for mobile U.S. forces. Unlike its predecessor system, MUOS provides users a global, on-demand, beyond-line-of-sight capability to transmit and receive high-quality voice and mission data from a high-speed Internet Protocol-based system.

On August 18 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) opened its newly revamped M's Square showroom located on the second floor of the Shinagawa Head Office Building in Tokyo. The showroom layout has been reorganized into separate areas each introducing the technologies and products of one of its four business domains, following the company's shift to the new domain-based structure this April. A number of new features have also been added, including a spectacular 180-inch multi-display and a "News Archive" where visitors can freely browse news topics relating to the MHI Group. Detailed explanations of MHI's technologies and products are provided in the "Technology Gallery." Here, displays of actual products, models, video presentations, etc.

The first Inmarsat-5 (I-5) satellite has now passed two major test stages in preparation for the launch of Global Xpress. One of three in Inmarsat’s new Ka-band broadband network – the satellite has been subjected to extensive mechanical and thermal tests at manufacturer Boeing’s Satellite Space Systems International (BSSI) in El-Segundo, California, US. The tests were designed to prove its ability to survive being blasted into space and to cope with the harsh thermal environment of geosynchronous orbit. “The satellite has now passed the mechanical and thermal testing with flying colours and is on schedule to be completed in early November – ready for shipment to the launch site,” said Franco Carnevale, Inmarsat's Vice-President for Satellite and Launch Vehicles.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. has determined to shift to a new business structure by consolidating and reorganizing its current nine business segments into just four business domains: "Energy & Environment," "Commercial Aviation & Transportation Systems," "Integrated Defense & Space Systems" and "Machinery, Equipment & Systems." The reorganization initiative is intended to leverage commonly shared customers, markets, core technologies and business strategies. The first phase, slated to take effect October 1, calls for the reorganization of operations in the four segments of Shipbuilding & Ocean Development, Power Systems, Nuclear Energy Systems and Aerospace Systems…

Intelsat’s Board of Directors elected Dave McGlade, currently Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, to the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2013. Mr. McGlade has served as the Company's Chief Executive Officer for eight years. Mr. McGlade has appointed Stephen Spengler to the position of President and Chief Commercial Officer, effective March 18, 2013, a new role for the Company. Mr. Spengler has been with Intelsat in various executive positions since 2003, most recently serving as Executive Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Strategy. Mr.

ONR selects Hamilton Sundstrand for demonstration of energy-dense PEMFC based air-independent propulsion system. UTC Aerospace Systems' legacy Hamilton Sundstrand business was recently awarded a contract by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) to demonstrate an energy-dense air independent power system for an undersea vehicle as part of ONR's Long-Endurance Undersea Vehicle Propulsion (LEUVP) Program. UTC Aerospace Systems is a unit of United Technologies Corp. This Program will develop an energy storage system that will allow an undersea vehicle to carry out a longer mission with additional capabilities. UTC Aerospace Systems, together with UTC Power and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.…

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. (NNS) -- The Navy's first Mobile User Objective System satellite was launched Feb. 24 from Space Launch Complex 41. MUOS is a next-generation narrowband tactical communications system designed to improve communications for U.S. forces on the move. MUOS will provide military users simultaneous voice, video and data capability by leveraging 3G mobile communications technology. Born from the need for stable, 24/7 ship-to-shore communication that could be successful regardless of environments and geographical conditions…

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) announced that Mitchell "Mitch" B. Waldman has been named to the position of vice president, government and customer relations at its Shipbuilding sector. In his new role, Waldman is responsible for the development and management of the sector's government and customer affairs programs and is directly involved and engaged in supporting company business objectives. He will report to Mike Petters, corporate vice president and president, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.

Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT) announced that its subsidiary, Elisra Electronic Systems Ltd. (Elisra), was awarded a contract by Lockheed Martin Canada Ltd valued at approximately $55m to supply Electronic Warfare (EW) equipment for the Canadian Navy's Halifax Frigate Modernization program. Elisra's systems were selected after meeting the strict standards and challenges required by the customer. Elisra CEO, Itzhak Gat, said he takes great pride in the decision of Lockheed Martin Canada to select Elisra over others in industry. Gat noted that Elisra has had a longstanding relationship with Lockheed Martin Canada, based on professional cooperation and trust, as well as the use of advanced domestic technology.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) announced several structural actions to strengthen alignment with its customers, improve the company's program performance and growth potential, and enhance its cost competitiveness. These actions, effective immediately, include streamlining its organizational structure, reducing the number of sectors from seven to five. The five sectors will be Aerospace Systems; Electronic Systems; Information Systems; Shipbuilding; and Technical Services. "These actions are critical steps in shaping our future," said Ronald D. Sugar, Northrop Grumman chairman and chief executive officer. "Key to our success is the early anticipation of changes in our markets…

The crews of U.S. Navigation Systems Division. or replies to, a shipboard weapons system. to requests for priority target identification. Aegis destroyers, and the LHD 1 Wasp-class amphibious assault ships. identification capabilities to support our fleet and allies," said Dr. Alexis C. Systems Division. and October 2005. computers, and logistic support products and services. marine and naval systems, government systems and logistics services.