Apr 12, 2011 By Amy Butler AviationWeek.com

After nearly 15 years of development work, more than eight years of delays and billions of dollars in cost overruns, the first of the U.S. Defense Department’s new early missile warning satellites is finally poised for launch. The Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) geosynchronous (GEO) satellites will provide a new generation of IR sensors designed to detect ballistic missile launches—including “dim,” short-range boosts—faster than today’s Defense Support Program (DSP) constellation. A launch success will be a step to help move forward from more than a decade of dismal performance in space programs by the U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin.

source goodrich.com

April 11, 2011 defpro.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. | Goodrich Corporation the prime contractor for the ORS-1 satellite, has successfully completed thermal vacuum testing of ORS-1, the first Operationally Responsive Space satellite designed to support Combatant Command operations. The testing validated spacecraft performance and functionality in an environment duplicating the extreme hot and cold temperatures the satellite will experience in space. It is the latest in a series of tests leading to delivery of the satellite to the launch site. The successful test was conducted at Goodrich's facility in Danbury, Connecticut. According to Andreas Nonnenmacher, Goodrich Space and Defense vice president, "Successful completion of this final environmental test demonstrates the design integrity, the quality of our workmanship and the satellite's readiness to withstand the rigors of launch and space." The ORS-1 satellite will provide battlespace awareness supporting U.S. Central Command's mission needs. Goodrich is the lead systems integrator for the ORS-1 satellite. The payload leverages the Goodrich SYERS-2 multi-spectral sensor, the primary imaging sensor on the U-2 reconnaissance plane. Goodrich is also providing a ground segment that formats the data from the sensor payload to be compatible with the downstream processing, exploitation and dissemination used for the operational SYERS-2 sensor. The ORS-1 spacecraft bus is built for Goodrich by ATK Space Systems and is based on its TacSat-3 bus. It includes an integrated propulsion system as well as other critical subsystems for communications, attitude control, thermal control, command and data handling.

REDONDO BEACH, Calif., April 4 (UPI)

The communications crosslink between U.S. Space Tracking and Surveillance System satellites has proved effective in transmitting missile tracking data. Data from the demonstration satellites were sent to the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System. The radio frequency crosslink enabled both STSS demonstration satellites to simultaneously acquire and track a resident space object, with only one satellite in communication with the ground in January, Northrop Grumman said Monday. The resident space object was a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather satellite that acted as a surrogate for a cold missile against cold space.

March 30, 2011 by Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D. / Early Warning Blog, Lexington Institute–DEFPRO.COM

Deficit reduction doesn't always mean hard choices. Sometimes it's easy, if politicians are willing to rethink how the government goes about pursuing its goals. Perhaps that's what Pentagon policymakers had in mind when they decided to name a new approach to purchasing satellites EASE. The official name is "Evolutionary Acquisition for Space Efficiency," but the acronym says it all. Budget analysts have figured out a way of saving billions of dollars on space systems without having to give up anything. And unlike initiatives such as the F-35 alternate engine that require up-front investments to save money later, the EASE concept starts saving money right away.

It's an amazingly simple idea. All Congress needs to do is agree to buy more than one satellite at a time, and then spread the appropriations out over several budget years. That's not what the government does today. Instead, it buys one costly satellite in a constellation at a time, and then waits years to buy the next one -- even though legislators know they will eventually need to buy several satellites of any given type to complete a constellation. And because satellites are bought one-at-a-time with all the money appropriated in a single year, staffers can't find the money to buy another satellite for years and contractors can't manage their production processes efficiently. So each satellite ends up costing a lot more than it needs to.

Here's an example. The Pentagon is buying Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) communications satellites that will allow warfighters all over the world to communicate securely even in adverse circumstances. That's an essential capability and military planners expect to buy several of the satellites over the coming decade. Now, if Congress buys the next two satellites separately with full funding of each in the year it's requested, the cost for both will be about $4 billion. If it buys them in a "block" (together) and then spaces the money out over several years as EASE proposes, the two satellites will cost $3.1 billion. About $900 million is saved just by doing business differently, without giving anything up. And the same approach can be applied to any other satellite constellation where the government plans to buy more than one satellite of the same design, whether it's for missile warning or weather reports or whatever.

You can't really call EASE a breakthrough, because the National Reconnaissance Office has been buying its spy satellites this way for a long time. But most of the military satellites the government buys aren't for spying, and all the other spacecraft are currently being bought one-at-a-time at very high cost. By switching to incremental funding of multi-satellite buys, the government can start saving billions of dollars in fiscal 2012. It can also help military planners and contractors to start thinking more coherently about how to introduce necessary upgrades into later versions of current satellites, since we know constellations like AEHF are going to be operating for decades to come. But the real savings come from being able to use workers and facilities more efficiently, because when the government commits to buying multiple satellites of the same type in a single "block" the work can be sequenced to make sure each employee with specialized skills is working every day, rather than waiting around for the next satellite to be funded.

This isn't a budgeting gimmick and there are no catches. Congress can begin saving billions of dollars on military satellites in 2012 without killing any programs or closing any facilities. All it needs to do is agree to what staffers call "advanced appropriations," which is technical language for agreeing to fund satellites over several budget years rather than setting aside all the money in a single year. Once it does that, budgeting for military space will become easier and savings will begin accumulating that can be applied to other purposes such as deficit reduction. Of course, somebody somewhere will probably complain about Congress changing the way it does business. But when you're borrowing $4 billion per day from lenders like China, change is indicated.

23 Mar 2011  By UMIT ENGINSOY and BURAK EGE BEKDIL

ANKARA - The Italy-based maker of Turkey's first planned military satellite said the construction of the Gokturk satellite is on track, with a scheduled launch in 2013, despite objections raised by Israel against the device's operational capabilities. Relations between former allies Israel and Turkey have been at their nadir since last May, when Israeli commandos raided a Turkish-led aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip, killing nine Turks onboard one of the ships. The Gokturk satellite has become the latest dispute between the two new adversaries. Telespazio, a joint venture between Italy's defense giant Finmeccanica and France's Thales, a couple of years ago signed a deal worth nearly 250 million euros (about $345 million) for the Turkish military satellite. Finmeccanica has a 67 percent stake in Telespazio. "Gokturk is on track for a launch window in line with contractual requirements," according to a March 21 statement from Telespazio.  Asked if the satellite would meet the contractual specifications, the official said that "the satellite is being designed to meet the customer's operational requirements." That includes a high-resolution optical sensor.

Mar 16, 2011 By Amy Butler AviationWeek.com

Boeing is eyeing opportunities to expand its military space business despite being left out of the government’s plans to implement a satellite block-buy approach under the U.S. Air Force’s Evolutionary Acquisition for Space Efficiency (EASE) procurement strategy. Some growth for Boeing’s Space and Intelligence Systems could come through the sale of more hosted payloads, says Craig Cooning, a vice president there. Already, the company has sold hosted UHF payloads to Australia and the U.S. Jim Simpson, vice president for the sector’s business development operations, says that as many as four hosted payload sales could be captured in a year.

Mar 10 2011 TRDEFENCE

A Turkish military reconnaissance satellite dubbed Gokturk, due in orbit by 2013, may release extremely high-resolution photographs that would defy a U.S. law banning satellite operators from releasing intelligence-bearing images of Israel. A new Turkish satellite has Israelis eyeing the end of a U.S.-backed blackout on high-resolution commercial photography of their turf from space. The Gokturk satellite due in orbit by 2013 will gather images of objects more detailed than 2 meters across — currently the finest grain available when it comes to pictures of Israel, thanks mainly to U.S. legislation from the 1990s. Turkey’s leap into the aerospace market treads on Israeli security sensitivities given the former allies’ recently strained ties. Unlike with other nations that have fielded commercial satellites, Israel has little leverage over Ankara. “We try to ensure that we are not photographed at high resolutions, and most [countries] accommodate us,” a senior Israeli defense official said. “Should we request this of the Turks? We won’t ask for it. There is no one to talk to.”

MOSCOU, 6 mars - RIA Novosti

L'Armée de l'air américaine a lancé dimanche son deuxième drone spatial expérimental, baptisé X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-2), qui ressemble à une petite navette spatiale, ont rapporté les médias internationaux. Le lanceur Atlas 5 avec le drone a décollé depuis le site spatial du cap Canaveral, en Floride. Le nouveau drone servira de plateforme d'essai d'équipements pour satellites, selon l'agence AP.

ASDNews: Feb 28, 2011

Operational and administrative control of the Space Tracking and Surveillance System Advanced Technology Risk Reduction (STSS ATRR) satellite has been transferred to Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) effective 31 January 2011. In addition to successfully demonstrating required on orbit system performance parameters for a prototype sensor technology, STSS ATRR has been conducting Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and related operations on an as-capable basis. As an AFSPC system, STSS ATRR will continue operations supporting the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) mission area.

STSS ATRR was launched 5 May 2009 from Vandenberg Air Force Base. STSS ATRR is a small experimental satellite that served as a pathfinder for prototype sensor technology and future MDA space missions.

Source : Missile Defense Agency (MDA)

Moscow (AFP) Feb 26, 2011

Russia on Saturday successfully launched a satellite vital to the deployment of its own navigation system after the failure of an earlier attempt prompted the Kremlin to sack two top space officials. The Federal Space Agency said in a statement that the high-tech Glonass-K satellite reached its intended orbit about four hours after blasting off on top a Soyuz-2 rocket from Russia's northern Plesetsk launchpad. "We have established and are maintaining steady telemetry communications with the space craft," a spokesman for the defence ministry's space forces told the Interfax news agency. "The on-board systems of the Glonass-K satellite are functioning normally," the official said. The launch was watched closely by Russian space and military officials after the last attempt to put three Glonass satellites in orbit failed spectacularly on December 5.

MOSCOU, 24 février - RIA Novosti

Le lancement du satellite de la nouvelle génération GLONASS-K, prévu le 24 février depuis le cosmodrome de Plessetsk (région d'Arkhangelsk), a été reporté de 24 heures, a annoncé jeudi aux journalistes le porte-parole du ministère russe de la Défense, Alexeï Zolotoukhine. "Pour des raisons techniques, le lancement du satellite GLONASS-K est reporté de 24 heures", a indiqué le porte-parole.

Mon, Feb 21 2011 by David Pugliese / Defence Watch

Press release From Astrium:

Portsmouth, 21 February 2011 – Astrium Services has been awarded a contract by the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) to deliver the AirPatrol airborne satcom terminal to support Canada’s Radar and Imaging for the Land/Littoral Environment (RIFL2E) Technology Demonstration Project (TDP). The terminal, which will be delivered and supported by Astrium Services’ Secure Satcom Systems, will enable DND to evaluate the technical feasibility and operational capability of an airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform. The RIFL2E project is designed to enhance coastal surveillance and support Canadian northern sovereignty.