Satellite

L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) announced today that its L-3 GCS subsidiary has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to develop and manufacture Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) satellite systems. The program, known as Special Operations Forces Deployable Node-Family of Terminals (SDN-Lite FoT), will provide tactically deployed Special Operations Forces (SOF) users with worldwide communications connectivity. The total contract value is up to $500 million over the next five years.

The U.S. Air Force has given Boeing a $338.7 million contract modification to produce and launch another Wideband Global SATCOM satellite.

The satellite will be the 10th WGS satellite produced for the service and will include an enhanced Wideband Digital Channelizer upgrade, which provides a 90 percent improvement in satellite bandwidth.

It is already being incorporated into the WGS eight and nine and comes with no additional cost to the government.

LONDON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency has picked Astrium UK as the prime contractor for its Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite.

The contract to build S5p to monitor atmospheric chemistry is worth nearly $61 million.

The satellite is part of a program by the European Commission and the European Space Agency-the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security program. Its mission is to temporarily replace the ENVISAT and ERS-2 satellites when they end operational life.

The S5p, with a seven-year life span, will be launched in 2015.

Tokyo, January 12, 2009 -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has received an order from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) to launch the Korea Multipurpose Satellite-3 (KOMPSAT-3). The transaction, which Mr. Hideaki Omiya, President of MHI, signed the agreement in Korea on January12, represents the first satellite launch services order placed to MHI by an overseas customer. The launch is slated to take place in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012.