Northrop Grumman Corporation has announced organization changes to its operating sectors to better align the company’s broad portfolio to serve its customers’ needs. There will be four operating sectors: Aeronautics Systems, Defense Systems, Mission Systems and Space Systems. The changes are effective Jan. 1, 2020.

The growing trend of advanced channel broadcasting has intensified the demand for satellite transponders across the globe as the number of operational satellites on-orbit rose by over 20% to 2100 with more than 300 satellites being launched in 2018 according to SIA (Satellite Industry Association).

iDirect Government, a wholly owned subsidiary of ST Engineering iDirect, has acquired Glowlink Communications Technologies, Inc., a Mountain View, CA, a solutions provider for mitigating satellite interferences and improving the quality of satellite communications.

Space industry conferences come in all shapes and sizes. As someone who has spent most of my career covering the commercial and government satcom industry, most of the conferences I attend are more commercial in nature—discussion tends to focus on business plans that are already in existence, or otherwise, on the horizon.

The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) welcomed over 150 delegates to its conference, Malaysia in View, on 3 September in Kuala Lumpur, for a full day of sessions with the best of both local and international players in Malaysia to discuss the state of the video industry here as it moves into the age of digital convergence.

A new study of the content viewing behavior of Filipino consumers has revealed that 34% of consumers use a TV box which can be used to stream pirated television and video content. These TV boxes, also known as Illicit Streaming Devices (ISDs), allow users to access hundreds of pirated television channels and video-on-demand content, usually with a low annual subscription fee. TV boxes often come pre-loaded with illegal applications allowing ‘plug-and-play’ access to pirated content.

EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) has announced the completion of its previously announced spin-off and subsequent merger with DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) of the portion of its business that manages, markets and provides (i) broadcast satellite services primarily to DISH, Dish Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. and their respective subsidiaries and (ii) telemetry, tracking and control services to satellites owned by DISH and a portion of EchoStar's other businesses, and certain related assets and business operations. 

NSR’s Satellite Manufacturing and Launch Services, 9th Edition report finds despite a few slow years, 1,155 satellites over 500 kg are expected to be ordered, with 1,285 to be launched, in the next decade. Between end of life replacement demand from most G&M heavy applications, such as Situational Awareness, and new demand from Science and Communications applications, the market for satellite launch and manufacturing is expected to grow robustly over the next decade.

TU Telecom World 2019, the global tech event for governments, corporates and small- and medium-sized enterprises, opened its doors today to four days of exhibition, debate, networking and awards amongst some of the most influential names from across the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.

I sit down to write this column within days of having returned from a GVF mission to the South Pacific, to Papua New Guinea. There, we – Riaz Lamak, Lead in GVF’s Benchmarking, Validation and High Availabilty Disaster Recovery (HADR) initiatives, and I – were hosted by both the United States Department of Defense Indo-Pacific Command and the PNG Defense Force under the ‘Multinational Communications Interoperability Program’ (MCIP).