MDA wins contract to provide ground station solution for DigitalGlobe

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), a Canadian aerospace, information services and products company, has been contracted by global imagery provider DigitalGlobe to build and provide a ground station solution for the company’s satellite program.

Under the agreement, MDA will provide a solution that allows receiving and processing of imagery and data from the WorldView satellites. As prime contractor, the British Columbia-based company will handle the development, integration and installation of the WorldView information solution at the customer’s site.

DigitalGlobe will be using the satellite ground station to allow access to information from its WorldView satellites for an anonymous international customer. This is the seventh international ground station contract that MDA has received from DigitalGlobe.

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MDA to upgrade DigitalGlobe’s WorldView Production Segment system

MDA Information Systems LLC made an announcement that the company inked two contracts with DigitalGlobe Inc. Under the first agreement, MDA will upgrade the WorldView Production Segment headquarter’s systems provided previously by MDA to deliver full support for the WorldView-3 satellite. The next-generation satellite is expected to be the first ever multi-sensor, super spectral, high resolution commercial satellite, and is set to launch next year.

Meanwhile, under the terms of the second contract, MDA will provide operational support and improvements to the Production Segment headquarter’s systems. The systems process information from the imaging satellites of DigitalGlobe to generate a range of image products. MDA’s systems will be in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week year round to help DigitalGlobe support its commercial and government customers worldwide.

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NBN picks site for satellite ground station in NSW

The NBN Co said that it has picked a site for the satellite ground station in New South Wales which will be 9 kilometers from the mining city of Broken Hill. According to Matt Dawson, the Program Director for Satellites of the broadband project, the new location will deliver high-speed Internet on satellite service across the outback including distant communities in Yanco Glen and Menindee.

 

There will be ten satellite ground stations to be built next year to support the long-term satellite service. The facilities will be uplinking to two ka band satellites also under construction, and slated for a 2015 launch. NBN Co has already awarded contracts to Perkins Pty Ltd, and Cockram Corporation for the construction of the other ground stations spread across Australia. The total worth of the contract is around $180 million.

Broken Hill will also be connected to the fibre network of the broadband project, while the satellite ground stations will serve as the point of transmission and integration between the satellite service, and the terrestrial networks. NBN hopes the long-term internet on satellite services will cover remote regions of Australia cut-off from both fixed-wireless and fibre networks.

US military personnel in Middle East rely on South Australian teleport

In regions of conflict in the Middle East, reliable communications is essential. Terrestrial networks like telephone lines, and other crucial ground infrastructure, are often damaged in war-torn areas, making it of utmost important for military and government personnel to have wireless connectivity.

 

One of the solutions has been satellite technology. For the past years, US-based systems integrator Proactive Communications Inc. or PCI has been using satellites to integrate camp communications in the Middle East. They have turned to a teleport facility in Australia to support the mission critical communications of military personnel across the region, in particular, Afghanistan.

 

But why Australia?

 

There are many factors on why PCI chose a teleport facility down under, first of all, the location. The Adelaide teleport which Proactive utilizes is located in the state of South Australia, which has mild weather conditions and in particular, low rain fall. Good weather conditions where a teleport facility is housed minimizes the common problem of rain fade which plagues satellite communications. Low interference allows for better performance, especially if we’re talking about sensitive military communications involved. Next, South Australia is rarely the place for major earthquakes to occur, thereby increasing a physical structure’s stability.

 

The Adelaide teleport is also located in a remote area of the state which makes it less prone to interferences which characterized facilities near urban regions, while at the same time opening it a wider range of satellites it can uplink to. Australia’s location in the Southern Hemisphere also means that teleport facilities in the country can provide the best look angles in the Middle East, while offering visibility of the US Pacific Rim, parts of Africa, as well as Eastern Europe.

 

This geographically ideal location is not the only reason why PCI chose the Adelaide facility. Australia, as an ally of the US, shares the same foreign policy objectives as Washington, D.C., thus offering political stability too.

 

In fact, the Australian satellite communications industry has been recognized as one of the most competitive in the globe. The Federal Government is already looking into a space policy that will put focus more on satellite technology instead of space activities. This is due in part to the growing demand for satellite capacity across the globe. With data traffic surging, and the number of bandwidth-intensive applications growing, satellite communications is a crucial component not just for military operations in the ME, but for daily use by end-users and various enterprises.

Google Earth delivers innovative 360° tour of Adelaide teleport facility

 

 

 Do you want to take a look at a teleport facility? Well, Google has made it possible for you to tour a satellite ground station without leaving your home. Check out this short video of how the Adelaide Teleport in South Australia - which is operated by NewSat - looks like through an interactive Google Earth applications. The 360° tour let’s you see the facility’s 11 antennas which at present, uplinks to to 8 C- and Ku-band satellites.

 

The Adelaide teleport is actually one of two facilities operated by NewSat, an independent satellite specialist based in Australia. Together with the Perth satellite ground station, both teleports are world-acclaimed sites and are considered Government Accredited Global Access Points. Government and enterprise customers rely on such facilities for mission critical communications and remote connectivity respectively. Through the teleport, NewSat is able to provide services like backhauling, satellite internet, and BGAN.