08 June 2022
by Olivia Savage
The UK MoD is to launch two micro weather-monitoring satellites in 2022 (pictured). (CIRCE CAD models courtesy of Blue Canyon Technologies)
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched a Science and Technology Portfolio, supported by more than GBP2 billion (USD2.5 billion) worth of investment, the MoD announced on 7 June.
According to the MoD, the new portfolio plans to work with academia and British industry to accelerate cutting-edge research and development (R&D) of generation-after-next military capabilities.
The GBP2 billion funding – available between 2022 and 2026 – comes under the umbrella of the GBP6.6 billion allocated towards the R&D announced in the Defence Command Paper in March 2021, the MoD said.
A project associated with the portfolio is the Coordinated Ionospheric Reconstruction Cubesat Experiment (CIRCE), a micro space weather suite that will be integrated onboard two satellites and will be launched in late 2022 in partnership with the US Naval Research Laboratory, the announcement said.
26 April 2024
by Zach Rosenberg
A Kodiak-based MH-65 trains aboard the USCGC Healy in 2022. (Janes/Michael Fabey)
The last US Coast Guard (USCG) Airbus MH-65 Dolphin in Alaska retired from Air Station Kodiak on 23 April, ending the type's 36-year employment in the service's Alaska Patrol (ALPAT) role.
“For decades, the cutter and helicopter team were the core of the ALPAT mission,” said Commander James Kenshalo, a USCG MH-65 Dolphin pilot. “Together they projected force and protection to the most extreme remote regions of our nation's territories, operating beyond where help could reach.”
Air Station Kodiak operates six Sikorsky MH-60Ts and is scheduled to receive three more in 2025. The service intends to standardise its full rescue helicopter fleet on the MH-60T, which has a longer range, greater payload capacity, and commonality with other armed service fleets. Alaska is among the first regions to complete the transition because of the long ranges required to perform rescue and security missions in the region.
26 April 2024
by Olivia Savage
Flyeye is a multiple-optics telescope with a very wide field of view that will be capable of classifying objects in space as small as 15 cm in LEO and 35 cm in MEO. The 6.5 m high and 4 m wide telescope will be used by the Italian Space Agency and military for SSA. (OHB Italia)
The Italian National Armaments Directorate (NAD) is procuring three ground-based sensors to enhance the country's space situational awareness (SSA), Janes learnt at the Military Space Situational Awareness Conference 2024, held in London from 22 to 24 April.
In total, two optical telescopes and one high-performance radar are being procured as part of its national SSA plans, Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinando Dolce, the head of SSA at NAD, said at the conference.
The first sensor being procured is a high-performance optical surveillance telescope from OHB Italia called Flyeye, Lt Col Dolce said.
Flyeye will have the capacity to monitor objects in low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), and geostationary orbit (GEO), Commander of the Space Situational Awareness Centre at the Italian Air Force Colonel Dario Tarantino told Janes
25 April 2024
by Oishee Majumdar
A computer-aided design model of the satellite that GalaxEye Space is developing to conduct Earth observation for defence forces. The satellite will be equipped with SAR and EO sensor for enhanced surveillance. (GalaxEye Space)
Bangalore-based GalaxEye Space is developing a satellite that can carry multiple sensors for Earth observation to support the requirements of the Indian Armed Forces.
Speaking to Janes at the Indian DefSpace Symposium 2024 held in Delhi from 18 to 20 April, Deb Jyoti Pal, senior vice-president of business development at GalaxEye said the company is planning to launch the satellite into space in early 2025 for evaluation.
This low Earth observation (LEO) satellite will host an electro-optic (EO) sensor, and a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with both sensors capturing data simultaneously to provide a more holistic view of strategic areas of interest, Pal added.
“The SAR sensor can capture data in day and night, and in any weather condition including in foggy or cloudy environment. EO sensors are not able to do this. On the other hand, SAR data can be difficult to interpret. This is where EO data can benefit a user,” Pal said.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched a Science and Technology Portfolio, supported by more ...
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