Industry News

Melbourne, Florida-based communications equipment company Harris Corp. has raised its level of membership in the Open Geospatial Consortium technical committee member to principal member status. Harris will participate in the OGC planning committee through explorations of technology and market trends and take part in all final approval decisions for the organization’s standards, the OGC said Tuesday. The OGC is […] More

Lacey Wean, senior account manager of geospatial solutions at Carahsoft Technology, has said adoption of a hybrid geographic information system can help government agencies facilitate interoperability with current software platforms and cut licensing costs. Wean wrote in an article published Thursday that a hybrid GIS platform built on open source software can allow agencies to implement migration strategies on […] More

Lockheed Martin and machine-to-machine communications firm ORBCOMM have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore business opportunities in the Internet of Things market. The Bethesda, Maryland-based company said Thursday it aims to utilize ORBCOMM’s technology portfolio and develop M2M satellite and cellular connectivity or hybrid offerings for government clients through the partnership. “The vision of the Internet of Things promises to change how […] More

NASA sent two Nodes small satellites to the International Space Station via an Orbital ATK cargo ressuply mission on Dec.6 to explore the potential of small, low-cost satellites in future missions. The agency said Wednesday the Nodes mission will deploy two identical 4.5 pound CubeSats into low-Earth orbit in mid-March to test their ability to receive and distribute commands from the ground as well as exchange […] More

Thales Group has opened a new facility in the Paris metropolitan region to help customers address enterprise information system threats and fend off an increasing number of cyber attacks. The new Elancourt-based cybersecurity operations center will work to prevent risks and anticipate threats to enterprise systems and handle services provided by a Thales computer emergency response team, Thales said […] More

QTS has received a government authorization to operate its Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas metropolitan region data center in recognition of the company’s compliance with data security requirements set by the Federal Information Security Management Act. FISMA third-party party assessment organization Coalfire conducted an audit of the colocation and data center services QTS offers through the DFW facility based on the act’s latest version, QTS […] More

Sandia National Laboratories is looking for potential partners who will lend equipment designed to detect, track and intercept potential threats from adversaries’ unmanned aerial systems. The research laboratory aims to help interested vendors evaluate the capabilities and limitations of their counter-UAS technologies and assess the system’s potential in securing various facilities, DOE said March 1 in a […] More

Energy Systems Group has kicked off construction work on a combined heat and power plant for NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as part of an effort to meet the facility’s energy requirements. NASA expects the plant to supply nearly 70 percent of JSC’s electric demand and operate as an independent microgrid to power International Space Station Mission Control and […] More

Craig Cooning, president of the network and space systems division at Boeing, has said the company’s joint venture with Lockheed Martin will incrementally invest funds to help develop two potential domestic alternatives to the Russian RD-180 engine, National Defense Magazine reported Tuesday. Stew Magnuson writes Cooning told a press briefing at the Satellite 2016 conference in Maryland that the United Launch Alliance will support the […] More

Boeing has teamed up with South Africa-based defense and aerospace firm Paramount Group to develop an integration mission platform for a military variant of the Advanced High Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft. Boeing said Tuesday it will design the mission system for the Mwari aircraft to support light strike operations as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance […] More