spacetoday.net: ORBCOMM awards contract for next-generation satellites

Posted: Thu, May 8, 2008, 6:10 AM ET (1010 GMT)
Satellite communications company ORBCOMM announced Wednesday that it has signed a contract with a Colorado-based microsatellite manufacturer for a new generation of satellites to replace its existing system. ORBCOMM awarded the $117-million contract to MicroSat Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation, for 18 satellites for ORBCOMM's Generation 2 system. The satellites, to be launched in 2010 and 2011, will replace the existing ORBCOMM satellites that have been in low Earth orbit since the late 1990s; six other replacement satellites, built by OHB-System, are planned for launch in June. Launch services will be contracted separately, and MicroSat Systems will choose the communications payload within the next 30 days from one of two providers. ORBCOMM's "Little LEO" satellite constellation provides low-data-rate communications services for asset tracking, messaging, and related applications.