Ground station

Report highlights U.S. concerns over China’s space infrastructure in South America
The expansion of Chinese ground stations in South America is generating concern regarding Beijing’s intentions in the region and in space, according to a new report.

South Korean ground station operator Contec raises Series C round for global expansion
Contec said June 10 that it had raised 61 billion won ($47.3 million) in a Series C funding round to pursue its goal of building a global ground station network and operating its own Earth observation satellites.

Microsoft expands Azure Space ecosystem
Microsoft offered further proof of its intent to play a growing role in the space sector by unveiling new Azure Space products and announcing partnerships with Airbus, Kongsberg Satellite Services, STE iDirect, Orbital Insight, ESRI and Blackshark.ai.

Space Force extends Parsons’ contract for satellite ground services
Braxton Technologies, a company recently acquired by Parsons Corp., received a $139.4 million contract to continue development and prototyping of the U.S. Space Force’s next-generation ground system for satellite operations.

Raytheon forms industry team to develop U.S. Army ground station
Raytheon is teaming with seven aerospace and data analytics companies to develop a ground station for the U.S. Army that can process data from air and space sensors.

Italy’s Leaf Space to establish U.S. office
Italian ground segment provider Leaf Space announced plans March 24 to establish a U.S. office to serve government and commercial customers.

AWS completes six ground stations, changes rollout strategy
Amazon Web Services has slowed the rollout of its ground station network to accommodate customer feedback about the best locations to place its antennas.

Celestia eyes larger stake in ground segment market
Dutch conglomerate Celestia Technologies Group hopes to provide more satellite gateway stations following its December acquisition of Antwerp Space’s ground systems division in Belgium.

Lockheed Martin mulls electronically steered antennas for Verge ground station expansion
Lockheed Martin’s Verge ground station network should have coverage for satellites passing over the continental United States next year, with the timeline for a global build out determined by what antenna technology the company chooses next.

Ground station startup Leaf Space plans capital raise
Italian startup Leaf Space wants to triple the number of ground station locations it has by late next year, citing customer demand for providing communications services to small satellites.