SpaceNews This Week | Turkey weighs space agency; OneWeb breaks ground; Trump budget targets NASA's asteroid mission

March 17, 2017 View this email in your browser Turkey's parliament deliberates on space agency law Jaroslaw Adamowksi —The Turkish parliament is deliberating on a draft bill to create a space agency to boost the country's space industry and facilitate Ankara's expansion within the global space industry. OneWeb breaks ground on a Florida factory that will build thousands of satellites Caleb Henry — OneWeb Satellites, the joint venture between rising satellite operator OneWeb and manufacturing giant Airbus, broke ground March 16 on a dedicated factory that will build thousands of OneWeb satellites instead of the hundreds originally envisioned. OneWeb Satellites CEO Brian Holz said the $85 million Exploration Park, Florida, facility — which is scheduled to open a year from now — will go above and beyond the initial 900-satellite contract OneWeb placed in January last year. White House budget proposal targets ARM, Earth science missions, education Jeff Foust —  A fiscal year 2018 budget proposal released by the Trump administration March 16 would cancel NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) and several Earth science programs, but spares NASA the deeper cuts proposed for many other agencies. SN FIRST UP Satcom is our new, weekly rundown of what's happening in the satellite telecommunications industry. Every Wednesday, you will receive a handpicked selection of news and info that matters to satellite professionals.  Sign up now. SpaceX's low cost won GPS 3 launch, Air Force says Phillip Swarts — SpaceX's lower cost compared to its competitor was the major factor in winning a contract for a GPS 3 launch, an Air Force representative said March 15. "Price was a major factor," said Claire Leon, the launch enterprise director for the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, which oversees acquisitions for many space systems and services. SpaceDataHighway to add third node for global coverage Tereza Pultarova — Airbus will add a third node to the European Data Relay System (EDRS) constellation of satellites that use laser links to download live imagery from Earth-observation satellites and provide military communications that are virtually impossible to intercept. Why SES all but skipped Satellite 2017 Debra Werner — Satellite 2017 visitors were surprised to see Kymeta Corp.'s booth in the prominent exhibit hall location traditionally reserved for global satellite fleet operator SES. That change prompted rumors and speculation on why SES did not have its usual high-profile presence at the annual satellite trade show.   Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Advertise with Us | Privacy Policy | Subscribe Copyright © 2017 SpaceNews Inc., All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: SpaceNews Inc. 1414 Prince St, Suite 204 Alexandria, VA 22314