Mitsubishi Electric doubles satellite production by expanding facility

Japanese manufacturing company Mitsubishi Electric is happy to announce that the company has finished its satellite production facility expansion in order to increase its annual satellite production capacity to eight satellites. This is said to be the biggest among all the other facilities operated by Japanese satellite manufacturers.

In a company statement, Mitsubishi Electric said that the global satellite market is exhibiting a growing demand for communication and other purposes, which refers to the Japanese government’s Basic Plan for Space Policy covering for five fiscal years starting next month. This includes extended use of space for broadcasting, positioning, remote sensing and telecommunications all for an improved quality of life.

Mitsubishi Electric has already produced and delivered several satellites that now supports daily life. These include the following: meteorological satellite Himawari-7; Superbird-C2, the first Japan-made commercial communications satellite; and the Quasi-Zenith Satellite-1 MICHIBIKI, used for location-information services. At this time, the Japanese company is developing the Himawari-8, Himawari-9 and ALOS-2 satellites.

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Com Dev wins contract to develop satellite equipment for Cospas-Sarsat system

Com Dev International has been selected by the Public Works and Government Services of Canada to design and begin work on a satellite equipment that will be used for Cospas-Sarsat — a next generation global search and rescue system. The project will last for a period of 15 months and will take place at the company’s Cambridge and Ottawa facilities.

During the first phase of the Medium Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (MEOSAR) project, Com Dev will work on a repeater that Canada plans to launch into orbit as part of Cospas-Sarsat’s payload. The satellite deal, valued at $4.7 million, includes a $14 million option of continuing the development work to produce a fully-integrated prototype of the MEOSAR repeater for test and space qualification.

Once in its place, the repeater will be able to detect signals from emergency beacons and broadcast those signals to receiver stations on Earth.

“This project demonstrates Canada’s continued commitment to the global search and rescue system,” said Mike Pley, Com Dev CEO. “It is also an excellent example of how Canadian space technology can be harnessed for the benefit of all humanity.”

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