Globalstar is offering customers the opportunity to have a free GSP-1700 satellite phone by participating in the “Trade-In, Trade-Up” program. Satellite customers can trade in select competitive handset models and activate on a select Globalstar service plan to receive the free phone, Globalstar said in a news release Thursday (http://bit.ly/1mDUQ7D). New customers can receive the free phone by buying an unlimited service plan, it said.

Orbcomm and Savi Technology won a five-year Defense Department contract to provide radio frequency identification tags and other sensor technologies using Orbcomm’s global communications networks. The intent is to enhance the visibility and security of government cargo in transit, Orbcomm said in a press release (http://bit.ly/NV3MbO). Orbcomm’s advanced tracking and monitoring solutions will give government customers the current location of their cargo “and send real-time alerts for security breaches and other anomalies,” Orbcomm said.

Publisher’s Note: Warren Communications News has won a top national award for newsletter journalism, for coverage of last year’s partial federal government shutdown (http://bit.ly/1mwNS6M). The Society of Professional Journalists’ national Sigma Delta Chi (SDX) award (http://bit.ly/QAzFb2) goes to the staff of Communications Daily. It was cited for public-service journalism in its coverage of the shutdown of the FCC, FTC and their websites, depriving professionals and citizens of public information. This is the only national SDX award for which newsletters are eligible. Winners of other national SDX awards include The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

EchoStar and Hughes continued to urge the FCC to implement the streamlining, clarifying and simplifying of its Part 25 rules as part of the FCC process reform effort. They also stressed the need to modernize the ITU registration process “to adjust the speed of business decision-making, allowing potential applicants to request FCC submission of Advance Publication filings to the ITU” before filing satellite license applications, they said in an ex parte filing in docket 14-25 (http://bit.ly/1i2Mh0G). The commission should establish more operational flexibility for geostationary satellite orbit operators “to reach individualized coordination agreements with other operators that may depart nominally from the commission’s two-degree spacing policy,” it said. The filing pertains to a meeting last week with International Bureau Chief Mindel De La Torre and bureau staff.

Gilat and SES expanded consumer Ka-band services to Germany and Italy over SES’s Astra 2E satellite. The satellite “enables the delivery of next generation broadcast and broadband services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa,” Gilat said in a news release (http://bit.ly/RpEpBz). With SES Broadband Services, broadband services are available across Europe using Gilat’s SkyEdge II-c platform, it said.

Bill D'Agostino, the former Verizon Wireless executive hired as the first general manager of FirstNet, has resigned, FirstNet confirmed Monday. D'Agostino had been on the job only for a year (CD April 24/13 p1). He resigned “for personal and family reasons,” FirstNet said (http://bit.ly/1hFGvb9). Effective immediately, Deputy General Manager T.J. Kennedy will serve as acting GM while the search for a successor is under way.

The Space Foundation identified the most commonly used Russian rockets and their characteristics to clarify the nature and scope of U.S. reliance on Russian rocket engines. U.S. space launch programs deploy the Russian-made RD-180 engine and the AJ26 engine, a modified JSC Kuznetsov engine, the Space Foundation said in a fact sheet (http://bit.ly/1hFdjkx). The RD-180 is often used by United Launch Alliance and AJ26 is used by Orbital Sciences, it said. RD-180 has flown 50 times on Atlas missions for ULA with 100 percent success, it said. The AJ26 has flown three times with 100 percent success on the Antares launch vehicle for Orbital, Space Foundation said. The government and commercial industry have invested about $300 million over the last 20 years in technology associated with oxidizer-rich staged combustion rocket engines, it said. The Defense Department estimated it would need $1 billion over five years to establish production of an RD-180 class engine on U.S. soil, Space Foundation said. The foundation developed the fact sheet due to questions raised during the conflict in Ukraine on reliance on the engines, it said.

Dish Network subscribers have access to Disney Junior following Dish’s recent carriage agreement with The Walt Disney Co. Disney Junior is available in Dish programming packages, including America’s Top 200, America’s Top 250 and America’s Everything Pak, Dish said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1kOlhFI). “Authenticated access to WATCH Disney Junior, SEC ESPN Network and Longhorn Network will launch later this year."

The New York Stock Exchange approved Globalstar common shares for trading, which will begin April 21. The company will be listed as “GSAT” and will concurrently draw its shares from trading over the counter, said Globalstar in a news release. The previously bankrupt firm called it an important milestone in its resurgence (http://bit.ly/1gcYjbA).

DirecTV’s Wireless Genie Mini is available to all DirecTV customers. DirecTV launched a national advertising campaign to support the rollout of the products, it said in a press release (http://bit.ly/1k9eQyw). The product acts just like an HD DVR with the ability to use its functions from any room in the home, it said. Customers can begin watching their favorite show in one room and finish it in another, DirecTV said.