The Global Geospace Science (GGS) WIND satellite is a NASA science spacecraft.

It was launched at 04:31:00 EST on November 1, 1994 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Merritt Island, Florida aboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta II 7925-10 rocket.

It was deployed to study radio and plasma that occur in the solar wind and in the Earth's magnetosphere before the solar wind reaches the Earth. The spacecraft's original mission was to orbit the Sun at the L1 Lagrangian point, but this was delayed when the SOHO and ACE spacecraft were sent to the same location. WIND has been at L1 continuously since 2004, and is still operating as of December 2012. WIND currently has enough fuel to last roughly 60 years at L1. WIND continues to produce relevant research.

WIND was designed and manufactured by Martin Marietta Astro Space Division in East Windsor, New Jersey. The satellite is a spin stabilized cylindrical satellite with a diameter of 2.4 m and a height of 1.8 m.

The primary science objectives of the Wind mission are:

• Provide complete plasma, energetic particle and magnetic field for magnetospheric and ionospheric studies.
• Investigate basic plasma processes occurring in the near-Earth solar wind.
• Provide baseline, 1 AU, ecliptic plane observations for inner and outer heliospheric missions.

Vega is an expendable launch system in use by Arianespace jointly developed by the Italian Space Agency and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Development began in 1998 and the first launch took place from the Guiana Space Centre on 13 February 2012.

It is designed to launch small payloads — 300 to 2,500 kg satellites for scientific and Earth observation missions to polar and low Earth orbits. The reference Vega mission is a polar orbit bringing a spacecraft of 1,500 kilograms to an altitude of 700 kilometers.

Vega is a single-body launcher with three solid rocket stages, the P80 first stage, the Zefiro 23 second stage, the Zefiro 9 third stage, and a liquid rocket upper module called AVUM.

The VERTA (Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment) programme aims to demonstrate the flexibility of the Vega launch system. It comprises three main elements:

• Procurement of five VERTA demonstration flights;
• Customer service improvements;
• Production accompaniment and technological activities.

The first VERTA flight is scheduled to take off in the first half of 2013 following the launcher's qualification flight.

At a planned minimum rate of two launches per year, the programme will allow the smooth introduction of Vega for commercial exploitation.

The Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) is a planned science mission for NASA's Explorer program, designed to study the connection between the Earth's weather and space weather.

ICON will explore the boundary between Earth and space – the ionosphere – to understand the physical connection between our world and the immediate space environment around us. This region, where ionized plasma and neutral gas collide and react exhibits dramatic variability that affects space-based technological systems like GPS. The ionosphere has long been known to respond to "space weather" drivers from the sun, but recent NASA missions have surprised us in showing this variability often occurs in concert with weather on our planet. ICON will compare the impacts of these two drivers as they exert change on the space environment that surrounds the Earth.

Led by the University of Berkeley, California, ICON will provide NASA's Heliophysics division with a new capability to observe the connection between the Earth's thermosphere and ionosphere. ICON was one of 11 proposals selected for NASA funding in September 2011, down from the original 22 submitted in February of that year. On April 12, 2013, NASA announced that ICON, along with Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD), had been selected for launch in 2017.

Space Vector Corporation (SVC) is a space company dedicated to providing high reliability components, systems, and launch vehicle solutions to the aerospace industry.

As a prime contractor to various government agencies, Space Vector has launched 37 rockets over the past 40 years in support of scientific and defense related projects. Many of SVC vehicles are boosted by refurbished Minuteman motors that have proven to be very reliable and cost effective. 

SVC also provides flight subsystems such as cold gas attitude control systems (ACS), guidance and control platforms, and vehicle structures.

Aqua (EOS PM-1) is a multi-national NASA scientific research satellite in orbit around the Earth, studying the precipitation, evaporation, and cycling of water.

It is the second major component of the Earth Observing System (EOS) preceded by Terra (launched 1999) and followed by Aura (launched 2004).

The Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a payload scientific instrument launched into Earth orbit by NASA in 1999 on board the Terra (EOS AM) Satellite, and in 2002 on board the Aqua (EOS PM) satellite.

The instruments capture data in 36 spectral bands ranging in wavelength from 0.4 µm to 14.4 µm and at varying spatial resolutions (2 bands at 250 m, 5 bands at 500 m and 29 bands at 1 km). Together the instruments image the entire Earth every 1 to 2 days. They are designed to provide measurements in large-scale global dynamics including changes in Earth's cloud cover, radiation budget and processes occurring in the oceans, on land, and in the lower atmosphere. Three on-board calibrators (a solar diffuser combined with a solar diffuser stability monitor, a spectral radiometric calibration assembly, and a black body) provide in-flight calibration. MODIS has used the Marine Optical Buoy for vicarious calibration.

The Brazilian Space Agency (Portuguese: Agência Espacial Brasileira, AEB) is the civilian authority in Brazil responsible for Brazil space program.

It operates a spaceport at Alcântara and a rocket launch site at Barreira do Inferno. The agency has given Brazil a leading role in space in Latin America and has made Brazil a valuable and dependable partner for cooperation in the International Space Station.

The Alcântara Launch Center (CLA) is a satellite launching base of the Brazilian Space Agency in the city of Alcântara, located on Brazil's northern Atlantic coast,

Its geographical location is 2°17′S 44°23′W. It is operated by the Brazilian Air Force (Comando da Aeronáutica). The CLA is the closest launching base to the equator. This gives the launch site a significant advantage in launching geosynchronous satellites, an attribute shared by the Guiana Space Centre.

Telesat Canada, or Telesat, is a global fixed satellite services operator providing reliable and secure satellite-delivered communications solutions worldwide to broadcast, telecom, corporate and government customers. In 2013, Telesat is the fourth-largest fixed satellite services provider in the world.

Telesat Canada was founded on May 1969. It is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with offices and facilities around the world. In 2013, the company's fleet consists of 13 satellites and the Canadian Ka-band payload on ViaSat-1, plus one satellite awaiting launch. Telesat also manages the operations of additional satellites for third parties. Privately held, Telesat's principal shareholders are Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Loral Space & Communications Inc.

On October 5, 2007 Loral Space & Communications Inc. and the Public Pension Investment Board of Canada received the final regulatory approval necessary to complete the acquisition of Telesat from BCE Inc. for CAD $3.25 billion. The acquisition closed on October 31, 2007, with Loral owning 64 percent of Telesat.

At the same time, Telesat Canada merged with Loral Skynet, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications. Loral Skynet was a full-service global satellite operator headquartered in Bedminster, New Jersey. This resulted in the transfer of all of the assets of Loral Skynet to Telesat.