Tiangong-1 is China's first space laboratory module, an experimental testbed to demonstrate the rendezvous and docking capabilities needed to support a space station complex. Launched unmanned aboard a Long March 2F/G rocket on 29 September 2011, it is part of the Tiangong program, which aims to place a larger, modular station into orbit by 2020. Tiangong-1 will be deorbited in 2013, and replaced over the following decade by the larger Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3 modules.

Tiangong-1 will be visited by a series of Shenzhou spacecraft during its two-year operational lifetime. The first of these, the unmanned Shenzhou 8, successfully docked with the module in November 2011; the manned Shenzhou 9 mission is expected to launch to Tiangong-1 in June 2012.

The  Boeing 601 satellite is a body-stabilized geostationary satellite. 

The Boeing 601 was introduced in 1987 to meet anticipated requirements for high-power, multiple-payload satellites for such applications as direct television broadcasting to small receiving antennas, very small aperture terminals for private business networks, and mobile communications. The basic configuration features as many as 48 transponders and offers up to 4,800 watts.

A more powerful version, the Boeing 601HP, made its debut in 1995. The HP versions can carry payloads twice as powerful as the classic Boeing 601 models, through such innovations as gallium arsenide solar cells, advanced battery technology, and an optional xenon ion propulsion system. The 601HP features as many as 60 transponders and provides up to 10,000 watts.

Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) is an Operating Division of the Boeing Company responsible for defense and aerospace products and services. It was formerly known as Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). BDS combines manned and unmanned airborne capabilities, intelligence and security systems, communications architectures and extensive large-scale integration expertise across several diverse business areas.

BDS makes Boeing the third largest defense contractor in the world and is responsible for 51% of the company's income in 2008. BDS is based in Berkeley, Missouri, near the city of St. Louis. 

The National Space Society (NSS) is an American independent, educational, grassroots, non-profit organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization.  Founded as the National Space Institute (1974) and L5 Society (1975), which merged to form NSS in 1987 (seemerger proclamation), NSS is widely acknowledged as the preeminent citizen's voice on space. 

NSS has over 12 thousand members (and more supporters) and over 50 chapters in the United States and around the world.  The society also publishes Ad Astra magazine, an award-winning periodical chronicling the important developments in space.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is an American technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession.

AIAA’s mission is to address the professional needs and interests of the past, current, and future aerospace workforce and to advance the state of aerospace science, engineering, technology, operations, and policy to benefit our global society.

Founded in 1963, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics has now (2012) more than 35,000 individual members and 90 corporate members. AIAA is one of the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. Created by the merger of the two great aerospace societies of the day, the American Rocket Society (founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society), and the Institute of the Aerospace Sciences (established in 1933 as the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences).

SES TechCom Services provides operational services, technical consultancy and high-tech products as well as integrated solutions to the satellite industry around the world.

It is a 100%-owned SES company (May 2013).

MSG, Meteosat Second Generation, is a serie of geostationary meteorological satellites operated by EUMETSAT. 

It consists of a series of four geostationary meteorological satellites, along with ground-based infrastructure, that will operate consecutively until 2020. The MSG satellites carry a pair of instruments — the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI), which has the capacity to observe the Earth in 12 spectral channels and provide image data which is core to operational forecasting needs, and the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) instrument supporting climate studies.

It was designed in response to user requirements to serve the needs of Nowcasting applications and numerical weather prediction. In addition the GERB instrument provides important data for climate monitoring and research.

The MSG satellites are spin-stabilised like the previous generation, but with many design improvements. The more frequent and comprehensive data collected by MSG also aids the weather forecaster in the swift recognition and prediction of dangerous weather phenomena such as thunderstorms, fog and explosive development of small but intense depressions which can lead to devastating wind storms.

The MSG satellites are 3.2 m in diameter and 2.4 m high and spins anti-clockwise at 100 RPM at an altitude of 36,000 km.

On January 29, 2004 the first Meteosat Second Generation satellite MSG-1, renamed to Meteosat-8, commenced routine operations.

Astra is the brand name for a number of geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is also used to describe the pan-European broadcasting system provided by these satellites, the channels carried on them, and even the reception equipment.

SES, Société Européenne des Satellites, is a global satellite owner and operator, founded in 1985, and based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. 

SES is the world’s second-largest telecommunications satellite operator by revenue and operates a fleet of 50 geostationary satellites able to reach 99% of the World’s population. These satellites provide satellite communication services to businesses and government agencies, and broadcast TV and radio channels to audiences worldwide. As of the end of 2011 SES satellites carry over 5,200 TV channels (including over 1200 in high definition), more than 1000 radio stations, and 44 direct-to-home(DTH) platforms across the world.

Inmarsat plc is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global, mobile services, using a fleet of communications satellites. It provides telephony and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate to ground stations through eleven geostationary telecommunications satellites. Inmarsat's network provides communications services to a range of governments, aid agencies, media outlets and businesses with a need to communicate in remote regions or where there is no reliable terrestrial network. 

Aside from its commercial services, Inmarsat provides global maritime distress and safety services (GMDSS) to ships and aircraft at no charge, as a public service.

The Inmarsat satellites are digital transponders that receive digital signals, reform the pulses, and then retransmit them to ground stations. Ground stations maintain usage and billing data and function as gateways to the public switched telephone network and the Internet.