The Astrophysics Research Institute (ARI) is a research centre in astronomy and astrophysics at Liverpool John Moores University (United Kingdom). The institute was formed in 1992.

The Astrophysical Journal is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering astronomy and astrophysics. It was founded in 1895 by the American astronomers George Ellery Hale and James Edward Keeler. It publishes three 500-page issues per month.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 189 Member States and Territories.

It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873. Established in 1950, WMO became the specialised agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences. It has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a member of the United Nations Development Group.

The Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy) is a research institute of the Max Planck Society.

It is located in Heidelberg, Germany, adjacent to the historic Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl astronomical observatory.

The institute was founded in 1967. 

The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) is a Max Planck Institute, located in Garching, Germany (North of Munich). The institute is one of many scientific research institutes belonging to the Max Planck Society.

The MPA is widely considered to be one of the leading institutions in the world for theoretical astrophysics research. 

The Thuraya XT-DUAL is a satellite mobile phone, a handset that features both GSM and satellite capabilities. It was designed to withstand the harshest of environments and the most extreme conditions to ensure you stay close, however remote the location.

The combination of advanced voice clarity technology and an omni-directional antenna ensures an uninterrupted signal even during non stationary calls, offering users a real ‘walk & talk’ experience. 

Company: Thuraya

Thuraya (Arabic: الثريا‎), from the Arabic name Thurayya meaning Star, is an international mobile satellite services provider that delivers communications solutions in more than 140 countries across Europe, the Middle East, North, Central and East Africa, Asia and Australia. As of July 12,2012, Thuraya extended its reach by partnering with T-Mobile USA to provide roaming services in the United States.

Established in 1997, Thuraya’s satellites enable two-thirds of the globe’s population to communicate in areas unserved by terrestrial networks. The organization provides data and voice satellite communications solutions in remote locations for the energy, media, government, NGO and maritime sectors

They have sold in excess of 600,000 satellite handheld phones since launching in 2001. Thuraya offers a dual mode satellite phone, the Thuraya XT-DUAL, a handset that features both GSM and satellite capabilities. In addition, Thuraya provides the Thuraya IP data modem, a secure and rapidly-deployable satellite broadband solution offering connection speeds up to 444 kbit/s standard IP.

The company is based in the United Arab Emirates and distributes its products and service through authorized service providers. Its shareholders consist of investment companies, Middle Eastern and North African telcos in which Etisalat is a major one.

Launched on August 10, 1992, TOPEX/Poseidon was a joint satellite mission between NASA, the U.S. space agency, and CNES, the French space agency, to map ocean surface topography. The first major oceanographic research vessel to sail into space, TOPEX/Poseidon helped revolutionize oceanography by proving the value of satellite ocean observations.

The satellite operations ended on January 2006.

Jason-1 was launched in 2001 to continue the on-going measurements of sea surface topography.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable aerospace warfighting technologies; planning and executing the Air Force science and technology program; and provide warfighting capabilities to United States air, space, and cyberspace forces. It controls the entire Air Force science and technology research budget.

The Laboratory was formed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio on 31 October 1997 as a consolidation of four Air Force laboratory facilities (Wright, Phillips, Rome, and Armstrong) and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under a unified command. The Laboratory is composed of 8 technical directorates, 1 wing, and the Office of Scientific Research. Each technical directorate emphasizes a particular area of research within the AFRL mission which it specializes in performing experiments in conjunction with universities and contractors.

Since the Laboratory's formation in 1997, it has conducted numerous experiments and technical demonstrators in conjunction with NASA, Department of Energy National Laboratories, DARPA, and other research organizations within the Department of Defense. Notable projects include the X-37, X-40, X-53, HTV-3X, YAL-1A, Advanced Tactical Laser, and the Tactical Satellite Program. (source: Wikipedia, Oct. 2012).

The "Orion" Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is a planned beyond-low-earth-orbit manned spacecraft that is being built by Lockheed Martin for NASA based on designs and tests already completed as part of the now-cancelled Constellation program, development for which began in 2005 as the Crew Exploration Vehicle.

The MPCV was announced by NASA on 24 May 2011. The MPCV's debut unmanned multi-hour test flight, known as Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1), is scheduled for a launch aboard a Delta IV Heavy rocket in 2014. The first manned mission is expected to take place after 2020.

Each Orion spacecraft is projected to carry a crew of four astronauts. The spacecraft was originally designed to be launched by the Ares I launch vehicle. On 11 October 2010, with the cancellation of the Constellation Program, the Ares program ended and development of the original Orion vehicle was renamed as the MPCV, planned to be launched on top of an alternative Space Launch System.