Chris Forrester is one of the most experienced and highly regarded journalists in the field. His insight and analysis, particularly in the satellite and pay-TV arena, is highly prized. He has written for all the major business journals in the sector as well as several national newspapers.
While the planet now has global low Earth orbiting coverage from Elon Musk’s Starlink, China is quietly getting on with its own rival scheme, in the shape of its Qianfan (Thousand Sails) satellite constellation project. Genesat (Gesi Aerospace), the project’s main contractor, has signed a contract for the second phase of its satellite manufacturing plant […]
A new European rocket designed to handle small to mid-sized satellites failed on its first ‘demo’ flight from Norway on March 30th. The Spectrum rocket, from Germany-based Isar Aerospace, successfully lifted off from the pad but failed a few seconds later, falling back into the Norwegian bay adjacent to the Andøya Spaceport launch site. A […]
Various reports on a proposed $1.5 billion Italian plan for Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites talk of the agreement being ‘cancelled’ or ‘paused’ or ‘stalled’. In its place Eutelsat’s CEO has addressed the dilemma and specifically talking up Eutelsat’s ability to fill the Italian gap. Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke told French parliamentarians that “Starlink ties Italy […]
Spanish satellite builder Sateliot is in the final stages of a Series B financing round tonraise €70 million, and helped by the Spanish government-backed Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT) which is putting €13.8 million into the business. The funds will be invested in a constellation of over 100 satellites – critical infrastructure designed to […]
Declan Ganley, CEO at Rivada Space Networks, told delegates at the recent Satellite 2025 show in Washinton, that in his view the European IRIS2 scheme to build a super-secure satellite constellation is – in effect – “dead in the water”. Ganley was speaking on an expert panel which included Eutelsat’s CEO Eva Berneke. Ganley praised […]
Ligado Networks entered Chapter 11 in January. It has now presented its exit plan to the Delaware Bankruptcy Court. A key portion of the exit scheme is an agreement with AST SpaceMobile for 40 MHz of Ligado’s L-band spectrum, which will enhance AST’s available spectrum over the US and Canada. The actual exit will take […]
One of the main complaints from an SES major shareholder, Appaloosa (which holds 7 per cent of SES) was the company’s poor dividend policy. However, SES used its report to shareholders ahead of its AGM on April 4th to explain in some detail how its dividend policy would evolve, and in some respects answer at […]
There’s no doubt that Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system currently dominates Direct-To-Consumer (D2C) transmissions. Starlink is also enjoying success in serving Cruise ships and airlines with high-speed connectivity. There’s currently a battle for a would be/could be 2nd Place position between Jeff Bezos and Amazon’s Project Kuiper and AST SpaceMobile. Kuiper has yet to make […]
The massive Amazon-backed broadband-by-satellite system, Project Kuiper, is potentially going to miss its regulatory obligations according to reports. It seems that comments made at the recent Satellite 2025 show in Washington suggest that shortage of rocket launch availability will impact Kuiper’s availability. On March 11th, Kuiper updated the Federal Communications Commission with a small reduction […]
Investment house Appaloosa LP, which holds funds worth more than 7 per cent of satellite operator SES, has been denied its suggestions to modernise its boardroom, shareholder structure and dividend policy. SES, in response to Appaloosa, said: “SES appreciates the perspectives of all our shareholders and their constructive ideas about our business. While the Company […]
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