The news that Scotiabank telecoms analyst Andres Coello had downgraded shares in AST SpaceMobile to ‘Sell’ surprised the market. On October 8th came the news that US cellular giant Verizon was firmly confirming it would start offering AST’s cellular service from space. AST’s shares surged 17 per cent as a result. “Through our definitive commercial […]

First, the good news: AST SpaceMobile has opened an $800 million ‘At The Market’ offering of new shares to a cluster of banks. The money is now available as needed by AST and if fully drawn down is equal to about 3 per cent of the shares issued. It means that AST is sitting on […]

EchoStar has met global regulatory conditions, unlocking the S-band sale to SpaceX and paving the way for Starlink’s 20x faster direct-to-device rollout. This is an important move for SpaceX. The S-band frequencies unlock Starlink’s direct-to-device rollout, aiming for a claimed 20x speed boost. The real benefit is S-band’s resistance to rain fade, and which can […]

Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell has told EarthSky that one or two Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth every day. McDowell’s website, Jonathan’s Space Report, is widely regarded as a definitive source on spacecraft that go up … and eventually come down. The lifespan of low-Earth orbit satellites, such as Starlink, is only about five […]

Two massive AST SpaceMobile (AST) satellites will take place shortly. The first called BlueBird 6 (also known as FM1) will be on its way to India for a launch. The second, BlueBird 7 (aka FM2) will be launched by SpaceX and will be delivered to Cape Canaveral during October. But these two AST satellites are […]

Satellite operator SES will unveil its latest quarterly numbers on Monday morning (October 6) but investment analysts at Deutsche Bank has upgraded the company with a ‘Buy’ rating, citing growth and margin upside from its recent Intelsat acquisition. The bank’s new model for the combined firm shows organic topline growth of 2.3 per cent annually, […]

Eutelsat held its AGM on September 30th and shareholders approved all of the resolutions put before them. The main points were: 1st resolution: Ratification of the appointment of Mr. Michel Combes as Director of the Company. 2nd resolution: Ratification of the appointment of Ms. Lucia Sinapi-Thomas as Director of the Company. 3rd resolution: Ratification of […]

MultiChoice’s predicaments in Ghana are many. It has been involved in a bitter dispute with local government, but also where it is commonplace for cross-border (grey-market) imports and where piracy is reported to be rife. The local problem is not helped by adjacent Nigeria’s subscriber fees to MultiChoice and its DStv broadcast are about half […]

SES will pay its shareholders its dividend of 25 Euro-cents on October 16th “in line with its commitment to shareholder returns”. The 25 cent payment is the same as has been paid for a number of years. However, SES has over the past year or so promised an improved rate of dividend payments. Its announcement […]