Advanced Television

Blogs

US grounds Starship flights

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is not happy with last week’s problem with Elon Musk’s Starship rocket which exploded over the Turks & Caicos Islands. The FAA has grounded future flights pending a detailed explanation and examination of the flight’s data. There are numerous reports and images of pieces of the rocket, especially its heat-resistant […]

January 20, 2025

Musk loses Starship, but lands booster

SpaceX lost a Starship on its seventh test flight in a fiery explosion over the Turks & Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. However, the rocket’s booster was successfully captured back at the launch site by the Texas pad’s ‘chopsticks’. Launch was at 5.37pm Texas time on January 16th. SpaceX said: “Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled […]

January 17, 2025

Bank positive on AST SpaceMobile

Analysts at Barclays have joined a growing number of researchers favouring AST SpaceMobile (AST). A report from the bank explains to investors the background to AST’s recent agreement with Ligado Networks, and says the additional L-band spectrum acquired by AST to be meaningful. The bank says that while the agreement, permitting access by AST to […]

January 15, 2025

ITU’s hands are tied on space jamming

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is having a hard time getting some of its member states to observe its regulations. Two problems are paramount: The first is the regulation of so-called ‘space debris’ whether dying satellites or collision avoidance obligations. The second concerns the deliberate jamming of certain TV signals which includes the rules governing […]

January 13, 2025

Bezos and Musk rockets delay launches

The expected double launch of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket as well as Elon Musk’s giant Starship, both initially expected to launch on January 10th, have been delayed. The problem is the weather which for the Jeff Bezos-backed New Glenn rocket is at least one of the problems. One report says that the Florida […]

January 10, 2025

Bank: Canal+ on a “super aggregation” strategy

A report from analysts at investment bank BNP Paribas on Canal+ says the broadcaster is now on a “super aggregation” strategy. Its share price, since its debut on the London Stock Exchange on December 16th 2024, has been in a depressed state. Currently (January 8th) its shares are trading down 4.6 per cent at £2. […]

January 9, 2025

Italy: Confusion over Starlink contract

This past weekend it was widely reported that the Italian government had chosen Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband service in a massive $1.6 billion (€1.4bn) 5-year deal to equip its military with secure connectivity. The news emerged as Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni visited President-elect Donald Trump at his Florida home on January 4th. The […]

January 8, 2025

Bezos vs Musk on Jan 10th

The planned launch of the Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin rocket on January 6th was delayed because of poor weather at the Cape. The rocket, named New Glenn, is now slated to launch from Florida on January 10th. The plan puts it head-to-head with Elon Musk’s important Starship and its seventh flight and attempted ‘chopstick’ landing. […]

January 7, 2025

SES has eyes on D2D

SES, itself busy looking to absorb arch-rival Intelsat which it agreed to acquire last April, perhaps has its eyes on its next expansion step. Rumours – wholly unconfirmed – suggest an investment in AST SpaceMobile could be in the offing. The satellite operator’s Chief Strategy Officer JP Hemingway is already on record as saying that […]

January 6, 2025

Eutelsat suffers flak over OneWeb outage

Eutelsat’s OneWeb mega-constellation of satellites suffered a near-48 hour outage over the New Year period starting on December 31st. The reason given was that OneWeb core software between the satellites and their user terminals did not account for the fact that 2024 was a leap year with 366 days. Eutelsat’s official statement can be read […]

January 3, 2025