SiriusXM is borrowing $600 million which it will largely use to pay down existing debt.  The bonds will only be available outside the US. The bonds will offer interest of 5.70 per cent, and used to pay down debt due in 2015 with an interest rate of 8.75 per cent. There is no suggestion – […]

The July 2nd catastrophic failure of a Russian Proton-M roc continues to make waves amongst the local rocket-building community.  Reports suggest that key attitude sensors were inserted into the rocket upside down. Indeed, one wholly unconfirmed report says that the recovered parts showed signs of being forced  into position.  Russia’s deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin […]

Luxembourg satellite operator SES’s message last week to be patient and wait for three delayed satellites to launch did not go down well with the market. Formally, SES reduced its guidance for this financial year but left its three-year guidance unchanged. Investment banker Morgan Stanley in a note to clients said this “looks ambitious” and […]

A few days ago it was apparently ‘confirmed’ that the incorrect fitting of key attitude velocity sensors was the “most likely” cause of the failed Proton-M rocket on July 2nd.  Now it appears that is not the case. A statement from Russian deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of Russia’s space industry, […]

It is now officially acknowledged that the July 2nd catastrophic failure of a Proton-M rocket was caused by the insertion of crucial sensors upside-down.  The mistake affected three of six yaw angular velocity sensors on the unmanned rocket, said deputy head of Roscosmos, Alexander Lopatin, citing a state commission’s investigation of the crash in a […]

Inside Satellite reported on Avanti Communications’ interim financial statement on July 10th, stating that they have debts of some £500 million. This was wrong. Their gross debt is just £205 million, and they have cash at hand of £38 million. But there are still quite a few hurdles ahead for Avanti, and bills to be […]

Within the satellite industry there are more than a few stories of manufacturing problems. One – perhaps an industry myth – talks of an empty Cola can being left inside a satellite. Another – unfortunately not a myth – tells of incorrect software being fed into a computer that caused a rocket launch to be […]

Avanti Communications has had an extremely bad week. The satellite operator, which once foolishly promised that it had enough capacity to supply much of Europe with its HDTV transmissions, is discovering that selling satellite capacity is a tough task. The world, it seemed didn’t want its Ka-band capacity located at 33.5 degrees West, especially for […]

Rocket launch countdowns are highly sophisticated, computer controlled, affairs. However, early – and wholly unofficial – reports suggest that a software glitch might be to blame for the Proton launch catastrophe last week. The Proton-M rocket failed July 2nd spectacularly just seconds after lift-off, exploding into a dangerous ball from its 170 tonnes of highly […]

The catastrophic failure of a Russian Proton rocket has brought arch-rival Arianespace out with fighting talk, saying that if customers want it could offer another Ariane launch or two to its manifest. Given that – as a rule – an Ariane rocket launches two satellites at a time, this could rescue 4 waiting satellites between […]