Intelsat’s troublesome Galaxy 15 satellite, which went AWOL back in May, has been brought back under control. Galaxy 15 – as had been hoped – rebooted itself automatically as it was designed to do once it had lost all its battery power. During the preceding seven months the craft had threatened dozens of other satellites […]
Eutelsat’s giant KaSat satellite was successfully launched from Kazakhstan on Dec 26th (at 21.51 GMT). The satellite was scheduled for separation from the rocket some 9 hours after lift-off. The Astrium-built satellite, weighing more than six tonnes, will then require some weeks of in-orbit testing ahead of going live for operational purposes. Kasat is unique […]
We all have moments we wish we had kept out thoughts to ourselves rather letting their assumed importance persuade us to share them with the world in general. Over sharing is an affliction common to politicians (and, of course, bloggers and columnists – but then that is rather their point). Vince Cable is paying a […]
Intelsat’s rogue satellite, Galaxy-15, might go dark towards the end of the month. Galaxy-15 has been drifting steadily – but uncontrollably – since April when a solar flare is thought to have damaged the craft’s on-board systems. However, the satellite’s collection and re-transmission function has remain firmly active and has thus been of considerable […]
A Proton-M rocket that failed to launch 3 GPS satellites on December 5 could have been too heavy, say local investigators. The rocket crashed into the Pacific Ocean destroying its important cargo, and forcing Russian officials to suspend all Proton launches while they determine what went wrong. Russia’s Interfax news agency reported that one theory […]
On December 7th a Russian Proton rocket suffered a serious malfunction and three satellites it was carrying tumbled into the Pacific Ocean after launch. The Glonass satellites would have served Russia’s GPS navigation. A formal Board of Inquiry has been set up to determine the cause of the failure. However, this will take some […]
Eutelsat, as expected, has ordered a replacement for the failed W3B satellite which failed to orbit on Oct 28. Thales Alenia will build W3D in near-record time, just 24 months, which is speedy for a 56-transponder craft. The order and rapid build commitment means the new satellite should be on station at 7 degrees […]
UK-based satellite services specialist Arqiva is going through some internal changes, with existing CEO Tom Bennie stepping down once a new CEO is found, and seeing Nick Thompson looking after its newly merged terrestrial broadcast, satellite & media division (and Steve Holebrook running mobile, government & enterprise). Thompson now says that with solid revenue numbers […]
On both sides of the Atlantic the rule makers are readying Net Neutrality legislation and seem likely to head in different directions. The FCC in Washington has been trying to bring broadband provision under the mush stricter telecom carrier regime and, in horse-trading to avoid this fate, service providers have backed-off their opposition to Neutrality […]
Three weeks from now, just before the Christmas holiday, will see a Russian rocket launching Eutelsat’s Ka-Sat, a wonderful piece of satellite engineering complexity that will provide copious two-way broadband connectivity to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. At 6.1 tonnes in weight it is one of the heaviest satellites ever launched and will […]