Notwithstanding reports of a further delay to the launch date for AST SpaceMobile’s latest FM1 satellite, the company says it has completed development of the electronics board with its new AST5000 ASIC chip – the cornerstone of the company’s next-generation BlueBird satellites. “After five years of rigorous engineering and production, representing an equivalent of 150+ […]

AST SpaceMobile’s FM1 craft is reportedly not going to be launched as speedily as hoped. According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is responsible for launching the important broadband satellite, it can happen before the end of [India’s] financial year, which is December 31st. There have been numerous reports that ISRO is not […]

Elon Musk issued congratulations to his SpaceX rocket and launch team on achieving 100 launches already this year. Musk said the record is impressive given that the launches have lofted about 1,800 tonnes of payload into orbit, and accounting for more than 90 per cent of all Earth mass to orbit. SpaceX has achieved a […]

SpaceX has said that its Test Flight #10 of its massive Starship is officially targeting August 24th for its launch from its Starbase in South Texas. Weather and other external events may delay the launch. Elon Musk’s space company says that it has removed one of the key landing fins used to guide the Super […]

The banking analysts have had time to chew over AST SpaceMobile’s half-year update. The advice given is – at best – mixed. Some analysts have increased their Price Targets while other have reduced or softened their Targets. Recent Analyst Price Target Changes for AST: · B Riley was $44, now $60 · Deutsche Bank was […]

A much-delayed but ultimately successful launch by SpaceX of 24 Project Kuiper satellites on August 11th takes the total of Amazon craft launched to 102. This was the fourth launch, but there’s a long way to go. This mission (KF-02) saw the satellites separated from the rocket at an altitude of 289 miles (465 kilometers) […]

The Indian space programme is expanding and its rocket building and launching capabilities are now matching the best from the rest of the world. In a month or two India’s Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will loft AST SpaceMobile’s heavyweight low Earth orbiting FM1 satellites – and which weighs around 6,500kgs – into orbit. Chairman of […]

Charlie Ergen’s EchoStar has signed a $1.3 billion (€1.1bn) initial contract with Canada-based MDA Space to build 100 or so low Earth orbiting ‘MDA Aurora’ satellites for its proposed global Direct-to-Device scheme, addressing a potential “350 million Americans” and “more than 7 billion additional people globally”. EchoStar says the total cost of its initial constellation […]

Investment bank BNP Paribas has significantly increased its share price target on Eutelsat following the satellite operator’s results on August 5th. The target price jumps from €1 to €2.9, but the bank still advises clients to consider Eutelsat as an ‘Underperform’ stock, despite having the view that its OneWeb division was now “taking off”. The […]

The London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) has issued a report titled Holding the Line: Auditing the EU’s ban of Russian state media 3 years on. “In March 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission (EC) adopted nine sanction packages against entities and individuals to de-escalate the Kremlin’s hybrid threat, as […]