Ireland-based Ryanair has firmly declined adding in-flight WiFi from SpaceX’s Starlink. The low-cost airline argues that adding the exterior antenna to its aircrafts’ fuselage adds extra drag to the aircraft’s efficiency and thus costs more in fuel. “You need to put antenna on fuselage [and[ it comes with a 2 per cent fuel penalty because […]

The spectrum regulator in Liechtenstein has granted key high-priority Ka-band radio frequencies to UK-based Open Cosmos. It means that Rivada Space Networks is denied avccess to the spectrum. Hubert Büchel, Minister of Home Affairs, Economy and Sport of Liechtenstein, commented: “This decision underscores Liechtenstein’s commitment to making use of the frequencies allocated to us. We […]

Airbus UpNext, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Airbus, has launched a new demonstrator called Airbus UpNext SpaceRAN (Space Radio Access Network). Its mission is to enable standardised global connectivity by exploring advanced 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) capabilities. This demonstrator aims to explore the 5G NTN, a versatile connectivity technology compatible with all types of business applications. […]

South African–born Elon Musk has worked hard over the past few months in attempts to gain permission to launch SpaceX’s Starlink broadband–by–satellite service in South Africa. But far from nearing those permissions, there are signs that he still has a mountain to climb. Local reports say that political party Rise Mzansi’s leader, Songezo Zibi, and […]

The Lufthansa group of airlines will start installing Starlink in–flight broadband kit this year across its complete fleet.The group, which also includes Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings and Swiss, said the new Starlink service would start being installed on the first of its 850 aircraft later this year. Lufthansa says that the in–flight WiFi service […]

China has filed paperwork with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for a truly mega-constellation of 200,000 satellites. Chinese authorities have also called for greater transparency in the satellite sector and closer coordination. According to the ITU, multiple Chinese satellite operators submitted applications for more than 200,000 satellite frequencies during the final week of 2025. This […]

Analysts at the Bank of America have increased their price target for AST SpaceMobile from $85 (€72.8m) to $100 per share. The bank’s report to clients said: “2025 was a watershed year for LEO. We expect the momentum to intensify in 2026 as providers like AST and Starlink jockey to offer full cellular service and […]

Satellite operator SES will provide secure uninterrupted satellite communications to the Australian Defence Force(ADF) for a minimum of 16 years thanks to a new extended agreement. The service will be provided via the SES Intelsat 22 satellite and an ultra–high frequency (UHF) military communications payload. Under the renewed arrangement, SES will reposition the IS–22 satellite […]

January 9th saw the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approve a batch of major requests from SpaceX to increase the size of the Starlink broadband-by-satellite fleet. The decision is notable in that the FCC has wasted no time in coming to its decision, and the benefits to SpaceX are considerable. The FCC said that it has […]

Eutelsat has awarded Airbus Defence and Space a contract to build a further 340 OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Together with the previous batch of 100 satellites ordered in December 2024, the total number of satellites ordered is up to 440. The satellites will be manufactured at Airbus Defence and Space’s Toulouse facility on […]