Space42, the Abu Dhabi-based satellite operator which also owns the fleet of Thuraya satellites, says its latest addition – Thuraya-4 – is now on station at 44.3 degrees East in its geostationary orbital slot following a period of testing following its launch in January 2025. Space42’s predecessor business was known as YahSat. “Launched in January […]

ViaSat-3 Flight 2 (VS-3 F2) – the second of three VS-3 Ultra-high capacity satellites – is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. It will lift off aboard an Atlas V 551 rocket provided by United Launch Alliance (ULA) in the second half of October. Once […]

Aerial communications specialist Aalto, which is owned by Airbus, says its HAPS (High Altitude Platform Station) is close to flying the technology, having completed long-term tests with its Zephyr high-flying lightweight aircraft. Aalto is not alone in pushing the technology. US-based (in New Mexico) Sceye is also backing HAPS which it describes as a balloon-based […]

SpaceX’s next flight of its giant Starship (test flight 11) is likely to launch on October 13th. The date has been confirmed by SpaceX, and the US Coast Guard’s local Notice to Mariners talks of the flight taking place between 6.15pm and 8.22pm on the 13th (US Central Time), but the Coast Guard also lists […]

United has announced that the FAA has certified its first mainline Starlink-equipped aircraft, and the first commercial flight is planned for October 15th. This certification comes five months since the first Starlink-equipped United customer flight on the Embraer 175 regional aircraft and less than a year since United signed the industry’s largest agreement of its […]

Broadband satellite operator Starlink is reported locally to launching its service over India later in 2025. Starlink has received provisional spectrum from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Competition is likely to be tough with similar services promised by Reliance’s Jio Platforms (in conjunction with SES), Eutelsat’s OneWeb and Amazon Kuiper. Satellite-based Internet services are likely […]

SES will pay its shareholders its dividend of 25 Euro-cents on October 16th “in line with its commitment to shareholder returns”. The 25 cent payment is the same as has been paid for a number of years. However, SES has over the past year or so promised an improved rate of dividend payments. Its announcement […]

Planet Labs a provider of daily data and insights about Earth, has announced plans to begin production of next-generation, high-resolution Pelican satellites in Germany. Planet Labs says thus strategic decision will help it better meet growing demand from the European market. This new capital investment in its German operations is, in total, expected to exceed […]

There are reports that the German army (Bundeswehr) is lining up its strategy to develop its independent satellite constellation. The costs will reportedly be around €12 billion. The commitment is key and could impact the Europe-wide IRIS2 mega-constellation. Germany has frequently said it is now wholly in favour of the European scheme. Earlier details suggested […]