The Delaware bankruptcy court will rule today [September 22nd] on the transfer of spectrum from Ligado Networks and related businesses to AST SpaceMobile. The ruling is not unexpected because the deal was agreed in June. The hearing, before Judge Thomas Horan, will sign-off the pre-agreed resolution which sees AST pay $550 million (of which $535 […]

The global satellite IoT communications market is growing at a good steady pace according to a research report from specialist IoT analyst firm Berg Insight. The global satellite IoT subscriber base grew to surpass 5.8 million in 2024. The number of satellite IoT subscribers will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.1 […]

Canada-based satellite operator Telesat has formally cancelled its plans for an additional 1,671 low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites. Telesat has already admitted that its important geostationary DTH business is under pressure and is betting its business mainly on a new LEO fleet, called Lightspeed. Lightspeed will comprise about 200 satellites. The now cancelled 1,671 craft […]

India has been reported to be slowing down its permissions for the likes of Starlink, OneWeb, Kuiper and SES/Jio to start services. Now it seems Pakistan – no friend of India – is also stuck in what has been described as “bureaucratic limbo”. Evidently, various Pakistani federal institutions are creating obstacles, stalling the companies’ plans […]

Amazon’s broadband-by-satellite service Project Kuiper says it will have broadband coverage in five countries by March 2026. Ricky Freeman, president of Project Kuiper’s Kuiper Government Solutions division at Amazon, speaking at the Novaspace World Space Business Week event in Paris, told delegates that his firm would have more than 200 satellites in orbit by the […]

The overall sentiment at the Novaspace Paris World Space Business Week was one of optimism. Just about every sector talked about growing order books and increased demand for capacity especially from Government and Military customers. All the heavyweight operators spoke of growing confidence in their businesses. SES, fresh with its Intelsat acquisition, is looking to […]

India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has thrown a spanner in the launch plans for Starlink in the country. A cynic might suggest that India doesn’t really want Starlink in its neighbourhood. Specifically, the DoT is requesting more information. The telecom department’s highest decision-making body has sought clarification from the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) on certain […]

Emirates-based Space42 and California-based Viasat have created Equatys, described as a joint-held entity, to enable global Direct-to-Device (D2D) services and evolving existing and planned Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) to a 5G network environment. Equatys will serve to unite satellite and terrestrial networks leveraging a 3GPP Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) Release compliant platform accessible to standard smartphones […]

The next battleground, according to expert speakers at the World Space Business Week in Paris, is the fight for Direct-to-Device connectivity from satellite. Starlink has more than 7 million customers, but has “little or no chance” to extend its service to voice services for at least two years, said Starlink president and COO Gwynne Shotwell. […]

Lynk Global, a satellite-to-cellular operator which has SES as a major shareholder, has asked the FCC for a 60-day temporary authority to operate feeder links in the S-Band as part of a South African trial of its technology, with an unnamed local mobile operator (probably MTN), aimed at testing direct-to-device (D2D) voice calling. The test […]