Eutelsat has boosted its shareholding in satellite broadband operator OneWeb. Eutelsat’s stake has been raised from 17.6 per cent to 22.9 per cent and it is paying an additional $165 million (€142.5m) for the investment. Eutelsat is using an option agreed when it invested $550 million in April this year. “Since Eutelsat’s initial investment, OneWeb […]
High-throughput satellite capacity specialist Avanti Communications has launched Avanti EXTEND – a new managed satellite service for rural connectivity. Designed specifically for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Avanti EXTEND provides high-performance and cost-effective 2G, 3G and 4G solutions to remote and hard-to-reach areas across sub-Saharan Africa. This enables customers to provide reliable cellular service to the […]
Blue Origin has announced that actor William Shatner and Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s Vice President of Mission & Flight Operations, will fly on board New Shepard NS-18. Shatner’s career as an actor, director, producer, writer, recording artist, and horseman has spanned 60 years. He famously originated the role of Captain James T. Kirk in 1966 […]
France’s President Emmanuel Macron was present at an important contract signing at the Elysee Palace between Eutelsat and Nigeria’s GloWorld Globacom telco. The deal saw GloWorld commit to a “multi-year, multi-Gb/s” spectrum contract aboard Eutelsat’s Konnect Ka-band satellite which will be used to supply broadband connectivity to underserved regions of Nigeria. Globacom, trading under the […]
Starlink India’s new country director, Sanjay Bhargava, says that Elon Musk’s broadband by satellite business is looking to sign up 200,000 subscribers by the end of next year. Bhargava explained in a Linkedin post on October 2nd that obtaining an operating licence over India was a complex operation and initially Starlink would be seeking approval […]
The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has approved Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic resumption of its flying status. The hold up was due to a review of Virgin Galactic’s most recent SpaceShipTwo flight which deviated from its agreed flight plan on July 11th. There were 6 people on board including Branson and the flight reached an […]
Japanese carmaker Honda wants to build reusable rockets in the style of SpaceX. According to a report in Japan’s Nikkei, the carmaker has set 2030 as the target date to launch a test rocket. Honda says it will invest some $45 billion on R&D over the next six years, and will include so-called ‘flying cars’ […]
Telecoms tycoon Patrick Drahi, having earlier this month bought a large slice (12.1 per cent) of BT, has made a bid to buy Eutelsat. Drahi is said to have offered a €2 (17 per cent) premium over Eutelsat’s current €10.35 share price. Drahi controls the cellular and cable business Altice. A September 30th statement from […]
Intelsat has secured an Air France contract to supply In Flight Connectivity to its Airbus A220 aircraft. Sixty AF A220-300 aircraft will be supplied with Intelsat’s 2Ku high-speed, satellite-based inflight connectivity solution. “We are honoured to partner with Air France and delight their passengers with a superior inflight connectivity experience on Airbus’ state-of-the-art A220 aircraft,” […]
A major event took place in French Guiana when the launch complex for the upcoming Ariane 6 rockets was inaugurated. Dubbed ELA-4, the massive facility cost well over its budgeted €600 million. The project is also some eight years late. The project was managed by the French national space agency CNES. The site is now […]