The Federal Communications Commission is aggressively pursuing spectrum abundance as part of its Final Frontiers agenda to secure US leadership in space and supercharge the possibilities of satellite broadband. The Commission voted May 22nd to kickstart a proceeding that could unlock more than 20,000 megahertz of spectrum for high-speed Internet delivered from space.  That amount […]

AST SpaceMobile (AST) is expected to launch the first of its giant ‘second generation’ BlueBird satellites in July, and eventually will have around 250 satellites in orbit and will provide global direct-to-cellular and other broadband services. Bankers are getting increasingly enthusiastic about the company. Deutsche Bank, for example, in one of its ‘Stocks in Focus’ […]

A report on the satellite industry from investment bank BNP-Paribas highlights that a new auction of satellite C-band spectrum (in particular for US 5G use) “is back and too big to ignore”. The report continues: “As is the €800 billion ReArm Europe plan, with its focus on satellite communications. Geopolitical tailwinds are supportive. But amid […]

Satellite communications specialist Viasat has confirmed that business aviation customers using its inflight connectivity solution on super-midsized private jets are now benefitting from expanded coverage into the Middle East and South America. The service enhancement is available to current and future customers using Viasat’s Global Aero Terminal (GAT) 5510, which already provides high-performance connectivity with […]

Satellite operator Eutelsat saw its share price fall by almost 12 per cent on its Q3 revenue statement last week. BNP-Paribas, the financial services company, has now issued a report on the satellite operator. Sami Kassab, analyst at BNP-Paribas, headlined his note to clients as “More headwinds ahead” and while stressing that Eutelsat’s financial reports […]

A filing made to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by a staffer at rocket company Blue Origin, which concerns radio communications with the company’s New Glenn rocket’s launch (NG-2), says that it will not happen before July 1st. It had been expected to launch late spring. The launch delay affects Amazon’s own Project Kuiper satellite […]

Viasat has tested sending signals from one of its satellites direct to BMW cars amongst other members of the 5G Automotive Association in Paris. The tests were designed to showcase emergency messaging and hazard warnings. The tests took place in Paris and also featured the first on-the-road, live-traffic demonstration of 5G-V2X Direct technology capabilities for […]

Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat has unveiled its Q3 results, which were much as expected. CFO Christophe Caudrelier – handling the presentation given Eva Berneke’s departure and the new CEO not due to start until June 1st – told analysts that Eutelsat needed a large injection of equity to enable much-needed loans to kick in. The […]

The CABSAT Dubai show saw Arabsat agreeing a contract with Canadian Telesat for future use of Telesat’s Lightspeed low Earth orbiting (LEO) constellation. The pair signed a Term Sheet in Dubai for a multi-Gb/s capacity pool of Telesat Lightspeed connectivity services. The two companies had previously agreed a Memorandum of Understanding last year. This latest […]

AST SpaceMobile has issued a prospectus with the aim of raising a half-billion dollars. AST says it will sell fresh shares in the company. It is using B. Riley Securities, Barclays Capital, BofA Securities, Cantor Fitzgerald, Deutsche Bank, Roth Capital Partners, Scotia Capital (USA), UBS Securities and William Blair & Co will act as sales […]