SpaceX’s giant ‘Falcon Heavy’ mega-rocket launch, initially scheduled for April 7th will not now happen until April 9th. The launch is already being described as one of the most important in the life of SpaceX, as it is the first commercial cargo being carried on the massive 27-engined rocket. The rocket made its debut flight more […]
Amazon has reportedly filed a request with the ITU to launch and place into Low Earth orbit (LEO) a mega-constellation of 3236 satellites. In doing so Amazon will be competing with the already established fleet of 20 SES/O3b satellites, plus other planned services from SpaceX, OneWeb, Telesat, Leosat and others. Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos is […]
Intelsat’s CEO Stephen Spengler and SES boss Steve Collar, along with senior officials from the C-Band Alliance (CBA), met with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Aaron Goldberger, legal advisor to Chairman Pai on March 29th. The CBA explained to Chairman Pai that the CBA is engaged in working collaboratively with industry stakeholders on the technical, […]
In a surprise change of heart, Eutelsat says it will back an initial constellation of a small number of low-orbiting Internet of Things (IoT) satellites in an initial fleet. Eutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmer, addressing a Paris conference, said his company will extend the single ‘test’ satellite already being built and expected to launch later in […]
Investment banker JP Morgan has issued a favourable report on Intelsat and, in particular, its potential prospects should the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approving the C-Band Alliance’s plans for reallocation of some key frequencies and bandwidth over the US. The bank sees the potential for “substantial” proceeds from spectrum sales by the company and its […]
Data from a study carried out by Northern Sky Research (NSR) forecasts that the cumulative value of airline and passenger activity in the ‘In Flight Communications’ and entertainment field will have be worth a massive $36 billion by 2028. Last year was not the best benchmark for growth as the industry suffered equipment and deployment […]
A massive SpaceX rocket is being prepared for its debut commercial flight on April 7th from Florida’s Cape Canaveral. The ‘Falcon Heavy’ rocket has 27 Merlin engines (a ‘normal’ Falcon has just 9) and this flight will carry Arabsat’s 6A satellite into orbit. The launch window, subject to weather conditions, opens at 6.36pm EST (22.36pm […]
Arianespace has confirmed that it will launch four additional O3b satellites on April 4th. The four extra craft had been expected to launch around the end of March, and will bring the SES-owned constellation of Ka-band O3b satellites to 20. The launch will be on a Russian Soyuz rocket – dubbed Flight VS22. The O3b […]
Russia’s TASS news agency says the country will cut the cost of launching its Proton-M rocket to match the level of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets. Roscosmos said it will cut costs by lowering expenses on ground-based preparations, Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday. “Proton-M rockets are about at the level of Falcons by their […]
London-based speciality satellite operator Avanti Communications says that its latest satellite, Hylas 3 will not now launch until the third quarter this year and will be brought into commercial use by year-end. Avanti used the announcement to issue a trading update, which said that bandwidth revenues were only $32 million last year. Avanti is forecasting […]