New Zealand-originated RockletLab, founded by Sir Peter Beck, has secured a contract from the US Space Development Agency worth $816 million (€695.5m). This is the largest single contract RocketLab has ever received. RocketLab is quoted on the Nasdaq exchange and has its formal headquarters in Long Beach, California. The order covers the supply of 18 […]

On December 17th, Starlink experienced an anomaly on one of its 9,000 orbiting satellites (official reference satellite 35,956), resulting in loss of communications with the vehicle at 418km altitude. The anomaly led to venting of the propulsion tank, a rapid decay in semi-major axis by about 4km, and the release of a small number of […]

SpaceX has reportedly told staff it is entering a regulatory “quiet period”, a standard step toward a potential 2026 Initial Public Offering (IPO). Bloomberg reports that SpaceX is exploring a listing that could raise more than $30 billion (€25.6bn) at around a $1.5 trillion valuation, though timing and terms can still change. In an internal […]

AST SpaceMobile now has a fairly dependable launch date for its BlueBird 6 satellite, the first of its ‘second generation’ craft. It will be launched by India’s Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on December 24th from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Center. The India launches have been something of a moveable feast, with assorted dates supplied ranging […]

French investment bank, Exane BNP Paribas, has initiated coverage of Europe’s two giant satellite operators SES and Eutelsat. The news comes as Moody’s downgraded SES (to ba2 from ba1) on its Baseline Credit Assessment, and the ratings agency withdrew its corporate rating and changed its overview from “Stable to Negative”. Exane ranks SES as ‘Outperform’ […]

SpaceX’s Starlink has struck a partnership with Airtel Africa which will allow its Starlink Direct to Cell satellite to connect more than 173 million people in Africa across 14 countries, powering life-saving connectivity when it’s needed most. This marks the sixth continent for the satellite-to-mobile service and expands its mission to end mobile dead zones. […]

Jennifer Manner, SVP/Regulatory Affairs at AST SpaceMobile, told a Congress Committee (the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology of the Committee on Energy & Commerce) that the satellite Direct-to-Cell business would launch between 45 and 60 of its second-generation BlueBird 2 satellites during 2026. She confirmed that the satellites were under manufacture at its two factories […]

There has been some confusion, not to say argument, as to whether AST SpaceMobile will manage to connect to users when inside a home, office building or while out shopping and inside stores. AST has partnerships with dozens of cellular telcos but the whole rationale for AST is to provide connectivity when out of range […]

Amazon Leo’s giant United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket is ready to launch the Leo-4 batch of 27 broadband satellites today (December 15th) at 08.49 am UTC. The price of the launch is quoted at $153 million (€130m). The Atlas/Leo mission is to provide fast, reliable internet to customers around the world, including those […]

South Africa has amended its ‘Black Economic Empowerment’ (BEE) rules, allowing Starlink to operate via rural school internet investments instead of insisting on the traditional – and to date rigid – 30 per cent equity stake for local people and businesses. The decision could pave the way for rapid satellite broadband rollout amid digital divide […]