The US military, which supervises rocket launches from its Vandenburg Space Force Base in California, says it is preparing to allow an increase the number of SpaceX Falcon 9 launches to 100 annually, and well up on the number currently allowed. The military is discussing with the Federal Aviation Administration for permissions. However, California’s Coastal […]

Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat, which already has some 654 of its OneWeb satellites in low Earth orbit, is ordering another 100 satellites from Airbus Defence & Space. The new satellites will be built at the Airbus plant in Toulouse, and – perhaps surprisingly – not at the Airbus-owned OneWeb factory in Florida. The factory, Airbus […]

After a slight delay, SES has announced that its latest pair of O3b mPOWER satellites were successfully launched into space by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on December 17th. Both satellites will join the first six O3b mPOWER spacecraft already in operation at medium Earth orbit (MEO), adding incremental […]

Analysts at Deutsche Bank have re-examined prospects for would-be global telco ‘space tower’ business AST SpaceMobile (AST) as being worth $53 (€50.51) per share. They recommend clients ‘BUY’ AST. “We currently expect AST will begin broad commercial service in northern Latitudes during 2026. We expect that by 2030, AST will generate nearly $3 billion from […]

The IRIS2 project for hundreds of satellites was confirmed December 16th with the signing of contracts worth €10.6 billion with the SpaceRISE consortium. The consortium, led by satellite operators SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat, is now contracted to build – via sub-contractors – and operate the new highly-secure fleet of satellites. The contract covers a 12-year […]

Texas-based AST SpaceMobile wants to become the world’s ‘tower in space’ for its partner telcos. IT has the first five satellites in orbit, and a report from investment firm Hennessey Focus Fund says that steady cash-raising exercises during the past year has created a war chest of some $519 million (€494.9m) to spend on the […]

Two satellites owned by SES of Luxembourg have had their launch by SpaceX much delayed because of bad weather at Cape Canaveral. SES has stated that such weather delays are common, with launch dates typically being more of an estimated timeframe rather than a fixed schedule. A new launch date is expected to be set […]

SES is trimming staff at its Luxembourg HQ. Local press reports, quoting union representatives, say that the satellite giant is cutting 68 jobs which is fewer than earlier planned. The two staff unions (OGBL and LCGB) had previously talked of up to 80 jobs being cut. “As part of the negotiations with the unions, the […]

The European Commission and European Space Agency (ESA) are hosting a series of events in Brussels on December 16th connected with the IRIS2 satellite scheme. First there will be technical briefing with senior EC experts and Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General, as well as Laurent Jaffart, ESA Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications. IRIS² is […]

Speedcast, the communications and IT services provider, has announced that the World Teleport Association (WTA) has issued new Full Certifications to four Speedcast teleports in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Perth, Western Australia; Aberdeen, Scotland; and Biddinghuizen, The Netherlands. Issued in rapid sequence following audits by WTA experts, the new Certifications bring Speedcast’s total number of certified […]