Airbus Defence & Space and Thales Alenia Space, which were once part of the IRIS2 SpaceRISE consortium bidding for a mega-constellation of low Earth satellites, have submitted separate bids to build the satellites and submitted their proposals to the remaining members of the consortium, according to a report by La Tribune. The principal remaining members […]

South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa has held talks with Elon Musk over Starlink’s availability in the country, and the discussions included potential investments. Ramaphosa told local press that the discussions had taken place recently. Musk was born in South Africa and still has family in the country. “I have had discussions with [Musk] and have […]

Rivada Space Networks issued a press release to coincide with Euroconsult’s Paris Space Business Week which said that it is “partnering” with Peraton, “a next-generation national security company and transformative enterprise IT provider” who will now work with Rivada once its planned 300 satellite constellation is in place. However, there was no news on whether […]

Ericsson has joined the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA), an industry initiative aimed at progressing Direct-to-Device (D2D) and IoT services through space-based networks. This effort brings together an ecosystem of Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) providers with the goal of extending mobile coverage globally. The MSSA – launched in February – seeks to develop a global ecosystem […]

The Canadian government has announced a loan of C$2.14 billion (€1.42bn) to satellite operator Telesat to help the company build its broadband satellite constellation in what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described as Canada’s largest ever space programme. Trudeau said the Telesat Lightspeed constellation will enable people in the most remote parts of the country, including […]

Starlink announced last week that it had won a contract from United Airlines to equip around 1,000 of their aircraft with Starlink broadband equipment. Availability will not be overnight as fitting of the Starlink antennas will not start until 2025. United says that access to WiFi and broadband will then be free for all passengers. […]

Satellite giant Intelsat used IBC to announce an impressive set of new business wins and services. Top of the list is a contract for a hybrid TV distribution service for A&E Networks, now branded as Hearst Networks. Intelsat will transmit Hearst’s portfolio of channels to “hundreds” of points across Europe thanks to its seamless satellite-terrestrial […]

September 12th saw a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket flawlessly launch five high-performance BlueBird satellites for AST SpaceMobile from Cape Canaveral. The five craft, once they are deployed safely in their correct orbits which itself will take a few weeks, will then be tested by about 2,000 testers scattered around the Earth and then commence beta-test […]

United has signed an inflight connectivity agreement with SpaceX to bring Starlink’s Wi-Fi service to the airline’s mainline and regional aircraft fleet – for free. United customers will soon enjoy the same high-speed, low-latency internet service in the air that they enjoy on the ground. The new, gate-to-gate connectivity will unlock experiences in the sky […]

Azercosmos has entered into a strategic partnership with ABS, a global satellite operator. Through this partnership, Azercosmos will offer pay-TV services to customers in Nigeria and West Africa via ABS’s satellite network in an agreement that was formalised at IBC. Collaborating with ABS will open new business opportunities for Azercosmos, enabling it to generate additional […]