Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) is leading a consortium made up of experienced space-related businesses as part of the European Space Agencies ‘Leopard’ project to clear dangerous space debris. The Leopard study will be led by SSTL and delivered by a consortium of leading UK space companies and academia to benefit from the wide breadth of […]
Türksat 5B will be launched on December 19th, subject to the usual weather considerations. The current plan calls for the launch to take place from Florida by SpaceX on one of its Falcon 9 rockets. The satellite, built by Airbus, was shipped to Florida in November and arrived from France on November 29th. Türksat 5B […]
Broadband satellite operator OneWeb, which owns a 50/50 joint venture satellite construction company (with Airbus) in Florida, is to start producing its satellites in the UK. OneWeb said that the move would be worth some $3 billion (€2.6bn) to the UK economy. Chris McLaughlin, OneWeb’s head of government affairs, said that a manufacturing programme would […]
Inmarsat-6, built by Airbus (and the first Inmarsat to be built by Airbus) has been shipped from the Airbus facility in Toulouse to Tanegashima in Japan ready for launch. The satellite will operate in both multibeam Ka-band and L-band and will use a huge 9 metre antenna for its L-band services. It also houses an […]
An idea is being developed and tested in New Mexico’s Spaceport America; In essence it is a giant slingshot device that is claimed can hurl – robustly built – small satellites partly on their way into Earth orbit. SpinLaunch, headquartered in Long Beach, California, is the business behind the idea which is far from stupid. […]
The bid for Eutelsat by businessman Patrick Drahi, rejected by the satellite company, might well trigger other bidders to enter the picture. Sami Kassab, equity analyst at investment bank Exane/BNPP, poses some interesting suggestions as to potential rival bidders to Drahi. Kassab argues that the key to anyone’s success in the validation of the bid […]
Airbus has won a contract from Al Yah Satellite Communications (Yahsat) to build its Thuraya 4-NGS. Airbus also has an option to build Thuraya’s ‘5-NGS’ craft. The satellite is described as being able to deliver higher capabilities and flexibility while increasing capacity and coverage across Europe, Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, enabling next […]
Broadband-by-satellite operator OneWeb has won another significant investor. Hanwha Systems, a South Korean technology company, is investing $300 million in equity in OneWeb which will shortly start services from its fleet of Low Earth Orbiting satellites. In return, Hanwha will receive an 8.8 per cent stake in OneWeb. It can also contribute its latest antenna […]
The holding company behind the Porsche/VW car giant is putting cash into Isar Aerospace, a Munich-based company which is developing lower-cost access to space. Other investors in Isar include Airbus, Earlybird Venture Capital, Lakestar, HV Capital and Lombard Odier, according to details in the Financial Times. Porsche SE, with HV Capital and Lombard, has reportedly […]
Malaysia’s Measat-3, still uncontrollably drifting westward in the geostationary arc, remains under continuous telemetry despite its anomaly. Boeing is investigating what might be the root cause of the problem which occurred on June 21st. Meanwhile, almost all of its broadcast channels and customers have been reassigned capacity on other Measat or third-party satellites. Space monitoring […]