SpaceX is scheduled to launch 49 of its Starlink broadband satellites today (January 31st) from Vandenburg Space Force Base, California. Launch is scheduled for 16.15 GMT. The launch was postponed from January 30th. SpaceX, via Twitter, confirmed that the weather in California was “looking good” for launch. It will be the seventh launch and landing […]
The long-running Class Action inside trading allegations brought by some investors in Intelsat is coming to a head. The action centres on allegations that Dave McGlade, then chairman of Intelsat, in 2019, together with some major Intelsat stock-holders, sold significant portions of their holdings following a specific meeting between Intelsat and key officials at the […]
Satellite operator SES has borrowed €300 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB). SES is currently in the middle of a considerable capital-intensive satellite building programme. The full terms of the loan are not revealed but are likely to be highly competitive and are reportedly for seven years. The cash will go towards the procurement […]
Formalising its November 2022 announcement, the Federal Communications Commission has released an Order adopting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s plan to modernise the FCC by establishing a Space Bureau and Office of International Affairs. The planned reorganisation is designed better to support the needs of the growing satellite industry, promote long-term technical capacity at the FCC, and […]
In December 2022, the FCC granted a partial approval for a SpaceX application for a massive expansion to its mega-constellation. The FCC said that the Elon Musk Starlink broadband business could go ahead with launching 7,500 ‘Generation 2’ satellites, but has declined to approve an application for a further 30,000 satellites. A report from Quilty […]
Satellite operator SES says its latest craft, SES-20, has arrived on station at 103 degrees West and is providing back-up protections as an in-orbit spare for its US customers and in particular cable operators who use the location for their cable head-ends. SES-20 is part of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) obligation to clear a […]
Having failed to attract sufficient votes to confirm her October 2021 nomination as an FCC Commissioner, US President Biden has renominated Gigi Sohn to fill the vacant fifth commissioner seat. The new appointment will be for a five year term retroactively starting on July 1st, 2021, filling the seat previously held by former FCC Chairman […]
SpaceX successfully launched its latest batch of Starlinks on December 28th, but there’s some confusion as to the precise make-up of the satellites carried into orbit. Officially, SpaceX talks about the mission being Starlink Group 5-1, and there’s plenty of talk about the satellites being the first flight dedicated to Starlink’s ‘second generation’ versions. The […]
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched a proceeding to streamline its review processes for satellite applications. As the space economy booms, the agency will look further to update its rules and processes to ensure that its critical review responsibilities are met as efficiently and effectively as possible. In recent years, the Commission says […]
SpaceX placed 54 of its Starlink broadband satellites into orbit on December 17th, and in the process extended its reliability record. The record-breaking flight used the Falcon 9’s booster for the 15th time, the most-ever. The cost-saving benefits of re-using the Falcon 9’s booster is significant. SpaceX charges around $65 million (€61.2m) for a commercial […]