SES has announced the completion of its acquisition of Intelsat, creating a strengthened global satellite operator with an expanded fleet of 120 satellites across two orbits. SES says the newly combined company will “leverage its skilled teams with deep vertical expertise to deliver integrated multi-orbit, multi-band satellite and connectivity solutions to businesses and governments around […]
Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat has unveiled its Q3 results, which were much as expected. CFO Christophe Caudrelier – handling the presentation given Eva Berneke’s departure and the new CEO not due to start until June 1st – told analysts that Eutelsat needed a large injection of equity to enable much-needed loans to kick in. The […]
The French state is considering a major strategic investment in Eutelsat. A report from French newspaper Le Monde – wholly unconfirmed – suggests that Eutelsat needs to find around €4 billion of extra funding to maintain its OneWeb fleet of 650 satellite, now seen as the only viable alternate to Elon Musk’s Starlink, as well […]
The post-results analysts call with SES senior management focused on two topics: The possibility of another C-band release of spectrum to the FCC and the state of the Intelsat $3.1 billion (€2.9bn) acquisition by SES and what the consequences would be if one of the parties walked away from the deal. The FCC is holding […]
The SpaceRISE consortium of satellite operators has won a contract to supply a major constellation of highly secure satellites. The SpaceRISE consortium comprises Eutelsat, SES and Hispasat and other smaller members. The contract will run for 12 years, and the consortium will put around €4 billion into the project, but the overall costs are reported […]
Last week Germany expressed in no uncertain terms its unhappiness over the EU-backed IRIS² Low Earth Orbiting system which would give Europe’s governments a secure, encrypted satellite fleet and an alternate to Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband system. (IRIS² Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite). The German government strongly opposes IRIS² due to its […]
The European Commission (EC), in a press briefing, confirmed that its planned IRIS² satellite connectivity project has selected ‘SpaceRise’ which currently comprises operators SES and Eutelsat and is the only bidding consortium. The EC said that the project is on track and a contract can now be signed on or before March 24th. Certain further […]
Integrasys, a specilaist in software satellite communications solutions, has announced the acquisition of Sciurus, a Spanish technology company known for its innovation, and intellectual property with state-of-the-art prototypes. Integrasys says this strategic move marks a significant step in its expansion plan, which has been steadily unfolding since 2017. The integration of Sciurus and its know-how […]
SES CEO Steve Collar, speaking to analysts following on from the satellite operator’s Q1 results on May 4th, said the European Union’s third global satellite constellation, IRIS², was a “strategic project” for SES. Nevertheless, he admitted that while enthusiastic there were still many known unknowns and it was too early to be more specific. “We’re […]
The fact that the IRIS² satellite consortium includes just about every major name in the European space business provides a strong clue as to the project’s overall importance. IRIS², with a nod to the Greek goddess of mythology and messenger of the gods and also in its own EU-speak, Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security […]