ViaSat-3, the first of a trio of massive broadband satellites for the California-based operator, has slipped its expected launch date. SpaceX, which is launching the craft on one of its Falcon Heavy rockets, now says that the launch cannot happen before December 27th. The Kennedy Space Centre has published its anticipated launch schedule for December […]

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Member States of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have elected Doreen Bogdan-Martin of the United States of America as the organisation’s next Secretary-General. Bogdan-Martin will be the first woman to lead ITU, which was established in 1865 and became a United Nations specialised agency in 1947. The election took place during ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-22) […]

​An estimated 2.7 billion people – or one-third of the world’s population – remain unconnected to the Internet in 2022. Data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialised agency for information and communication technologies, point to slower growth in the number of Internet users than at the height of the pandemic. An […]

Ottawa-based satellite operator Telesat is up against some tough ITU ‘bringing into use’ (BIU) deadlines for its proposed Lightspeed super-constellation of 188 satellites. The ITU is careful with its BIU requirements; its rules are designed to eliminate the filing of so-called ‘paper projects’ where the filer would be granted frequency or orbital permissions for a […]

Liechtenstein was turned down by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) last week in its request to grant its licence-holder Rivada Space a one-year extension to its launch plans for two 300-satellite constellations. But the ITU has granted a French National Frequencies Agency (ANFR) application on behalf of OneWeb and Airbus an eight-month extension to begin […]

Liechtenstein has lost its appeal to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to allow a delay of one year to launch two low Earth orbiting broadband constellations. The ITU’s powerful – and usually strict – Radio Regulations Board has firmly turned down the government of Liechtenstein along with its licensed partner, US-based Rivada Space Networks, which […]

Last year, the tiny African state of Rwanda registered several constellations of small satellites with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), totalling more than 300,000 units. It insists it wants to go ahead with the project but wants to ensure strict safety and debris removal for its satellite users. Anuarite Umwari, Rwanda’s Space Agency legal and […]

Globalstar, which already provides mobile satellite services, has registered its plans with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for a huge constellation of 3080 satellites. The plan is to orbit the planet in 100 orbital planes at heights between 485 kms to 700 kms. Globalstar’s existing fleet comprises 48 satellites at 1400 kms above the Earth […]