Inmarsat has warned that space is getting increasingly crowded with “dangerous levels of space debris from satellite constellations planned by Elon Musk’s Starlink, Amazon, Chinese operators and others”. Inmarsat CEO Rajeev Suri welcomed innovation in satellite constellations in low Earth orbit but added that there should be better industry and regulatory co-ordination as they are […]
Back at the Satellite 2017 show, in front of thousands of delegates, Eutelsat’s then CEO Rodolphe Belmer signed a contract with Jeff Bezos for the very first order for Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Eutelsat and Blue Origin, in a statement at the time, said the rocket would be ready “by the end of the […]
One of the mostly ignored elements of the Amazon Project Kuiper multi-rocket news – which in the words of Quilty Analytics “rightfully grabbed all the headlines” – might not be the most important story. Quilty says that Amazon’s announcement that it can build an all-electronically-steered flat panel antenna (FPA) for about $500 represents an earth-shattering […]
Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos has contracted with three rocket launch companies to a 5- year launch timetable to place his 3236 ‘Project Kuiper’ satellites into orbit. Kuiper has until July 30th 2026 to launch at least half of its constellation (1618 satellites) to retain its FCC orbital and frequency permissions. The cargo being carried works […]
The news on April 5th that Jeff Bezos had signed unprecedented orders for rocket capacity to get Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband system operational did not go far enough. The announcement also kick-starts a five-year timetable and designed to compete head-to-head with Elon Musk’s Starlink operation which is already in business. Amazon had ordered up a […]
Jeff Bezos has ordered a massive series of rocket launches to get Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband system into space. Amazon has selected Arianespace, its own Blue Origin, as well as the United Launch Alliance for an overall 68 launches, split between the three giant launch providers. The three sets of contracts are by far the […]
The growing number of either existing or future projects in the satellite communications (and Earth observation) segments are projected to have an overall value of $235.2 billion (€212.7bn) according to a study from Northern Sky Research (NSR). The likes of Elon Musk’s Starlink, the UK/India-backed OneWeb plus other major projects from the likes of Telesat […]
Europe’s Arianespace has reported a 30 per cent increase in revenues for 2021 having complete 15 successful launches during the year. Arianespace says it saw revenues of €1.25 billion last year and says it will likely break-even in trading terms once the year’s accounts are complete. The launch company now operates from three spaceports: its […]
India’s telecoms regulator TRAI has extended its timetable deadlines for would-be satellite operators to establish – and license – their Earth station gateways. December 13th was the original closing date for submissions but this has been extended to December 20th. Counter-comments can now be submitted with a January 3rd closing date. TRAI, as part of […]
The planned $7.3 billion (€6.3bn) acquisition by Viasat of Inmarsat confirms Viasat’s position as the satellite industry’s largest player in terms of revenues. But the deal could also herald a further suite of consolidations. In the words of analyst Sami Kassab, from investment bank Exane/BNPP, this transaction will help diversify Viasat’s geographic and vertical exposure, […]