Satellite communications specialists Iridium is funding $500 million (€448.7m) to buy back its own shares for cancellation. The move, approved by its directors on September 19th, is the largest-ever for the company which supplies satellite-based connectivity to government agencies, NGOs, the military and emergency ‘first responders’. It is the fourth buyback from Iridium in the […]

The overwhelming message from last week’s Paris World Satellite Business Week was that of uncertainty over future demand. The sentiment was most pronounced in the Direct-2-Consumer (D2C) panel, where the operators talked of their plans and ambitions, but which were also tempered by anxieties of ‘if we build it will they come’. Scott Wisniewski, president […]

The ambitious IRIS2 satellite proposal for a constellation of European low Earth orbiting satellites is facing further challenges, not least from the German government. While not confirming the reported final cost of some €12 billion, a response last week to a question in Germany’s parliament (from the CDU/CSU group) talked about the break down in […]

Novaspace, the space consulting and market intelligence firm, has announced the release of the 27th edition of  Satellites to be Built and Launched, forecasting a record-breaking surge in satellite demand through 2033. This edition forecasts an average of over 3,700 satellites launched annually between 2024 and 2033 – equivalent to 10 satellites per day and […]

Ericsson has joined the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA), an industry initiative aimed at progressing Direct-to-Device (D2D) and IoT services through space-based networks. This effort brings together an ecosystem of Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) providers with the goal of extending mobile coverage globally. The MSSA – launched in February – seeks to develop a global ecosystem […]

ITV has completed its upgrade to all-HD on satellite for ITV1, bringing enhanced picture quality to all satellite viewers. From October 2024, households with an SD-only satellite set-top box will need to upgrade to a HD satellite receiver to continue to watch ITV1. ITV1 and ITV2 nationally will no longer be available in SD on […]

The Canadian government has announced a loan of C$2.14 billion (€1.42bn) to satellite operator Telesat to help the company build its broadband satellite constellation in what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described as Canada’s largest ever space programme. Trudeau said the Telesat Lightspeed constellation will enable people in the most remote parts of the country, including […]

The Federal Communications Commissioners (FCC) are due to meet and vote on September 26th to potentially free up extra bandwidth for satellite communications. FCC chair Jessice Rosenworcel has written saying that freeing up 1,300 MHz in the 17 GHz band (17.3-17.8 GHz) for high-throughput satellite communications would “facilitate the deployment of high-speed broadband and other […]

UK comms regulator Ofcom is proposing to grant an earth station network licence to Amazon Kuiper Services Europe SARL (Kuiper) for its non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite system, which is also known as ‘Kuiper’. This would authorise it to deploy user terminals (the dishes and antennas used by customers to connect to an NGSO satellite system) […]

Deutsche Bank has looked again at how it values AST SpaceMobile, and has trebled its share price target from $22 (€19.82) per share to a spectacular $63. AST says SpaceX will launch five of its BlueBird Block 1 satellites on September 12th subject to the usual weather and technical considerations. The bank forecasts a revenue […]