Investment business Seraphim Space says that AST SpaceMobile has surged to a $10 billion (€9.05bn) market cap, making it the second highest–valued space company in the world, trailing only SpaceX. AST, a direct competitor to Starlink, launched its prototype BlueWalker 3 ‘cell tower’ satellite in 2022 and successfully tested its 5G direct–to–cell capability in 2023. […]
Between 1999 and 2014 satellites were regularly launched from by Sea Launch, initially a joint–venture between the US, Norway, Russia and Ukraine. Sea Launch placed satellites into orbit for EchoStar, DirecTV, XM Radio and PanAmSat amongst others. The company, however, went bankrupt in 2009. There is now a new contender supplying ocean–based launch activity. China’s […]
Kenya’s largest telco Safaricom is urging the government to bar SpaceX’s Starlink from operating over the country, or at least to require the Elon Musk–owned business to take on a local partner. Safaricom’s letter to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) said: “Satellite coverage inherently spans multiple territorial borders and in doing so has the […]
India’s giant telcos, each of which has invested in broadband–by–satellite operations, are increasingly frustrated with the bureaucratic delays which are holding back them launching services. According to Deloitte, India’s satellite broadband service market is expected to reach $1.9 billion (€1.7bn) by 2030, growing 36 per cent per year over the next five years. India’s telcos […]
As part of a wider range of upgrade modules being made for their existing VB120 and VB220 monitoring probe lines, Bridge Technologies has announced the launch of the VB278 module, which will expand the extensive capabilities of both base probes to incorporate satellite contribution and direct-to-home distribution monitoring, supporting the DVB-S, DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X modulation […]
NSLComm, an Israel-based company, has asked the FCC for permission to launch its BeetleSat system and to access the US. The scheme calls for 344 small Ka-band satellites in total. The 344 will comprise 264 orbiting at 720 kms and 80 at 810 kms. The satellites are small, weighing just 9 kgs and each capable […]
Eutelsat’s OneWeb division is to lose another CEO. The first departure was Neil Masterson, who departed on good terms at the end of 2023 as OneWeb was integrated into Eutelsat. However, his replacement Stephen Beynon is set to go less than a year after OneWeb’s absorption with Eutelsat. Beynon was appointed CEO of OneWeb (and […]
AST SpaceMobile already has five of its BlueBird satellites at Cape Canaveral waiting for launch by SpaceX. They are expected to be launched during the first half of September. It also has 17 of its advanced ‘Block 2’ satellites under construction at its Midland, Texas facility. CEO Abel Avellan told analysts during AST’s Q2 results […]
Europe’s plan for a highly-secure orbital constellation, called IRIS2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) is widely accepted to be in trouble. Two key members of the winning consortium (Airbus Space & Defence and Thales Alenia Space) have already stepped down. The remaining members of the SpaceRISE consortium, formed specifically to bid for […]
A Chinese state-owned enterprise has launched the first batch of satellites for a mega-constellation designed to rival US company Space X’s Starlink’s near-global internet network. The launch, led by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), took place at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, one of China’s main satellite and missile launch centres, located in the northern province […]