On October 2nd, Virgin Orbit carried out a full ‘wet’ dress rehearsal at its HQ for its upcoming launch of satellites from Spaceport Cornwall. Virgin Orbit says it is ready and standing by for a launch but first needs a formal licence from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The ‘Straight Up’ test involved Virgin’s ‘Cosmic […]
The World Teleport Association (WTA) has released a research report that details major shifts in the broadcast distribution market and how intelligent teleport operators have adapted to radical change to sustain and grow their businesses. The problem for most WTA members is the decline – or at best ‘plateauing’ – of their lucrative DTH businesses. […]
The satellite dish is symbolic of the television revolution that took place in un-cabled countries in the 1980s. This is particularly true here in the UK where the ‘Dish war’ between Sky’s cheap bird baths and BSB’s new-age squarials was fought out. Rupert Murdoch’s Sky was victorious but had to merge with the ‘enemy’ rather […]
In October 2021, the UK Space Agency (UKSA) commissioned the ClearSpace UK-based subsidiary to perform a feasibility study for a mission to remove at least two UK-registered derelict objects from low Earth orbit (LEO). In this study, the team explored different mission scenarios, defined the mission and system requirements and selected the technologies necessary for the […]
The United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) giant Atlas V531 rocket is making its final preparations to send two SES satellites into orbit. The two craft, SES-20 and SES-21 are both part of the SES obligation to provide TV broadcasting over the US for many US cable and head-end retransmission operators. The satellites are part of the […]
SpinLaunch, a company that wants to launch satellites using a giant centrifuge (an ‘orbital accelerator’), has announced that it has raised some $71 million in Series B funding. SpinLaunch’s new cash comes in a funding round led by ATW Partners. SpinLaunch is currently based at Long Beach, California. The new cash means that the company […]
Satellite constellation operator OneWeb is reportedly seeking to raise “billion of pounds” in fresh funding. This cash-raising exercise is additional to the recently announced merger between OneWeb and Paris-based Eutelsat. The fresh cash is needed to fund the cost for building and launching OneWeb’s second-generation satellites, which will be more powerful. Reports suggest that OneWeb […]
Arabsat has selected SpaceX’s Falcon 9 to launch its new satellite, Arabsat 7A – the first Arabsat 7th generation satellite harbouring the latest satellite technologies in terms of manufacturing, payload, efficiency of performance, and coverage flexibility. This announcement marks the third time that Arabsat has selected SpaceX for launch: first in 2019 with Falcon Heavy’s […]
More and more satellite operators are using electric propulsion for their orbit raising and keeping the craft on station. The market, according to a study from Reportlinker, is set to be worth more than $1 billion by 2032. The report, titled Satellite Electric Propulsion Market – A Global and Regional Analysis, says today’s value of […]
Rivada Space Networks, with offices in the US, Germany and Ireland and licensed by Lichtenstein, is asking the ITU regulator to give it more time to launch its laser-linked satellites into orbit. Currently, Rivada is obliged to launch 10 per cent of its planned 600 low Earth orbiting satellites by September 2023. Shareholder disputes at […]