Munich-based Isar Aerospace has agreed with US-based Spaceflight Industries for a series of satellite launches. Under the agreement, Spaceflight secured one dedicated launch in 2026 to a sun-synchronous orbit taking off from Andøya, Norway and an option to add an additional dedicated launch to occur in 2025. A statement from both companies read: “This agreement […]
Yury Borisov, Director General of Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos, has said the company wants to deploy more than 1,000 satellites by 2030. This is a rate 5-times higher than currently being launched. Borisov, speaking at the Korolev Academic Space Conference in Moscow, said that in order to achieve such growth, it is necessary to […]
Thales Alenia Space has been awarded the lead contract to develop quantum technology-based satellites and their ground links. The development will mean much-improved cybersecurity benefits. Thales and its consortium members are looking to build satellites and matching optical ground stations by the end of 2026 to demonstrate the planned long-distance quantum satellite connectivity. The project […]
Aerospace giant Airbus has relaunched its high-altitude Platform Station business (HAPS) with a new name, Aalto, and is targeting high-altitude surveillance, 5G and direct-to-device connectivity. The company is expected to seek outside investment for the programme which will then be spun-off as a separate business. Zephyr/Aalto, using very high-flying solar-electric drones, will initially be 100 […]
India’s Space Research Organisation (ISRO) wants to build a rocket and satellite tracking station on one of the islands of Fiji. In particular, and in reports timed to coincide with ISRO’s International Science Festival in Bhopal, India has completed a technical survey in readiness for an upcoming scientific satellite launch (Adita-L11, which is a solar […]
In an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper, Rajeev Suri, Inmarsat CEO, predicted that only a handful of satellite operators will succeed and survive over the next 7 to 10 years. He said that it takes billions to get satellites into space and the industry has already seen plenty of bankruptcies, noting: “The industry structure […]
OneWeb signed an agreement in September 2021 for an aggregate insured value for its satellites and launch activity of more than $1 billion and has extended its relationship with insurance giant Marsh for its remaining 2023 launches. The upcoming launches are being handled by SpaceX and India’s NewSpace, part of ISRO. In December 2022 OneWeb […]
Built by Thales-Alenia Space, Hispasat’s Amazonas Nexus satellite is ready at Cape Canaveral for launch. The satellite left Nice Airport on the Cote d’Azur having been delivered from Thales’ facility at Cannes. SpaceX will be handling the launch currently scheduled for February 1st. Amazonas Nexus is a 4500 kgs satellite and the launch will place […]
Intelsat is making a concerted commitment to enhancing day-to-day network quality and helping African communications service providers (CSPs) deliver secure and affordable connectivity across the continent. “Satellite communications providers (CSPs) have historically rushed to the rescue in the aftermath of a natural or manmade calamity that rendered a local terrestrial network unavailable. Today, Intelsat is […]
Paris-based Euroconsult says that the satellite industry is rapidly changing and adopting laser links for communications both to-and-from Earth, but very much from satellite to satellite. The links are more efficient and harder to intercept. Euroconsult’s report looks at the prospects for further growth and says that inter-satellite communications via optical links are rapidly becoming […]