Advanced Television

starlink

Bezos and Musk rockets delay launches

The expected double launch of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket as well as Elon Musk’s giant Starship, both initially expected to launch on January 10th, have been delayed. The problem is the weather which for the Jeff Bezos-backed New Glenn rocket is at least one of the problems. One report says that the Florida […]

January 10, 2025

Italy: Confusion over Starlink contract

This past weekend it was widely reported that the Italian government had chosen Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband service in a massive $1.6 billion (€1.4bn) 5-year deal to equip its military with secure connectivity. The news emerged as Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni visited President-elect Donald Trump at his Florida home on January 4th. The […]

January 8, 2025

British Airways discussing IFC switch

British Airways (BA) is in discussions with SpaceX and Amazon’s Project Kuiper with the prize being the outfitting of its entire jet fleet with either Starlink Wi-Fi or Kuiper’s service. BA’s long haul fleet currently uses Intelsat’s 2Ku system, while its short haul fleet uses Viasat‘s EAN (European Aviation System). The question now is whether […]

January 6, 2025By Chris Forrester

United Airlines accelerates Starlink timeline

United Airlines has announced an accelerated timeline to bring Starlink connectivity to United travellers around the world. The airline now expects to begin testing Starlink this February with the first commercial flight anticipated to take off this spring on a United Embraer E-175 aircraft. United now plans to outfit its entire two-cabin regional fleet by the end […]

January 6, 2025

India close to spectrum decision on D2C

Imagine the challenges – and pressure – on India’s assorted regulators when you have the likes of local billionaires Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Reliance, Sunil Mittel’s Airtel as well as two outsiders in Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Each and everyone of them are pushing regulators to open up spectrum for their satellite services: Jio is […]

January 3, 2025By Chris Forrester

SES seeks early wrap on Intelsat purchase

SES is buying rival Intelsat for $3.1 billion (€2.99bn) in a deal announced last April. The purchase had been expected to be completed in the second-half of 2025 once all regulatory hurdles had been overcome. Now, however, SES wants to wrap the agreement by June as it cites “fast-moving industry developments” and competitive threats from […]

January 2, 2025By Chris Forrester

Analyst: Starlink at 5m users

According to analysts at Quilty Space the SpaceX/Starlink ‘broadband-by-satellite’ system has now hit 5 million subscribers/users. “From its debut announcement of 60,000 subscribers in 2021 to hitting 5 million this month, Starlink’s growth trajectory is not only accelerating at a rapid clip — but the timeline of milestones continues to narrow. After reaching its first […]

December 19, 2024

One NZ Satellite TXT begins rolling out to customers

The One NZ Satellite TXT initial service has commened rolling out to customers on eligible phones and plans at no extra cost, helping One NZ to deliver mobile coverage like never before where you have clear line of sight to the sky. Joe Goddard, Experience & Commercial Director at One NZ, says: “We have lift-off! […]

December 19, 2024

Starlink vs AST SpaceMobile: Tortoise or Hare?

SpaceX’s Starlink has managed to launch 349 of its Direct-To-Cellular (D2C) satellites in less than a year. While this is an admirable achievement the fleet is currently only able to manage simple Text/SMS messages to users in remote areas. The 349 launched craft represent some 90 per cent of the target constellation. The first Starlink […]

December 12, 2024

SpaceX raising $1.25bn in new shares

SpaceX’s Tender Offer is for $1.25 billion (€1.19bn) of new shares and is priced at $185 per share. It values the rocket-to-broadband company at about $350 billion, according to Bloomberg Business. The Tender Offer is open to ‘Accredited Investors; or to existing employees. The share price of $185 is well ahead from the $112 set […]

December 11, 2024By Chris Forrester