For the past few years, London-based Inmarsat has planned to build its own low Earth orbiting mega-constellation, called ‘Orchestra’. It has now emerged that the scheme has probably been cancelled. Larry Paul, Inmarsat VP/corporate business development, speaking at the Smallsat Symposium in California, told delegates that Inmarsat had taken a hard look [at the concept] […]
In post-results comments to market analysts, Viasat’s chairman Mark Dankberg said the combination of its expanding ViaSat-3 ‘next generation’ satellites, plus the L-band services from Inmarsat (which it is in the process of acquiring) would equal the sort of rival satellite-based offerings from the likes of SpaceX/T-Mobile, Apple/Globalstar, Iridium/Qualcomm, Lynk Global and AST SpaceMobile. All […]
Viasat says its first ‘next-generation’ ViaSat-3 satellite will launch on around April 8th on a SpaceX rocket. Chairman Mark Dankberg told shareholders: “The ViaSat-3 system is intended to enable a substantial leap in space and ground technology – designed to deliver far more bandwidth per unit of capital, over very large coverage areas, with dynamic […]
Middle East airline Emirates has placed a major contract extension with Inmarsat for the satellite operator’s In-Flight Communications (IFC) broadband service. Emirates already uses Inmarsat but this new contract covers the airline’s 50 new Airbus A350 aircraft. They will enter service from 2024. The A350 aircraft will use Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) satellite network. Inmarsat’s […]
Sichuan Airlines, a Chinese air carrier, Viasat, the communications company, and AeroSat Link Technology, a subsidiary of China Satellite Communications (China Satcom), have announced the airline has selected Viasat’s iIn-Flight Connectivity (IFC) technology and equipment for installation on its Airbus A320 family of aircraft. When in service, the Viasat terminal installed on the aircraft will […]
Microsoft and satellite operator Viasat have agreed a new partnership to help deliver Internet access to 10 million people around the globe, including 5 million across Africa. Viasat is the first satellite partner to work with Microsoft’s Airband Initiative, and together they will deepen Airband’s work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Guatemala, […]
Satellite operator Viasat has suffered Covid-based delays to launches of its trio of ViaSat-3 craft with the first of the three, serving the Americas, suffering a modest slippage and not now launching until “early 2023” instead of a “by December 2022” initially planned date. SpaceX will launch the craft. The late launch will impact Viasat’s […]
California-based satellite operator Viasat, itself in the process of acquiring Inmarsat of London, says that the combined operation plus – Viasat’s existing ground-based teleports – could lead to a ‘direct-to-cellular’ service. However, key to the proposed service is Inmarsat’s L-band frequencies. At the moment the proposed Inmarsat purchase is under investigation by the UK’s Competition […]
ViaSat-3, the first of a trio of massive broadband satellites for the California-based operator, has slipped its expected launch date. SpaceX, which is launching the craft on one of its Falcon Heavy rockets, now says that the launch cannot happen before December 27th. The Kennedy Space Centre has published its anticipated launch schedule for December […]
Although the planned merger between satellite operators Viasat and Inmarsat faces the prospect of a lengthy competition probe in the UK, the pair have announced that the Australian Government’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) has confirmed it has no objections to the planned combination of their businesses. FIRB’s clearance of Viasat’s proposed acquisition of Inmarsat […]