Satellite builder Lockheed-Martin (L-M) says it has received “considerable interest” in the part-completed Ka-band satellite (Jabiru-1) originally ordered and being built for Australia’s NewSat. NewSat, and its various subsidiaries, which are now in bankruptcy. L-M says the satellite is about 70 per cent complete, and they have had 13 expressions of interest in the satellite, […]
UK subscription-free satellite TV service Freesat, and global consumer electronics manufacturer LG Electronics (LG) have struck a strategic partnership to provide the Freesat service on LG’s new and existing satellite enabled Smart TVs. LG will launch Freesat channels on the new LF650 and LF630 TVs, in screen sizes ranging from 32” to 55” and fully […]
Malaysia pay-TV operator Astro reported consolidated revenues of MYR2.7 billion ($64m) for the first six months of the financial year ending January 31st 2016, with a growth rate of 4 per cent year-on-year. The firm’s advertising income grew by 5 per cent to MYR305 million (€56.5m). As to subscription gains, Astro added over 426,000 net […]
London-based satellite data operator Avanti reported improved revenues for its 2015 financial year. Revenues grew almost 30 per cent to $85.2 million (€75.9m). EBITDA also grew to $16 million (from $1.7m). The operator’s losses were reduced to $73.1 million from $87.2 million. But its contract backlog fell back, suggesting that customers are reducing the average […]
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic proposed scheme to launch space satellites has had a boost. Virgin Galactic’s CEO George Whitesides said the aim is now to use the ‘space plane’ Launcher One craft to place smallish satellites of up to 200 kgs into Low Earth Orbit. The new design sees an extended propellant tank (from 15m […]
Price rises for some StarTimes viewers in Africa have been rumoured to be about to rise. September 15th saw the reports confirmed. New rates for viewers will kick in on October 1st. The problems for StarTimes, which last increased prices in April this year, is that the value of the US dollar when compared to […]
Hispasat has confirmed agreements with launch service providers ILS and SpaceX to put the satellites Amazonas 5 and Hispasat 1F into orbit. Both satellites will be launched in 2017 and will be an important step for Hispasat Group in their strategy for growth and expansion, which was initiated with the launch of Amazonas 3 in […]
Canada’s Telesat and Arabsat are to enter a joint-venture to own a new satellite, HellasSat-4. A Request for Proposals will be issued in the next few weeks and the plan is understood to see Telesat take a large suite of Ku-band transponders on HellasSat-4. In separate news Arabsat has also taken a batch of transponders […]
SES’s CTO Martin Halliwell says that the operator’s upcoming – and long-delayed – launch SES-9 is not now likely to take place before mid-November, and it could even be later although he said he fully expected the launch to happen this year. Halliwell was speaking at the Euroconsult satellite conference in Paris. SES-9 is an […]
South Africa’s ICASA regulator is expected to make a decision before the end of this month on whether struggling On Digital Media (which operated as TopTV) can transfer its broadcasting licences to a new DTH operator. Chinese-controlled StarTimes Group is already – in effect – transmitting the channels for ODM/TopTV which entered bankruptcy protection in […]