Russia’s Gazprom Space Systems is having problems with its Yamal-601 satellite because of US sanctions. Yamal-601 is being built by Thales Alenia Space, and is based on their Spacecom 4000-C4 platform. The satellite was planned to be launched early in 2016. That date will slip because of the US sanctions on certain key components being […]
German pay-TV operator Sky Deutschland has secured the exclusive live broadcasting rights for the FIA Formula E Championship, the electric single-seater car race series inaugurated by motorsport’s governing body . Sky will broadcast live all races of the series, which begins in Beijing on 13 September. Apart from the exclusive TV broadcasting rights, the agreement […]
O3b is a satellite constellation, backed by operator SES, and designed to bring broadband services to the ‘other 3 billion’ underserved people living in the tropics. The St Helier, Jersey-based company says it has signed up 10 wholesale customers in 11 Pacific islands, and contracted for a total 4.3 Gb/s of capacity. The news emerged […]
Madrid-based Hispasat has scrubbed its bid for Israel’s SpaceCom which operates the Amos fleet of satellites. Spanish newsletter ‘El Confidencial’ says that the bid, worth some €390 million, had failed because of the differences between the bid and SpaceCom’s asking price. Also cited in the report were anxieties over the Gaza and Israel conflict. Other […]
The launch of AsiaSat 6 has been postponed until further notice to allow more time for launch service provider SpaceX to examine and verify data. The satellite and launch vehicle remain in a safe configuration. The launch had already been delayed by one day until August 27th because of an explosion of a test flight […]
Thailand’s military government has lifted the ban of the remaining 12 satellite TV channels that were forced off air during the period of unrest. Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said on Sunday. The broadcasters have been off air since the coup on May 22nd. They will be allowed to resume […]
European space activity suffered another catastrophic failure on August 22nd when an Arianespace Soyuz rocket failed to correctly launch a pair of Galileo global positioning satellites. While not affecting the TV industry itself, the failure will place further delays on future launches with Soyuz rockets pending an official Board of Inquiry into the loss. The […]
Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards are happy to pay cash to citizens who give up their satellite dishes and receivers in the latest attempt to curb viewing of ‘foreign’ TV channels. Colonel Abedin Abbasi said last week: “Given that the enemy uses the tools of soft war, including satellite, to weaken our regime, all regime authorities […]
August 27th should see the launch of Hong Kong-based AsiaSat’s latest satellite. AsiaSat-6 is scheduled for launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The launch was delayed by one day because of an explosion of a test flight of a prototype Space-X rocket on August 22nd. This is the second launch […]
AsiaSat announced a set of sharply reduced revenues and operating profits for the 6 months to June 30th, and warned the market that its full-year results will not be much of an improvement over the first half-year. AsiaSat had issued a profits warning back in July when it explained that lower prices achieved on renewed […]