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Inside Satellite

Chris Forrester

Chris Forrester is one of the most experienced and highly regarded journalists in the field. His insight and analysis, particularly in the satellite and pay-TV arena, is highly prized. He has written for all the major business journals in the sector as well as several national newspapers.

BBC expert cites 4K as “next big thing”

BBC presenter and economics journalist Andrew Neil told delegates to the SES ‘Satellite Monitor’ event in London that Ultra HD “was the next big thing”. Neil was the founding chairman of Sky TV (in 1988) and was instrumental in the merger between Sky and British Satellite Broadcasting in 1990. An economist by training, he is […]

March 24, 2014

SES a “key pick” by bank

Satellite operator SES has been given a very strong “key pick” endorsement by investment bank Berenberg. Senior analyst Sarah Simon says she is raising the bank’s share price target on SES from today’s €25 to €29.60. SES has recently ordered a new satellite (SES-10) for the LatAm market, and while new data/broadband constellation O3b “might […]

March 21, 2014

Arianespace 6 future clouded

France’s space minister, Genevieve Fioraso, has thrown considerable confusion over French plans for an updated version of the Ariane rocket launcher. The new version, Ariane 6, is going to cost €3 billion ($4bn) to develop, with 50 per cent of the cost funded by France (Germany 25 per cent, Italy 15 per cent, Switzerland & […]

March 20, 2014

Astra 5B readies for launch

Astra 5B has arrived at the Kourou spaceport ready for launch on an Ariane 5 rocket. Together with its fellow passenger (Hispasat’s Amazonas 4A craft) the two satellites are scheduled to be launched on March 21st in a launch window which opens at 7.05pm local time in French Guiana. The Astra 5B launch should have […]

March 17, 2014

Arianespace “ready to compete”

Arianespace is not having the best of times. Despite an unblemished record of more than 50 totally successful satellite launches aboard its massive Ariane 5 rocket, it is under extreme pressure to look extremely hard at its manufacturing processes and reduce launch prices to the commercial sector. Arianespace’s CEO, Stephane Israel, speaking at Satellite 2014 […]

March 14, 2014

Sat 2014: Satellite industry “must change”

The annual ‘Big Four’ gathering at the giant Satellite show in Washington (SES’s Romain Bausch, Intelsat’s Dave McGlade, Eutelsat’s Michel de Rosen and Telesat’s Dan Goldberg), delivered some powerful home truths to the industry, with each of them combining to praise the innovation that’s come from Elon Musk and his SpaceX lower-cost rocket venture, and […]

March 12, 2014

Al Jazeera pulling out of Saudi Arabia?

BBC Monitoring has published a report, sourced from the Saudi Gazette, stating that Al Jazeera’s editorial office and facility in Saudi Arabia is to be closed. The report says: “A local source at the channel said the decision to close down the Qatari satellite channel provider would be implemented within the next few days. The […]

March 11, 2014

James Murdoch: “Happy” with Sky stakes

James Murdoch, 21st Century Fox’s deputy COO, says recent disposals have freed up cash for reinvesting in the company’s core businesses, including sports channels. However, speaking at Morgan Stanley’s TMT conference in New York, he also said that 21st Century Fox would continue to look for potential acquisitions provided the price was right. Questioned as […]

March 7, 2014By Chris Forrester

TataSky predicts 1000 channels

All satellite capacity in India has to be organised via the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which has a monopoly on supplying transponders, and wholesaling the supply of capacity from non-ISRO satellites. Last year TataSky said it would sue ISRO for not making capacity available. There has been a four-year wait for capacity, not all […]

March 6, 2014

Gold-plated FM6 for Sirius-6 deployed

Getting a satellite into space is hard – and worrying – work for any broadcaster or operator. When that satellite also has an essential and massive antenna on board, it takes the headache to a new level. And when there’s past evidence that similar giant antennas can prove to be stubborn and not deploy then […]

March 4, 2014