Advanced Television

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.

China starts second broadband constellation

China successfully launched three test satellites for its expanding broadband Internet technologies on December 30th. The satellite was launched by a Long March-2C carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. These satellites are for the GuoWang national network of 13,000 satellites. However, there is now confirmed news that China […]

January 3, 2024

SpaceX wraps 2023 with 98 launches

SpaceX was just short of its own unofficial 100 rocket launch target in 2023, achieving 98 launches overall. The 2024 target is (again unofficial) of about 130-150 launches, or launch activity about every 2.6 days. SpaceX managed: • 2 Starship launches • 5 Falcon Heavy launches • 91 Falcon 9 launches • 98 launches in […]

January 2, 2024

India Telecommunications Bill under debate

Indian telcos and their satellite partners will have to wait some time to access new satellite spectrum over the nation. A new Telecommunications Bill is now under debate and this is not likely to be finally decided and approved until a planned budget session in February 2024. The various authorities will then need time to […]

December 21, 2023

India backs ‘free’ satellite access

India’s government is proposing that satellite spectrum over the country will be assigned without would-be operators having to bid for the bandwidth. This rule, if enabled, will be a major advantage for the likes of Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Eutelsat/OneWeb and Elon Musk’s SpaceX/Starlink. The proposed Bill was tabled for approval in India’s parliament on December […]

December 20, 2023

UK puts cash into Scottish spaceports

The UK Space Agency has announced funding of more than £6.7 million (€7.7m) to further Scotland’s spaceports ambitions. Scottish-based HyImpulse, a launch company working with SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland, will receive £3.4 million. And Orbex, which is working with Sutherland Spaceport on the A’ Mhòine peninsula, will get more than £3.3 million. Both spaceports plan […]

December 18, 2023

GomSpace gets back its Spanish contract

In a surprise move, Spain’s Startical j-v of Indra and Spanish air-navigation authority Enaire has returned to Sweden’s small-satellite builder GomSpace to build at least the initial satellites of the planned Startical air-traffic-management constellation. Just over a year ago the GomSpace contract was unexpectedly cancelled. The news propelled a significant uplift to GomSpace’s share price […]

December 15, 2023

Terran Orbital: Problems, and a new owner?

Satellite builder Terran Orbital, already under considerable pressure from the NYSE because of its low share price, issued a statement (on a Form 8-K) to the SEC on December 11th which formally notifies shareholders that it is conducting a “formal strategic review” of its business. Reports suggest that Terran is seeking a buyer or partner […]

December 14, 2023

Lebanese channel causes problems for Eutelsat

Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen is being accused of broadcasting without a licence. The channel is alleged to be transmitting “anti-Semitic and Holocaust denial statements” according to French observers. The influential Denis Diderot Committee has published an ‘alert report’ on Al Mayadeen TV. “This channel, broadcast to the Middle East, North Africa and Europe by two Eutelsat […]

December 13, 2023

Space Machines clever in-orbit servicing scheme

Space Machines Company and Orbit Fab are joining forces to advance on-orbit servicing of satellites. The partnership joins together innovative technologies, most notably the installation of Orbit Fab’s space fiducial alignment markers on Space Machines Company’s Orbital Servicing Vehicle, Optimus. These markers will act like QR Codes in space, allowing Space Machines Company to work […]

December 11, 2023

Analyst: Can SpaceX start Starship launches at scale?

Analysts at Quilty Space pose the question of whether Elon Musk’s plans for SpaceX’s all-new Starship giant rocket can achieve scale. For example, after November’s launch of its second-ever Starship vehicle, Musk posted a picture of four more Starships lined up in one stage or another of assembly, and which he described as “the last […]

December 8, 2023