Advanced Television

Blogs

Rivada’s latest problems could be fatal

Rivada Space Networks, the would-be constellation operator of 288 yet-to-be-built satellites, is in deep trouble. Rivada’s litany of problems continues to mount. Not only is it late in stumping up the small matter of $2.4 billion (€2.1bn) needed to build its ‘OuterNet’ constellation, Rivada now faces another major hurdle from its licensing authority, the tiny […]

September 30, 2024By Chris Forrester

SES confirms 25c dividend

SES says it will pay shareholders its 25c dividend later in October. The news coincided with a report from investment bank BNP/Paribas and while it does not reveal a great deal of ‘new’ news, it has some very interesting extra elements. The report, from the bank’s Sami Kassab, notes that SES recently won a large […]

September 29, 2024

Intelsat gets licence to rescue Galaxy 25

The FCC, on September 25th, issued permission for a rescue attempt on Intelsat’s ‘drifting’ Galaxy 25 satellites with a Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV/Space Tug) over the next few days. The FCC is keen on the whole exercise being seen as an experimental mission. In its permission, the FCC stated: “After an extended period of drifting, […]

September 27, 2024

Bank downgrades Virgin Galactic

Sir Richard Branson’s space tourism business, Virgin Galactic, suffered a bank’s serious downgrade to its share price. Morgan Stanley had given Virgin Galactic a share price target of $35. That price has been slashed to just $5 in the bank’s latest report issued on September 24th. The bank was blunt and cited ongoing challenges for […]

September 26, 2024

AI, AI, AI what’s all this then?

AI: Artificial Intelligence, it may as well have been the sub head of the recent IBC. Was there an exhibitor or a product that didn’t have an AI tale to spin? We have been here before, the years when AR, VR or 3D were the letter pairs de jour. But AI is different, it isn’t […]

September 25, 2024

EchoStar fails to find extra cash

EchoStar, the Charlie Ergen-backed business that owns the Dish US pay-TV operator, says that negotiations which have taken place over the past weeks with certain debt-holders and which would have led to a financial reconstruction have failed to reach agreement. The negotiations were primarily with members of a group represented by Milbank. Despite this setback, […]

September 25, 2024

Rivada: More trouble to come?

Rivada Space Networks has had an eventful couple of years, filled with litigation between various parties over ownership, frequency rights and disputes between CEO Declan Ganley and former business partners. To its credit it has managed to sail through these challenges, but one has to read between the lines to ascertain whether it can proceed […]

September 24, 2024

IRIS2 facing more challenges

The ambitious IRIS2 satellite proposal for a constellation of European low Earth orbiting satellites is facing further challenges, not least from the German government. While not confirming the reported final cost of some €12 billion, a response last week to a question in Germany’s parliament (from the CDU/CSU group) talked about the break down in […]

September 23, 2024

Rivada: No hard news on funding

Rivada Space Networks issued a press release to coincide with Euroconsult’s Paris Space Business Week which said that it is “partnering” with Peraton, “a next-generation national security company and transformative enterprise IT provider” who will now work with Rivada once its planned 300 satellite constellation is in place. However, there was no news on whether […]

September 17, 2024

United Airlines will dump geo-satellites

Starlink announced last week that it had won a contract from United Airlines to equip around 1,000 of their aircraft with Starlink broadband equipment. Availability will not be overnight as fitting of the Starlink antennas will not start until 2025. United says that access to WiFi and broadband will then be free for all passengers. […]

September 16, 2024