SES says there is “unprecedented demand” for high-powered mobile connectivity in isolated communities in the Amazon. It is helping bridge the problem by signing a multi-year capacity renewal agreement with Brazilian telco Claro and its Embratel division. The extension of its existing relationship with Claro Brazil/Embratel will include coverage of the region by the new […]
Broadband constellation OneWeb has appointed Pivotel as its distribution partner for its Australia and New Zealand roll-out. Pivotel CEO, Peter Bolger said: “The agreement between OneWeb and Pivotel will bring fast, reliable, low latency connectivity with lower contention rates to areas where it’s needed most. Australia’s rural and remote communities and organisations haven’t had access […]
Airbus and Salam, a Saudi Arabian telecoms company which is part of Abu Dhabi’s Mawarid Media & Communications, have signed a strategic partnership to provide the Airbus ‘Zephyr’ High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) to Saudi Arabia. The Airbus Zephyr comprises an unmanned drone or aerial vehicle,which flies at 21,000m (70,000ft) and can stay aloft for […]
Azercosmos, Space Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (SUPARCO), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for collaboration on Peaceful Uses of Space Sciences, Technology and Applications. The MoU envisages Pakistan-Azerbaijan collaboration in space science, technology and applications and will serve as […]
Sweden-based Ovzon, whose mission statement is to “revolutionise mobile broadband via satellite providing global coverage with the highest bandwidth through the smallest terminals” has just declared its latest numbers, with revenues up 63 per cent. The company has also revealed that its next satellite, Ovzon 3, will launch by February 2023. Ovzon’s Q3 numbers (to […]
A giant Indian rocket successfully placed 36 much-needed OneWeb broadband communication satellites into orbit in the early hours (00.07 India time) of October 23rd. The rocket, India’s Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) heaviest, marked a significant milestone for the India space agency as the vehicle carried the heaviest payload of 5,796 kgs. This was the maiden […]
A report from Northern Sky Research (NSR) suggests that satellite-based phone connectivity is “on the brink of mainstream adoption”. NSR says that the latest collaboration agreements between likes of SpaceX, T-Mobile, Apple and Globalstar have reinforced the notion of early deployments. “Satellite operators AST SpaceMobile, Lynk and Omnispace are also advancing in partnership with mobile […]
Apple’s iPhone 14 has already promised ‘emergency’ S.O.S. connectivity in remote areas in the US or Canada by using Globalstar direct-to-smartphone satellites. Now Iridium, already extremely active in supplying satellite-phone connections, says it will bring in “basic” S.O.S. for emergencies and casual use. Apple’s service will provide iPhone 14 users outside of a normal cellular […]
The October 20th launch of 54 Starlink broadband satellites takes the total number in orbit to more than 3,500 craft. It was mission 4-36 for SpaceX’s Starlink deployments. SpaceX successfully landed the Falcon 9 booster rocket on the waiting floating barge, A Shortfall of Gravitas, some 650 km downrange for reuse in the future. The […]
Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband by satellite system is aggressively pursuing airline ‘direct-to-seat’ in-flight services. Starlink Aviation is promising connection speeds of up to 350 Mb/s (per aircraft) which it says is fast enough for video calls, online gaming and other high data rate activity. Starlink says it is offering connectivity to the world’s private jet […]