Advanced Television

Satellite

Terran receives key payment from Rivada Space

Anxieties over Germany-based Rivada Space’s ability to pay certain milestone payments to satellite builder Terran Orbital have created serious headaches for Terran. A statement from Terrain on January 2nd said that “Rivada is up to date on invoices” for its order of 300 satellites. The news went down very well on the New York Stock […]

January 3, 2024By Chris Forrester

Gogo achieves 5G milestones

In-Flight communications company Gogo Business Aviation says that 2023 was a year where it gained momentum and which included obtaining FAA Supplemental Type Certification for its latest AVANCE LX5 equipment. “Receiving formal approval from the FAA to produce and manufacture the AVANCE LX5 Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) reaffirms our commitment to Gogo 5G as we […]

January 3, 2024By Chris Forrester

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

UK government loses £200m on OneWeb stake

The merger between Eutelsat and constellation operator OneWeb has cost the UK taxpayer around £200 million (€230.9m) in losses. The unexpected decision to rescue OneWeb from bankruptcy was driven, at least in part, by anxieties that China could gain control of the struggling business. Dominic Cummings, a key adviser to the now disgraced former Prime […]

January 2, 2024By Chris Forrester

Musk: “No rush for Starlink IPO”

Elon Musk has again stressed that there is absolutely no rush to spin-off his SpaceX Starlink broadband-by-satellite business. He told Fortune magazine that having floated his Tesla car business (in 2010) he preferred Starlink to stay private. Of course, would-be investors have their eyes on a probable significant return on an Starlink investment, so the […]

January 2, 2024By Chris Forrester

SpaceX to recover record-breaking booster’s engines

A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster (#1058) made a record-breaking 19th flight – and landing – but was then partially lost during a December 26th 2023 early morning transfer back to port. Near-three metre waves and 25 knot winds and the subsequent rough seas toppled part of the rocket booster into the ocean. Officials at SpaceX […]

January 2, 2024By Chris Forrester

Lynk Global merger on hold

A proposed merger between Slam Corp, backed by former US professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez, and direct-to-smartphone operator Lynk Global, has hit a potential problem. Slam is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) and which raised $575 million (€522.6m) back in November 2021 and intended to secure an investment opportunity. Slam has now had to […]

January 2, 2024By Chris Forrester

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

Starlink: Over 2.3m active customers

SpaceX’s Starlink broadband by satellite service says it has more than 2.3 million active customers – up 300,000 from three months ago. However, Starlink declines to call these users “subscribers” which would – at least – confirm there was a commercial relationship in place. Starlink says that it is available on all seven continents and […]

December 22, 2023By Chris Forrester

Yahsat and Bayanat to merge

Abu Dhabi’s Yahsat (Al Yah Satellite) is planning to merge with Bayanat, which specialises with geospatial imagery and analytics. The combined company will trade as Space42. The news has more than a few surprises. First is that Yahsat will be the junior partner in the deal. The second is that the combined business has hired […]

December 21, 2023By Chris Forrester