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Satellite

Panasonic takes IFC space on SkyPerfect

Panasonic’s Aero division has leased Gb/s Ku-band capacity for its In-Flight Communications (IFC) broadband service on SkyPerfect/Jsat’s SuperBird-9 satellite. The satellite isn’t scheduled to launch before H1 2027. The move is the latest in a fast-expanding series of announcements from Panasonic Avionics. Recent weeks have seen deals and orders negotiated with operators serving North, Central […]

November 6, 2023By Chris Forrester

Viasat axes 800 staff

Satellite operator Viasat, which also now owns London-based Inmarsat, is to let 800 staff go as a result of integrating the two business. The lay-offs represent some 10 per cent of Viasat’s workforce. Viasat said the move would save $100 million (€93.9m) in annual costs by 2025. Costs associated with the decision would be about […]

November 3, 2023By Chris Forrester

Starlink hits “cash-flow breakeven”

Elon Musk’s broadband-by-satellite system, Starlink, has achieved “cash-flow breakeven” according to a company statement. There are more than 5,000 Starlink satellites in orbit. Privately held, it is valued at some $150 billion (€140.9bn). While the claim is useful and anticipates the next ‘reveal’ of Starlinks global subscriber base (likely to be around 2.5 million ‘active […]

November 3, 2023By Chris Forrester

TELUS, TerreStar, Skylo demo smartphone/satellite comms

TELUS and Canadian-based TerreStar Solutions (operating under the Strigo brand) have successfully used satellite connectivity to conduct voice calls, and in partnership with Skylo, send text messages between smartphones, and connect to Internet of Things (IoT) devices. “This groundbreaking trial demonstrates the power of satellite technology and advances TELUS’ mission to bring vital connectivity to […]

November 2, 2023

Iridium celebrates 25 years in orbit

As the song goes, the road may be long and there have certainly been a few twists and turns, but this week global satellite operator Iridium is celebrating 25 years of activity. The first connections to its orbital fleet took place on November 1st 1998 and then further satellite commercial connections took place on November […]

November 2, 2023

SES (and Boeing) in a mess over O3b

The latest batch of O3b satellites, called mPOWER, are all malfunctioning. The problem is in the power supply of the four in orbit and two others due to be launched on November 12th. Manufacturers Boeing is having to supply two additional satellites to compensate SES for the problems. SES temporary CEO, Ruy Pinto, admitted to […]

November 1, 2023

Delta Airlines selects Hughes for IFC

EchoStar-owned Hughes Network Systems has been selected to serve Delta Airlines with its In-Flight broadband and WiFi connectivity in a major contract. Delta is the world’s second largest airline and serves some 171 million passengers annually (American Airlines is larger at 199 million passengers, although Delta has the highest annual revenues at some $51 billion). […]

November 1, 2023By Chris Forrester

Boeing scraps plans for super-constellation

Two years ago Boeing received a licence from the FCC for a satellite broadband mega-constellation of 147 low Earth orbiting satellites. It has now cancelled its scheme. Boeing’s initial scheme – formally proposed in 2017 – was for a V-band constellation of 132 satellites operating ln Low-Earth Orbit and 15 non-Geostationary orbiting craft to supply […]

October 31, 2023

Starlink adds another 45 Starlinks

A successful SpaceX flight on October 29th from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California added 22 Starlink satellites. Another flight was scheduled for October 29th from Florida but that was aborted just seconds ahead of launch and rescheduled for October 30th. That happened on time (7.20pm Florida time) and added 23 additional satellites making […]

October 31, 2023By Chris Forrester

Northrop Grumman wins order from US SDA

The US Space Development Agency (SDA) has awarded Northrop Grumman an agreement with a total potential value of approximately $732 million to design and build 38 data transport satellites for military usage. This announcement for what are described as the “Alpha” batch of satellites, follows an August 2023 award to Northrop Grumman of 36 satellites […]

October 31, 2023By Chris Forrester