Government members of the European Space Agency (ESA) have agreed to fund an extra €340 million per year to Arianespace for its planned Ariane 6 rocket currently in development. The cash is needed to pay for the non-activity of Arianespace because its new rocket is extremely late. An inaugural test flight for Ariane 6 is […]
Marlink, the smart network and digital solutions company, has partnered with LEO internet operator, Eutelsat OneWeb, part of Eutelsat Group, to provide digital connectivity solutions to Ponant, a specialist in exploration cruise, within its smart hybrid network. Ponant will deploy the Eutelsat OneWeb service on its polar exploration ship Le Commandant Charcot, the luxury icebreaker, […]
IRIS2 is the proposed European mega-constellation of multi-orbiting satellites. IRIS2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) is planned to be deployed beginning in 2027. It will be a public-private financed scheme. The ‘private’ element comprises a wide-ranging consortium which includes the likes of SES, Airbus Defense & Space, Eutelsat, Hispasat and Thales Alenia […]
Telesat of Canada – six years since the company was granted FCC permission to access the US market on the basis that 50 per cent of its 117-satellite constellation would be in orbit – is asking for a further delay of four and a half years. The FCC issued its initial Order permitting Telesat to […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]