India’s Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is to transfer its Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) rocket launcher to the private sector. ISRO already has a commercial arm (NewSpace India) which took over responsibility for selling access to space in March 2019 and selling services to non-India clients. NewSpace India, wholly government owned, took over responsibility from […]

July 7th saw SpaceX launch 48 Starlink broadband satellites into their transfer orbits. The launch was from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. On July 9th at 11.58 pm (Florida time) another batch of 22 satellites was launched from Cape Canaveral. That launch saw the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage booster successfully land onto a […]

French electronics retail chain FNAC is selling SpaceX’s Starlink dish and modem equipment at a 56 per cent discount. The retail offer price is €199.99 and customers can pre-order with delivery from today [July 10th]. The monthly subscriber fee in France is €50. Starlink has more than 1.5 million subscribers around the globe, and the […]

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has approved Iran’s request to place a satellite at 43.5 degrees East. The history behind this Iranian craft goes back to 2016 and deadline after deadline missed. The concept was moving forward in 2017 when Iran signed an agreement with SES and where SES would place a temporary satellite at […]

The growing convergence of satellite technology and cellular smartphones has been made possible by integrating Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) connectivity into the 5G cellular ecosystem, as introduced in 3GPP Release-17. According to technology intelligence firm ABI Research, the NTN-Mobile segment has the potential to reach a market value of at least $18 billion (€16.5bn), with up […]

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company OneWeb and Connecta Satellite Solutions, a distributor of satellite connectivity solutions to large enterprises and governments in North America, have signed a Distribution Partnership Agreement to deliver high-speed, low-latency broadband connectivity across the United States and Caribbean Territories. Connecta will be selling a full suite of OneWeb-powered connectivity […]

Rivada Space Networks has confirmed its plans to launch two satellite mega-constellations. The news emerged after the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) approved a request to permit a delay in the launch obligations for the two low Earth orbiting constellations. The ITU’s Radio Regulations Board has waived the requirement that Rivada put 10 per cent of […]

Australian telco Telstra has signed an agreement to become what it says makes it the first provider in the world to offer voice-only and voice plus broadband powered by Starlink to rural and remote Telstra customers in Australia. Telstra CEO Vicki Brady said the Starlink agreement was part of Telstra’s T25 strategy commitment to launch […]

The Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin rocket business would like additional international business and including launch facilities, additional to its existing sites in Texas, Florida and Alabama. Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith, in an interview with the FT, said they were also looking for non-US acquisitions in manufacturing and software in order to scale up its […]

A Las Vegas real estate developer wants to build a spaceport on 240 acres of near-desert scrub in Clark County. Rob Lauer, the developer, is seeking to raise $310 million (€284.4m) to build a launch pad, a runway for spaceplanes, a control tower and a flight-training school. Also in the plan is a 200-room hotel […]