Advanced Television

Inside Satellite

Chris Forrester

Chris Forrester is one of the most experienced and highly regarded journalists in the field. His insight and analysis, particularly in the satellite and pay-TV arena, is highly prized. He has written for all the major business journals in the sector as well as several national newspapers.

Viasat winning Delta, and hurting Gogo

Intelsat has ordered up two new satellites to serve its recently acquired Gogo commercial aviation in-flight service. But Intelsat/Gogo faces continued challenges from Viasat which has announced a major airline contract which damage revenues from the existing Gogo service. Viasat says it has won a contract to equip more than 300 Delta Airlines with its […]

January 6, 2021

Satellite insurance a catastrophe

The specialist insurance companies who provide launch and ‘in use’ cover for satellites have had another disastrous year. One report says that space insurance underwriters have had their third year of reporting losses despite increases since 2019 of premiums to cover key aspects of the launch and periods in orbit of satellites. Space Intel Report […]

January 5, 2021

UK stays involved in European space strategy

While the Christmas Eve signature on the exit agreement between the UK and the European Union grabbed most of the headlines, the fact is that the Christmas to New Year period saw a number of other announcements made concerning future trade deals and agreements. Cynics might argue that the news had been buried by the […]

January 4, 2021

Does anyone want DirecTV?

It seems there are very few bidders for AT&T’s pay-TV assets, which includes DirecTV. Reports suggest that AT&T has allowed its deadline to slip into January to allow other potential bidders to enter the process, but it is also suggested that unless it receives better offers it might cancel the auction altogether. As far back […]

December 22, 2020

SES winning Ethiopian DTH battle?

The rivalry between SES and Eutelsat to win DTH homes in Ethiopia seems to be going firmly in favour of SES. In a statement, SES said that on January 1st “the majority” of satellite TV channels beaming to Ethiopia will be carried from 57 degrees East. “To continue accessing their favourite TV channels on Ethiopia’s […]

December 21, 2020

SpaceX wants extra finance

SpaceX is reportedly planning another cash-raising round for investors. It last raised money ($1.9 billion) in August and was valued at the time as $36 billion. Bloomberg is suggesting that while talks are at an early stage, the end result could be that SpaceX would have a value of some $92 billion. The cash should […]

December 17, 2020

Inmarsat GX5 starts earning its keep

London-based satellite operator Inmarsat has brought its latest satellite, GX5, into service. It is the 14th satellite currently in service with Inmarsat and provides additional capacity to Europe and the Middle East on the Global Xpress (GX) Ka-band high-speed satellite broadband service. GX5 is coming in to service somewhat later than expected having originally been […]

December 15, 2020

“No pot of gold” for LEO constellations

SpaceX is well on track to have 1000 satellites in orbit by the end of January 2021. Rival OneWeb is due to add another 36 craft to its existing fleet of 74 satellites on December 17th.  Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has yet to launch any of his Project Kuiper fleet, but observers are expecting launch action […]

December 14, 2020

Europe could fund global LEO broadband

The European Commission seems enthusiastic about backing its own dedicated Low Earth Orbit system for satellite-based broadband. Speaking during the European Space Week 2020 its Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, spoke in favour of a Quantum Communications Infrastructure satellite scheme. The European Commission has awarded a group of European telcos, satellite manufacturers and […]

December 11, 2020

F1 in pole position with expansion prospects

Formula 1 has managed the pandemic “reasonably well”, says a report from investment bank Berenberg, and is now well-positioned for 2021 growth and an improvement in revenues. “F1 will exit the year in arguably the best operating position it has been in years. This year, management and all F1 teams signed a host of agreements […]

December 10, 2020