Satellite operator SES and major German-language broadcaster RTL Deutschland have renewed and extended their transmission contracts. Their long-running relationship, serving Germany and Austria, will now run to the end of the decade. RTL Deutschland’s TV broadcasts will also continue to be available on HD+, SES’s high-definition satellite TV platform in Germany. The new agreement, which covers […]

Astra 1P was successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 5.35pm Florida time on June 20th. The SES satellite, and its SpaceX launch partner, broke many records in the process. The Astra 1P satellite will be the most powerful ever placed at the 19.2 degrees orbital slot, and will replace four existing satellites. […]

Satellite operator SES has its latest satellite, Astra 1P (also known as SES-24) on SpaceX’s Florida launch pad. Subject to the usual weather considerations it should launch on June 19th at 5.25pm Eastern time. As this is written, however, there are strong winds at the Cape which might delay the launch which was originally scheduled […]

Spacecraft launch company Astra, which went public in July 2021, is being taken back into private ownership. The company has admitted that the only alternative was to declare bankruptcy. Chris Kemp, CEO, and Adam London, CTO, the joint founders of the business, announced on March 7th that the company would be taken private with existing […]

A VIP group visited Thales Alenia Space’s satellite manufacturing facility near Cannes, in the south of France, to view SES Astra 1P, its latest satellite and which will be placed at the operator’s prime TV neighbourhood at 19.2 degrees East. The satellite will continue existing transmissions over Europe as well as key markets Germany, France […]

A week ago rocket builder Astra Space was fast running out of money. Then a saviour appeared with enough cash to keep the business in compliance with its banking obligations. Now the company has cancelled its Q3 financial report and says it is to be taken private. Various board changes were announced this week including […]

Last week rocket builder Astra Space was under threat of missing its banking obligations. Now it has confirmed that it had secured interim financing (“additional debt financing”) from a pair of investors that gives it breathing space for a few days in which it must find more cash to stay afloat. Astra says that JMCM […]

US spaceflight company Astra Space, which is developing high-powered rockets, has defaulted on its bank obligations. Astra Space disclosed in an SEC securities filing late on November 3rd that it defaulted on a recent debt agreement and may not be able to raise needed cash. It has reportedly barely $10 million in cash in its […]

Spanish telco Telefónica has renewed its contract with satellite company SES Astra until 2030 for €90 million, according to Economia Digital citing comments from Ruy Pinto, the CEO of SES.Initially, the contract was in force until 2027 to give service to around 240,000 Movistar Plus subscribers who get the signal from the satellite (mostly in […]

Struggling rocket developer Astra Space is to conduct a 1-for-15 stock split and in the process raise around $65 million (€58.9m) to continue its work on its Rocket 4 launch vehicle. The 1-for-15 stock split will issue one new share to stockholders in a swap for 15 existing shares. The company’s filing with the SEC […]