The US Federal Communications Commission has adopted new rules to open 1300 megahertz of contiguous spectrum for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed-satellite service operations in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band. It suggests this action promotes spectrum efficiency, fosters competition, and expands the ability of satellite operators to deploy advanced services, including high-speed Internet access to unserved and […]

The European Space Agency (ESA) has allocated a budget of €233 million to build a satellite with a target millimetre-level accuracy as the initial ‘demonstrator’ move for its Genesis and LEO-PNT scheme. The budget also covers two 5-satellite mini-constellations for a future orbital Positioning, Navigation and Timing system which are key elements for its Sat-Nav […]

Paris-based Euroconsult reports that the price of satellite capacity for video services has fallen by 16 per cent over the past 5 years. But the price for data services has crashed 77 per cent over the same period. Video-based services are traditionally more robust and the contracts longer lasting, hence the slower reduction in value. […]

Since Brexit, the UK has been barred from using the European Union’s sophisticated EGNOS aircraft landing and positioning safety system. The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is Europe’s regional satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) that is used to improve the performance of global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs), such as GPS and Galileo. It has been […]

Geo-satellites will be resilient, but Starlink is winning the broadband connectivity battle and making 100,000 dishes per month, acording to Dr Tim Farrar, president of TMF Associates. Speaking at the 2023 Milsat Symposium (as part of the Silicon Valley Space Week), Farrar compared and contrasted the position of the well-established geostationary satellite operates such as […]

The FCC is updating and modernising its satellite and teleport/Earth station licensing process. It says the move is designed to keep pace with the rapid evolution of the space industry. The FCC has approved a Report and Order to accelerate existing processes for licensing satellite and earth stations. Noting an “increase in complexity and number” […]

Euroconsult used their Paris World Satellite Business Week conference to make a dramatic forecast in suggesting that geostationary satellite capacity would shrink to “meaningless” amounts within the next five years, with non-Geo constellations providing 95 per cent or more of global satcom capacity by 2028. Euroconsult’s data showed that today’s non-geo constellations were almost all […]