Advanced Television

LEO

Report: ‘2020s decade of smallsats’

Specialist satellite consulting and research firm Euroconsult forecasts further growth in the global supply and demand of government, commercial and academic satellites weighing up to 500 kg. The latest update of the  Prospects for the Small Satellite Market report, now in its seventh  edition, builds upon Euroconsult’s previous iteration that accurately predicted more than 1,000 […]

April 9, 2021

Saudi regulator looks to better satellite connectivity

Saudi Arabia’s telecom regular, the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), says satellite technology is now emerging alongside fibre, microwave, WiFi and cellular as an exciting innovation and growing in mainstream availability. CITC has just held a webinar following on from its recent White Paper (Spectrum outlook for commercial and innovative use) which seeks to […]

April 9, 2021By Chris Forrester

South Korea wants 2000 LEO satellites

South Korea, home of electronics giants Samsung and LG, also wants to join the low Earth orbiting satellite club. Hanwha Systems, part of the Hanwha conglomerate (and originally founded as Korea Explosives Co) but now better known as a financial services-to-retail business and very much with Aerospace in its sights, says it wants to develop […]

April 1, 2021By Chris Forrester

US Space Force seeks LEO broadband guidance

The US Space Force has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to the world’s emerging Low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellite operators (and would-be operators) for guidance on how the Space Force might buy broadband LEO services in the future. The Space Force’s Commercial Satellite Communications Office, acts as a centralised operation which acquires satellite-based communications […]

March 31, 2021

Bank: LEO connectivity “moving even faster”

Investment bank analysts at Morgan Stanley believe that the news that Elon Musk has asked the FCC for permission to expand its Starlink broadband-by-satellite system to moving vehicles (trucks/RVs, aircraft and ships) has not only major implications for the auto industry, but the “topic appears to be moving even faster than we had anticipated”. Last […]

March 23, 2021

China to build 500 satellites per year

Chinese vehicle manufacturing giant Geely Technology Group (and its satellite production division Taizhou Xingkong Zhilian) have been given formal approval to build more than 500 satellites annually. The new enterprise, located in coastal Taizhou, eastern Zhejiang province, will carry out research and development, manufacture core components, test, operate and control satellites, said the company. Equipment […]

February 22, 2021By Chris Forrester

Gilat offers next-gen Aquarius 5G LEO/GEO solutions

Israel-based Gilat Satellite Networks has already delivered successful in-orbit testing of its 5G/Low Earth Orbiting VSAT technology. Now marketed as ‘Aquarius’, the system was on board Telesat’s first pair of test satellites and delivered connectivity as the first ever demo of 5G over a LEO satellite, and then the fastest-ever modem speeds of 1.2 Gb/s […]

February 22, 2021

Omnispace wants LEO/MEO system for 5G

Washington DC-based Omnispace is a relatively new name in the satellite industry. It says in its mission statement that it wants to “redefine mobile connectivity for the 21st century”. It has recently raised $60 million (€49.3m) in equity financing. Omnispace says it wants to build a global 5G hybrid mobile network. It has already booked […]

February 16, 2021

Report: Satellite broadband capacity to grow 10x by year-end

A report from investment bank Exane/BNPP says that today’s various satellite operators are supplying some 2,000 Gb/s of capacity (as at December 31st 2020 and using Northern Sky Research data). The bank suggests that this will grow ten-fold by the end of this year, and 30-fold before the end of this decade. This growth includes

February 12, 2021By Chris Forrester

Gilat wins potential $50m LEO connectivity contract

Israel-based satellite technology company Gilat Satellite Networks says it has been awarded a significant contract to supply Solid State power amplifiers for a Low Earth orbit broadband satellite constellation. Gilat says the contract is estimated to be worth more than $50 million and has been awarded to its subsidiary company Wavestream. The announcement does not […]

February 2, 2021By Chris Forrester