Analysts at Quilty Space pose the question of whether Elon Musk’s plans for SpaceX’s all-new Starship giant rocket can achieve scale. For example, after November’s launch of its second-ever Starship vehicle, Musk posted a picture of four more Starships lined up in one stage or another of assembly, and which he described as “the last […]
ViaSat-3 Americas is a potential lost satellite having suffered a malfunction on its giant antenna following its launch. A report from analysts at Quilty Space says: “[The problem with the satellite], after a heartbreaking seven years in the making saw shares of VSAT plummeted 30 per cent in the immediate aftermath despite management’s assurances of […]
Analysts at Quilty Space say that the first half-year of 2023 will achieve six confirmed orders of new geostationary satellites. That would be considered more or less normal except that five of these orders are in the extremely modest sub-1000 kgs class. As at the end of June this translates into just one geostationary craft […]
Analysts at Quilty Space say they estimate the satellite direct-to-device (DTD) market holds the promise of burgeoning into a multibillion-dollar industry. “It comes as no surprise that in the race to equip unmodified smartphones with satellite connectivity, various players are jockeying for position. Who crosses the finish line first, or even who stays in the […]
Analysts at Quilty Space report that OneWeb’s Gen-1 network will be slightly smaller than originally anticipated. A tweet from OneWeb’s CTO confirmed that the company’s last launch, a May/June Falcon 9 mission, will carry only 16 OneWeb satellites. That means the final Gen-1 satellite count will be 634, or 14 less than the original plan […]
A report from analysts at Quilty Space (the former Quilty Analytics) takes a forensic look at the reasons behind the collapse of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit, and reports on what contributed to the project’s failure and entry into Chapter 11 reconstruction. Quilty reminds readers that Virgin Orbit was unveiled back in 2012 and has […]
Munich-based Rivada Space Networks (RSN), which is building a 300-satellite constellation, has ordered 12 rocket launches with SpaceX. The launches are planned to happen between April 2025 and June 2026. Rivada is on a tight timetable to get its initial constellation into space and to meet its obligations with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). RSN […]
California-based satellite operator Viasat has suffered a negative report from Quilty Analytics. The analysts point out to clients that Viasat has “dialled back” guidance for 2023, not helped by delays to the launch of the first of its latest trio of sophisticated satellites. Quilty says: “For the second consecutive quarter, shares of Viasat sold off […]
In December 2022, the FCC granted a partial approval for a SpaceX application for a massive expansion to its mega-constellation. The FCC said that the Elon Musk Starlink broadband business could go ahead with launching 7,500 ‘Generation 2’ satellites, but has declined to approve an application for a further 30,000 satellites. A report from Quilty […]
Satellite operator Viasat has suffered Covid-based delays to launches of its trio of ViaSat-3 craft with the first of the three, serving the Americas, suffering a modest slippage and not now launching until “early 2023” instead of a “by December 2022” initially planned date. SpaceX will launch the craft. The late launch will impact Viasat’s […]