Sir Richard Branson says he is not putting any more cash into the Virgin Galactic rocket space tourism venture. He told the FT that his business empire “does not have the deepest pockets” any more and that he had learned an expensive lesson with its Virgin Orbit business which went bust earlier in 2023. Virgin […]
Munich-based Isar Aerospace, which specialises in small satellite launches, has modified its formal registration from a GmbH (‘Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung’, meaning ‘company with limited liability’) to an ‘SE’ (Societas Europaea) registered business. Rumours suggest the move could be a precursor to a move to an IPO. Isar Aerospace has raised significant funds over the […]
A media delegation from South Korea visited the Thales Alenia Space satellite production facility in Toulouse, France, to examine Koreasat 6A and its payload. The visitors heard that the launch is on schedule for the winter of 2024-2025. The satellite uses Thales Alenia’s flight-proven Spacebus 4000 system, and will replace Koreasat 6 currently in orbit. […]
A report on satellite operator SES from investment bank Berenberg maintains its ‘BUY’ recommendation, but the report has cut the bank’s share price target from €9.20 to a much more modest €7.20. The SES share price on November 28th was €5.40. The Berenberg report, Rebase done; Now on to returns, says it expects SES too […]
A few weeks ago Terran Orbital was facing calls to fire the CEO and replace members of its Board of Directors. Terran is now suing former CTO Austin Williams and alleging his involvement in the attempted coup. Terran’s lawsuit, made on November 13th and a year after Williams left the company, alleges that Williams failed […]
The European Space Agency (ESA) successfully ‘hot test’ fired the giant engine for the much-awaited Ariane 6 rocket. ESA said that the November 23rd engine test added to a full-scale rehearsal including the proposed countdown all went well. The first test-launch of the complete rocket is scheduled for Q4 next year. The Vulcain 2.1 engine […]
Intelsat has already ordered a small HummingSat craft from manufacturer SWISSto12. The company is now developing further iterations of its 3D-printed small satellites with help from the European Space Agency (ESA). London-based Inmarsat, now owned by Viasat, has ordered three HummingSats. The HummingSat craft are small, and orbit at geostationary altitudes and designed to be […]
Chinese technology giant Huawei’s low-orbit satellite Internet constellation has been officially announced, and a test satellite has already conducted in-orbit communication tests. At an event in Shanghai was reported on Chinese web-site Weibo, which stated “China Satellite Internet, Huawei is coming!” Huawei has launched two pairs of Ka-band prototype satellites (on August 21st and November […]
Canada-based satellite and aerospace business MDA has announced a strategic expansion in the UK. The focus of this will be a new facility in Stevenage and an expansion of its existing facility in Manchester. As part of its UK expansion, MDA says it will hire 75 new employees in the UK by the end of […]
SpaceX’s Starlink dish has been completely redesigned with a much simpler concept. Starlink has redesigned its high-tech antenna. The latest versions have eliminated the automatic self-seeking positioning motors. The supplied instructions now talk about positioning the dish terminal as being with “manual orienting”. In other words, the customer positions the dish. The new dish (officially […]