Advanced Television

satellite

AST SpaceMobile promises US commercial services

AST SpaceMobile’s plans to place five of its ‘Block 1’ satellites into orbit are at an “advanced stage”, according to a Prospectus issued on July 3rd. The Prospectus was presented to the SEC in conjunction with a share transfer of 10.4 million shares from Antares Technologies LLC (a Cisneros-related business). AST is building a constellation […]

July 8, 2024

China readies Starlink rival

A Chinese mega-constellation of an eventual 15,000 low Earth orbiting satellites will start launching in a few weeks. The fleet will rival Starlink in size. The project is backed by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (Yuanxin Satellite). The constellation, named G60 Qianfan, will see the first batch of 18 satellites launched around August 5th. Subsequent rocket […]

July 5, 2024By Chris Forrester

Azercosmos signs MoU with Star.vision

Azercosmos has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese technology company Star.vision. The signing ceremony took place at Azercosmos during the visit of the Star.vision company delegation to the Republic of Azerbaijan. The main goal of the memorandum is to engage in strategic cooperation for the joint development and application of the necessary algorithms […]

July 4, 2024

Rivada Networks funding explained

Rivada Space Networks has secured a major slice of the cash needed to build and launch its mega-constellation of an initial 300 satellites. German newspaper Handelsblatt reports that Rivada has collected €10 billion in pre-order commitments from 113 “potential customers”. The report adds that it has also attracted investment cash from 70 investors including a […]

July 4, 2024

FCC: “LEO constellations must cover everywhere”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a reality check to its fellow-regulators around the world saying that low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites beaming broadband signals cannot switch their transmissions off when passing over an unfriendly nation. The FCC response followed a complaint from Iran’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology about alleged illegal Starlink […]

July 3, 2024By Chris Forrester

EU satellites disrupted by Russia

The Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad has been pinpointed as being one source of numerous interferences on European satellites owned by SES, Eutelsat and others. The United Nations agency that oversees communications technology ha said that Russia should “immediately cease any deliberate action to cause harmful interference to frequency assignments of other administrations,” in a […]

July 3, 2024

Amazon’s Project Kuiper slips again

Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband-by-satellite system, potentially the main rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink, has again delayed its launch date. Kuiper’s first satellites will not now launch much before the end of the year. The company talks about Q4, but has not given a firm date. Amazon had previously said that its debut satellites would launch […]

June 28, 2024By Chris Forrester

Azercosmos signs deal with PEKASAT

A memorandum of cooperation has been signed between Azercosmos and the Czech company PEKASAT SE. This memorandum aims to expand new business opportunities by mutually utilising ground stations for low-orbit satellite operations. Both parties will collaborate in Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic to provide their clients with telemetry services, including the reception of control signals […]

June 27, 2024

Ariane 6’s wet dress rehearsal

The launch of the European Space Agency’s all-new Ariane 6 rocket gets ever-closer. Last week technicians at ESA’s Kourou, French Guiana spaceport completed a full ‘wet’ dress rehearsal of the rocket which was fully fuelled. The rocket took on about 180 metric tonnes of propellant and all was subsequently drained following the tests which included […]

June 26, 2024

Airbus: Major space division problems

Airbus Space & Defence has problems. Unlike its major rival Boeing, there’s nothing wrong with its A320 aircraft production, but Airbus’s troubled space division has implemented a €900 million write down in charges – effectively losses against its Q2 2024 revenues – and Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said a thorough review has led to a […]

June 25, 2024By Chris Forrester