When the UK made its $500 million investment in the – then bankrupt – OneWeb satellite constellation, much was made of the prospects for production of the actual satellites, with UK officials talking optimistically about satellites being built in the UK. Alok Sharma, then business secretary in the UK government, spoke at the time of […]
A planned spaceport in Unst, Shetland, in the far North of the UK, has received planning permission to go ahead. Shetland Islands Council says work to prepare the Saxavord Spaceport can proceed provided Scottish ministers don’t call the project in for further review. Three rocket pads would be built at the Lamba Ness peninsula in […]
Abu Dhabi-based Yahsat reported revenues of $407.6 million (€364.7m) for its full year’s trading (to December 31st 2021), up 7.9 per cent on the previous year. The satellite operator also enjoyed its highest-ever Net income (profit attributable to shareholders) of $69.8 million. It contracted backlog has grown 35 per cent over the year to $2 […]
Truphone and Skylo have announced a world first at MWC Barcelona. The successful achievement links existing cellular devices with satellites, making seamless switching between satellite and cellular networks possible without special hardware. This major breakthrough in combining terrestrial and satellite connectivity moves communication technology closer to delivering on the promise of truly ubiquitous global connectivity. […]
Satellite operator SES reported rising net profits up 69 per cent to €323 million (€191m in 2020), helped by lower operating costs and interest expenses. Shareholders will be pleased that the overall improvement in the operator’s prospects mean that this year’s dividend will rise to €0.50 (from €0.40), a 25 per cent rise. SES said […]
A report from analysts at Paris-based Euroconsult and ST Engineering iDirect says that the satellite industry is set for unprecedented transformation, with the impact of cloud-based systems, the introduction of next-generation NGSO broadband constellations, and convergence towards a unified 5G network architecture. However, ground segments will also have to play a pivotal role to allow […]
Eclipse Global Connectivity is now an authorised OneWeb Distribution Partner (DP), following a signed agreement late last year. Through the partnership, Eclipse will offer new low-latency, fibre-like airtime services, hardware systems and certifications to government aircraft across Europe, the Middle East and Asia (EMEA) to facilitate a broad range of operational and mission goals. “Our […]
Despite the threat of further trade sanctions against Russia, OneWeb is expecting to see 36 of its satellites launched on March 4th from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch is contracted to Arianespace but uses a Russian-built Soyuz 2.1b rocket which is handled by Russia’s Federal Space Agency Roscosmos. The launch, number 14 for […]
SpaceX launched its seventh mission in a little more than seven weeks on February 21st, with flawless lift-off of a Falcon 9 rocket at 14.44 GMT from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX has two more Falcon 9 rockets scheduled to blast off in the next 10 days from different launch pads […]
London-based speciality satellite operator Avanti Communications is reportedly about to repay $150 million (€132.2m) of its outstanding debt obligations. Details are scarce but it is known that the company has a debt payment deadline of February 28th. The company has been slow in releasing financial trading data. The most recent statement covered the six months […]