The European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched its much-needed Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport at Kourou in French Guiana on the evening of July 9th. While the launch completed many of the mission’s key tasks, it failed during the later stage of the flight. ESA was fulsome with praise following the first, second and […]
The European Space Agency (ESA) has confirmed that its pre-launch Readiness Review of the Ariane 6 rocket had been wholly satisfactory, and that ESA had given the green light for a July 9th launch. Currently, and subject to the usual weather considerations, the launch window from Europe’s spaceport at Kourou in French Guiana is scheduled […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]