A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster (#1058) made a record-breaking 19th flight – and landing – but was then partially lost during a December 26th 2023 early morning transfer back to port. Near-three metre waves and 25 knot winds and the subsequent rough seas toppled part of the rocket booster into the ocean. Officials at SpaceX […]
Luxembourg-based M7 Group, owned by Canal+ Group, has extended its long-standing partnership with CLT-UFA HBD for the satellite distribution of four new linear TV channels. Following the agreement, M7 Platform Services is now providing RTL Hungary with a full-service satellite distribution solution for Kölyökklub (Kid’s Club), Moziklub (Cinema Club), Sorozatklub (Serial Club) and RTL OTTHON […]
Hughes Network System has launched new Hughesnet service plans for US/Americas consumers that leverages capacity from its new Jupiter 3 satellite (the largest commercial communication satellite ever built). Hughes says these Jupiter-powered plans fundamentally reinvent what satellite internet can be – offering faster speeds (up to 100 Mb/s download speeds), unlimited data, Whole Home Wi-Fi […]
Analysts at Euroconsult forecast that the next decade will see some 28,700 satellites launched into space. The activity will be worth around $588 billion (€536.4bn). Activity from, Starlink, Project Kuiper, Telesat’s Lightspeed, Eutelsat/OneWeb and Chinese craft will lead the exponential growth. The analysts admit that their forecast might be an underestimate; they have included in […]
The European Union’s planned IRIS2 broadband multi-orbit mega-constellation which was planned to be firmly in its final stages of agreement by mid-December, has slipped. IRIS2 (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) is a major EU satellite initiative providing “a space-based secure communication system for the benefit of EU citizens” had an admitted aggressive […]
A planned launch from Vandenburg Space Force Base of 21 Starlink satellites on February 15th 2024 will contain the first batch of Elon Musk’s ‘direct to cell’ craft. Six of the 21 satellites are described as “trailblazers” and are equipped to handle direct to device communications including cellphones. The remining 15 craft are conventional Version […]
In a surprise move, Spain’s Startical j-v of Indra and Spanish air-navigation authority Enaire has returned to Sweden’s small-satellite builder GomSpace to build at least the initial satellites of the planned Startical air-traffic-management constellation. Just over a year ago the GomSpace contract was unexpectedly cancelled. The news propelled a significant uplift to GomSpace’s share price […]
SpaceX, as expected, has sold ‘insider’ shares at $97 (€88.80) to existing and new shareholders. It means that SpaceX is now valued at around $180 billion. The $97 achieved is a couple of dollars better than the rumoured $95 talked about over the past few weeks and indicates a strong demand for participation. Investors would […]
Es’hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, has announced that nine HD television channels from Rotana Group are now available on Es’hail-2 satellite located at the 26⁰ East hotspot covering Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This is part of a multi-channel, multi-year deal between Rotana and Es’hailSat which adds to the premium television channel video […]
Euroconsult, a specialist in satellite industry market intelligence, has announced the release of its 26th edition flagship report, Satellites to be Built and Launched. This edition forecasts an average of over 2,800 satellites launched annually – equivalent to eight satellites per day and totaling a mass of four tons – between 2023 and 2032. The […]