The satellite communications market has seen significant changes across its value chain, bringing forth new technological innovations that include flexible satellites and more specifically, software-defined satellites (SDS). Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite operators have been compelled to respond to increased competition amidst these market shifts. One approach is to optimise the utilisation of GEO satellites; […]

The European Space Agency (ESA) has allocated a budget of €233 million to build a satellite with a target millimetre-level accuracy as the initial ‘demonstrator’ move for its Genesis and LEO-PNT scheme. The budget also covers two 5-satellite mini-constellations for a future orbital Positioning, Navigation and Timing system which are key elements for its Sat-Nav […]

Data from astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell shows that 6,011 SpaceX ‘Starlink’ broadband satellites have been launched as at March 16th. He adds that 5,614 are still in orbit, of which 64 appear failed and 122 appear to be in the process of deliberate retirement. SpaceX launched this latest batch of 23 satellites into orbit on March […]

Giant Indian conglomerate Tata, and its Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) division along with Satellogic, have announced their collaboration for establishing and developing local space technology capabilities in India. They say this collaboration is but a first step in TASL’s satellite strategy and a significant milestone for Satellogic as the company enters the Indian defence […]

Starlink is definitely going after the satellite ‘direct-to-device’ (D2D) market and this includes providing a cellular connection service for telephony. Details are still sketchy but what is known is that Starlink has been licensed by the FCC for testing of connections. Starlink is reportedly planning to include connectivity for users from 840 new satellites to […]

Italy has launched 9 small satellites (‘pico-sized’) which will provide global coverage for Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity. Apogeo Space says it is creating Italy’s first private satellite constellation to provide a telecommunication service for Internet of Things (IoT) devices and has released the firm’s first batch of nine smallsats. The fleet was launched on […]

UBS Switzerland is injecting €26.15 million into fellow-Swiss business SWISSto12 for further development of its HummingSat satellite division. The extra financing will provide SWISSto12 with flexible growth capital to meet strong customer demand for its geostationary SmallSat HummingSat. SWISSto12 has won a major order for one of its geostationary HummingSat craft from Intelsat (for IS-45) […]

The MyRadar weather app sees more than 50 million downloads and a very high rating from its users. It is working on establishing its own constellation of satellites. MyRadar CTO Sarvesh Garimella, in an interview, says the company is on its way to becoming a space company. He says the company is purpose-building its own […]

The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) has announced the release of its 26th annual State of the Satellite Industry Report (SSIR), a global summary of the commercial satellite industry. For a fifth consecutive year, the commercial satellite industry launched a record number of commercial satellites into orbit. A total of 2,325 commercial satellites were deployed during […]