Advanced Television

Thales Alenia

Eutelsat sends 5WA to graveyard slot

Eutelsat has decommissioned its 5WA satellite. The craft, designed for a 15-year mission, actually lasted more than 20 years. Launched in 2002, it has now been repositioned to a high ‘graveyard’ orbit some 400 kms higher than the usual geostationary arc which is the normal position for giant communications satellites. Eutelsat described the long lifetime […]

January 20, 2023By Chris Forrester

Hispasat’s Amazonas Nexas ready for launch

Built by Thales-Alenia Space, Hispasat’s Amazonas Nexus satellite is ready at Cape Canaveral for launch. The satellite left Nice Airport on the Cote d’Azur having been delivered from Thales’ facility at Cannes. SpaceX will be handling the launch currently scheduled for February 1st. Amazonas Nexus is a 4500 kgs satellite and the launch will place […]

January 19, 2023By Chris Forrester

Indonesia’s Satria-1 suffers further delays

Indonesia’s important 150 Gb/s broadband satellite, Satria-1, is already late in being delivered from its manufacturers with delays caused by component shortages from Covid-related problems. The craft was due for launch in March 2022, then March 2023 which will be missed. Now, Indonesia is asking the ITU in Geneva to permit a delay of its […]

January 6, 2023

Thales highlights 2023 plans

Thales Alenia Space has praised the European Space Agency (ESA) and its $16.9 billion (€15.9bn) – up 17 per cent – budget for the next three years. Against this backdrop, Thales Alenia Space, the joint company between Thales (67 per cent) and Leonardo (33 per cent) said it would be building on 2022’s success where […]

January 5, 2023

Telesat focuses on Africa

Ottawa-based satellite operator Telesat, which is planning a low Earth orbiting constellation called Lightspeed, and says it has signed with Liquid Intelligent Technologies for a strategic cooperation agreement for Telesat’s Lightspeed services in Africa. Liquid Intelligent Technologies is part of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African fibre network group. As part of the agreement, the companies will […]

March 2, 2022By Chris Forrester

Report: Decline in turnover of FSS operators

Dataxis has published its latest report on the Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) civil communications market. After years of significant growth, the decline in traditional video activity in the most developed countries is being sustained, resulting in a limited but steady decline in the turnover of FSS operators. The outlook for the future is equally becoming […]

December 15, 2021

Thales Alenia to build Indonesian space satellite

Thales Alenia Space has signed a prime contractor agreement with PT Telkom Satelit Indonesia (Telkomsat) to build a powerful 32 Gb/s high-throughput satellite. It will be delivered in early 2024 and placed at 113 degrees east. The craft will operate in C and Ku-bands. Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor and responsible for the […]

October 29, 2021By Chris Forrester

Thales Alenia sees 35% growth

Satellite and avionics company Thales Alena Space (TAS, 67 per cent owned by Thales Group, 33 per cent by Leonardo of Italy) reports it is enjoying something of a sales boom. TAS says it is likely to hit a 35 per cent revenue growth rate during the 2020-2025 period and based on orders for commercial, […]

July 28, 2021By Chris Forrester

Omnispace wants LEO/MEO system for 5G

Washington DC-based Omnispace is a relatively new name in the satellite industry. It says in its mission statement that it wants to “redefine mobile connectivity for the 21st century”. It has recently raised $60 million (€49.3m) in equity financing. Omnispace says it wants to build a global 5G hybrid mobile network. It has already booked […]

February 16, 2021

Indonesia in satellite j-v with Thales Alenia

Satelit Nusantara Tiga (SNT) and Thales Alenia Space, a joint-venture between Thales (67 per cent) and Leonardo (33 per cent), have signed an agreement to start the activities of the broadband telecoms satellite SATRIA. Thales Alenia Space, acting as prime contractor for this project, initially signed on July 2019 for a consortium led by Indonesia’s […]

September 9, 2020By Chris Forrester