Month: April 2011

February – Iran reported a successful launch of its first domestically-produced satellite into orbit aboard a Safir-2 rocket. According to official reports, the satellite, called Omid or Hope in Farsi,...

June – NASA celebrated the five year anniversary of the Cassini probe’s arrival at Saturn. The mission’s extension, through September 2010, was named for the Saturnian equinox, which occurred in...

[Satellite News 04-07-11] Mobile telecom revenues are set to reach $1.1 trillion by 2015, with data services contributing 40 percent, or $440 billion, as a slowdown in voice revenues puts...

Three companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009: In June it was Sea Launch, reporting assets of between $100 million and $500 million and estimated debt of almost...

December 28 – The DirecTV 12 satellite was launched aboard a Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The satellite completes DirecTV’s phased expansion of high-definition television service to...

November – Intelsat celebrated two successful launches just one week apart. On 23rd a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifted Intelsat 14 into orbit carrying the first government payload...

October – ViaSat signed a definitive agreement to acquire WildBlue Communications in a cash and stock transaction valued at $568 million. WildBlue’s Ka-band consumer broadband service will use capacity on...

July – An Ariane 5 rocket lifted Terrestar-1, the heaviest commercial satellite ever launched, into orbit to provide a fully integrated satellite-terrestrial mobile network leveraging TerreStar’s S-band mobile satellite service...

July – SpaceX performed the first commercial mission of its Falcon 1 vehicle. The two-stage, liquid oxygen/rocket-grade kerosene vehicle lifted off from the Reagan Test Site on Omelek Island, approximately...

[Satellite News 04-06-11] The in-flight connectivity market is experiencing a significant growth phase as international airlines intensify their search for viable, satellite-based solutions to provide passenger connectivity.     To capitalize...