Mobile Connectivity

Qualcomm is ending its direct-to-device relationship with Iridium because smartphone manufacturers are not adopting the satellite-compatible chips. Analysts say the price and the lack of technology standards were contributing factors.  The partnership, unveiled at CES in January, was seen as the Android answer to Apple’s emergency messaging via satellite, with the potential to connect IoT...

Intelsat is teaming up with Aalyria as it looks to advance multi-orbit connectivity. Intelsat announced the deal, Sept. 12. The deal aims to advance the development of a new optical technology that will transfer record amounts of data between ground and space. Aalyria is an exciting California based company in the area of advanced networking...

Gilat Satellite Networks has received “significant multimillion dollar orders” from Intelsat for its platforms and terminals, the company announced Monday. The orders mark an expansion of Intelsat and Gilat’s deals to support in-flight connectivity (IFC) and cellular backhaul.  Intelsat will use the technology to serve additional aircraft and expand managed services for mobile network operators...

Qualcomm Technologies is teaming up with Honor, Motorola, Nothing, OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi to develop smartphones with satellite communication capabilities using its Snapdragon Satellite processor. Qualcomm made the announcement, Feb. 27 at the start of Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. Snapdragon Satellite is a satellite-based two-way capable messaging solution for smartphones. It offers global...

AST SpaceMobile has signed two MoUs as it looks to extend the reach of its space network. The two MoUs will help attack key markets in Latin America and the Middle East. Firstly, it signed an MoU with Zain KSA which sees the company able to explore opportunities in Saudi Arabia. The two companies announced...

Iridium has teamed up with the National Geographic Society in a new philanthropic venture. The two companies announced the partnership, Feb. 7. The venture will look to support National Geographic Explorers (Explorers) as the cover and bring information about the world to a global audience. As part of this program, the National Geographic Society Exploration...

Samsung announced the details of its new Galaxy S23 series of smartphones this week — and emergency messaging via satellite was not one of the features.  In Wednesday’s Galaxy Unpacked announcement, Samsung announced that the S23 Ultra will use Qualcomm’s new “Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy” chips, but did not mention any satellite messaging...

Iridium Communications unveiled its satellite-to-cell ambitions on Thursday, announcing a partnership with Qualcomm Technologies for satellite-compatible chips that will enable messaging on Android cell phones via Iridium’s satellite constellation.  The new Qualcomm chipset can send two-way messages on Iridium’s current satellite network, and the companies reported a successful demonstration this week at the CES trade...

SES celebrated the start of a new era for the company on Friday evening, with the launch of its first O3b mPOWER satellites. The Boeing-built satellites will bring orders of magnitude more capacity to the market than its predecessor, O3b.  SpaceX launched the first two satellites of the constellation on Dec. 16 at 5:48 p.m....

SpaceX is venturing into Earth observation (EO) and hosted payloads for national security use, with a new business line called Starshield. The company added a section to its website for Starshield on Friday, describing it as “SpaceX’s Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts.” While Starlink is a commercial business, Starshield will...