Rachel Jewett

The global satellite industry grew revenue by 2% in 2023, as most segments of the industry except satellite TV saw gains, according to the Satellite Industry Association’s (SIA) annual report.  […]

Hughes Network Systems will build a Jupiter gateway and provide 1,200 Jupiter terminals to Saudi Arabia service provider Luna Space Telecommunications under a deal announced Thursday. Luna Space is part […]

Amazon’s Kuiper satellite constellation will provide connectivity in Latin America through a new deal with Vrio Corporation, the parent company of DirecTV Latin America and Sky Brasil. Under the agreement […]

Japanese ground segment as a service company Infostellar is deploying a company-owned network of satellite ground antennas throughout the Asia-Pacific region, Infostellar announced on June 10. Locations include Japan, Singapore, […]

Viasat is launching a managed satellite connectivity service designed for remote oil and gas customers in the energy industry. The enterprise-grade managed service announced Tuesday will integrate Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) […]

Hughes Network Systems subsidiary Hughes Europe is expanding into European military, defense, and government sectors through a collaboration with Telespazio, the company announced Tuesday.  Hughes Europe will work with satcom […]

Kepler Communications has validated optical inter-satellite links, transmitting data between two relay satellites in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). The two Kepler satellites used in the test are equipped with Tesat SCOT80 […]

Apple is expanding the capabilities of its satellite messaging on the iPhone. The new iOS 18 update will broaden the availability beyond emergency messaging, and Messages via satellite will be […]

Wildfires have a devastating impact on human and animal life, property, biodiversity, and air quality, local economies, and so much more. In this week’s On Orbit podcast, we hear about […]

Kongsberg NanoAvionics has appointed Atle Wøllo as its new CEO, the company announced Monday. This comes two years after the Norwegian defense firm acquired NanoAvionics, a company that began as […]

Yahsat has contracted Airbus Defence and Space to build two new Geostationary (GEO) satellites, Al Yah 4 (AY4) and Al Yah 5 (AY5). The satellites are expected to launch in […]

An upcoming Planet imaging satellite will be equipped with an artificial intelligence chip from Nvidia, Planet announced Monday. Planet will leverage the Nvidia Jetson edge AI platform for its Pelican-2 […]

Comtech Chief Strategy Officer Daniel Gizinski spoke with Via Satellite about trends impacting the satellite communications defense market, and how Comtech designs solutions to meet changes in the market. Gizinski […]

The European Space Agency (ESA) awarded Open Cosmos a 60 million euro ($65 million) contract to build a multisensor Earth observation (EO) constellation for Greece. It is a flagship project […]

Turkish Cabin Interiors (TCI) will provide an in-flight connectivity solution for Turkish airline AJet, working with Turksat and Hughes Network Systems, the companies announced Wednesday. This collaboration will provide passenger […]

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel called on the agency this week to update its orbital debris mitigation rules to limit the risks of accidental explosions in space.  Rosenworcel proposes adding a […]

Terran Orbital is making changes to its executive team, hiring a new COO, CFO, and chief accounting officer (CAO). The company announced Wednesday that Peter Krauss will join Terran Orbital […]

MDA Space is joining Starlab Space, the joint venture between Voyager Space, Airbus, and Mitsubishi Corporation, to contribute to building the Starlab commercial space station. MDA Space is now a […]

SES is launching Open Orbits, an open architecture network to pool capacity from regional satellite operators for a worldwide in-flight connectivity (IFC) service for airlines.  The interoperable Ka-band platform will […]

AST SpaceMobile just added a second major mobile network operator (MNO) partner in the U.S. — announcing a $100 million deal with Verizon on Wednesday. Verizon is now a strategic […]

Welcome to the June edition of Via Satellite. You might have done a double-take when you saw the editor picture at the top, expecting Mark Holmes. I’m Via Satellite’s senior […]

“Exploit what we have, buy what we can, build what we must.” While this has been the message of U.S. Space Force leadership over the past few years, many agree […]

Japan Airlines selected Intelsat to provide in-flight connectivity on more than 20 upcoming Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The aircraft will have multi-orbit service using Intelsat’s new electronically steered array (ESA) […]

Hughes Network Systems shared two updates on its in-flight connectivity business on Tuesday, announcing a new Hughes-built electronically steerable antenna (ESA) and an agreement to join the Airbus HBCplus program.  […]

MDA Space selected Tesat to provide the optical communication terminals (OCT) for Telesat’s Lightspeed Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation.  Tesat announced Tuesday that MDA Space selected its SCOT80 optical communications terminal […]

Japanese satellite operator Sky Perfect JSAT ordered a software-defined satellite from Thales Alenia Space, JSAT-31. Based on the Space INSPIRE platform, JSAT-31 will have the largest capacity in the history […]

Satellite navigation startup TrustPoint has appointed Charles Beames as executive chairman of the company’s board of directors. With this role, Beames will lead the TrustPoint board and work with the […]

Viasat is partnering with Azercosmos to bring its L-band satellite services to Azerbaijan. This will be the first time that Viasat-enabled satellite services are offered in Azerbaijan. Under the proposed […]

Arabsat is working with ST Engineering iDirect and neXat to deploy managed satellite services.  The satellite operator announced a deal with ST Engineering iDirect on May 22 for expanded market […]

Amazon is beginning the process to actively deorbit its two Project Kuiper prototype satellites, nearly eight months after the satellites were launched. In an update on May 23, Amazon said […]