E-letter: Briefs

Air France will install Intelsat‘s 2Ku high-speed satellite In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) service on 60 of its new A220-300 aircraft. Intelsat is equipping the aircraft now and will be ready to […]

Inmarsat has signed a new deal in the maritime area for its new Fleet LTE service. The company announced Sept. 28 that Solstad Offshore — one of the largest offshore […]

United Kingdom space companies applauded the country for releasing the first-ever national space strategy this week. The strategy sets out ambitions for a “Galactic Britain,” with goals to establish launch […]

David Micha joined Intelsat as president of government subsidiary Intelsat General in February of this year, after decades at L3 Technologies and the combined company L3Harris. In his first interview […]

PPM Systems has released new RF components for its satellite and defense customers, the company announced Sept. 26. The company has unveiled a series of high power broadband diplexers, plus […]

Totum reports it has demonstrated a bidirectional communication between a fully integrated system-on-a-chip and a Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite. The company claims this is the first operation of indoor direct-to-satellite […]

Two space-as-a-service solutions providers are teaming up to demonstrate the feasibility of blockchain technology computation in space. Spire Global, a publicly traded space data analytics company, announced it entered into […]

End-to-end satellite solutions provider Terran Orbital will build a 660,000-square foot space vehicle manufacturing facility on Florida’s Merritt Island. The startup company, which is based in Boca Raton, Florida, made […]

United Launch Alliance successfully launched NASA‘s Landsat 9 mission on Monday, which will monitor the Earth and study the impact of climate change. An Atlas V 401 configuration rocket took […]

The U.S. Space Force‘s Space Systems Command (SSC) has awarded about $88 million in development contracts to U.S. launch providers for next generation rocket engine testing and upper stage resiliency […]

Isotropic Systems, which plans to become a key player in the burgeoning antenna industry, has secured another $37 million in Series B funding. The equity funding round was announced Sept. […]

Astranis‘ first full commercial communications satellite will now launch in the spring of 2022 as a secondary payload on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket. The San Francisco-based Geostationary Orbit (GEO) small […]

In-orbit service provider Orbital Astronautics (OrbAstro) has signed a contract to host a propulsion demonstration for Aliena on a mission set to launch in September 20220.  Aliena is a small […]

Satellite navigation startup Xona Space Systems has raised $8 million in a funding round that the company says will fully fund its first mission. The Seraphim Space Investment Trust and […]

Eurasian Space Ventures (ESV) recently signed an MoU with Kazakhstan’s national space agency Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary (KGS) and a joint Kazakh-French venture Ghalam, to develop space activities in Kazakhstan, where […]

SpaceBridge is known for developing Very Small Aperture (VSAT) hubs and terminals for satellite connectivity. CEO David Gelerman spoke with Via Satellite at SATELLITE 2021 about the progress the company […]

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) transport group Petredec is extending its Fleet Xpress service agreement with Inmarsat. This expanded deal involves a new commitment to Inmarsat’s Fleet Hotspot internet portal service, which […]

BridgeComm has announced its optical inter-satellite link terminal offering, called AstroBridge. These terminals are designed for high data rates for data transmission and resilient performance in navigation.  AstroBridge is designed […]

OneWeb has completed its acquisition of satellite service provider TrustComm, the Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) operator announced Sept. 21. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.  OneWeb announced the deal in […]

Two mobile network operators, Aliv and Telecel Centrafrique, have acquired first-to-market rights to implement satellite-to-cell service from Lynk Global. Aliv operates in the Bahamas, and Telecel operates in the Central […]

Hughes Network Systems and SES have demonstrated the ability to connect remotely piloted aircraft with satellites in Geosynchronous (GEO) and Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO), the satellite operators announced early Wednesday. Hughes […]

Astroscale has chosen Rocket Lab to launch its first active debris removal mission. The company announced Sept. 21 that Rocket Lab will launch Astroscale’s Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) […]

Antenna developer ThinKom has had a number of announcements lately, from its work with Telesat on the Lightspeed Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation to a new family phased-array antennas for use […]

Matt Little, senior systems test engineer at Ball Aerospace spoke with Via Satellite at SATELLITE 2021 about the company’s approach to developing phased array antenna technology at attractive consumer price […]

Spaceflight has signed a slew of new customers for rideshare and launch services, and a ground station services agreement with RBC Signals.  On Tuesday, the company released a sizable list […]

OQ Technology, which is working to offer satellite-based Internet of Things (IoT) service following cellular standards, has applied for six patents in the U.S. and Europe to improve IoT service […]

Inmarsat has made a move in the In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) arena with the launch of a brand-new platform, OneFi, a customer experience platform for airlines. Inmarsat announced Tuesday that it […]

Commercial launch service provider Virgin Orbit will now be able to provide AI-powered insights and data to its government and commercial customers under the terms of a new software agreement […]

Telespazio has selected the Hughes Network Systems HeloSat helicopter satcom solution for Leonardo helicopters, the companies announced Monday. This satcom solution will serve commercial and military missions across Italy and […]

Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) is partnering with Hunter Communications to monitor the Earth’s seismic activity, the two companies announced Sept. 20. The companies plan to install high-precision seismometers in […]