E-letter: Briefs

Indra Group, a Spanish technology and defense company, has agreed to acquire an 89.68% stake in satellite operator Hispasat from Redeia, a Spanish infrastructure corporation, for 725 million euros ($747 […]

Viasat received a task order award to provide satellite communications services to support Department of Defense missions under the Proliferated Low-Earth Orbit (PLEO) contract, Viasat announced Feb. 3. This is […]

Canadian province Ontario is canceling an award to SpaceX for Starlink internet service in remote communities after President Trump instituted U.S. tariffs against Canada at midnight on March 4. Ontario […]

The U.K. government invested 20 million pounds ($24.8 million) in spaceflight company Orbex as part of its Series D fundraising to build and launch a rocket from Scotland, Orbex announced […]

AST SpaceMobile can now test its satellite-to-cell service with partners Verizon and AT&T after the FCC granted the company special temporal authority (STA) in the United States.  AST SpaceMobile announced […]

L3Harris Technologies on Thursday reported a substantial increase in net income in the fourth quarter driven in large part by a charge a year ago in a business that it is […]

The Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Space ISAC) is bringing a new benefit to the space community in the battle against cyber threats. Space ISAC members now have access […]

Silicon Valley’s Array Labs — a four-year-old startup that aims to field a constellation of Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) three dimensional, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) cube satellites with 20 centimeter x 20 […]

Thales Alenia Space has signed a large, new contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to spearhead Europe’s plans to have better and autonomous access to the Moon. The contract, […]

SpaceX launched the communications satellite SpainSat NG I on Wednesday, Jan. 29. for Hisdesat. The Falcon 9 mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center at 8:34 p.m. ET., launching the […]

Planet Labs announced a multi-year, $230 million agreement with an unnamed Asia-Pacific commercial partner to build and deliver a constellation of new Pelican high-resolution satellites. Planet announced the deal on […]

York Space Systems (York) expanded its satellite platform portfolio, adding the M-CLASS, which is now its largest platform. The company announced the M-CLASS on Jan. 29. The M-CLASS builds upon […]

SES has secured a 125 million euro ($130 million) loan agreement with the European Investment Bank’s global arm, EIB Global to fund three satellites in the O3b mPOWER constellation.  SES […]

Lockheed Martin reported a slight dip in sales in its Space segment in 2024, with lower sales on national security space programs. Company-wide, Lockheed Martin posted a 5% increase in […]

BlackSky Technology won a seven-year contract worth over $100 million with an unnamed, strategic international defense partner for real-time, space-based monitoring capabilities, the company announced Jan. 28. The deal includes […]

Arianespace signed three launch agreements for the Ariane 6 rocket between the European Commission, the European Space Agency (ESA), EUMETSAT and the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), the […]

Boeing took $1.7 billion in charges in its Defense, Space & Security (BDS) segment in the fourth quarter of 2024 between multiple military aircraft programs and the Commercial Crew program […]

Orange launched a new project to replace the existing satellite infrastructure of the French Wallis and Futuna Islands in the Pacific Ocean, working with SES. The Nuanua project will use […]

Viasat has a new agreement to work with the European Space Agency (ESA) on direct-to-device capabilities, and previewed that this could lead to a new Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) network.  Viasat […]

NEC XON, an African information and communications technology integrator, and Skywire, a South African wireless network service provider, deployed a OneWeb satellite solution to address connectivity challenges in rural South […]

Japanese space robotics startup GITAI is expanding its business to include satellites. The company launched a 16U cubesat on the SpaceX Bandwagon rideshare mission in December, and plans to sell […]

Astranis signed a contract with SpaceX for another Falcon 9 launch to deploy five additional MicroGEO satellites later this year, Astranis announced Jan. 27.  The satellites are set to provide […]

Another major European airline selects SpaceX and Starlink for in-flight connectivity (IFC) services. Scandinavian Airlines, SAS, is introducing a new free, high-speed Wi-Fi service through a new partnership with Starlink. […]

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Japanese IT and technology company NEC have demonstrated optical inter-satellite data relay between the Daichi-4 Earth observation satellite in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) and a […]

Thales Alenia Space and Hispasat initiated the development, manufacturing, verification and validation phase of the first QKD-GEO prototype, the companies announced Jan. 21.  The QKD-GEO mission, which stands for quantum […]

Xona Space Systems appointed Jonathan “Jay” Wakenshaw as the company’s first chief operating officer, announced Jan. 23. With over 25 years of leadership experience across aerospace, aviation, and advanced manufacturing […]

A European collaboration will launch a new cyber initiative in Estonia, a country on the front lines of cybersecurity issues. A consortium of Estonian companies, Spaceit, CybExer Technologies, CGI Estonia, […]

Quadsat has signed a new partnership deal with Auden Techno Corp to deliver Quadsat’s satellite network emulation and electromagnetic calibration services to Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The two companies […]

Es’hailSat has signed a new broadcasting capacity deal in North Africa. It has signed a multi-year multi-transponder deal with the public broadcaster of Morocco, Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de […]

Eutelsat Group and Nigerian satellite operator Nigcomsat entered a multi-year agreement to deliver Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) satellite services in Nigeria, Eutelsat announced Jan. 23. The multi-million-dollar deal leverages the OneWeb LEO […]