E-letter: Briefs

Cyber and physical threats against commercial satellites are no longer a hypothetical discussion. Russia has demonstrated intent and capability to attack commercial satellites amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict, while China […]

Delta Air Lines is offering free in-flight connectivity (IFC) on Viasat-equipped aircraft this year, a major vote for free IFC service from one of the top U.S. airlines.  Delta announced […]

Canadian space startup NorthStar Earth & Space raised $35 million in its Series C funding round, the company announced Thursday. NorthStar is working to offer space-based space situational awareness (SSA) […]

Hughes Network Systems is rolling out new managed cybersecurity services geared toward small to mid-sized businesses. The company said these offerings give smaller companies of under 1,000 employees similar resources […]

Composite manufacturer TISICS has been boosted in its plans to bring more sustainable launch technology to market. It announced Jan. 4 that it has been awarded funding through the UK […]

U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) awarded Maxar Technologies new contract awards worth up to $35.8 million. The NGA is the government agency that delivers geospatial intelligence to policymakers, military service […]

Keysight Technologies and Qualcomm Technologies have demonstrated an end-to-end 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) connection, which the companies say can help bring affordable broadband to remote areas. The demonstration used satellite […]

Airbus Defence and Space is joining Voyager Space’s work to build the Starlab commercial space station. A Wednesday announcement from Airbus and Voyager was light on details but said that […]

Bright Ascension reports a record number of its software deployments were on the SpaceX Transporter 6 mission on Tuesday, taking the company’s current total to software on 39 spacecraft in […]

L3Harris Technologies on Tuesday closed its $2 billion acquisition of Viasat’s Tactical Data Links (TDL) product line, strengthening its focus on the Defense Department’s efforts to link its systems and sensors […]

L3Harris Technologies announced Tuesday that it has named Samir Mehta as new president of its Communication Systems segment. Mehta succeeds Dana Mehnert, who is retiring after 38 years with L3Harris. […]

Sidus Space started 2023 with the announcement of a new contract from Bechtel Corporation to manufacture cables for the NASA Mobile Launcher 2 project. Sidus announced the contract award, Jan. 3. […]

U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) awarded Viasat a $325 million contract extension for tactical satellite communications and network management.  It is a sole-source, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract award […]

Intelsat and J-AIR are rolling out in-flight connectivity on the Japanese airline’s Embraer E190 aircraft, the companies announced Dec. 28. J-AIR is a Japan Airlines subsidiary that offers regional flights […]

Ovzon landed end of the year deals for its satcom-as-a-service offerings with two new customers, Nigma Conseil and Swedish Space Corporation (SSC).  Ovzon announced the $1 million satcom-as-a-service deal with […]

Eutelsat stopped broadcasting certain Russian and Iranian channels to comply with French and European Union regulations, the operator announced Dec. 22.  French media regulator ARCOM recently asked Eutelsat to stop […]

L3Harris Technologies is selling its Visual Information Solutions (VIS) commercial geospatial technology and software business to engineering services company NV5 Global. NV5 announced the acquisition on Dec. 22 and did […]

The United Kingdom issued Virgin Orbit the nation’s first orbital launch license, clearing the way for the first orbital launch from the UK. Virgin Orbit announced Dec. 22 that the […]

Terran Orbital delivered the final satellite buses to Lockheed Martin for its Space Development Agency (SDA) Tranche 0 Transport Layer contract.  Terran Orbital built 10 buses for Lockheed as a […]

Iridium Communications debuted a new satellite IoT messaging service on Wednesday, Iridium Messaging Transport (IMT). It’s a two-way cloud-native networked data service optimized for Iridium Certus to make it easier […]

The FCC is working to improve the licensing procedures for commercial satellites. On Wednesday, the FCC decided to seek comments on changes to its policies and rules for satellite applications. […]

L3Harris Technologies on Tuesday said it has received all U.S. and international regulatory approvals for its pending acquisition of the tactical data link product line from Viasat, with the deal now […]

Rocket Lab had to push its first mission from U.S. soil to 2023 after weather issues and regulatory delays, causing millions in revenue to slip from 2022 to 2023.  For […]

Telesat has appointed Philip Harlow as president of Telesat Government Solutions, the company’s subsidiary that provides satellite solutions to the U.S. government and allied nations.  He will replace Tom Eaton, […]

The FCC is considering making changes to satellite rulemaking at its open meeting this week. Ahead of the December meeting, the Commission released a notice of proposed rulemaking called: Expediting […]

SpaceX announced on Monday that Starlink satellite internet service surpassed 1 million subscribers.  “Starlink now has more than 1,000,000 active subscribers – thank you to all customers and members of […]

Astroscale Japan has signed a new marketing partnership deal with three companies in Japan. The MoU with Yusen Logistics, Mizuho Bank, and Kids Station, will see these companies support Astroscale’s […]

Planet Labs closed out its third quarter of fiscal year 2023 with $49.7 million in revenue, up 57% year-over-year. Planet, which sells satellite imagery and geospatial solutions, is in its […]

Satellite operator Spacecom completed its testing campaign on Telesat’s demonstration LEO satellite, reporting an average latency below 30 milliseconds and data rates over 50 Mbps.  The tests were conducted from […]

The U.S. House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics introduced legislation on Wednesday that would establish a civil space situational awareness (SSA) capability under the Department of Commerce.  Currently, the U.S. […]