E-letter: News Feed

In a scathing report dated Sept. 13 but only made public last week, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) N-Prime Mishap […]

With such issues as the analog-to-digital TV transition at the forefront, it is a busy time for the Federal Communica-tions Commission (FCC). The challenge to get the United States digitally […]

One of the most controversial issues involved in the current Congressional effort to re-authorize the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA) that expires at year-end is whether satellite-TV provider EchoStar […]

The satellite communications industry has entered a period of transition. A few private equity firms now control several large satellite operators. Previously, telecommunications companies or the original owners that had […]

Loral Skynet President Patrick Brant is moving quickly to implement his plan to transform the Bedminster, N.J.-based satellite operator into a provider of connectivity through the use of hybrid services […]

The Republic of Azerbaijan is the newest member of the Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications. Initially Intersputnik had nine member countries. Now that Azerbaijan has joined the organization, the […]

Englewood, Colo.-based EchoStar Communications Corporation‘s [DISH] DISH Network satellite-television service expanded the number of markets in which it offers local channels to 150 last week when it added Terre Haute, […]

Washington-based WorldSpace filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate the AfriStar-2 satellite and to co-locate it at 21º East with the company’s AfriStar-1 satellite. […]

Columbia Communications Corporation, a SES Americom acquisition, filed an amendment with the FCC to its pending application for modification of the AMC-12 satellite at 37.5º West. The amendment provides new […]

WB Holdings 1 LLC, an affiliated organization of fledgling satellite broadband service WildBlue, filed a request for Special Temporary Authority to operate its Ka-band payload (29250 MHz-30000 MHz, 8350 MHz-28600 […]

People AIA Appoints Assistant VP Bruce Mahone, director of space policy at the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), has been appointed assistant vice president of technical operations at AIA. In his […]

In America, we are taught the importance of finishing first. Winning teams are celebrated, their head coaches are venerated and their top players typically are rewarded generously. Losers, no matter […]

Dulles, Va.-based Orbimage gained a big boost for its business by winning a $500 million, multi-year pact to give high-resolution imagery to the U.S. government under a contract awarded by […]

Amid an industry-wide consolidation trend, room still exists for startup ventures that can match good ideas with sound management, financing and regulatory support. Those ingredients all are in place at […]

Patrick Brant, the new president of Bedminster, N.J. Loral Skynet, has a vision of turning the company into a provider of hybrid networking services that will use satellites, fiber and […]

Ottawa, Canada-based SkyWave Mobile Communications, a provider of Inmarsat D+ satellite airtime, services and terminal equipment, is pursuing an aggressive expansion program that will seize on its recent receipt of […]

This fall, General Motors [GM] is aiming to produce 3 million vehicles in North America during the 2006 model year equipped with its Global Positioning System-enabled (GPS) OnStar in-vehicle safety […]

Many satellite operators view Africa as a potential growth market. Last month, SES Astra announced that it was extending its provision of state-of-the-art satellite services to the entire African continent […]

Asset tracking is a key “remote application” outside the mainstream wireless markets of voice, data and now video. To the companies that offer the service, including wireless and satellite providers, […]

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based unit of Lockheed Martin [LMT], won the biggest U.S. military satellite communications pact that likely will be awarded during the next two […]

Wall Street analysts are offering a consensus estimate that Washington, D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio [XMSR] will pre-announce that it amassed in the neighborhood of 430,000 third-quarter net new subscribers. That […]

Ottawa, Canada-based NAV Canada reached an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to extend the benefits of satellite-navigation technology to all aircraft operators that fly in Canadian airspace. The agreement […]

With close to 30 million households now subscribing to some form of digital television (DTV), France is the only major European market to support two satellite pay-TV operators, Canal Satellite […]

By Adam D. Thierer Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has introduced an important new bill dealing with the digital television (DTV) transition that will have direct impact on the satellite industry. […]

New York City-based AirTV’s search for funding did not stop the startup from signing a launch services agreement with Arianespace last week, with the first launch scheduled for 2007. The […]

Sirius Satellite Radio [SIRI], the higher priced of two U.S.-based satellite radio services, took the unusual step of issuing a press release last week to put a positive spin on […]

By Paul Dykewicz PanAmSat President and CEO Joseph Wright, noted for his financial conservatism and cost-cutting, recently told me he isn’t worried at all about taking on a large debt […]

Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Raytheon [RTN] were pacing the floor late Friday afternoon, waiting to hear which one would win a $6.2 billion U.S. Department of Defense satellite-communications contract (SN, […]

Satellite TV’s advantage of offering digital video signals since the mid-1990s is waning because the $70 billion the big cable-TV operators have spent on the technology is allowing those carriers […]

The Boeing Co. [BA] is pursuing U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) communications networking business opportunities that depend on satellites. Last week, Boeing showed it was willing to invest in innovative […]