E-letter: News Feed

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 […]

Raytheon Technologies’ Intelligence & Space and Boeing‘s Millennium Space Systems — both in El Segundo, California — are to begin building the first prototype Missile Track Custody (MTC) Medium-Earth Orbit […]

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 […]

Iridium Communications unveiled its satellite-to-cell ambitions on Thursday, announcing a partnership with Qualcomm Technologies for satellite-compatible chips that will enable messaging on Android cell phones via Iridium’s satellite constellation.  The […]

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. […]

SpaceX kicked off 2023 with a rideshare mission on Tuesday morning, launching 114 spacecraft to orbit. The mission — Transporter 6 — was the sixth in SpaceX’s series of dedicated […]

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 […]

A number of anticipated satellites launched to orbit in 2022, but supply chain and labor headwinds kept other key programs grounded. Here is a round-up of the top launches of […]

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 […]

From Satellite Executive of the Year, to new CEOs and signature deals, Via Satellite’s executive interviews provide an in-depth look into the biggest stories of the year. Here is 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. […]

Arianespace’s Vega C launch on Tuesday night failed, losing two Pléiades Neo satellites for customer Airbus. This was just the second launch for Vega C, Europe’s new light-lift rocket.  Arianespace […]

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 […]

Saturn Satellite Networks signed a deal to use CesiumAstro’s active phased array payload for its recently announced Space Broadband Networks satellite program.  Under the program, called SBN-1, Saturn Satellite Networks […]

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 […]