E-letter: News Feed
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Mobility
Alphabet Shutters Loon Venture
Alphabet, parent company of Google, is shutting down Loon, its subsidiary dedicated to providing broadband from balloons in the stratosphere. Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth announced the news in a Medium […]
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Finance
Forsway Adds Irdeto Exec to Board of Directors
Forsway, the Swedish satellite/terrestrial broadband player, is adding a new member to its board of directors. The company announced Jan. 22 that Irdeto Executive Bengt Jonsson will join the board. […]
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Government/Military
Steve Jurczyk Named Acting NASA Administrator Following Bridenstine’s Exit
U.S. President Joe Biden named Steve Jurczyk to the post of acting NASA administrator on Thursday, replacing the agency’s former administrator Jim Bridenstine. Jurczyk previously served as NASA’s associate administrator, […]
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Government/Military
Satellite Industry Responds to Jessica Rosenworcel’s New Role as Acting FCC Chair
Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Friday, Jan. 22. U.S. President Joe Biden named Jessica Rosenworcel acting chairwoman of the FCC on Thursday. She succeeds Ajit Pai, who stepped […]
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Mobility
Gilat Tests ESA Over Inmarsat GX Network
Gilat Satellite Networks’ Electronically Steered Antenna (ESA) has been successfully tested over Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) network, the companies announced Thursday. Gilat’s open-architecture antenna has been integrated with Inmarsat’s G-MODMAN […]
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Connectivity
Eutelsat Signs Konnect Service Agreement for Post Office Network in Côte d’Ivoire
Eutelsat Communications has signed an agreement with distribution partner InterSat to provide “konnect” broadband service to a network of 170 post offices throughout Côte d’Ivoire. Under the multi-year agreement, “La […]
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Connectivity
Swedish Space Corporation Signs Optical Communication MOU With Airbus
Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) has signed a deal to work on space-to-ground optical communications with Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands. Optical communication between ground stations and satellites in orbit enables […]
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Imagery and Sensing
Maxar Sells New Supply of Earth Imagery to Mapbox
Mapbox, the mapping and location cloud service that aims to power future automated vehicle and enterprise networks, has added 135 million square kilometers of satellite Earth imagery from Maxar Technologies […]
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Government/Military
Thales Alenia Space, Airbus Win Second-Generation Galileo Satellite Contract
The European Commission (EC) awarded 1.47 billion euros ($1.77 billion) to Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence & Space on Tuesday to build and launch Europe’s second-generation Galileo satellite positioning […]
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Connectivity
SpaceX’s Starlink Constellation Hits 1,000-Satellite Mark after Successful Launch
California-based launch and internet service provider SpaceX sent a new batch of Starlink internet satellites into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday […]
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Connectivity
Myriota to Provide IoT Services for Australian Government Space Project
Myriota will take part in a new project by the Australian government involving satellite, the company announced Wednesday. It will be involved in the SASAT1 Space Services Mission to deliver […]
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People
Thursday Morning Conversation With Jean-Marc Nasr of Airbus Defence and Space
Satellite manufacturing, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Johnny Cash. Via Satellite’s Thursday Morning Conversation this week goes to France to talk to Jean-Marc Nasr, head of Space Systems […]
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Finance
Intelsat Board Chair David McGlade Accused of Insider Trading in Lawsuit
A class action lawsuit has accused David McGlade, former Intelsat CEO and chairman of its board of directors, along with shareholders BC Partners and Silver Lake, of insider trading around the […]
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Podcast
2020 in Review and the Decade Ahead With Euroconsult’s Maxime Puteaux
In this episode, Maxime Puteaux, principal advisor at Euroconsult, gives us the rundown of satellite trends in 2020, as well as what he sees happening in the decade ahead. Puteaux […]
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Connectivity
SES Networks to Deliver Capacity to Northern Canada for SSI Canada
SES will deliver satellite capacity to Nunavut in northern Canada, through a multi-year agreement with with SSi Canada, the developer-operator of Qiniq broadband, and SSi Mobile services in Nunavut. Under […]
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Government/Military
Iridium, Lockheed Martin Join Group Calling for FCC to Stay Ligado Order
Update: On Tuesday, Jan. 19, the FCC denied a request to stay the Ligado decision. “[The] order imposed stringent conditions in order to protect incumbent users, including GPS services and […]
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Connectivity
C-Band Auction Sets Record, Grossing $81B in Phase One
The FCC’s C-band auction has set a new FCC auction record at the end of its first phase, grossing $80.9 billion. This far exceeds previous estimates for the auction, which […]
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Launch
Virgin Orbit Sends the First Air-Launched, Liquid-Fueled Rocket to Space
Virgin Orbit successfully deployed 10 payloads for NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) during the California-based company’s second demonstration of its LauncherOne spacecraft on Sunday, Jan. 17. The LauncherOne was deployed […]
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Connectivity
Globalstar to Provide Satellite Services for Smart Livestock Tag
Globalstar has signed an agreement to supply satellite services to Ceres Tag, a direct-to-satellite animal tracking platform. The Ceres Tag is a smart ear tag that weighs just over one […]
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Finance
SoftBank Re-Invests in OneWeb
SoftBank Group has made an investment into the new iteration of OneWeb, the company announced Jan. 15. This marks SoftBank re-investing into OneWeb, after the former majority investor pulled out […]
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Member Content
Satellite Operator Round-Up for the Week of Jan. 11
Welcome to our first big satellite operator round-up of the year, as the industry looks to begin 2021. While the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of abating, the satellite industry […]
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Launch
Exotrail Completes In-Orbit Demonstration Mission
Exotrail had a successful first cubesat mission equipped with ExoMG Hall-effect electric propulsion technology, the company reported Jan. 12. The company completed an in-orbit demonstration mission launched to Low-Earth Orbit […]
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Partner Content
hiSky CEO Wants to Close the Tech Gap Between Cost and Usability with Smartellite System
With so many new satellites being launched into Geostationary Orbit, Low-Earth Orbit, and Medium-Earth Orbit, (GEO/MEO/LEO), ground segment and technology providers face increasing pressure to develop systems that power new […]
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Connectivity
OneWeb Adjusts Target Constellation Size Down to 7,000 Satellites
OneWeb has adjusted its plans for the size of its Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation down from a 48,000-satellite constellation to roughly 7,000, the company announced Wednesday. In May, while the […]
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Launch
SpaceX to Launch Second Intuitive Machines’ Moon Mission
Intuitive Machines has selected SpaceX to launch its NASA-backed IM-2 Polar Mission to the Moon on a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than 2022, the company announced Wednesday. NASA awarded […]
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Launch
Blue Origin Executes New Shepard Launch, Tests New Crew Capsule
Blue Origin successfully launched its New Shepard suborbital rocket on Thursday, testing upgrades to its crew capsule. This was the 14th New Shepard mission for Blue Origin, the commercial launch […]
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Government/Military
Airbus Completes Design Review for Skynet 6A Satellite
Airbus revealed Thursday that it has successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the Skynet 6A project. The project now has permission to move into the next phase, which […]
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Opinion
Securing Satellite Connectivity From the Ground Up
As the satellite industry aims to serve every connectivity need from global 5G networks to mission critical communications, the ever-present threat of a cyber attack is an integral consideration of […]
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Government/Military
US Air Force Picks Redstone Arsenal in Alabama for U.S. Space Command HQ
The U.S. Air Force has picked Redstone Arsenal, Alabama as the “preferred location” for U.S. Space Command’s headquarters, pending a final decision in 2023 after the completion of an environmental […]
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Connectivity
European Space Conference Examines Satellite’s Role in Future 5G Networks
At the 13th European Space Conference on Wednesday, Gerry Collins, network and services policy expert for ESOA stated that the satellite industry needs to change its way of doing business […]





























