Advanced Television

Inside Satellite

Chris Forrester

Chris Forrester is one of the most experienced and highly regarded journalists in the field. His insight and analysis, particularly in the satellite and pay-TV arena, is highly prized. He has written for all the major business journals in the sector as well as several national newspapers.

Eutelsat stock up 50% on EU reports

The financial news for Eutelsat has been depressing for some time. But March 3rd saw its share price rocket ahead by almost 50 per cent on news that diplomatic problems between President Trump and Ukraine could mean the EU backing Eutelsat’s OneWeb division as a powerful alternate to Elon Musk’s Starlink for satellite services to […]

March 4, 2025

Call to revise SES shareholder structure

Appaloosa LP, which manages funds holding more than 7 per cent economic interests in both SES and Intelsat submitted proxy, proposals urging the SES Board of Directors to take immediate steps to address shortfalls in corporate governance, capital allocation and management accountability. Some of its suggestions contain highly critical comments. Appaloosa, in a statement on […]

March 3, 2025

SES: mPOWER fully sold out

Last week’s SES results and subsequent analysts call with the satellite operator have now been examined in some detail. One analyst from investment bank BNP Paribas has digested the slew of information and explains why the full-year numbers turned out to be ahead of consensus. The end result from Sami Kassab is to reaffirm its […]

March 2, 2025

Bank upgrades AST SpaceMobile

The recent successful ‘direct-to-device’ test video calls by AT&T and Verizon using AST SpaceMobile’s (AST) satellites has prompted analysts at investment firm B Riley Securities to upgrade their advice to clients. Their core guidance rating is ‘Buy’ and the firm says that AST is gaining momentum because of the space-based video calls. This advice, given […]

February 28, 2025

SES: ‘FCC wants more C-band spectrum’

The post-results analysts call with SES senior management focused on two topics: The possibility of another C-band release of spectrum to the FCC and the state of the Intelsat $3.1 billion (€2.9bn) acquisition by SES and what the consequences would be if one of the parties walked away from the deal. The FCC is holding […]

February 27, 2025

SpaceX vs Ariane 6

The launch of two giant rockets will take place over the next few days. February 28th will see Elon Musk’s SpaceX launch its massive Starship rocket on its eighth test flight from its South Texas launch site. Meanwhile, in French Guiana, Arianespace’s new Ariane 6 rocket is now scheduled to launch its first commercial flight […]

February 26, 2025

Class Action against Terran Orbital updated

Satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital, now owned by Lockheed Martin, is facing a Class Action brought by law firm Levi & Korsinsky (and others) and recently an amended complaint was filed in the Action. In essence, the complaint alleges that Terran Orbital Corp. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) it […]

February 25, 2025

Rocket Lab’s Electron beating Musk’s Falcon 9

February 19th saw the New Zealand-based Rocket Lab, founded by Sir Peter Beck, launch its 60th Electron mission. The company specialises in launching smaller satellites, and its record to date is extraordinarily impressive. Electron is already the world’s most frequently launched small rocket annually. “Now we’re making it the world’s first reusable orbital small rocket […]

February 20, 2025

SES hit by ratings downgrade

It’s not been a good month for European satellite operators. Recent weeks have seen Paris-based Eutelsat suffer negative comments and a much-depressed share price. Now it is Luxembourg’s SES which is hurting. Ratings agency Moody’s cut its outlook on SES to “negative” (from “stable”) and that the operator’s long-term debt (rated Baa3) would be “under […]

February 19, 2025

Eutelsat suffers a 71% reduction by bank

Analysts at investment bank BNP Paribas have issued their thoughts on satellite operator Eutelsat’s current predicament and have advised clients that their rating on the Paris-based business is ‘underperform’ as far as shareholders are concerned. But worse, in that the bank’s Sami Kassab, in the past a supporter of satellite stocks, has issued a target […]

February 18, 2025