A Russian satellite, Cosmos 2553, is tumbling out of control and posing a danger for other orbiting craft. Satellite observation specialist LeoLabs has reported that the “anti-satellite weapon” launched into orbit in 2022 is no longer functional. Cosmos 2553 is thought to be part of a Russian effort to develop a nuclear weapon that could […]
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr last week visited the AST SpaceMobile (AST) satellite manufacturing facility in Midland, Texas. He was accompanied by Republican senator Ted Cruz on the visit. AST is building a mega-constellation of high-output satellites that will deliver broadband and voice calls direct to a consumer’s ordinary handsets. Chairman […]
AST SpaceMobile (AST) activated one of its first BlueBird satellites over Japan in order to make a video call with staff from cellular telco Rakuten, its partner operator in Japan. Abel Avellan, CEO at AST, commented: “Another historic first! We completed our initial activation of our first BlueBird satellites in Japan with Rakuten Mobile to […]
New Zealand-based (but Nasdaq-listed) Rocket Lab has confirmed that it intends attacking the Direct-to-Consumer market currently dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its Starlink broadband system. Rocket Lab, founded by Sir Peter Beck, has recently unveiled its ‘Flatellite’ satellite, which it claims will deliver a long life in orbit and low-latency, with high-speed connectivity and […]
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking at the commissioning ceremony for the country’s home-produced TÜRKSAT 6A on April 21st, said that Turkey was now one of only a few counties capable of producing its own satellites. “With TÜRKSAT 6A, which we developed with a domestic production rate of over 80 per cent, Türkiye has become […]
Germany has already made it known that it believes the EU-backed IRIS2 mega-constellation of super-secure satellites is too expensive. Now it seems that Italy is also having thoughts about its own satellite fleet. A report in German newspaper Handelsblatt suggests that the German army (Bundeswehr) is backing an alternate orbiting satellite system, and may not […]
The Baikonur rocket and missile site in the middle of Kazakhstan is an area of some 90 kms in diameter which is leased to Russia until 2050. At its heart is the spaceport, and central to the spaceport’s modest visitors area is a small museum where the world’s first astronaut Yuri Gagarin lived ahead of […]
An Indian rocket will launch AST SpaceMobile’s (AST) first of its 2nd Generation satellites into orbit in May. AST’s intention is to provide a global direct-to-consumer cellular service in conjunction with partners such as Vodafone, AT&T and Verizon. Shareholder optimism is also robust, helped by positive reports from some influential investment banks. But two recent reports […]
The past few weeks have seen all of the major geostationary satellite operators release their latest financial numbers. Analysts from Quilty Space have examined the results and their comments are not good. Referring, for example, to Telesat’s numbers, Quilty said: “Few operators have given a more damning assessment of the prospects for GEO connectivity than […]
SES has released the results of its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on April 3rd. All of the motions were carried, but there were some notable objections which while not affecting the end result proved that not all of the proposed motions were 100 per cent supported. For example, Agenda item 10 (“Determination of the […]