The satellite industry’s big 5 operators (Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat, Telesat and Viasat) have all now reported their quarterly numbers and – in summary – they are not good. Sami Kassab, an analyst at investment bank Exane/BNPP, in a useful summary note to clients says that overall, operating trends for the industry remain challenging with Intelsat […]

Mark Dankberg, chairman and CEO of Viasat, says his company’s plans to launch the ‘next generation’ Viasat-3 iteration of its satellites fleet are being affected by the Covid-19 crisis. Nevertheless, a recent cash-raising exercise gives Viasat some extra opportunities. “The Covid pandemic is definitely creating some issues for us to overcome, but we continue to […]

California-based Viasat has some inevitable anxieties about the current Covid-19 pandemic and the impact it is having on its aircraft-based In-Flight Communications and Entertainment revenues. It is borrowing $400 million (via Senior Unsecured Notes due 2028) in a private placing. Viasat says it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay all […]

The FCC, somewhat unusually, seems to have changed its mind and it is the world’s operators of Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites which could benefit. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said on June 9th that the Commission had changed the text on its draft order. “We did accommodate a request from a commissioner (Commissioner O’Rielly) to […]