Advanced Television

Satellite

Telesat trims Lightspeed LEO fleet

Ottawa-based satellite operator Telesat has formally advised the Federal Communications Commission that it wants to reduce the size of its proposed Liightspeed low Earth orbiting fleet from 1,671 craft to 300. The major change is that Telesat will orbit the Lightspeed fleet in higher orbital altitudes. The initial ‘Shell 1’ launches were due to comprise […]

April 15, 2025By Chris Forrester

American Airlines, AT&T inflight Wi-Fi partnership

American Airlines and AT&T have announced they will partner to offer complimentary inflight Wi-Fi across more than 2 million American flights a year, beginning in January 2026. With complimentary inflight Wi-Fi available exclusively to members of the AAdvantage loyalty programme, American Airlines says it will offer free inflight connectivity on more planes than any other […]

April 15, 2025

CMA investigates SES-Intelsat acquisition

The UK’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a Phase 1 investigation into SES in relation to its proposed acquisition of Intelsat. The CMA believes that the proposed acquisition of Intelsat Holdings by Luxembourg-based SES could potentially lead to a substantial lessening of competition in one or more UK markets. The CMA is examining […]

April 14, 2025By Chris Forrester

EU supports Airbus, Thales merger

The EU’s Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius says he has no objection to mergers in the satellite and space production sector. Speaking on April 11th at the New Economy Forum’s Europa Forum in Brussels, he said he was in favour or supporting champions, although did not specifically mention the Airbus and Thales Alenia merger […]

April 14, 2025By Chris Forrester

AST SpaceMobile gets $42 or $1500 price target

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 […]

April 14, 2025

ULA reschedules Project Kuiper’s launch

The next date for United Launch Alliance’s launch of the first Project Kuiper satellites is scheduled for today [April 14th] from 4:00 PM to 8:34 PM ET. Liftoff of the Kuiper 1 mission will occur from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Project Kuiper’s satellite payload will be the heaviest […]

April 14, 2025By Chris Forrester

Report: Satellite collision risk increasing

Novaspace, the space consulting and market intelligence firm, has released its Space Situational and Domain Awareness Market Intelligence Report.   “With the increasing deployment of mega-constellations in lower orbits, critical failures and collision events are becoming a matter of when rather than if,” said Alessandro Cattaneo, Consultant at Novaspace and lead author of its newly released […]

April 14, 2025

SES CEO: “We must move even faster”

SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh, in an interview, has said that despite the recent examples of acquisitions it must move even faster. SES is awaiting regulatory approvals for its purchase of rival Intelsat, and has recently made an investment in Lynk Global which is building a low Earth orbiting fleet of satellites for Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) connections. […]

April 11, 2025By Chris Forrester

au Starlink Direct DTC satellite service

Japanese telcos KDDI and Okinawa Cellular are providing au Starlink Direct, a direct to cell service between satellites and au smartphones, making it the first such service in Japan. The service is compatible with 50 smartphone models and is available free of charge to au users for the time being without the need to apply. […]

April 11, 2025

Cathay Pacific plans 100% IFE, WiFi

Cathay Pacific claims that from August 2025 it will be one of the very few airlines to offer both 100 per cent seatback inflight entertainment and 100 per cent high-speed inflight connectivity across its fleet, setting what it says is a new standard for premium air travel. Customers travelling on Cathay Pacific flights will be […]

April 11, 2025By Colin Mann