Africa

The President of the French national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales   (CNES), Jean-Yves Le Gall, visited Dakar, Senegal, on 12 December 2019 to take part in the commemorations marking the 60th anniversary of the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA).

Following nearly two years of collaboration on terrestrial surveillance between the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) and Aireon, the two organizations have concluded the use of space-based ADS-B for surveillance services beginning 1 January 2020 within the six flight information regions (FIRs) of ASECNA: Antananarivo, Brazzaville, Dakar Terrestrial, Dakar Oceanic, N'djamena and Niamey.

Panasonic Avionics Corporation, a market leader in in-flight entertainment and connectivity, has signed a multi-year agreement for Ku-band capacity on two multi-beam payloads on the EUTELSAT-10B satellite, due to be launched in 2022.

When we think of space, we generally think of SciFi shows such as Star Trek, or humanity’s current plans to send manned missions to Mars. Most people don’t think about space as a business enabler, and yet that is exactly what it has become over the years.

The Global Satellite Coalition (GSC), a group of seven trade associations representing the global satellite eco-system, has welcomed the decisions taken at the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19), Sharm-el-Sheikh, which allow satellite services to continue to bridge digital, education, health and social divides and connect more and more citizens around the world.

The Hague International Space Resources Governance Working Group is pleased to announce the adoption of the Building Blocks for the Development of an International Framework on Space Resource Activities.

Talia Limited, a leading communications solutions provider serving the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas, announced on 25 November 2019 the successful completion of beta testing of its Ka-band High Throughput Satellites (HTS) services in additional African countries including Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gambia, Ghana, and Congo.

On the inaugural day of AfricaCom 2019, Eutelsat Communications announced a multiyear contract signature with Orao Telecom Congofor video capacity aboard one of its satellites located at 7° East, a privileged position for Africa.

Talia Limited, a leading communications solutions provider serving the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas, have announced that their Quika High Throughput Satellite (HTS) platform has been recognised as an innovative business model and technology by the World Bank Group, as detailed in the latest Connecting Africa Through Broadband report.

The all-electric KONNECT communications satellite built by Thales Alenia Space, the joint company between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), for the international operator Eutelsat Communications is now undergoing final preparation prior to being shipped to the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, for a launch planned mid-January 2020.