Space

VSAT network supplier and operator Bentley Walker has announced that it will launch its iDirect-based DVB-S2X service in Afghanistan. The launch of this service follows successful rollouts in Iraq and Libya by Bentley Walker. The iDirect-based DVB-S2X desktop modem will allow users to access high-throughput broadband internet using Avanti’s Hylas …

Arabsat Broadband Services has launched a new satellite broadband service called Arabsat Expand, offering 10 Gigabytes of Internet broadband access powered by Forsway’s Hybrid Router technology. Arabsat Expand has been designed and implemented by SatConsultant for Arabsat Broadband Services. The new service aims to bridge the digital divide in Africa, …

Kenya’s first indigenously-built satellite – First Kenyan University Nano Satellite-Precursor Flight (1KUNS-PF) – has been completed and handed over to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) from where it will be deployed into orbit. The 1KUNS-PF Cubesat is the first satellite developed …

Rocket Lab has successfully reached orbit with the test flight of its second Electron orbital launch vehicle, Still Testing. Electron lifted-off at 14:43 NZDT from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. Following successful first and second stage burns, Electron reached orbit and deployed customer …

During a state visit to India made 14-18 January, 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Nahendra Modi further cemented ties between the two countries with a range of agreements that cover cooperation in a number of areas, to include space. In a joint statement issued on …

When it comes to focusing on the next generation of space pioneers, the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) is making great progress. The organisation, which is based in Vienna, works tirelessly to promote space as a career to young people all over the world and from different backgrounds and countries …

How do we kickstart a space-based economy that includes everything from communications, orbiting satellites, clean energy, and asteroid mining? Here, planetary scientist Philip Metzger of the University of Central Florida lays out a proposed roadmap to get there. This essay was originally published by Aeon on January 9, 2018, and is …

Quika Ltd. has launched the world’s first entirely free high-speed satellite internet for developing countries. According to a Quika press release, the new service is being provided to “address a leading cause of economic and social inequality.” Quika aims to close what it sees as an investment gap in areas …

Talia Limited and Arabsat are continuing their partnership by announcing Talia’s lease of multiple transponders on the Ka-band Arabsat-5C High Throughput Satellite (HTS), located at 20 degrees East. The multi-year agreement will offer high-quality Internet Protocol (IP) Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) services in Iraq, Kurdistan, and Afghanistan that utilise …

The Chinese launch of what many believe to be a military reconnaissance satellite, the Ludikancha Weixing-3 (LKW-3) – or Land Surveying Satellite 3, on January 13, 2018, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre (JSLC) may have also included the SaudiSat-5B Earth observation satellite, according to a report in SpaceFlight Insider. …