Satcoms

How should India approach Chinese efforts to develop antisatellite (ASAT) weapons and its ambition to establish space superiority? In a talk given to the Observer Research Foundation’s Space Security conference in New Delhi on 16 February, 2018, ThorGroup’s Dr. John B. Sheldon offers a few suggestions. For those who have just …

Coinciding with the Satellite 2018 Conference & Exhibition held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC during March 12-15, 2018, Teal Group space analysts have identified 12,230 satellites, probes and capsules to be built and launched to earth or deep space orbits between 2018 and 2037. They estimate the value of these space payloads at more than $272 billion.

A media collective called Kloop Media in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet Republic in Central Asia, has started a Cubesat programme exclusively for Kyrgyz girls and women. Kloop Media started the programme in an effort to address widespread discrimination, misogyny, and even physical abuse against women in Kyrgyzstan by raising awareness …

France and India have agreed to cooperate on space-based maritime domain awareness in the Indian Ocean. This decision to increase cooperation is seen as a geopolitical countermove to what many Indian analysts believe are increasing attempts by China to gain superiority in the Indian Ocean. France and India will now …

With China’s Belt and Road Initiative coming under criticism, and a proposed infrastructure programme in the offing from the so-called ‘Quad’ powers of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, ThorGroup GmbH Chairman and President, Dr. John B. Sheldon, argues that the Quad powers tap the potential of their NewSpace …

India’s proactive initiative to connect South Asian countries with its South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) South Asia Satellite has received a boost with the recent announcement and agreement that Bangladesh will use the capability. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) plans to send a proposal to the Bangladeshi …

Facing financial problems and an uncertain future, Israel’s Spacecom is now looking abroad to expand its satellite communications business. An announcement posted by the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) reports that talks were held between its head, Pavlo Dehtiarenko, and David Pollack, Spacecom CEO, in Kyiv late last month. …

A University of Tokyo team announced an innovative project to launch approximately 20 microsatellites over the next three years, in collaboration with more than 20 countries, including Laos and Nepal, to supplement existing telecommunications infrastructure. This marks another development in Japan’s expanding satellite diplomacy across Asia, as it builds influence …

Lockheed Martin, the giant U.S. aerospace company, has completed the assembly of the ARABSAT-6A communications satellite, and has shipped it to the Lockheed Martin facilities in Sunnyvale, California, for final tests and preparations prior to its launch on board a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch vehicle later this year. Once successfully …

One of China’s largest space and satellite companies, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), has announced plans to build a 300-satellite mobile telephone communications network providing coverage for Chinese mobile telephone users, according to Chinese press reports. The satellite communications mega-constellation, called Project Hongyan, will be built with …