Satcoms

German Rivada Space Networks, a new company launching a constellation of 600 low-Earth-orbit communication satellites, announced a pledge of US $112 million toward creating an Open Access Platform for the ITU Partner2Connect Digital Coalition to help bridge the digital divide. 

Startup AST SpaceMobile, announced it has received an experimental license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) supporting its US-based testing of the BlueWalker 3 satellite. The company is building the first space-based cellular broadband network designed to be accessible directly by standard mobile phones, SpaceMobile said.

Space4Impact, EPFL’s Space Center eSpace, E2MC Ventures, and Space Innovation joined forces to launch an online course on the New Space Economy. The program is available on edX as a free EPFLx course. Learners can watch more than 30 video lectures by space experts from various domains within startups, academia, the private sector, and public institutions in Switzerland.

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present: The Space Cafe Podcast #053: ESA director Géraldine Naja on the commercialization of ESA, the Russian absence, and why ESA might just be waiting for your job application. The European Space Agency (ESA) has set sail to begin commercial operations. But what does that mean?

In this Space Café Radio -  SpaceWatch.Global Senior Editor Dr. Emma Gatti spoke with Declan Ganley, Chairman and CEO of Rivada Space Networks, about their new upcoming constellation. Rivada announced recently the launch of 600 LEO ultra-secure satellites, but what's new with them?

Lonestar Data Holdings announced that it is launching a series of data centers to the lunar surface and it has already contracted three companies for its first two missions to the Moon and for the build of its data services payload. The lunar startup will provide data services and communications from the Moon by utilizing a platform for critical data infrastructure and edge processing.

Satellite internet company Starlink is testing its wireless internet services on Delta Air Lines’ airplanes. The Atlanta-based airline said they had been in discussions with Starlink, and conducted initial tests of the technology. SpaceX Starlink CEO Elon Musk, said that the company was aiming to get certified for Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 planes as well.

France's highest administrative court revoked the decision to grant two frequency bands to satellite company Starlink, saying the country's telecoms regulator, Arcep, had made legal misjudgements, Reuters reported. Starlink got the right operate on two radio frequencies to provide internet access from France's Arcep regulator in February 2021.

Amazon announced it signed launch service contracts with three commercial launch companies, ArianeSpace, Blue Origin and ULA (United Launch Alliance) for 83 launches altogether over a five year period.  Arianespace will perform 18 Ariane 6 launches for Amazon’s Project Kuiper over a period of three years under the contract.

In that Space Café Germany Dr.-Ing. Ernst Pfeiffer, CEO of HPS High-Performance Space Structure Systems GmbH and spokesman of the German SME in Space Association, talked with our guest moderator Markus Mooslechner, Executive Producer and Author at Terra Mater Studios and Host of the Space Café Podcasts about SME's in the German Space(politics) - an orientation.