Satcoms

Paris, 23 April 2021. – Airbus Defence and Space will launch a small Earth observation satellite with Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum launch vehicle, the company said. “This constitutes the first major launch contract between an established space company and a privately financed European launcher company,” the startup said.

Paris, 23 April 2021. – The UK startup Satellite Vu raised €4.16 million to launch “the world’s first satellite constellation capable of imaging the thermal footprint of any building on the planet every 1-2 hours”, the company said. The seed round was led by Seraphim Capital.

Paris, 21 April 2021. – The European Space Agency (ESA) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) cooperate “to better address major global issues such as food security, and to take further advantage of the digital transformation in agriculture”, ESA said.

Paris, 20 April 2021. – 9 times 5: Amazon contracted nine Atlas V rockets to launch its Project Kuiper broadband constellation, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced. With Project Kuiper, Amazon wants to increase global broadband coverage through a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).  

Paris, 19 April 2021. – The mobile satellite communications provider Inmarsat partners with OneOcean, a compliance and navigation service provider, to drive the “digitalisation of navigation and compliance in the maritime industry”, the companies announced. Under the agreement, OneOcean leverages Inmarsat’s technology platform to apply its software solutions and “transform the way voyage planning software is deployed, updated and integrated between ship and shore”.

Paris, 16 April 2021. – A step into GEO: The San Francisco-based Astranis, a company that wants to offer satellite internet via small and light geostationary satellites, raised $250 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion, in a round led by BlackRock, RockAstranis CEO John Gedmark told CNBC. The new round brings Astranis’ total funding to more than $350 million since its founding in 2015, according to the business channel.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Orbital Gateway Consulting we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “Dongfang Hour China Aerospace News Roundup 5 April - 11 April 2021”. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Dongfang Hour China Aero/Space News Roundup!

Paris, 14 April 2021. - ArianeGroup will supply ultra-light Sprint antenna reflectors to Airbus for its OneSat satellite, the group said. The first Sprint reflectors will equip Inmarsat, Optus, Intelsat, and SKY Perfect JSAT satellites produced by Airbus, ArianeGroup said. ArianeGroup developed the latest generation of ultra-light Sprint antenna reflectors “in just two years”, the company says

Paris, 14 April 2021. – Indonesia adopts Iridium’s Push-to-Talk across the widespread country, Iridium said. The Republic of Indonesia’s government has adopted Iridium Push-to-Talk (PTT) devices and will deploy 500 Iridium PTT handsets to support communication efforts across the country, Iridium said.

Paris, 13 April 2021. – The Norwegian network provider Marlink Group can close the acquisition of ITC Global, the company said. Backed by Apax Partners, Marlink obtained final regulatory approvals to acquire 100% of ITC Global from Panasonic, the group said. Marlink and ITC Global are preparing for a swift closing of the transaction in the coming weeks, the company said.