Satcoms

Update from the launch front: 29 out of the 88 satellites that SpaceX launched in its Transponder-2 mission were sharing the ride through Exolaunch, another 3 are from the European Space Agency (ESA), Exolaunch and ESA said, while OneWeb launched 36 more satellite for its internet constellation on a Soyuz rocket commercialized by Arianespace from Vostochny in Siberia.

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Airbus will place a dedicated Ultra High Frequency (UHF) military payload onboard Eutelsat’s 36D satellite to serve Europe’s and NATO’s armed forces, Airbus said. Military UHF satcoms are used by the armed forces for operations on land, at sea and in the air, Airbus said.

The LEO operator OneWeb received a $500 million injection from its large shareholder Bharti, totalling its secured funding to $2.4 billion, the company said. Bharti exercised a call option under the existing shareholders’ agreement to invest an additional $500 million, and will then hold 38.6% of the company, it said.

Leaf Space, a ground segment service provider, is adding three stations to its global Leaf Line Network, the company based in Washington, D.C., said. The new stations will be installed in Sri Lanka, the Azores and Scotland, the company said, "enhancing Leaf Space’s capability to provide solutions and services to its growing list of customers".

Airbus will continue to provide the UK Royal Navy with satellite-based maritime surveillance services, the company said. The UK Royal Navy has awarded a 12-month contract extension to Airbus covering the continued provision of satellite-based maritime surveillance services for the Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC), Airbus said.

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Connecting sensors and soldiers: the U.S. Army has contracted Iridium to develop a smallsat GPS payload, the company said. The contract is worth up to $30 million. Iridium will develop a smallsat payload that supports navigation and GPS systems for the army, Iridium said.

Swissto12 and SatixFy cooperate to develop and sell telecom payloads for satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and Geostationary Orbit (GEO), the companies said. SatixFy contributes its software defined, high bandwidth product portfolio; Swissto12 contributes its active antenna technology that leverages 3D printing.

The Swiss nanosatellite startup Astrocast seeks as much as €45.5 million in a private placement ahead of a direct listing on the stock market, Bloomberg reported. The company is backed by venture capital firm Adit Ventures, Airbus SE’s venture arm and the European Space Agency (ESA).