Satcoms

Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES) President Jean-Yves Le Gall was in Athens for the France-Greece space industry day organized by CNES, the French Embassy in Greece, and the Greek authorities, on 31 January 2020. Le Gall gave the opening address and outlined France’s space programme and its potential for working …

Last year was a record year for the space industry with the Seraphim Space Index showing continued momentum from global venture investors who increased their investment in the sector by 21%. Total VC investment soared to $4.1bn during the year up from $3.25bn (2018) and $2.5bn (2017). The appetite for …

SES Government Solutions (SES GS) and Artel have teamed with Leidos to deliver vital connectivity solutions to Palmer Station, Antarctica, operated by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The satellite-based service will serve as the primary backbone for the sharing of leading year-round scientific research from the field to the United …

GMV, the world’s number-one independent supplier of commercial telecommunication satellite control centers, has signed a contract with Northrop Grumman for development and supply of the Satellite Operations Center for Space Norway HEOSAT’s ASBM-1 and ASBM-2 satellites. Space Norway HEOSAT, a subsidiary of the government owned Space Norway, is a Norwegian …

Kinéis, a CLS Group spin-off, announced on 3 February 2020 it has raised 100 million Euros, achieving its target to finance a constellation of nanosatellites dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT). CLS Group is a subsidiary of the Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES), the French national space agency. Kinéis …

2020 is expected to be a landmark year for Virgin Orbit as its LauncherOne rocket will have its maiden launch from the Cosmic Girl modified Boeing 747. During the 2019 Dubai Airshow in November, SpaceWatch.Global’s Anna Hazlett met with Dr. Michaelyn Thomas, Head of Affordability at Virgin Orbit, to learn more about their exciting …

By Bleddyn E. Bowen The UK defence policy community is awaiting the 2020 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) and the National Security Strategy (NSS), which were last produced together in 2015. These headline defence and security documents outline what the UK Government and relevant ministries’ agreed view of the …

SpaceX has launched a Falcon 9 satellite launch vehicle carrying its fourth batch of 60 Starlink satellites. The launch took place at 9:06 a.m. local time on Wednesday, 29 January 2020, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The satellites were successfully deployed a little over one hour after launch. …

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. jointly announced on 29 January 2020 that Comtech has agreed to acquire Gilat in a cash and stock transaction for $10.25 per Gilat ordinary share of which 70% will be paid in cash and 30% in Comtech common stock, resulting in an …

Kepler Communications, a Canadian satellite telecommunications company, is to begin production in its newly commissioned satellite manufacturing facility in Toronto, Canada. It is being described as an essential step towards delivering the company’s proposed fleet of 140 satellites for high-capacity global connectivity services with applications in maritime, agriculture, research and …