Tag Archives: Africa

Azerbaijan’s second communications satellite, Azerspace-2, will reach its intended Geostationary orbit - 45 degrees East longitude - in January or February 2019, according to the country’s state space corporation Azercosmos, reports Trend News Agency.

Sky and Space Global Ltd. is pleased to announce it has signed a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement with Blue Power Group.

Yahsat, the UAE’s leading commercua satellite communications operator, officially launched its Ka-band satellite broadband service in Brazil in November 2018. The arrival of Yahsat in Brazil will assist in addressing the country’s shortage of reliable Internet connectivity that traditionally relies on terrestrial Internet connectivity.

Konnect Africa, an initiative of the satellite operator Eutelsat dedicated to satellite broadband on the African continent, announced on 28 November 2018 the launch of its Internet access offers throughout the Congolese territory.

It has been a busy few weeks in the Middle Eastern satellite and space sector, with developments and activities taking place from Morocco to Iran, and all points in between. The following is a roundup of the regional space and satellite news that was not previously covered in-depth by SpaceWatch.MiddleEast.

Sky and Space Global, the Australian New Space narrowband satellite communications company, are making significant inroads in the African and Brazilian communications markets by participating in the AfriCom conference in South Africa and signing MoU’s with two Brazilian telecommunications companies.

Morocco's Mohammed VI-B high-resolution Earth observation satellite is expected to be launched on an Arianespace launch vehicle from the Kourou Space Centre in French Guiana on 20 November 2018, on board an Arianespace Vega satellite launch vehicle, with the mission dubbed by Arianespace as Vega Flight VV13.

MzansiSat, a New Space satellite broadband company located in Stellenbosch, South Africa, is looking to launch and operate its own Geostationary orbit communications satellite, to be called MzansiSat-1, by 2022 in order to provide low-cost satellite broadband Internet across Africa in what its Chief Operating Officer, Victor Stephanopoli, calls a "patchy" telecommunications sector on the continent.

Thuraya Telecommunications Company, a subsidiary of the Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), announced on 13 November 2018 that the world’s first satellite smartphone, the Thuraya X5-Touch, would be available for commercial distribution in less than a month.

Hughes Network Systems LLC, a leading company in broadband satellite networks and services, announced on 12 November 2018 that three African telecom companies have selected the Hughes JUPITER™ System to power delivery of satellite broadband services for their customers. Botswana Telecommunications Corporation, Satcom Networks Africa Limited (SatCoNet), and a leading East African telecommunications company each chose the JUPITER System based on its high performance, operational efficiency, and better customer experience.