Troubled Israeli commercial satellite operator Spacecom has won a U.S.$55 million contract from an unnamed customer to use the AMOS-17 satellite to broadcast content to the African continent. AMOS-17 is being built by U.S. satellite manufacturer Boeing Satellite Systems International and is scheduled to be launched by SpaceX by mid-2019, and is to replace AMOS-5 – built by a Russian manufacturer – that failed in orbit in 2015 after only four years operation of what should have been a fifteen year mission.
Read More »Angosat-1 is Confirmed ‘Dead’
The first ever Angolan satellite to be launched is no longer operational. Confirmation of the news came via a press conference in Luanda with the Angolan Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technologies, Jose Carvalho da Rocha.
Read More »Algeria’s ALCOMSAT-1 Communications Satellite Now Operational
Algeria's ALCOMSAT-1 communications satellite is operational in its orbital slot four months after its launch from China. A handover ceremony was held earlier in April 2018 at the Algerian satellite control centre that will handle all ALCOMSAT-1 operations between Algerian officials and engineers and executives from China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) who built and launched the satellite.
Read More »Bangladesh’s Bangabandhu-1 Satellite Due for 4th May Launch from Cape Canaveral
Bangladesh's first satellite, the Bangabandhu-1 communications satellite, is set to be launched on board a SpaceX Falcon-9 space launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 4 May 2018, according to Mohammed Mezbahuzzaman, project director of the satellite programme.
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Middle East Space Roundup – March 27, 2018
SpaceWatch.Global is providing a new weekly feature that provides a brief summary and roundup of space activities and satellite industry developments in Africa, Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Russia and the CIS that have not been reported in-depth by our team.
Read More »Israel’s Spacecom Looking to Acquire AMOS-8, End AsiaSat Lease
Israeli fleet operator Spacecom is very close to purchasing a new satellite, named AMOS-8. This forthcoming purchase is a sign of a turnaround for Spacecom, as well as a bet on the troubled company’s future. Back-to-back spacecraft losses in 2015 and 2016 turned Spacecom from an expanding business into a struggling concern. Preceding the destruction of AMOS-6, Spacecom’s Russian-built AMOS-5 satellite ceased working in orbit due to a power system failure in 2015, just four years after its launch.
Read More »Thailand’s ThaiCom Expands Footprint Through Canal+ Broadcast Into Myanmar
Thaicom Public Company Limited, one of Asia’s leading satellite and digital platform operators, announced that it has signed a multiyear contract with CANAL+ Overseas Myanmar, a CANAL+ subsidiary in charge of broadcasting internatio
Read More »Algérie Telecom Satellite to Offer Broadband and VOD on ALCOMSAT-1 Later in 2018
Algérie Telecom Satellite (ATS), a subsidiary of Algérie Telecom, plans to introduce a triple play service to provide customers with broadband Internet, telephone, and video-on-demand (VOD) via the ALCOMSAT-1 communications satellite. ATS will offer the services that include a digital demodulator loaded with TV channels, high speed internet, and telephone …
Read More »ARABSAT-6A Cleared for Launch After Successful SpaceX Falcon Heavy Test Launch
The successful launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy space launch vehicle (SLV) on 6 February, 2018, is a major milestone in spaceflight and space exploration. It is also a green light for the launch of the Arabsat-6A communications satellite in the coming months aboard a Falcon Heavy SLV. “Arabsat-6A positioned at …
Read More »Iran Set To Launch Four Satellites Soon, Warns of Parallel IRGC Space Programme
Iran’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, told a space conference in Tehran on 3 February, 2018, that an Iranian satellite is ready to launch, and three others are in their pre-launch procedures. Jahromi also told his audience that Iran has made “great headways in developing …
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