Finance

SES hired from outside of the satellite industry with its new CEO. The company announced Oct. 13 that T-Systems International executive Adel Al-Saleh will become its new CEO in February next year. Steve Collar, who had been CEO for over six years, left at the end of June. Ruy Pinto has been the interim CEO...

Stellant Systems is acquiring Comtech’s Power Systems Technology (PST) product line for $40 million, the companies announced Friday. Stellant is acquiring the PST product line to strengthen its portfolio of radio frequency (RF) amplification products.  The transaction is expected to close by the end of this month and is subject to regulatory approvals. The sale...

Ligado Networks filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, claiming the government unlawfully took the company’s licensed spectrum without compensation. Ligado announced the lawsuit on Oct. 12. It was filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims against the United States, the Defense Department (DoD), the Commerce Department and  National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). ...

German startup OroraTech has appointed Martin Langer as its new CEO. The company announced the appointment Oct. 11. OroraTech strives to continue breaking the barriers of Earth Observation (EO) by fusing predictive AI capabilities with an expanding space-based sensor network. Langer’s appointment is part of a number of changes to OroraTech’s management board. Dr Axel...

Viasat gave an update on the status of its ViaSat-3 satellite on Thursday, sharing that although it expects to recover less than 10% of the throughput of the satellite, the company will not require a replacement satellite to meet its growth goals.  This update comes after the flagship ViaSat-3 satellite had a mechanical deployment issue...

European space startup Tilebox has a vision to radically improve how organizations manage and utilize space data. Co-founder and CCO Laura Costa recently spoke with Via Satellite about Tilebox’s mission, after the company recently raised $1.7 million in a pre-seed funding round. Costa believes Tilebox is bringing to market the first integrated platform purpose-built for...

Pale Blue, a Japanese space propulsion startup, has secured a further $7.5 million (1 billion yen) in funding, the company announced Oct. 5. The company also announced that it had has been selected by NEDO, a national research and development agency in Japan, for its Deep Tech Startups (DTSU) support program – DMP phase (Demonstration...

Rocket Lab officially opened a new engine development center in Long Beach, California, in the facility acquired out of Virgin Orbit’s bankruptcy proceedings.  The new manufacturing complex is more than 144,000 square feet and will support high-rate production of Rocket Lab’s 3D printed Rutherford engine which powers the Electron rocket, as well development and production...

ManSat has rebranded itself as River Advisers in a strategic move. The company announced the rebrand Oct. 3. The company feels it needs a fresh brand identity as it looks to respond to rapid changes within the space and satellite sector. The rebrand recognizes River Advisers’ expanding consulting services from traditional service providers to clients...

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) will invest a further 65 million pounds ($79.1 million) of funding for innovations that could boost U.K. leadership in space technologies and applications. The latest investment was announced Sept. 28. The first tranche of up to 34 million pounds ($41.4 million) funding is open to proposals that will drive innovation,...