Finance

Xona Space Systems has secured another $25 million in financing, the company announced late last week. The company, which is developing navigation technologies from Low Earth Orbit (LEO), revealed that its latest round of financing was oversubscribed, as it looks to develop its commercial satellite navigation network. The round was led by First Spark Ventures who is...

Astra Space is ending use of its Rocket 3.3 iteration after two launch failures and moving to the next version of its launch system.  The rocket, part of Space Launch System 1.0, successfully reached orbit in a mission for the U.S. Space Force in November and then again in a March mission. But the rocket...

Funding for Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation is hitting some speed bumps as the Canadian operator reported delays in financing discussions with export credit agencies (ECA), and that it will likely need to secure additional funding to deal with increased costs. Lightspeed is Telesat’s Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation in the works. Earlier this year, Telesat downsized plans...

Private equity firm Affiliates of Antarctica Capital has acquired a controlling interest in geospatial intelligence company Descartes Labs.  The deal was announced on August 4, and financial terms were not disclosed. The press release did not include many details about the deal but said that Antarctica operating partners Richard Davis will serve as CEO and...

Eutelsat and OneWeb recently announced plans to combine, forming a GEO/LEO entity, in a major instance of consolidation in the satellite industry. Here is a compilation of exclusive Via Satellite content covering Eutelsat and OneWeb over the past year and a half. We will continue to assess the Eutelsat/OneWeb combination and what this means to...

SES CEO Steve Collar would not confirm or deny reports that merger talks are underway between SES and Intelsat in a call with investors on Thursday. Collar spoke on Aug. 4 during the operator’s first half of 2022 conference call, after the Financial Times reported the two companies are in “active discussions.”  “We’re not going...

Launch for Hughes Network Systems Jupiter-3 satellite is now expected to launch in the first half of 2023. The satellite has been delayed multiple times, and was most recently expected in the first quarter of 2023. Hughes did not give more specifics as to the timing during the first half of the year.  The company...

Globalstar has hired IoT industry veteran Chirag Patel as director of Product Management to lead the company’s vision for industrial IoT. He will be responsible for product vision, strategy, roadmap and go to market plans for Industrial IoT products, services, and software as a service solutions.  Patel joins Globalstar from Carrier, where he led the...

SES has completed its acquisition of DRS Global Enterprise Solutions (DRS GES) and will combine the business with subsidiary SES Government Solutions to serve U.S. government customers.  SES expects the consolidation to unlock $25 million of annualized run-rate synergies. The deal is expected to double SES’s U.S. government business and make Government the largest data...

Inmarsat has released new research which looks at how businesses and the general population view the potential for space. The report — What on Earth is the Value of Space — showcases positive momentum for space-based businesses, although there is a lot of concern around space debris/junk. These are the some of the key findings...