Author: Max Engel

Every so often, someone points out that a satellite is just a very tall antenna tower – without the tower part. When looked at this way, it is obvious that...

At SATELLITE 2013, Hughes announced the new Jupiter 2/EchoStar XIX satellite. This satellite will be built by Space Systems/Loral on the SSL 1300 bus and will have 50 percent more...

In February, the FCC released its third Measuring Broadband America report (MBA report). While previous MBA reports have examined fiber, cable, and DSL connections, this latest report is the first...

With the success of SpaceX’s Falcon 9, it seems like the age of truly commercial space launch has arrived. But what exactly is a commercial launch? When I worked with...

It’s always fun to look in my inbox and see what is supposed to be hot in the satellite world. At one point, for example, 3-D video was going to...

In my last column, I discussed how the cost of providing satellite broadband had fallen to the point where it was thinkable for Dish Network to deploy it broadly to...

Bloomberg has reported that Dish Network will be offering satellite broadband to its customers sometime this fall. This offering will use EchoStar 17 (previously known as Hughes Network Systems’ Jupiter)...

I was thinking about the space industry the other day and it occurred to me that things are more complex than they once were. It is not clear to me...

One of the interesting things about satellite broadband providers like WildBlue or HughesNet, has been the way in which they have formed their very own technological and market niche. As...

Satellite broadband has always suffered from greater bandwidth limitations than terrestrial alternatives. Even with the new generation of satellites, such as ViaSat’s ViaSat-1 and Hughes Network System’s Jupiter, this remains...