Focus: Broadcasting

The SiriusXM satellite SXM-8 launched early Sunday by SpaceX is performing as expected and in contact with ground stations, manufacturer Maxar Technologies confirmed after the launch. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying SXM-8 digital radio satellite took off at 12:26 a.m. EDT on June 6 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force...

SES has extended its capacity agreement with German Christian TV station Bibel TV Fondation, the satellite operator announced Monday. The new multi-year contract that secures additional capacity for the channel on SES’s satellites in its TV neighborhood at ASTRA 19.2 degrees East. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bibel TV will broadcast in...

The market for in-orbit satellite servicing received a recent boost with the successful Mission Extension Vehicle-2 (MEV-2) mission last month. Northrop Grumman (NGC) subsidiary SpaceLogistics LLC, successfully completed docking the MEV-2 to the Intelsat 10-02 (IS-10-02) commercial communications satellite to deliver life-extension services. This satellite is co-owned with Telenor Satellite, and the satellite carried live...

SES has recently announced details of two new deals, one in the United States and one in Germany. SES Government Solutions (SES GS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES, has won a $35 million Geostationary (GEO) satellite communications program contract in support of a major U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) combatant command. The solution includes a...

SES has renewed a broadcast capacity deal in Germany. The company announced April 27 that Bayerische Medien Technik GmbH (bmt) has signed a multi-year agreement to continue using SES’s satellites at ASTRA 19.2 degrees East to broadcast Bavarian local TV channels in HD. bmt is a subsidiary of the Bayerische Landeszentrale für neue Medien (BLM),...

Competing with SpaceX‘s Starlink constellation drove the wider discussion during the “New World Order” panel at the SATELLITE show LEO Digital Forum, as satellite operators pushed their multi-orbit strategies and emphasized the stability of GEO in a virtual discussion on the future of the industry. During the morning’s keynote, Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg said he...

Azercosmos has signed a new capacity deal with Media Holding, a Georgian media company, the company announced April 1. Under the deal, Georgian television channels Rustavi-2, Comedy TV, and Marao TV will be broadcast via Azercosmos’s Azerspace-1 satellite. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. These channels channels transmit public, economic, analytical, and cultural...

AT&T has reached a deal with TPG Capital to spin off its U.S. video business unit of DIRECTV, AT&T TV, and U-verse. The transaction, announced Feb. 25., will separate AT&T’s U.S. video business into a new company named DirecTV.  The deal values the business at $16.3 billion. AT&T expects to receive $7.6 billion in cash...

AsiaSat is considering a new High Throughput Satellite (HTS), and may issue an RFP later this year, CEO Roger Tong told Via Satellite. While the company has been on a capital expenditure break, things could click into gear later this year with possible new investment plans crystalizing. In this interview, Tong talks candidly about AsiaSat’s...

Azercosmos has signed a new broadcasting capacity deal in Africa. The company has come to an agreement with View Satellite Network, which will use capacity on the Azerspace-2 satellite to provide digital satellite services in HD to its customers in Africa. Azercosmos announced the deal Feb. 25. “This partnership will enable us to provide uninterrupted...