Focus: Telecom

First two Starlink demo satellites, called Tintin A & B, deployed and communicating to Earth stations pic.twitter.com/TfI53wHEtz — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2018 SpaceX completed its third successful launch of 2018 this morning, orbiting the first two test satellites — Tintin A and B — for its Starlink broadband constellation, as well as a...

A new, high-capacity communications satellite that will deliver TV, internet and mobile phone services to the Middle East, Africa and Europe is one step closer to launch. Lockheed Martin announced it has completed assembly of Arabsat 6A, which was recently shipped to its Sunnyvale, California facility to begin a series of tests to ensure the...

Orbith, a wholesale provider of internet services, is deploying Newtec technology to expand connectivity in rural parts of Argentina. Based in Buenos Aires, Orbith is building a new Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) network connecting 20,000 sites to provide consumer and business connectivity to the Buenos Aires province and surroundings. In order to accommodate a...

Cubans and visitors to Cuba will have improved access to connectivity throughout the main island of Cuba as Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA), Cuba’s national telecommunications operator, signed a new deal with SES Networks for satellite services. SES Networks will augment ETECSA’s existing terrestrial infrastructure with its fiber-like Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) capacity...

On the heels of SES announcing its support of Intel and Intelsat’s joint 5G spectrum sharing proposal, T-Mobile has released a note outlining its skepticism. The wireless operator seems most concerned about satellite operators establishing “monopoly pricing” of C-band spectrum, which could put its 5G plans at risk. Read more at Fierce Wireless >> 

Hispasat has selected Gilat Satellite Network’s platform for a multi-million dollar project to provide broadband commercial services in Mexico using Hispasat’s Ka-band capacity on the Amazonas 5 High Throughput Satellite (HTS). Gilat’s SkyEdge II-c uses HTS resources to deliver cost-efficient bandwidth. Hispasat selected the platform to commercialize the full capacity of its Amazonas 5 Ka-band beams over Mexico,...

SES announced that Palau Telecoms, which has leveraged SES Networks’ fleet since 2014, will be extending its contract until 2020 and increasing the amount of Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) connectivity by 150 percent. A long-term customer of SES Networks, Palau Telecoms is using its existing MEO service to augment fiber capacity, providing an “always on”...

Clyde Space has secured its first launch contract, a follow-on order from an initial 6U satellite purchase from Israeli company NSLComm. Under the contract, Clyde Space is delivering an end-to-end mission service package, from spacecraft design, manufacture and launch to on-orbit operations. The 6U spacecraft, NSLSat1, will demonstrate a new high-performance antenna that provides Ka-band...

Vector and Open Cosmos announced an agreement to reserve five orbital launches between 2019 and 2023 on the Vector-R launch vehicle. The announcement comes in advance of Vector’s first orbital launch in July. Based in the United Kingdom, Open Cosmos provides end-to-end mission services that allow its clients to focus on in-orbit data. This company enables...

Northern Sky Research’s (NSR) China Satcom Markets (CSM) report finds a Chinese satellite industry primed to take a larger share of the global satcom market through attractive one-stop-shop offerings, aggressive growth plans and enhanced exports. For Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) High Throughput Satellites (HTS) alone, NSR forecasts Chinese state-owned companies to manufacture and launch more than 800...