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Satellite connectivity provider Global Eagle produces unaudited 2016 results, but not SEC filings
PARIS — Satellite aero- and maritime-connectivity provider Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE), whose listing on the U.S. Nasdaq exchange has been under threat for months for non-filing of financial statements, on Oct. 18 issued an unaudited summary of its 2016 results. The document was not a full...
Spacecom gets $50-million SpaceX Falcon 9 satellite launch, buys option for 2nd at $62 million
PARIS — Israeli satellite fleet operator Spacecom on Oct. 18 said it had contracted with SpaceX to launch two telecommunications satellites, the Amos-17 in 2019 and an Amos-8 in 2020. Spacecom, whose Amos-6 satellite was destroyed in September 2016 during an on-pad explosion of the SpaceX Falcon 9...
Will insurance force Russia’s Proton rocket out of the commercial satellite business?
TOKYO — In what may be a first in the space industry, the cost of insuring a major veteran commercial-launch vehicle is so much higher than its two competitors as to raise questions about the rocket’s commercial viability. Insurance premiums for launches of International Launch Services’ Russian...
China Great Wall Industry Corp.: A ‘bumpy’ year for satellite launches, but returning to flight
TOKYO — China’s Long March rocket series has suffered three at least partial failures in the past 10 months on three different rockets — the small Long March 2D, the commercial-geostationary satellite Long March 3B and the new heavy-lift Long March 5. At the APSCC conference here on Oct. 11, China...
Blue Origin: We’re looking for satellite customer for 1st New Glenn flight; ‘nice pricing’
TOKYO — Being a start-up launch-service provider backed big-time by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos means never having to to financial roadshows or smile to venture-capital investors. That’s the enviable position of Blue Origin, which is honing a space-tourism vehicle called New Shepard and building a...
Intelsat lays out C-band sharing case to skeptical Asian satellite operators
TOKYO — Intelsat on Oct. 12 gave a detailed defense of its proposed surrender of C-band spectrum rights in selected U.S. metropolitan areas to terrestrial mobile operators in return for a “cost-plus” payment. It was an uphill battle here at the APSCC conference, where Asian fleet operators gave a...
Satellite insurers: Let aging satellites retire to reduce catastrophic-failure risk
TOKYO — Space insurance underwriters on Oct. 12 said recent in-orbit failure of several aging satellites is a signal that satellite owners need to be more prudent in retiring their assets rather than keeping them in service beyond their scheduled retirement dates. They said both government and...
SpaceX reassures commercial satellite market: Falcon 9 won’t soon be scrapped for BFR
TOKYO — SpaceX on Oct. 11 sought to reassure the commercial satellite market that it was not about to retire the Falcon 9 rocket just as the vehicle begins to realize its long-held promise of high-cadence, low-cost launches. Speaking at the APSCC 2017 conference here, SpaceX Senior Director Tom...
Eutelsat: All-electric 172B satellite for Panasonic Avionics sets GEO-arrival record
TOKYO — Satellite fleet operator Eutelsat on Oct. 11 said its Eutelsat 172B all-electric-propulsion satellite, carrying a high-throughput spot-beam Ku-band payload over Asia for in-flight-connectivity provider Panasonic Avionics, had reached its geostationary-orbit position in record time. Built...
Satellite imaging startup Axelspace: Funding is no problem for us now
TOKYO — Japanese geospatial imaging provider Axelspace, which plans a constellation of 50 100-kilogram medium-resolution optical imaging satellites, says access to capital beyond its successful $17-million first round of funding is not a problem. Yasunori Yamazaki, Axelspace’s business...
Satellite broadband startup LeoSat: Regulatory access to be challenge for all global systems
TOKYO — Startup broadband satellite constellation provider LeoSat expects to receive confirmation from fleet operator Sky Perfect JSat of an investment to enable LeoSat to complete its $100 million financing round, LeoSat Chief Executive Mark Rigolle said Oct. 11. Rigolle said LeoSat believes the...
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