News Analysis

New York City, NY, December 8, 2020–The World Teleport Association (WTA) today published its annual rankings for the Top Teleport Operators of 2020. The annual rankings of companies by revenue and revenue growth are compiled by surveying teleport operators around the world as well as referencing the published results of publicly-held companies.

The December 2020 issue of  the Satellite Executive Briefing magazine  sponsored by The SpaceConnection is now available.  Featuring:

The Satellite Industry in a Post-Pandemic World by Elisabeth Tweedie

Constellation Watch: China's Incubating Answer to Starlink by Blaine Curcio

Satellite's Year 2020:  Virtually Experienced... by Martin Jarrold

And Yet... by Lou Zacharilla

Better Satellite World Series: Mission to the Future

PLUS Product and Services Spotlight, Mergers and Acquisitions, Executive Moves, Market Briefs, Vital Statistics, and many more. Click here to read or download the file

by Elisabeth Tweedie

London, UK, December 4, 2020--“And now for something completely different.”  Words first uttered by John Cleese in 1971, and repeated by Lorraine Whitfield, Chief Events and Marketing Officer, Euroconsult, at the opening of this year’s World Satellite Business Week.  Words that sum up, not only this conference, being the first time that WSBW has been a virtual conference, but words that also sum up this year for most of us.   

by Blaine Curcio

Hong Kong, December 4, 2020--Many things have happened in the satcom industry in 2020. We as an industry have responded to Covid with a flurry of webinars, virtual conferences, LinkedIn posts, and an endless variety of podcasts. Meanwhile, satellite operators have been evolving, with 5G spectrum reallocation moving full steam ahead in some markets (including my home market of Hong Kong, one of the world’s leading assassins of C-band for satellite). 

by Lou Zacharilla

New York City, NY, December 3, 2020--Given the choice between wrestling a live alligator in a Florida pond and living through the events of 2020 again, I would take my chances with the gator.  As we finish our current orbit around the Sun, we have experienced 365 days, 5 hours, 59 minutes and 16 seconds that felt like a Martian year.  

McLean, Va., December 1, 2020 – Intelsat today completed its acquisition of the Commercial Aviation business of Gogo, creating the world’s leading provider of inflight broadband connectivity to the commercial aviation industry.

New York City, NY, December 1, 2020--When the first people from planet Earth went into space in the 1960s, it was the thrill of a lifetime.  But we didn’t stay there long.

Ottawa, Canada, November 24, 2020–Telesat Canada announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Loral Space & Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LORL) (Loral) and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) pursuant to which Telesat Canada and Loral will become subsidiaries of Telesat Corporation (Telesat), a new publicly traded Canadian incorporated and controlled company.  

London, UK, November 20, 2020--OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite communications company, announces its emergence from U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and achievement of all relevant regulatory approvals. A consortium of UK Government (through the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) and Bharti Global, has invested US $1 Billion of new equity to offer broadband connectivity services, via a constellation of 650 LEO satellites.

Carlsbad, Calif., November 18, 2020 – Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) today announced it will strengthen its European presence by purchasing the remaining 51% share of Euro Broadband Infrastructure (EBI), the wholesale broadband services business created as part of Viasat’s former partnering arrangement with Eutelsat Communications.