Each month COMARA is compiling a collection of links to news articles about the satellite industry to help our members keep abreast of key developments. Publications that require a paid subscription to view their articles are excluded.
We welcome suggestions of additional articles that you feel will be of interest to our members. They can be sent to [email protected].
April 2024
Intelsat’s CEO discusses how the company is refocusing its business, including potential deals relating to MEO, land mobility, and direct-to-handset: https://interactive.satellitetoday.com/via/satellite-2024-show-daily-day-2/intelsat-ceo-wajsgras-previews-deals-in-meo-land-mobility-and-direct-to-handset/
Intelsat expands partnership with OneWeb for LEO capacity: https://spacenews.com/intelsat-expands-oneweb-leo-partnership/
Intelsat executive makes the case for multi-orbit inflight connectivity solutions versus LEO-only: https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2024/02/intelsat-multi-orbit-versus-leo-only/
ViaSat provides update on ViaSat-3 during its February 2024 earnings call: https://spacenews.com/viasat-preparing-to-start-services-from-hobbled-viasat-3-satellite/
ViaSat teams with Northrop Grumman on the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program: https://spacenews.com/viasat-links-up-with-northrop-grumman-for-air-force-communications-experiment/
Eutelsat decides to hold off deploying significantly upgraded OneWeb broadband satellites: https://spacenews.com/eutelsat-scales-back-oneweb-gen-2-upgrade-plan/
Iridium announces plans to acquire GPS backup provider Satelles: https://spacenews.com/iridium-to-take-over-gps-backup-provider-for-115-million/
House Democrats open investigation of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, examining whether the company implemented adequate safeguards to prevent Russia from deploying its Starlink satellite internet service in eastern Ukraine: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/07/starlink-musk-spacex-russia/
Satellite manufacturers insist that demand for GEO satellites has not gone away: https://spacenews.com/satellite-manufacturers-defend-diminished-geo-market/
COMARA Director Roger Cochetti’s recent editorial for The Hill newspaper examines how global trade negotiations taking place this week may well be moving away from such longstanding Internet principles as the free flow of information and prohibitions on Internet trade tariffs: https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/4496916-for-25-years-the-wto-has-protected-the-free-flow-of-information-online-this-year-that-could-change/
January 2024
Google and AT&T invest in Starlink rival for satellite-to-smartphone service: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/01/google-and-att-invest-in-starlink-rival-for-satellite-to-smartphone-service/
Iridium pivots to standardized direct-to-device satellite services: https://spacenews.com/iridium-pivots-to-standardized-direct-to-device-satellite-services/
Air Force taps Intelsat for commercial space internet project: https://defensescoop.com/2023/12/29/afrl-deucsi-intelsat-commercial-space-internet/
Intelsat expects $2.1B in revenue this year; company execs outline pivot to solutions provider: https://www.satellitetoday.com/finance/2023/12/01/intelsat-expects-2-1b-revenue-this-year-execs-outline-pivot-to-solutions-provider/
Viasat successfully demonstrates the UK sovereign satellite navigation overlay for the first time: https://news.satnews.com/2024/01/21/viasat-successfully-demos-the-uk-sovereign-satellite-navigation-overlay-for-the-1st-time/
U.S. Air Force awards Viasat up To $900 million multi-vendor technology integration and architecture contract: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-air-force-awards-viasat-up-to-900-million-multi-vendor-technology-integration-and-architecture-contract-302023037.html
Project Kuiper, Amazon’s answer to SpaceX’s Starlink, passes ‘crucial’ test: https://www.space.com/project-kuiper-passes-crucial-test
Musk appears to again rule out taking Starlink public: https://spacenews.com/musk-not-eager-to-take-starlink-public/
COMARA Director Roger Cochetti’s most recently editorial tries to make sense out of the global tsunami of policy pronouncements on artificial intelligence (AI) that took place in 2023. As he notes, virtually every week we saw screaming headlines about AI and in this editorial he connects these dots and put them into historical context. To view the editorial: https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/4389011-making-sense-of-2023s-tsunami-of-ai-policy-changes/
December 2023
COMARA Director Roger Cochetti has just published his perspective on the possibilities and advantages of international cooperation in space: https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/4334188-another-cold-war-another-space-race-and-another-chance-for-cooperation/