21st Annual Global MilSatCom

SMi Group are proud to announce the 21st annual Global MilSatCom conference and exhibition will return to London on the 5th, 6th and 7th November alongside a Small Satellites and Disruptive Space Technology focus day on the 4th November.

As…

Dankberg teases ViaSat-4 specs, still mulling MEO constellation

Viasat says that co-building its ViaSat-3 satellites with Boeing has given the company experience it can leverage to multiply the capacity achievable with a next-generation ViaSat-4 system.

Military turns to private sector for rapid space innovation

The Defense Department is trying to speed up access to innovative commercial technologies through a variety of contracting mechanisms like other transaction authority as well as pilot and pathfinder programs aimed at testing new technologies and system architectures.

SES, Viasat say FCC’s rural broadband latency requirements unfair to satellites

Satellite operators want to participate in a newly proposed $20.4 billion rural broadband program, but say the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s scoring criteria for signal lag puts them at a disadvantage. 

Viasat taps Blue Canyon Technologies to build Link 16 satellite

Viasat selected Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) to design and manufacture a cubesat for a U.S. Air Force test of a military communications terminal in low Earth orbit.

Viasat starts ViaSat-4 development, mulls hybrid GEO-LEO-terrestrial connections

A ViaSat-4 series is in early development, extensively leveraging research and development on the 1-terabit-per-second or more ViaSat-3 satellites, Dankberg said during an earnings call. 

Viasat expanding into crowded ground-as-a-service business

Viasat is building out a network of nine ground stations around the world to downlink data from Earth observation satellites, marking an expansion from the operator’s satellite broadband and hardware business.

Viasat wins $49 million lawsuit against supplier to Cisco

A company Cisco is poised to buy for $2.6 billion is required to pay damages to Viasat for failing to pay royalties on a decade-old technology it used from the satellite operator. 

Supplier issue behind delays with first ViaSat-3 launch

Problems with an unnamed component supplier are the reason the first launch of a ViaSat-3 high-throughput satellite won't happen until 2021.

Viasat selected to develop military Link 16 communications satellite in low Earth orbit

Viasat will build a small satellite equipped with a Link 16 radio that will serve as a network relay.

Discarded Atlas 5 upper stage breaks up in orbit • Viasat, China Satcom partner on IFC • Hughes signs Jupiter-3 customer

The reason for the Atlas 5 upper stage break up, believed to have occurred between March 23 and March 25, is not yet known.

First Ariane 6 to carry 30 OneWeb satellites • Viasat seeking to raise $500 million • Hispasat trials Wi-Fi hotspots in Colombia

Arianespace’s first Ariane 6 mission will carry 30 OneWeb satellites to low Earth orbit. The launch, slated for the second half of 2020, will use the “62” version of the rocket, which has two side boosters.

FIRST UP Satcom | Facebook, Viasat join forces on rural internet • Exotrail wins 1.55M euros • Es’hailSat to host BridgeSat lasercomm station

Facebook and Viasat are collaborating first in Mexico, but are open to expanding globally, Viasat said.

Eutelsat, amid revenue decline, says year will rebound

A slow start for Eutelsat’s Konnect Africa broadband venture and losses in activities beyond the fleet operator’s core business contributed to a 4.4 percent decline in revenue during the last half of 2018.

Viasat orders Asia Pacific ViaSat-3 from Boeing amid record revenue

Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg said the company has executed an agreement with Boeing for a third ViaSat-3 satellite, securing the last spacecraft needed for global Ka-band coverage.

Viasat shrinks MEO constellation plans

As the U.S. Federal Communications Commission prepares to vote on satellite constellations from four companies in mid-November, another satellite operator is reducing the size of its proposed constellation.