Among the dozens of meetings the Quilty team conducted at Satellite 2024 in Washington DC last week, one topic emerged more than any other: direct-to-device communications.

On March 12, Japan’s cabinet approved a 10-year fund of $6.7 USD billion (1 trillion yen) to promote satellites, space exploration, and transportation.

On March 1, NASA terminated a $2 billion program to create a refueling satellite, the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1).

India has established itself as a global space power primarily through launch vehicles, navigation, and communications satellites.

f “space is hard” is the industry’s favorite adage, the runner up cliche is that we have a “do nothing Congress.”

Countries that spend heavily on defense almost always, by extension, are space powers, given the high number of dual-use technologies (propulsion, telecom, reconnaissance sensors).

It goes without saying that most of the industry’s regional satellite operators are too small to field their own large LEO or MEO constellations, yet all feel the pressure to expand beyond purely GEO-based connectivity.

At least six commercial space station efforts are under way to replace the International Space Station by 2031.

If the big fear among satellite services providers is Starlink capsizing their traditional business models, one such business model is taking on water.

Companies are often coy about when they want to do acquisitions, but not Rocket Lab.

Since at least 2018, China has had two or more purported LEO constellations in the works.

OneWeb, now part of Eutelsat, is 12 years old, but is still paying for a common startup mistake: forgetting the ground segment.

Heavy equipment OEMs, including Caterpillar, Komatsu, and Hitachi, were some of the earliest adopters of satellite IoT services. Remote locations.

Amid all the new entries into LEO small satellite manufacturing, there has been one prominent legacy manufacturer that seemed focused on chasing other dreams. 

For two years, space startups and other high-tech, early-stage companies sought mergers with Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) as a quick way to amass the equivalent of three to four traditional capital raises.

The Qatar Satellite Company, Es’hailSat, just announced an expanded agreement with Viasat Energy Services for VSAT connectivity across the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region.

n 2018, Swedish network operator Ovzon ordered one of the first small GEO satellites (1,000-2,000kg), expecting a typical three years to build and launch.

t might not come as a surprise that 70%¹ of all maiden orbital launch attempts have been a total bust.