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

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.

The past year has been a roller-coaster ride in the financial markets and an unusual one for transaction activity.

On Dec. 12, news of the FCC’s final decision to reject Starlink’s appeal to qualify for $886M in federal subsidies to connect rural and unserved communities caused an uproar within the space sector and sparked heated political debate.

After declaring 100% success of all priority systems and subsystems aboard Project Kuiper’s first two prototypes launched Oct. 6, Amazon just dropped the mic.

Barring any late-stage contracts, 2023 will conclude with 12 commercial GEO satellite orders, seven of which were micro GEOs (>1,000 kg).  

Three years since entering service, SpaceX’s Starlink internet is now available in 80 markets*, according to a Dec. 1 FCC filing.

What Qualcomm’s decision says about the DTD Industry

Europe’s Launch Fault Line Splits the Continent

Favoring Speed Over Performance: SES Moves Forward with mPower

Incorporating Optical Communications Terminals (OCTs) has become a baseline assumption for nearly every megaconstellation operator (i.e., Starlink, Kuiper, OneWeb Gen2, Lightspeed, PWSA, Rivada, and the EU’s IRIS²) due to their critical role in network capacity, latency, cybersecurity, and ground network costs.

This year Mongolia made two moves that will bring satellite connectivity to the landlocked country and could signal the beginning of sovereign communications unimpeded by authoritarian neighbors.

Military agencies have long been ideal customers for the satellite industry because of their willingness to pay a premium for resilient communications.

Over the past decade, venture capital (VC) has emerged as a critical source of funding for space startups, with total investment surging more than tenfold, from $0.3B in 2014 to $3.2B in 2022 (note: excludes megaconstellation funding). 

iasat refinanced its Inmarsat bridge facility on Sept. 21, issuing $733M of Senior Notes to retire the unsecured bridge loan facility that Viasat entered into on May 30 pursuant to the Inmarsat acquisition close.

Viasat goes 0 for 2 on successful satellites. Here are the impacts

Starlink and the Global Cruise Market