News Analysis

by Elisabeth Tweedie

Los Angeles, Calif., October 10, 2021--As we are all aware the satellite industry is in a state of flux, maybe a state of transition.  The low earth orbit (LEO) constellations have been grabbing headlines for several years now, and many of us, have pointed to the lessons of the 1990s and predicted that few, if any of them would last long enough to become viable businesses.  And that still may be the case.  

Paris, France, October 6, 2021–Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) has exercised a call option on a portion of the latest OneWeb funding round subscribed by Bharti, for a consideration of $165 million, taking its shareholding from 17.6% to 22.9%, making it the second largest shareholder in OneWeb.

London, U.K., September 22, 2021--OneWeb, the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Texas-based TrustComm Inc., a provider of managed satellite communications and professional services to commercial and governments organizations. OneWeb announced the planned acquisition of TrustComm in May 2021 and received all necessary regulatory approvals enabling the transaction to close.

London, UK, September 21, 2021--Seraphim Space Investment Trust plc (LSE: SSIT) announced the acquisition of the holding of Arqit Quantum Inc. from the Seraphim Space LP (Seraphim Space Fund) . As set out in the IPO prospectus, Seraphim Space will acquire four assets from the Seraphim Space Fund for newly issued ordinary shares in the Company. This acquisition represents the second of those transactions to complete.

Vienna, Va., September 14, 2021--Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR), a provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, and exactEarth Ltd. (TSX: XCT) announced today that the companies have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement under which Spire will acquire exactEarth for approximately US$161.2 million (CAD$204.2 million) in cash and stock, which implies ~9.1x exactEarth’s Enterprise Value to LTM revenue.

Paris, France, September 13, 2021 – Providence Equity Partners, a  private equity firm that specialises in the media, communications, education, software and services industries, has agreed to acquire a majority shareholding in Marlink from Apax Partners SAS, a European private equity firm based in Paris. The transaction results in an enterprise value for Marlink Group of approximately US$1.4 Billon.

Paris, France,  September 8, 2021–Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) confirms the closing of its US$ 550 million equity investment in OneWeb announced on April 27, 2021. Subject to completion of the subsequently announced investments in OneWeb by Bharti and Hanwha, Eutelsat will hold a 17.6% stake.

by Virgil Labrador, Editor-in-Chief

Los Angeles, Calif., September 6, 2021--As with many industries, the satellite industry has not been spared the effects of  the global COVID-19 pandemic which hit the world over a year and a half ago. The pandemic has drastically disrupted supply chains and practically shut down key market segments for satellite such as in-flight connectivity and some key segments of the maritime sector such as  the cruise ship business.  Some key installations and contracts were delayed due to travel restrictions. However,  the satellite industry  has fared better than most industries during the pandemic due to several factors inherent in the key markets that the industry serve and the prospects post-pandemic are encouraging.

The September 2021 issue of  the Satellite Executive Briefing magazine  is now available.  Featuring:

The Satellite Industry in a Post-Pandemic World by Virgil Labrador

The Military Satellite Market by Omkar Nikam

TechBrief: Reliable Battlefield Network Automation by Juan Manuel Martinez

Prospects in the Satellite Data Services Market by Lalit Katare

Interview with Cynthia Harty, Vice-President-Strategic Business Development, ST Engineering iDirect

Company Spotlight: AVEALTO's High Altitude Platform

Show Report: Space Symposium 2021

National Harbor Your Way: In-person or Virtual by Martin Jarrold

PLUS Products and Services Spotlight @SATELLITE 2021, Mergers and Acquisitions, Executive Moves, Market Briefs, Vital Statistics, Satellite Markets Stock Index and many more. Click here to read or download the file

London, UK, September 2, 2021--An up and coming  company is leveraging the  transformative technology of High Altitude Platforms  (HAP) to bridge the digital divide and provide broadband services for various vertical market applications   at a shorter time-to-market deployment and lower costs. AVEALTO Ltd., a UK-based company formed to design, build and operate a fleet of HAP vehicles which can transparently replace point-to-point satellite services at a lower cost, with higher quality service has began customer acquisition activities.