It is a vast land, making up three quarters of all Russia.  It is an empty land, where fewer than one in four Russians live.  Notorious for long, harsh winters but rich in gold and diamonds, oil and coal.

Haven’t we been using banal reasons to justify space exploration (and by extension satellites) like non-stick frying pans?”  “Yes. Our nation has never had a philosophy of space exploration.”

With the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last major ice age began the current (official) geological epoch – the Holocene. It is argued across the science community that the Holocene has, in reality, given way to the Anthropocene – the (proposed) new geological epoch dating from the beginnings of significant human impact on Earth’s geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change.

Grass Valley announces the completion of its acquisition by private equity firm, Black Dragon Capital, from Belden Inc. The completion of the transaction, announced earlier this year, puts Grass Valley in an ideal position to continue driving innovation as it leads the media and entertainment industry's transition to a cloud-based future and pay-as-you-go business models.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS), announced that it has completed its acquisition of CPI ASC Signal Division Inc. (ASC) from Communications & Power Industries LLC (CPI) following the receipt of regulatory approval from all required government authorities and completion of other closing items.

The June 2020 issue of  the Satellite Executive Briefing magazine focusing on the Asia-Pacific Satelltie Market sponsored by Comtech EF Data is now available.  Featuring:

China's Space Industry in the Time of COVID-19 by Blaine Curcio

Update on the Japanese Satellite Market by Naoakira Kamiya

Executive Spotlight: Semir Hassanaly, Head of Cellular Backhaul and Trunking, ST Engineering iDirect

Will Satellite-Delivered TV Go the Way of the Dinosaurs? by Robert Bell

Capacity Building with Satellite for Disaster Response by Martin Jarrold

Better Satellite World Series: Keeping the Lights On

PLUS Product and Services Spotlight, Mergers and Acquisitions, Executive Moves, Market Briefs, Vital Statistics, Satellite Markets 20 Stock Index and many more. Click here to read or download the file

Maxar Technologies today announced its intent to exercise its call option to take full ownership of 3D data and analytics firm Vricon for approximately US$ 140 million, or approximately US$ 115 million net of estimated cash at closing.

To fund the transaction, Maxar intends to issue US$ 150 million in aggregate principal amount of new senior secured notes. Maxar has also agreed to repurchase $150 million in aggregate principal amount of existing notes using the proceeds of the recent sale of its MDA business.

Redwire announced today that it has acquired Made In Space (MIS), a provider of  on-orbit space manufacturing technologies. The acquisition also includes Made In Space Europe, based in Luxembourg and a sister company to the U.S. organization, which provides space-capable robotic systems to the global space industry.

Broadband Forum CEO Robin Mersh today congratulated the broadband industry on its response to COVID-19 and how it has risen to the challenge of the unprecedented spike in traffic it brought – but warned the pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for work to continue on automation and bridging the digital divide.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS)announced today that it will acquire CPI ASC Signal Division, Inc. from Communications & Power Industries LLC (CPI) for US$ 35 million in cash.  ASC is a manufacturer of high-performance, highly engineered antenna systems for satellite communications, radar, electronic warfare (EW), and high-frequency (HF) applications. The transaction is expected to close within the next 60 days, subject to normal and customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.