News Analysis

The April 2021 issue of  the Satellite Executive Briefing magazine focusing on the Non-GEO Satelllite Market is now available.  Featuring:

Is 2021 the Year Smallsat IoT Takes Off?  by Hub Hurlings

Prospects in the Cubesat Market by Mayank Halmare

Space Tourism: Fueling Commercial Demand Across Space Market Verticals by Omkar Nikam

Executive Spotlight: Bart Van Poucke, VP-Product Management, ST Engineering iDirect

TECHBrief: Retrofiting ACU 7200 with sat-nms ACU2-19V2 by Michael Ulbricht

Company Spotlight: Mission Microwave Continues Growth and Moves into a New State-of-the-Art Facilty

In the Land of Virtual by Robert Bell

10,000 Viewers and Counting: Dubai, Singapore and DC Calling by Martin Jarrold

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

by Hub Urlings

Amsterdam, the Netherlands, April 6, 2021--Will 2021 be the year that a new generation of smallsat Internet of Things (IoT) networks take off?  Smallsats offer ubiquitous low-cost and low power connectivity for the global IoT industry. If it is up to some of the new operators, it sure will be, as the launch activities in the first quarter of 2021 demonstrate.

by Omkar Nikam

Strasbourg, France, April 5, 2021--The dream of today is the reality of tomorrow, and space tourism is a classic example of how the human race is unlocking the full potential of its capabilities to learn and explore outer space. A decade ago, space tourism consisted of a handful of companies, with Space Adventures at the forefront of this emerging market. One of the early triggering factors of the space tourism investment was the joint success of Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (Roscomos) and Space Adventures. In the early 21st century both Space Adventures and Roscomos achieved success in short tourist flight to the International Space Station (ISS). And these commercial movements developed huge interest among the investors, which also ultimately led to the rise of companies like the Virgin Galactic.

Cypress, Calif., April 5, 2021–Mission Microwave Technologies, LLC, a manufacturer of highly efficient Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) and Block Upconverters (BUCs) has moved from their original offices in Santa Fe Springs to a larger facility in Cypress, California.

by Robert Bell

New York City, NY, April 2, 2021--The pandemic has made those of us lucky enough to still have jobs wince at the word “virtual.”  We take part in virtual meetings and virtual cocktail hours.  We attend virtual conferences, receive virtual medical care and see virtual versions of our adult children and young grandchildren.  It is virtually impossible to escape from our screened-in lives.  On the other hand, I have to point out that we are very short on gratitude when it comes to appreciating all that virtualization has allowed us to preserve.  

Tyson's Corner, Va., April 1, 2021--. For the year ended December 31, 2020, Intelsat reported total revenue of US$ 1.91 Billion and net loss attributable to Intelsat S.A. of US$ 911.7 million.  Intelsat reported total revenue of US$ 482.8 million and net loss attributable to Intelsat S.A. of US $271.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020.

Uppsala, Sweden, April 1, 2021--AAC Clyde Space announced that it has entered into a conditional agreement for the acquisition of the privately owned Swedish company Omnisys Instruments, a leading developer and manufacturer of measuring instruments for advanced space projects.

Houston, Tex., March 26, 2021--Marlink, a provider of smart hybrid network solutions, has announced the acquisition of customer contracts and assets from Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE), which has emerged from Chapter 11 restructuring. As part of this deal Marlink has taken over more than 450 VSAT sites in five continents serving large humanitarian/NGO, Embassy, Oil and Gas and Mining customers as well as GEE’s African fixed site land business.

Jacksonville, Fla., March 25, 2021--Redwire, a provider of mission-critical space solutions and high reliability components for the next generation space economy, and Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: GNPK), a publicly traded Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC), announced today that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement that will result in Redwire becoming a publicly traded company.

Warrington, UK, March 25, 2021--GTMaritime announced that it has transitioned its business to an Employee Owned Trust (EOT), in a deal securing the future of a true shipping technology innovator. The move to an EOT is an exciting development which is set to incentivize employees under the guidance of the management team responsible for establishing GTMaritime as a leading provider of secure data communications software to the shipping industry.