News Analysis

McLean, Va., Oct. 29, 2019 --Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM) ("Iridium") today reported financial results for the third quarter of 2019 and updated its full-year 2019 outlook.  Net loss was $18.0 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2019, as compared to net loss of $12.9 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2018.  This increase in net loss was primarily the result of a $12.4 million increase in depreciation and amortization expense compared to the year-ago period.  Operational EBITDA ("OEBITDA")(1) for the third quarter was $88.5 million, as compared to $79.4 million for the prior-year period, representing a year-over-year increase of 11% and an OEBITDA margin(1) of 61%.  OEBITDA primarily benefitted from higher government service revenue and strong growth in commercial IoT and hosted payload.

Englewood, Colo., October 25, 2019 - EchoStar Corporation today announced that its subsidiary, EchoStar Global. has acquired Helios Wire, a satellite-enabled IoT connectivity company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. The acquisition includes Helios' Australian subsidiaries Sirion Holdings and Sirion Global.

Mojave, Calif., October 25, 2019--Virgin Galactic (VG) and Social Capital Hedosophia (SCH), a public investment vehicle, today announced the completion of their previously announced business combination. The resulting company is named Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (VGH) and its common stock, units and warrants are expected to commence trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol “SPCE”, ”SPCE.U” and “SPCE WS", respectively, on October 28, 2019.

Baikonour Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, October 10,  2019--On October 9, 2019, at 10:17:56 the Proton-M carrier rocket with Briz-M booster together with Eutelsat 5 West B and Mission Extension Vehicle-1 satellites successfully launched from launchpad No.39 pad No.200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

London, UK, October  8, 2019--Arqiva Group Limited, the leading UK communications infrastructure company, today announces that it has reached an agreement with Cellnex for the sale of its telecoms infrastructure and related assets at an enterprise value of £2.0bn.

New York, NY, October 8, 2019--Boeing [NYSE: BA] is investing US$ 20 million in Virgin Galactic, a vertically integrated human spaceflight company. The companies will work together to broaden commercial space access and transform global travel technologies.

The October 2019 issue of  the Satellite Executive Briefing magazine  sponsored by Spacebridge is now available.  Featuring:

The Need for Flexibility by Elisabeth Tweedie

Executive Roundtable: The Latin American Broadband Satellite Market by Bernardo Schneiderman

GVF C21 Agenda by Martin Jarrold

Executive Spotlight: Interview with Fabien Jordan, CEO-Astrocast

Where Teleport Operators Pioneered, Satellite Operators Follow by Robert Bell

Featured Event: Africacom 2019

PLUS 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

Dakar, Senegal, October 3, 2019 – ND SATCOM, the premier supplier of and integrator for innovative satellite communication systems and solutions, announced today the acquisition of TECNA located in Dakar, Senegal. This important strategic move will further enhance outreach and interaction between the company and its customers, partners and the leading communication companies in the West Africa region.TECNA Suarl has been renamed ND SatCom SENEGAL.

by Robert Bell

New York City, October 1, 2019--Long, long ago, when commercial teleport companies were a new thing, they had a terrific business model that offered access to the satellite network.  They leased transponder capacity long-term, sliced and diced it up and served it out to customers – initially for broadcast TV and then for a gradually expanding set of applications from corporate data networks to the internet.  Margins were good and the market was in growth mode.