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.  

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.

The transaction was undertaken on identical financial terms to Eutelsat’s initial investment of $550 million announced in April and completed on 8 September. The completion of this latest transaction is expected around year-end 2021 subject to regulatory authorisations.

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

Maury Microwave, Inc., an RF calibration, measurement, and modeling solutions backed by Artemis Capital Partners announced today that it has completed the acquisition of dBmCorp, Inc..

IBC, the world's most inspiring content and technology event, announces a comprehensive content programme for IBC Show 2021 which for the first time in IBC’s history will be free for all to access. Attendees can watch the sessions in person in Amsterdam or online via IBC Digital, which will launch on 21st October.

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.

Following consummation of this transaction, TrustComm will become known as OneWeb Technologies Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of OneWeb.

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.

Registration is in full swing for the SATCOMRUS, an international conference of operators and users of Russia’s satellite communication network. This year the event will be held on October 7-8 in hybrid format: offline in Kaliningrad with live streaming on the satcomrus.com  website. The event will be focused on the role of satellite communications in the digital transformation of the economy and society.

IBC welcomed the announcement from the Dutch Government relaxing COVID-19 social distancing measures and removing quarantine rules for fully vaccinated travellers. After a summer of testing safety protocols, the changes are a real boost to business confidence and mean that large-scale trade shows can once again return to The RAI in Amsterdam, including the IBC exhibition schedule for December this year.

The National Association of Broadcasters, the organizers of the annual NAB show in Las Vegas announced today that it is canceling the live event scheduled to be held from October 10-13.  While the live event will no longer be held, the NAB kept open options for virtual content through  NAB Amplify.

The NAB issued the follwing statement today: