Archives for February 2021

Sateliot will rely on The Space Alliance formed by Thales Alenia Space (TAS) and Telespazio for the development of a constellation of smallsats to ensure the company’s IoT connectivity is compatible with the 5G standard.

Acting as telecommunications cell towers in space, the plan envisages 16 satellites by 2025 with an investment of around 100 million euros will enable the deployment of IoT services in sectors such as maritime, logistics, energy, agri-food, infrastructures and environmental monitoring.

Sateliot has reached an agreement with Thales Alenia Space in Spain and France to coordinate the design and development of the technologies required to offer the envisaged IoT services with 5G coverage starting in 2022.

TAS will ensure the viability of the entire technical phase, including engineering activities and the definition of the mission and end-user needs, with the objective of guaranteeing coverage extension services to European, American, South American and even African telecommunications operators from 2022.

The agreement between Sateliot and Telespazio will promote the development of the IoT market. In particular, Sateliot will leverage Telespazio’s experience and penetration in the international space services market to assess the main needs of customers in different sectors. Telespazio will use Sateliot’s capabilities to boost its offering in an IoT sector that already includes global hybrid coverage based on the integration of LTE/WiFi/Lora/Satellite technologies.

This agreement will allow Telespazio and Sateliot to develop new IoT services in sectors such as seaborne freight, agriculture, infrastructure management and telecommunications. In the freight sector, for example, IoT sensors connected via satellite are able to offer information about the load status, allowing transport monitoring and enhanced security, while in the agricultural sector, they can provide real-time data to promote sustainable crop management. IoT sensors are also one of the most promising solutions for infrastructure monitoring and management, maintenance management, traffic status control and rescue operations management after accidents.

According to Jaume Sanpera, the Founder and CEO of Sateliot, “This strategic agreement with The Space Alliance, formed by Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio, underpins our business plan focused on two growth paths. On the one hand, through a transversal strategy with telecommunications operators. And, on the other, through a vertical business line, aimed at end customers, to whom we will facilitate the monitoring of different variables in real time for profitable decision making for their businesses.”

The objective of Sateliot’s business plan is to close 2025 with a turnover of around 236 million euros and a total workforce of more than 100 people. To make this possible, Sateliot has completed two capital increases and is negotiating a new round of financing with various international funds.

Sateliot is the first satellite telecommunications operator that will provide global and continuous connectivity to all the elements that will make up the universe of the Internet of Things (IoT) -such as the connected car or home- under the 5G protocol. Thanks to a constellation of state-of-the-art nanosatellites, located at low altitude that act as mobile cell towers, Sateliot is the perfect complement to large telecommunications companies by providing the necessary infrastructure where terrestrial technologies do not reach. More information in our web, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Spaceflight Inc. is celebrating their 10th anniversary. Since the company’s founding, the company has launched more than 300 satellites across 36 missions on eight different launch vehicles.

During Spaceflight’s 10 years in business, the company has evolved from launch brokerage to providing comprehensive launch and mission management services for payloads of all sizes, across a wide range of launch vehicles, with integration and logistics services, a portfolio of propulsive orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs), and the widest variety of orbital destinations.

Highlights: 10 Years of Launch Experience

After founding the company in 2011, Spaceflight executed its first launch in 2013 aboard a Soyuz vehicle. In 2015, it purchased its first Falcon 9 rideshare mission, and in 2016, its first PSLV launch. More significant stats include:

36 total missions executed in the last 10 years with half occurring in the last two and a half years

327 spacecraft deployed with nearly 70% launching in the last two and a half years

Serving 79 unique customers, 75% of those commercial organizations

Customers from 29 different countries, with more than 24 countries represented in each of the last three years

More than 4,000 kilograms of total spacecraft mass launched

Fifty percent of launches have occurred on foreign launch vehicles

Launches on eight launch vehicles, including Falcon 9, Electron, Vega, Soyuz, Antares and PSLV with agreements to fly on new vehicles including Virgin Orbit, Relativity, Firefly, and SSLV, when available

“This is a monumental milestone for our company,” said Curt Blake, CEO and President of Spaceflight. “Ten years ago, rideshare was just a concept. We founded the company to serve the growing need for frequent and affordable launch options for the burgeoning smallsat industry. Since then, we’ve innovated new services, global launch practices, and OTV technology as well as executed several industry-first missions. We’re very proud of our pioneering spirit to provide the most flexible launch options for customers, helping them get their spacecraft on orbit when and where they want.”

“Spaceflight has been a trusted partner and our go-to launch service provider for years,” said Kjell Karlsen, Chief Financial Officer at Astrocast. “The team’s expertise provides us with the peace of mind that our mission will be expertly managed. This coupled with the flexibility enabled by the company’s diverse portfolio of launch options makes Spaceflight a preferred provider for us. Congratulations on the 10-year milestone; it’ll be exciting to see what innovations they pioneer and bring to market in the next 10 years.”

Spaceflight has also…

• Pioneered the Sherpa-NG program, which includes three ESPA-class space vehicles complete with electric and chemical propulsion for last-mile delivery in space; the first OTV (Sherpa-FX) flew on record-breaking SpaceX Transporter-1 launch.
• Executed the historic SSO-A mission, the first Falcon 9 dedicated rideshare mission, which launched 64 satellites from 34 customers from 17 countries. At the time, it was the largest number of satellites to ever launch from a U.S.-based vehicle.
• Orchestrated the first-ever rideshare mission to GTO, launching the first privately funded lunar lander.
• Opened a new state-of-the-art integration facility in Auburn, Washington, where the team conducts end-to-end spacecraft testing, integration and engineering services.
• Secured a U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) contract to offer cost-effective launch services for U.S. government organizations.
• Unveiled the first online booking site for customers to reserve launches and a mission management portal for easy online launch campaign coordination.
• Acquired by Mitsui & Co., Ltd., in partnership with Yamasa Co., Ltd., enabling deep resources to propel innovation and expand service offerings.

In January 2021, Spaceflight completed the successful launch of Sherpa-FX (pictured above), which carried 15 spacecraft on the record-setting SpaceX Transporter-1 mission. The company plans to launch approximately 10 missions across its global launch vehicle portfolio in 2021.

The French communications regulator, ARCEP (l’Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques), has approved SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system for use and access to the nation.

However, the residents of a small village near Mont Saint-Michel abbey on the English Channel are saying a very firm “no.”

The village, Saint-Senier-de-Beuvron, population 350, is fearful of the impact the 3 meter satellite ground station antennas and radomes might have. “This project is totally new. We don’t have any idea of the impact of these signals,” said Noemie Brault, the deputy mayor of the village. “As a precaution the municipal council said no.”

SpaceX has permission to erect nine domes at Saint-Senier and at three other sites throughout France. Starlink Internet Services can use frequencies 10.95-12.70 Ghz for space-to-Earth and 14-14.5 GHz for Earth-to-space transmissions and was confirmed by ARCEP on February 18th. France’s various regulators have stressed that the domes and transmissions present no risk to residents, and that there are similar Earth stations across France doing similar work.

The company handling the Starlink installation say they will be making a fresh submission for local permission.

In additional news, SES has confirmed the signing of multi-year capacity agreements totaling more than 66 million euros in backlog with multiple public broadcasters in Europe throughout 2020, which it says will “enable millions of satellite TV households across Europe to continue watching SD and HD content delivered with world-class reliability.”

The public broadcasters who have signed contracts directly with SES include ARD and ZDF in Germany, BBC in the UK, BVN in the Netherlands, as well as TV5Monde and France 24 from France via its partner Globecast.

“With almost the entire global population being impacted by some form of Covid-19 containment measures throughout 2020, public broadcasters have seen a surge in viewers across all age groups relying on linear television programmes to get the latest, official and well-researched news about the pandemic. The increase in linear content in 2020 also reinforces satellite as the most reliable way to broadcast to the widest possible audience and in the best quality desired by the viewer,” stated SES.

The latest agreements signed between public broadcasters and SES illustrate how European broadcasters are leveraging SES’s satellites at the prime orbital slots of 19.2 degrees East and 28.2 degrees East to reach more than 89 million satellite TV homes, surpassing other satellite or terrestrial operators.

“Delivering TV programs with reliable information and quality entertainment is important, especially in times of crisis. We are very pleased to help ARD, ZDF, BBC, TV5Monde, France 24 and BVN — some of the biggest names in European broadcasting — reach as many people as possible with their public service offering,” said Steve Collar, CEO at SES. “Satellite is an invaluable distribution resource today and it will remain so in the future, providing broadcasters with the largest reach, unmatched reliability, bandwidth efficiency and the ability to deliver superior content quality to millions of TV households in Europe.”

Separately, SES has also announced that its Government Solutions division has been awarded a capacity ‘loopback’ access contract with “a key US government customer” covering Southwest Asia. “The awarded task order is against the single-award Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) with the US Department of Defense (DoD) for Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) low-latency High Throughput Satellite (HTS) services.”

Onto China, where Chinese vehicle manufacturing giant Geely Technology Group (and its satellite production division Taizhou Xingkong Zhilian) have been given formal approval to build more than 500 satellites annually.

The new enterprise, located in coastal Taizhou, eastern Zhejiang province, will carry out research and development, manufacture core components, test, operate and control satellites, said the company. Equipment is reportedly arriving and production scheduled to start in October.

The news is important in that this is the first ‘mass manufacturing’ facility for satellites in China and will bring together Geely’s industrialized output with the high-tech aerospace demands of satellite production. It is not yet know what the target uses are for the new satellites, or whether they are likely to be LEO craft or larger.

Apogee Semiconductor has announced their AP54RHC RadHard Logic Family based on their Transistor-Adjusted-Layout for Radiation (TalRad) design methodology that improves the radiation performance of commercial process technologies, enabling the rapid creation of rad-hard designs in a fraction of the time and effort.

The AP54RHC family of products are built with cold-sparing capabilities and triple-redundancy providing maximum reliability and area savings. The AP54RHC family is tailored to small satellite applications with a Total Ionizing Dose (TID) resilience of 30krad (Si) and Single Event Latch-up (SEL) hardened up to with 80 MeV-cm2/mg, encapsulated in a 14-pin TSSOP plastic package.

The AP54RHC family includes functions such as level-translators, majority voters, transceivers and logic gates. Evaluation units are available now and flight units will be available in 2Q21.

“Our products and services are targeted towards enabling small satellites and large constellations that require high performance, small form factors and radiation resilience at a lower cost,” said Anton Quiroz, CEO. “Apogee Semiconductor is aggressively focused on addressing the challenges small satellite spacecraft designers are facing to meet aggressive cost target while also needing to maintain high reliability.”

A 300krad version of the AP54RHC family will be coming soon from Apogee Semiconductor.

The rapid increase of smallsats being launched into Earth’s orbit is increasing at a phenomenal rate. From a total of 385 smallsats launched in 2019, the expectation now is that more than 6,000 will be launched during 2023, including SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper.  

As satellites are evolving to be smaller, the development of agile propulsion technology to serve them effectively has not kept up. Magdrive has the answer to address the need for a breakthrough in satellite propulsion. 

Magdrive is led by CEO Mark Stokes, a mechanical and deep learning engineer with a career in deep tech and aerospace, and CTO, Dr. Thomas Clayson, a plasma physicist and pulsed power electronic engineer. 

Magdrive has just closed $2 million in seed funding from investors that include Founders Fund, who is a major investor in SpaceX. The company is currently working on an engineering model and currently speaking with prospective partners for On-Orbit Demonstrations. 

The combination of high thrust and high specific impulse delivered by the Magdrive thruster are a generational leap ahead of any other propulsion systems. Other similar sized electric propulsion systems will typically produce less than 10mN of thrust, whereas Magdrive is looking to provide a colossal 100mN, providing small spacecraft with increased agility and control, sufficient for close-proximity operations and obstacle avoidance.  

The Magdrive thruster consists of several magnetic coils, arranged to create a magnetic chamber. These coils confine and direct the hot plasma exhaust, provided by the pulsed plasma injectors. The unique element is the efficiency with which Magdrive manipulates the magnetic fields to direct the plasma to provide thrust. The high temperature of the plasma guarantees high efficiencies and specific impulses, while the high plasma density creates a high thrust.  

Magdrive are on an exciting trajectory since forming in September of 2019. The company was accepted into Entrepreneur’s First in April, accepted into the European Space Agency Incubator in June and secured the backing of Founders Fund.  

Satellites are just the start for Magdrive, as Mark Stokes has much greater ambitions. He said, “Just as the jet engine transformed the aviation industry, the Magdrive will be the catalyst for a new space age. We want to open up the space industry to completely new types of missions that were not possible before without resorting to much larger, expensive and heavier chemical thrusters. Fast and affordable interplanetary space, operations in Very Low Earth orbit, and laying the foundation for orbital manufacturing and asteroid mining are all within reach. We plan to scale up our technology to power larger manned spacecraft once in orbit, to long distance destinations such as the Moon and Mars. Our system would present a much more affordable option than a chemical or nuclear solution, due to the huge reduction in fuel costs.” 

The U.S. Air Force, through its AFWERX program, recently awarded Space Micro Inc. an STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) contract to enhance its current Nanocom Software Defined Radio (SDR) for new U.S. Space Force programs for smallsats. The contract, “Modular Software Defined Radio for Resilient SATCOM”, requires Space Micro to assess future Department of Defense (DoD) requirements for advanced SATCOM.

Space Micro’s Nanocom is a miniaturized (1U), quick-to-field, cost-effective, modular SDR. Designed under previous programs to perform in hostile and extreme environmental conditions, Nanocom is programmable on orbit and suitable for a variety of applications, including Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TT&C) transceiver, mission data transmitter, and Radio Frequency (RF) receiver with onboard signal processing.

Nanocom contains the latest generation Xilinx Zynq Software on a Chip (SoC) whose large availability of programmable logic resources support sophisticated, cognitive anti-jamming algorithms. The included Gigabit Ethernet interfaces support classified data and waveform loading. The Nanocom’s modular design allows it to be easily configured to support different data rates, frequencies, bandwidths and interfaces.

Space Micro’s family of Software Defined Radios comprises two different models: Space Micro’s Zynq 7020-based µSDR-C targets UHF, S-Band, L-Band and low C-Band applications, while the more powerful Zynq 7045-based Nanocom targets higher frequency, higher data rate, and more processor intensive RF applications.

Space Micro has already delivered several µSDR-C SDRs for commercial and U.S. Government programs and is currently under contract to deliver X- and Ka-Band Nanocom SDRs for additional U.S. Government programs.

“We are pleased to enter into this fast-paced contract with AFWERX and by our discovery process, assess SATCOM needs that will support space programs and missions for various DoD agencies including the U.S. Space Force, Air Force, SDA, MDA, Navy SPAWAR, DARPA, Army SMDC, SOCOM, DIU, AFRL, and NRL,” said David J. Strobel, Space Micro CEO. “The Air Force can leverage our past and current commercial and IR&D investments in our dual-use space radios. Space Micro is also observing a new demand for U.S. domestic sourcing of space subsystems for certain U.S. Government agencies and programs.”

Space Micro Inc., based in San Diego, California, is an engineering-driven supplier of affordable, high-performance, radiation hardened communications, electro-optics, and digital systems for use in commercial, civil, and military space applications around the world. Space Micro solutions include Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) transmitters, mission data transmitters, star trackers, image processors, Command & Data Handling (C&DH) systems and laser communications systems.

A miniature satellite capable of taking pictures of itself, developed as a passion project by company employees, students and others in Japan, is being launched in the United States during the early dawn hours of February 21 (Japan time).

The satellite has a built-in telescopic arm with a camera to take selfies. An earlier version was first developed and launched in 2018, but in that instance, communication between the satellite and equipment on the ground could not be established. Will the amateur group’s second attempt be a success, and will the satellite be able to send its selfies back to Earth?

The people behind the project’s development are members of space enthusiast group Ryman Sat Project, based in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward. The satellite is a cube measuring 10 centimeters on each side, and it weighs a little over a kilogram. The funds to make it were raised through a mix of crowdfunding and members’ own contributions, and the team spent about three years developing it.

Ryman Sat Project was founded in 2014, and currently boasts about 790 members. Although a love of space brought them together, they’re all amateurs when it comes to space-related development. Through a mix of trial and error, along with reading essays and specialist books on the subject, they have challenged themselves in space-related activities, such as developing satellites.

They’ve nicknamed the current satellite “selfish” — partly a reference to the term selfie and partly from their “selfish” desire to see the project through.

The selfie idea came from their desire to see the satellite they had built floating in space. The unit’s arm for taking pictures can extend out about 10 centimeters and retract back in. Although there’s no need for it to retract for the photographs, the team said they decided to make it able to do both, because “it looks smarter if it can go back to its original position and close than it does if the arm is left stretched out.”

For the wireless equipment, the team decided it would be more interesting to make their own than to use existing products, and after toiling away they managed to create something about half the size of what had been available, at a cost of about two-thirds of what they would have paid. As a result, it became possible to put in new equipment such as position control mechanisms. The team also tried to devise cool designs for its solar energy panels and camera shutter.

In response to the failure of communications on the first satellite, among other issues, the team has done thorough tests ahead of the main event this time. They have also tried to foresee potential equipment failure, and incorporated the same kind of cause analysis and evaluation that experts use in their designing methods.

The completed satellite will first be delivered to the International Space Station via an Antares rocket launched by a U.S. firm. After arriving, it will be released into space from the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo. If all goes to plan, the satellite’s antenna should unfurl about 30 minutes later and send signals to Earth. From there, the arm should extend as per instructions issued from the ground, and its camera shutter is expected to release.

The Ryman Sat Project group’s project manager, Ryuichi Mitsui, told the Mainichi Shimbun, “This kind of selfish project is something you can’t do unless it’s a pursuit. We had to value our feeling of wanting to do it without fear of failure. But, to try and make it a success precisely because it’s our pursuit, our members had to review the project and discuss it not just on weekends, but on weeknights, too.”

With the spread of the new coronavirus, the team members are unable to see the launch at the spot where it will happen, but their project manager said, “I want to observe that moment online with the other members.”

At a press conference ahead of the launch, the team was asked if they had any plans for the selfies the satellite takes. Their project manager responded hesitantly, “We’re not considering anything in particular. Maybe it could be someone’s (desktop) wallpaper, or used in a calendar? If you have any good ideas, please let us know.” Rather than focusing on how the photos are used, it seems the very process of having pictures sent to Earth and being able to celebrate them together is everything for the team.

(Japanese original by Etsuko Nagayama, Opinion Group)

From Mainichi

BlackSky Holdings, Inc. (“BlackSky” and Osprey Technology Acquisition Corp. (“Osprey”) (NYSE: SFTW), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), have entered into a definitive agreement for a business combination that would result in BlackSky becoming a publicly listed company. It is anticipated that the post-closing company, BlackSky will be listed on the NYSE with the ticker symbol “BKSY”.

Founded in 2014, BlackSky is a first mover in real-time Earth Observation (EO) leveraging the innovative performance and economics of smallsat constellations to deliver high revisit global monitoring solutions. BlackSky’s Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning powered analytics platform derives unique insights from its constellation as well as a variety of space, IoT, and terrestrial based sensors and data feeds. BlackSky monitors global events and activities providing enhanced situational awareness for commercial and government customers worldwide.

BlackSky has developed a fully integrated proprietary technology stack that includes a constellation of high-resolution small satellites that monitor global events and activities at high revisit rates, an AI and machine learning enabled software platform that tasks the constellation and translates data into actionable insights, a proprietary database that continually captures information on global changes, and an application layer that delivers on-demand solutions directly to the customer.

BlackSky has also established a vertically integrated small satellite design and production capability through its LeoStella joint venture with Thales Alenia Space. BlackSky has five satellites in commercial operation and is scheduled to add an additional nine satellites to its constellation in 2021. Ultimately, BlackSky seeks to establish a constellation of 30 high resolution multi-spectral satellites capable of monitoring locations on Earth every 30 minutes, day or night.

BlackSky has established contracts with multiple government agencies in the United States and around the world. BlackSky’s pipeline of opportunities grew by $1.1 billion in the last 12 months and stands at $1.7 billion today.

“This transaction fully funds our growth plans and accelerates our vision of providing our customers with a “first-to-know” advantage. This is an important inflection point for our industry as commercial and government users demand access to real time information about the changes that matter most to them,” said Brian O’Toole, CEO of BlackSky. “With our high revisit rate constellation and our sophisticated analytics platform, BlackSky can address the market’s significant demand for real-time geospatial intelligence. We’re excited to partner with Osprey to accelerate our mission to support our customers’ critical needs.”

“We are delighted to partner with BlackSky, a first mover in a large and exciting new market,” said David DiDomenico, a Partner of JANA Partners LLC who also serves as CEO of Osprey. “The new space economy is taking off, and we believe that BlackSky’s low-cost image capture and on-demand delivery of analytics will revolutionize the way companies and governments detect and track change. BlackSky’s continuously growing, proprietary database is a valuable competitive advantage, and we believe its vertically integrated operations serve as a major point of distinction among other space analytics companies. This transaction will bring to fruition the vision of Brian and the BlackSky team.”

Transaction Overview

Pursuant to the transaction, Osprey, which currently holds approximately $318 million in trust, will combine with BlackSky at an estimated pro forma enterprise value of $1.1 billion. Assuming no redemptions by Osprey’s existing public shareholders, BlackSky’s existing shareholders will hold approximately 62.6% of the fully diluted shares of common stock immediately following the closing of the business combination.

The combined company expects to receive approximately $450 million in net proceeds, assuming no redemptions by Osprey’s existing public shareholders. These cash proceeds are expected to be used to extend BlackSky’s AI/ML analytics platform, expand BlackSky’s small satellite constellation, add additional sensors and data feeds to the BlackSky network and accelerate the Company’s penetration of the commercial market.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of both Osprey and BlackSky, and is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the approval of Osprey’s shareholders. The transaction is expected to close in July 2021.

Additional information about the proposed business combination, including a copy of the merger agreement and investor presentation, will be provided in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed by Osprey today with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and available at www.sec.gov. The investor presentation can also be found on BlackSky’s website at https://www.blacksky.com/ and Osprey’s website at https://www.osprey-technology.com/. In addition, Osprey intends to file a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC, which will include a proxy statement/prospectus, and will file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC.

BlackSky is a provider of real-time geospatial intelligence. BlackSky monitors activities and facilities worldwide by harnessing the world’s emerging sensor networks and leveraging its own satellite constellation. BlackSky processes millions of observations from space, air, environmental sensors, asset tracking sensors, Industrial IoT, and Internet-enabled narrative sources. BlackSky’s on-demand constellation of satellites can image a location multiple times throughout the day. BlackSky monitors for pattern-of-life anomalies to produce alerts and enhance situational awareness. BlackSky’s monitoring service is powered by cutting-edge compute techniques including machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer vision, and natural language processing. BlackSky’s global monitoring is available via a simple subscription and requires no IT infrastructure or setup.

Osprey is a special purpose acquisition corp., or SPAC, that was established as a collaboration between investment firms HEPCO Capital Management, led by Jonathan and Edward Cohen, and JANA Partners, led by Barry Rosenstein and with its SPAC initiative led by JANA Partner David DiDomenico, who serves as Osprey’s CEO, President, and Director. Osprey was formed to consummate a transaction with one or more transformative companies that have developed innovative software delivery platforms.

Elon Musk’s broadband-by-satellite Starlink business is readying to open for business in Europe.

The markets invited include France, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Italy and others. The company plans to launch its service in these European markets in mid to late 2021 on a “first come, first served basis.” Its service will deliver broadband internet connections at 50-150 Mbps with latency below 40ms and no data cap.

Investment bank Exane/BNPP, in a note to clients, said the move puts Starlink in a head-to-head competition with Eutelsat’s Konnect service, which is already live.

“Eutelsat offers several price plans which are all cheaper than Starlink, including the premium Konnect Max product. Konnect Max offers speeds of up to 100Mbps and no data cap for €69.99, a 15 per cent discount. Konnect Easy offers 30 Mbps with no data caps at €29.99 a month, a 65 per cent discount. Starlink is flagging that customers surrounded with tall trees or buildings will suffer a poor connection,” said the bank.

“This is less of an issue for Eutelsat’s GEO satellites. Besides Elon Musk’s branding, Eutelsat’s main competitive disadvantage is the c650ms latency. This is not an issue for most of today’s internet usage (video consumption, browsing, social media) but makes certain applications inoperable (video gaming) and a few others (video conferencing) less efficient. We continue to believe, howeve,r that the European and African markets are big enough to accommodate three players (Starlink, Eutelsat and, in 2023/24, Viasat),” added the bank.