The IRIS2 consortium, which is seeking to build a satellite mega-constellation on behalf of the European Commission, looks as if it is on the verge of collapse. French newspaper La Tribune says that due to risk assessment, Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Space, the subsidiaries of the two European aerospace giants, have sent a letter […]

The European Commission wants to build a new satellite constellation called IRIS2. A consortium (SpaceRise) has submitted its best and final bid to secure the contract to build the highly-secure system which will be targeted at military, governmental and potentially consumer users. However, Germany has not been keen on the proposal and has issued very […]

Airbus Space & Defence has problems. Unlike its major rival Boeing, there’s nothing wrong with its A320 aircraft production, but Airbus’s troubled space division has implemented a €900 million write down in charges – effectively losses against its Q2 2024 revenues – and Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said a thorough review has led to a […]

Abu Dhabi-based satellite operator Yahsat has ordered two satellites to be built by Airbus Defence & Space. The two new craft, Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5, will be based on the Airbus Eurostar Neo concept, with flexible payloads. The flexible multi-band payloads can be fully reconfigured while in orbit, capable of adjusting the […]

A consortium of Japanese businesses led by NTT Docomo and Space Compass, together with Mizuho Bank and the Development Bank of Japan, has committed to invest $100 million (€92.2m) in Airbus subsidiary AALTO, which manufactures and operates the stratospheric, solar-powered Zephyr High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS). The investment will be made through the Japanese Consortium’s […]

Intelsat has launched high-speed inflight connectivity service on the first of more than 40 new Condor Airlines’ Airbus narrowbody aircraft following an agreement that includes factory installation by Airbus. “Intelsat’s 2Ku service will deliver streaming-quality connectivity for passengers even in busy European airspace,” said Dave Bijur, Senior Vice President of Commercial Aviation. “The factory installation […]

The Satellite 2024 conference in Washington opened with its regular panel of satellite manufacturing executives. They admitted that demand for their geostationary craft had dropped. Chris Johnson, CEO at Maxar Space, agreed that demand for geostationary satellites had certainly declined but was far from dead: “It is evolving,” he told delegates, and estimated that the […]

Eutelsat’s latest satellite, the Airbus Space-built 36D telecommunications craft, is on its way to Florida ready for a month-end launch on a SpaceX rocket. A giant Airbus ‘Beluga’ aircraft flew the 5-tonne all-electric satellite from Toulouse, via a refuelling stop on Terceira Island in the Azores, and then onward to Florida. Eutelsat 36D is an […]

Airbus last week announced its financials for 2023, but one major segment stood out which was a massive €600 million ‘write down’ in costs set against its development of its OneSat software defined satellite. The craft has suffered delays, cost increases and a consequential damaging reassessment of its market prospects. Airbus has reported that it […]

AALTO HAPS, a subsidiary of Airbus, aims to deploy its Zephyr aircraft that can stay aloft for days at a time from four or five bases around the world, starting with the operational hub in Laikipia County in Kenya early next year, according to the company’s CEO. However, this plan is subject to regulatory approvals […]