Independent weekly intelligence on satellite operators, constellations and ground networks. No hype. A point of view.

Somebody Just Ordered Three GEO Satellites. Nobody Will Say Who.

An undisclosed customer committed more than $600 million for three geostationary communications satellites on the former Maxar 1300 bus. The timing points at the FCC upper C-band clearing, and the anonymity is the most interesting part.

Grain's Buyers Need a Rule Change, Not Just a Waiver

Bids for Grain Management's $6 billion 800 megahertz portfolio go to Grain, not the FCC, and close 5 November. The Commission will let AST SpaceMobile test in this band tomorrow, but has created no way for anyone to sell commercial service in it.

Satellites Are the Cheap Part: Sizing SpaceX's Mobile Network

SpaceX's mobile network is not limited by spectrum or satellites. It needs about 40,000 cell sites, and that buys a mid-market carrier.

What a Satellite-Connected Car Will Actually Do in 2029

A Viasat/5GAA survey says 75% of drivers will pay for satellite in the car. What they'll actually get in 2029 is an emergency message.

Telesat Stopped Saying Refinance

Telesat's Q2 call changed the December vocabulary. A US$120 million loan at a non-guarantor subsidiary and what a consensual outcome means for creditors.

IRIS² Got Bigger and 48 Percent More Expensive. Europe Signed Anyway. — Deep Dive

Rendezvous 1 repriced Europe's sovereign constellation. What the €15.6 billion agreement changes for SES, Eutelsat and buyers of sovereign capacity.

Five Exits From a Band Nobody Flew

Eutelsat OneWeb surrendered its V-band grant in April 2025. Five operators have now left the FCC's first V-band processing round.

Telesat's Best Day in 57 Years Went to the Entity the Lenders Cannot Reach

Canada committed up to C$2.7 billion on Tuesday morning. The counterparty was Telesat LEO ULC, which is the part of the group the term lenders are in court trying to get back.

Telesat Says Its Cash Will Not Cover December. Ottawa Is Still Funding Lightspeed

Telesat GEO told its auditors that the cash will not cover December. Ten months earlier, 62 percent of the Lightspeed equity moved outside the reach of the lenders who are now suing to get it back. Ottawa is still funding the entity on the protected side of that wall.

Who Gets Bought Next in Satellite M&A. One Seller Has Already Told You

iDirect, Hughes, Iridium, Comtech. Who sells next in satellite M&A, why ground infrastructure clears at a fraction of what spectrum does, and the constraint that now kills more deals than antitrust ever has.

Every Constellation Is Now a Starship Derivative

Launch capacity, not capital or spectrum, now gates every satellite constellation. Why the whole market's schedule has become a Starship derivative.

Poland Bought a Gateway, Not Just Satellites - Deep Dive

Poland is the first EU member state to fund a national module inside IRIS². The Warsaw gateway, not the twelve satellites, is what buys sovereignty.