Sovereignty
Why Is Airbus Selling the Factory That Built OneWeb?
Airbus is reviewing a sale of its Merritt Island plant after moving 440 OneWeb satellites to Toulouse. Who buys a two-a-day line that lost its customer?
Glenn Canales
40+ years in satellite communications. Former Sr. Director at Viasat. PanAmSat/Intelsat. iDirect. USAF veteran. Independent analyst covering LEO, GEO, D2D, and sovereign connectivity. No hype. A point of view.
GEO Economics
The Ka-Band Role Reversal: SpaceX Moves to Reopen the ViaSat-3 F2 Grant
SpaceX petitions the FCC to deny ViaSat-3 F2 market access in NGSO-primary Ka-band, filed on day 30 of the recon window. The role reversal, explained.
GEO Economics
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.
Direct-to-Device
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.
Starlink
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.
Direct-to-Device
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.
GEO Economics
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.
Sovereignty
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.
LEO broadband
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.
Sovereignty
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.
GEO Economics
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.
GEO Economics
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.