Telesat today announced its financial results for the three and six-month periods ended June 30, 2021. Adjusted EBITDA was CDN$ 149 million, a decrease of 10% ($16 million) or, when adjusted for foreign exchange rates, a decrease of 3% (CDN$5 million). The Adjusted EBITDA margin1 for the second quarter of 2021 was 79.2%, compared to 79.1% in 2020.

Note: All amounts below are in Canadian dollars.

“And now for something completely different.”  Words first uttered by John Cleese in 1971, and repeated by Lorraine Whitfield, Chief Events and Marketing Officer, Euroconsult, at the opening of this year’s World Satellite Business Week.  Words that sum up, not only this conference, being the first time that WSBW has been a virtual conference, but words that also sum up this year for most of us.   

SpaceX is acquiring the small-satellite data provider Swarm Technologies, absorbing the startup’s roughly 30 employees and its network around 150 tiny satellites. The deal is extremely rare for SpaceX, which normally manufactures its rocket and satellite hardware in-house or hires subcontractors according to analysts.

Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group, will deliver SATELLITE 2021’s opening keynote address on Thursday, September 9th at 8:30 am ET at the Gaylord National Convention Center in National Harbor, MD. Less than two months after captivating global audiences with a trip into suborbital space, Branson will share stories with SATELLITE attendees from his experience and his views on the future of commercial space development.

Intelsat S.A. (OTC: INTEQ), today announced financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2021. Intelsat reported total revenue was US$ 507.9 million and net loss attributable to Intelsat S.A. was US$ 152.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2021. Intelsat reported EBITDA, or earnings before net interest, taxes and depreciation and amortization, of US$ 150.4 million and Adjusted EBITDA of US$ 283.8 million, or 56% of revenue, for the three months ended June 30, 2021.

Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM) today reported financial results for the second quarter of 2021 and updated its full-year 2021 outlook. Net income was US$ 3.8 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2021, as compared to net loss of $12.4 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2020.

Satellite Markets and Research Editor-in-Chief Virgil Labrador spoke with  Guido Neumann, Chief Development Officer and President EMEA of AXESS Networks who gave a brief history of his company and the current trends and opportunities in the teleport business.

Intelsat announced today that Gogo Commercial Aviation, a business it acquired in December 2020, is dropping the Gogo name and is now called Intelsat.

With its acquisition of Gogo’s Commercial Aviation division, Intelsat became the world’s leading provider of inflight broadband connectivity to the commercial aviation industry. The vertical integration is uniquely positioning Intelsat to deliver a reliable, high-performance inflight entertainment and connectivity (IFEC) experience for commercial airlines and their passengers.

Satellite communication will play a significant role in 5G and beyond as a complementary solution for ubiquitous coverage, broadcast/multicast provision, aeronautical & maritime communications, emergency/disaster recovery, and remote rural area coverage.  

The latest webinar in the GVF-SEG series posed a very important question – Antenna Innovations: Keeping Up with the Rest of the Industry?  It is based on a very important premise – that the transformation of the commercial exploitation of space and rapid progression from “Space 2.0” to “Space 3.0” (exemplified in such innovations as re-usable and 3-D printed launchers, assembly line satellite manufacturing, terabit-per-second satellite networks) can only be fully realized if comparable innovations occur with antennas.