News Analysis

The January 2015  issue of  the  Satellite Executive Briefing magazine  sponsored by Comtech EF Data  is now available.  Featuring:

Taipei, Republic of China, January 2, 2015--China's over-the-top (OTT) set-top box (STB) market started taking off in 2012 and enjoyed a 10-fold on-year growth in 2013, but the market started seeing decline in the third quarter of 2014 because of the China government's restrictions on OTT STBs and the issue could cause the market to see only around 20% on-year growth in 2014 according to Digitimes Research.

Houston, Tex., December 29, 2014--RigNet, Inc. (Nasdaq:RNET), a provider of managed remote communications solutions, telecoms systems integration services and collaborative applications to the oil and gas industry, today announced that it has acquired Timas Munaicom TOO ("Munaicom"), an oilfield communications company based in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Paris, France, December 22, 2014 - Euroconsult's latest report, Satellite Value Chain: The Snapshot, brings together a selection of key trends and indicators on supply and demand from Euroconsult's 2014 reports complemented by additional dedicated research on the commercial satellite business to give a snapshot of the commercial satellite value chain. Along with the introductory/overview section, the report includes sections on satellite manufacturing & launch services, satellite communications, Earth observation, and satellite navigation. 

Le Centre Spatial Guyanais, Kourou, French Guiana , December 18, 2014: Arianspace successfully launched four satellites for O3b using a Soyuz rocket from the Space Center in French Guiana. The launch follows the successful launches of the first eight O3b satellites in two batches in June 2013 and July 2014, completing the initial constellation of 12 satellites for O3b's medium-earth orbit, all-Ka-band system.

Baikonour Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, December 15, 2014 – International Launch Services (ILS), successfully launched Gazprom Space Systems' Yamal-401 satellite into geosynchronous orbit today on a Proton rocket. This was the landmark 400th mission for the Proton launch vehicle since its first flight in 1965.

New York, NY, December 9, 2014– The World Teleport Association (WTA) published its annual rankings for the Top Teleport Operators of 2014. The annual rankings of companies by revenue and revenue growth are compiled by surveying teleport operators around the world as well as referencing the published results of publicly-held companies.

Hong Kong, December 3, 2014--CMMB Vision Holdings Ltd.announce that it has entered into the Share Purchase Agreement with Mr. Yu Yueh-Lung for the acquisition of 5% equity interest in Soaring Idea Holdings Limited  and an option to purchase an additional 46% equity interest in Soaring within 6 months at a consideration of US$2,000,000 and US$4,000,000 respectively.

Baku, Azerbaijan, December 2, 2014--Azercosmos OJC, national satellite operator of Azerbaijan, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with France's Airbus Defence and Space to take over the rights to operate and commercialize the SPOT 7 high resolution  optical Earth observation satellite, which was successfully launched on June 30, 2014. The satellite will be renamed as Azersky.