SES Archives - The Enterprise Orbit

Satellite makers are optimizing production processes amid GEO downturn

Satellite makers are wrestling with new manufacturing techniques and market segments to ease the pressure felt by declines in the legacy GEO satellite markets. “We’re trying to establish a business case for building satellites in a market that is constantly changing,” said SES’s Bryan Benedict, speaking earlier this year on a panel on the satellite market. “We have a big challenge ahead of us on how do we combine the

Luxembourg space agency will chase New Space business, not research

The Luxembourg Grand Duchy government has formed the country’s first space agency, as it continues to pursue leadership in commercial space. The newly formed Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) has been charged with promoting further economic development of the country’s nascent space industry by attracting businesses, offering innovative financial solutions and establishing research infrastructure. https://twitter.com/LuxSpaceAgency/status/1040158260492476416 Marc Serres, former head of space affairs at the Ministry of the Economy and VP of

Competing visions emerge as mission extension services come to fruition

Advancements in robotics has opened up new opportunities in satellite servicing and mission extension. Companies Orbital ATK and SSL have both developed mission extension vehicles and services in hopes of tapping into the market. Michael Gabor, SSL’s advanced programs director, describes mission extension services as “a game changer.” “It’s going to revolutionize how we treat the space domain, more than any of these other things do,” he said at the

Operators see software-defined satellite future approaching

Flexible, re-configurable satellites have been seen as an elusive holy grail in the industry for years now, but the technology seems to be gaining traction finally among satellite manufacturers and operators for commercial use cases. “If you look at the world today, what’s making the world go round is software,” said Jean-Luc Froeliger, Intelsat VP of satellite operations and engineering, speaking at the recent Space Tech Expo. “In the future,

SpaceX’s reusable launcher achieves milestone

SpaceX’s first successful landing of its Falcon 9 model back in 2014 marked the new reality for recovered rocketry, but the launch last night proves that those recovered rockets can now be re-launched back into space -- marking the true beginning of the era of reusable rocketry. (more…)