Once upon a time, a large teleport operator was hit by a major power outage.  Uninterruptible power supplies immediately kicked in and the NOC staff waited for the generator to start.  Nothing happened.  So, they switched to the backup generator.  Still nothing.  Work crews rushed to trouble-shoot the generator failures while the countdown timer on the UPS batteries ticked downward…and downward…and still downward.  Just minutes from total loss of power, the work crews got one of the generators started and customers suffered no loss of service.  

Since 2016, the FCC had approved satellite constellations for new Non-geostationary Orbit (NGSO) Systems and the latest ones given green light were Spacex, Telesat, Keppler, and Leosat in November 2018 authorizing nearly 8,000 small telecom satellites to serve U.S. entities from Low Earth Orbit allowing global coverage.

In my previous column I recounted the genesis of the GVF Satellite Hub Summit @ CABSAT, a progress which has led us, in 2019, to the 5th event in this successful series, which takes place over 12 to 14 March at Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre/Dubai World Trade Centre.

Telesat Canada reported today consolidated revenues of US$174.48 million (Ca$232 million) for the 4th quarter ending December 31, 2018, a decrease of 8% US$15.79 million (Ca$21 million) compared to the same period in 2017. When adjusted for the impact of foreign exchange rate changes, the revenue decreased by 9% or US$16.55 million (Ca$22 million) compared to the same period in 2017.

Flight VS21, Arianespace’s second launch of the year, took place on Wednesday, February 27, at 6:37 p.m., (Kourou time) from the Guiana Space Center (CSG), Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana (South America).

2019 will see one of ITU’s most important meetings: The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19), to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from 28 October to 22 November 2019.

SpaceX successfully launched Indonesia's Nusantara Satu satellite from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida at 8:45 p.m. EST, or 1:45 UTC on February 22. Falcon 9 also delivered the Beresheet lunar spacecraft and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) S5 spacecraft to orbit.

Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) reported today total revenue of US$ 542.8 million and net loss of US$ 111.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2018. For the year ended December 31, 2018, Intelsat reported total revenue of US$ 2,161.2 million and net loss attributable to Intelsat S.A. of US$ 599.6 million.

CABSAT 2015, the leading professional content event for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), will examine the myriad challenges currently facing satellite companies and regional telcos as consumer viewing habits change. 

Eutelsat Communications reported a drop in revenues to US$743.42 million (€658.1 million), down 4.4 %, in the first half of 2018-2019, compared to the same period last year, but the company maintained a high level of profitability with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of US$585.61 million (€518.4 million), or EBITDA margin at constant currency of 79%.