The blog
The French satellite service provider Eutelsat has just announced on February 24 th that it has successfully completed the world's first test of connecting to the 5G non-terrestrial network using low-Earth orbit satellites (LEO) by OneWeb (¹).
This program not only addresses today's connectivity needs, but also lays the foundations for Europe's strategic autonomy in a digitalised world. ”
He said. Read more …
Updated 2.2 (February 2025)
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2025 marks the 100 years of the broadcast of marine weather forecasts The Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4. This emblematic transmission, produced by the UK Met Office on behalf of MCA_media, continues to be a vital safety service for mariners along our coasts.
I had written an article at the beginning 2010 (¹) on the gradual disappearance of radio weather forecasts in France, and praised the consistency of the BBC bulletin. Fifteen years later, the marine weather forecast is still broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Long Waves at the same unchanging times. Hats off ! Read more …
Barely published my last post « Starlink Mini, a stone into the sea ” that SpaceX makes it obsolete by radical modification of its service offering. Playtime is over : now offshore boating with Starlink will require a big wallet. Read more …
Since the launch of Starlink in 2020, the hardware and service offerings were particularly versatile (¹). If the first recreational boaters were able to benefit from a navigation service far superior to the official conditions of use, it seemed obvious that this somewhat chaotic launch period would eventually be regularized, and offers stabilized. Despite still a strong disparity in equipment and subscription pricing from one continent to another, or even from one country to another, we are starting to see more clearly.
This is the case for France with the arrival of Starlink Mini. [Update of 11-12 th 2024] Read more …
Since the first launch in 2018 more than 6.600 satellites Starlink have been launched to date, of which almost 6.100 are operational (¹). Satellites have evolved technically, just as the infrastructure was gradually improved. They are launched in packets of 20 up to 23 at the rate of one SpaceX flight on average every ten days. However, the planned constellation of 34.396 satellites is still far from being achieved. Service coverage expands over time with the addition of new territories as requests for authorization from States are successfully completed. (²).
For more than four years, many boaters around the world have equipped their boat with an antenna/router kit by using the “Roaming” service. (ROAM in English) Who, with a particularly low cost, offers the possibility of maritime use off the coast thanks to an activated “Mobile Priority” option.
But everything is not as simple as that… Read more …
14 th 2011 – 14 th 2024, a birthday (¹) which does not fall round, but a performance worth saluting ! What was just a startup in the early days of the use of tablets and smartphones in navigation is now a company with a long history (²). Dominique Gauthier, its founder and manager, has participated for more than ten years in securing our iPads by becoming the exclusive importer for France of the famous cases aiShell (Originally “iPad Case”). Designed and manufactured in Germany, waterproofness and robustness that no longer need to be demonstrated, benefiting from a range of supports and accessories meeting all needs at sea. Read more …
Iridium to Expand its Reach as a Global Alternative PNT Service.„
This is how Iridium presents the acquisition of its partner Satelles. The 4 th 2024, Iridium Communications, strategic partner of the company Satelles of which it already owns 20% of capital, has announced its full acquisition, to become Iridium's "Satellite Time and Location" business unit. Iridium buys the 80% of capital remaining for approximately 115 million dollars (¹).
With this acquisition, Iridium aims to provide a PNT service (²) more robust and reliable than current GNSS networks (³). Read more …
The latest device Iridium GO! exec® (what a funny name !) has been available since March. It represents the first standalone device produced by Iridium to adopt the Certus®100 (¹) up to 88 Kbps download, 22 Kbps upload.
This big brother of the Iridium GO!® appeared in 2014 provides download speeds 40 times faster, but at costs that are clearly proportional. Read more …
Since the operational commissioning of the constellation Iridium NEXT (¹), Iridium has begun offering its new range of services called " Certus® ”. These services rely on the significantly increased technological capabilities of new satellites, which has made it possible, among others, Iridium to be approved as a second satellite communications provider for the GMDSS maritime security service (²), of which the competitor Inmarsat has held the monopoly since 1979.
Certus®, in addition to demonstrating that American businessmen are also literate. (³), is a range available in six bandwith levels starting from 22 Kb/s up to 704 Kb/s, and up to 1408 Kb/s in the near future.