The EchoStar 26 satellite is under construction by Lanteris Space Systems (formerly Maxar Space Systems) based in Palo Alto, California). EchoStar 26 is a new, high-power geostationary satellite that Lanteris is building for its pay-TV system, DISH Network, with a scheduled delivery in 2028. Its purpose is to provide DTH satellite TV service across the […]

SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite service has reported it now has more than 8 million customers around the planet, up from 7 million in August and 6 million in June. Starlink is adding an average 14,250 new customers a day, and well up on their previous average of 12,200 per day, a 17 per cent increase over […]

October 25th saw SpaceX launch its 135th launch mission this year. The rocket carried a batch of 28 Starlink satellites in what was another routine mission for SpaceX, although it set a record and beats the total launched in 2024 by SpaceX. The launch was from Vandenburg Spaceforce Base in California. The launch used Booster […]

Grey-market/cross border smuggling of satellite kit has meant that SpaceX has disabled some 2,500 former users in Myanmar (the former Burma). Myanmar is not yet offering a Starlink service, but nearby Malaysia is authorised. A statement from Lauren Dreyer (VP/Starlink Business Operations) at SpaceX said: “SpaceX complies with local laws in all 150+ markets where […]

NASA’s Acting Administrator Sean Duffy sys that SpaceX’s Moon Lander programme is running late. He praised the Elon Musk business but admitted that SpaceX is behind on the schedule. Duffy said that NASA would reopen the contract to other bidders. “The President wants to make sure we beat the Chinese — he wants to get […]

SpaceX launched its 10,000th Starlink satellite on October 19th at 17.39 UTC. Some observers said there had been a malfunction but SpaceX later confirmed all the satellites had been deployed and the valuable booster stage of the rocket successfully landed on its floating drone ship eight minutes after launch. Indeed, the day represented a double […]

A report from analysts at CreditSights has looked at the prospects for satellite delivered ‘direct-to-device’ (D2D) telephony and broadband. The report says that for the new entrants – the likes of SpaceX’s Starlink, AST SpaceMobile and Amazon’s Kuiper – the promise of D2D is that satellite companies will be able to access a much larger […]

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has quietly registered the service trademark ‘Starfall’ through the tiny Polynesian kingdom of Tonga. The application was made on May 19th and recognised by the US Patent & Trademark Office on October 9th. The filing covers launch, on-orbit & re-entry services, spaceflight travel, in-space manufacturing services, custom manufacturing and processing of pharmaceuticals. […]

Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell has told EarthSky that one or two Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth every day. McDowell’s website, Jonathan’s Space Report, is widely regarded as a definitive source on spacecraft that go up … and eventually come down. The lifespan of low-Earth orbit satellites, such as Starlink, is only about five […]

SpaceX’s next flight of its giant Starship (test flight 11) is likely to launch on October 13th. The date has been confirmed by SpaceX, and the US Coast Guard’s local Notice to Mariners talks of the flight taking place between 6.15pm and 8.22pm on the 13th (US Central Time), but the Coast Guard also lists […]