SpaceX has informed the FCC of its plans to expand its current broadband-by-satellite service to include Text and ultimately Voice services. On February 13th SpaceX wrote to the FCC saying it wanted to take another step towards realising the FCC’s own vision of a ‘Single Network Future’ which would bring ubiquitous mobile connectivity to consumers […]

Elon Musk says that SpaceX will deorbit approximately 100 of its early version Starlink satellites which have a design problem and could fail, and not be manoeuvrable. Musk also stated that the 3rd test launch of its Starship giant rocket was about 3 weeks away. SpaceX, in a February 12th statement, said these “early version” […]

It is always fun going back a few years and Pierre Lionnet, director of research at ASD Eurospace, has done exactly that and gone back to Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) forecasts for the space industry as they saw things in 2015. Lionnet is too polite to say the forecasts were rubbish, but points out that […]

SpaceX’s Starlink broadband services is officially not allowed in South Africa. However, various reports suggest that it already has around 14,000 users. One report says that StarSat Africa, the Mozambique-based Starlink importer, will be servicing South Africa with equipment, is set to cut prices for Starlink equipment by 13-20 per cent by the end of […]

Currently SpaceX’s Starlink system dominates satellite-based broadband and the potential for ‘direct-to-device’ (MSS: Mobile Satellite Service) communications. However, Globalstar is rolling out its smaller constellation and has Apple helping finance its expansion. The initial problem is that both outfits use the same frequencies (as does Dish Network). SpaceX formally complained to the FCC on February […]

SpaceX now has a mega-constellation of some 5,400 Starlink satellites in orbit. Some of these are its Version 2 craft with sophisticated laser links and extremely rapid inter-satellite links. The 9,000+ installed laser links amount to a massive throughput for the fleet which Starlink says is 42 PetaBytes (PB) per day or 1260 PB/month. There […]

Chris Forrester There’s considerable interest in what various heavyweight suppliers might be doing in terms of Direct-2-Cell satellite telephony. Apple, Google, AST SpaceMobile and others, including SpaceX’s Starlink, are very busy in this area. A filing with the FCC from T-Mobile on January 18th (which is linked with Starlink) explains their intentions, and the practical […]

Space Foundation has issued its Space Report for Q4 2023 revealing that global launch activity reached new highs for the third year in a row, with 223 launch attempts and 212 successful launches. Commercial launch activity increased 50 per cent from 2022. The US saw a 33 per cent increase in launch attempts, with China, […]

Justus Parmar, CEO of Fortuna Investments, and a close observer of the satellite industry, suggests that Elon Musk is only just getting started in terms of potential size and impact of SpaceX on satellite. Parmar’s team are already investors in the space sector, and according to a Constellations conversation with Kratos Defence, he suggests that […]

Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system is reportedly set to receive regulatory approval “in the next few days” for operation over and in India. The Musk-backed satellite business has reportedly agreed to comply with a key regulatory issue to not “offer services to a bordering country,” (likely to mean Pakistan). A separate Indian company would need […]