Analysts at Quilty Space pose the question of whether Elon Musk’s plans for SpaceX’s all-new Starship giant rocket can achieve scale. For example, after November’s launch of its second-ever Starship vehicle, Musk posted a picture of four more Starships lined up in one stage or another of assembly, and which he described as “the last […]

SpaceX is looking to raise more than a half-billion dollars in fresh equity by selling so-called ‘insider shares’ priced at about $95 per share, according to a Bloomberg report. If successful, the tender offer would result in a valuation for SpaceX of some $175 billion (€162.4bn). This move underscores SpaceX’s growing prominence in the commercial […]

Having launched more than 5,000 satellites it is inevitable for SpaceX’s Starlink that some will fail. SpaceX has filed to the FCC its latest report on those failures over the past couple of months and gives the reasons. Starlink reference number 3337 suffered failed software. Remedial action was taken and the software updated but ultimately […]

Amazon’s Project Kuiper mega-constellation has surprisingly ordered three rocket launches from rival SpaceX. It seems the SpaceX launches are needed to ensure that Kuiper meets its ITU obligations to orbit 50 per cent of its 3,236 fleet by July-2026. Coincidentally, the order comes at the same time as a lawsuit from an institutional investor is […]

Communication permissions for Elon Musk’s third test flight of the SpaceX Starship has been issued by the FCC. The communications licence covers a period from December 1st to January 6th 2024. The formal communications licence was issued to SpaceX on November 28th, but is not permission to actually launch. Those final permissions will come from […]

Icasa, South Africa’s communications regulator, is complaining about grey market Starlink dish sales in South Africa. Starlink is not licensed in the country. Icasa says such sales are illegal and “must stop immediately”. Icasa believes that dishes and modems are being brought into South Africa from neighbouring countries where they are licensed to operate. Starlink […]

A media delegation from South Korea visited the Thales Alenia Space satellite production facility in Toulouse, France, to examine Koreasat 6A and its payload. The visitors heard that the launch is on schedule for the winter of 2024-2025. The satellite uses Thales Alenia’s flight-proven Spacebus 4000 system, and will replace Koreasat 6 currently in orbit. […]

SpaceX plans to sell new shares in December to investors, according to reports. Elon Musk raised around $750 million (€686.9m) in July this year for SpaceX. SpaceX is a closely held business and is expected to issue a tender offer which values the company at about $1.5 billion. The cash raised in July gave the […]

Starship Test Flight Number 3 could be ready for launch this side of Christmas. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) is currently conducting its post-launch ‘mishap’ investigation on the November 18th Test Flight Number 2. But with zero injuries and no public property damage there is little for the FAA to worry about. The FAA says: […]

SpaceX’s Starlink dish has been completely redesigned with a much simpler concept. Starlink has redesigned its high-tech antenna. The latest versions have eliminated the automatic self-seeking positioning motors. The supplied instructions now talk about positioning the dish terminal as being with “manual orienting”. In other words, the customer positions the dish. The new dish (officially […]