ViaSat-3, the first of a trio of massive broadband satellites for the California-based operator, has slipped its expected launch date. SpaceX, which is launching the craft on one of its Falcon Heavy rockets, now says that the launch cannot happen before December 27th. The Kennedy Space Centre has published its anticipated launch schedule for December […]
Quilty Analytics, in its latest in-depth study, says that the success of SpaceX has prompted more than 100 new launch start-ups entering the fray with most focussing primarily on smaller launch vehicles. But the report cautions that many will not be successful. Quilty says that historically, the business of designing, building, and operating launch vehicles […]
SpaceX launched 53 Starlink satellites into orbit on Thursday night (October 27th, 9.14pm California time/1.14 am GMT, October 28th) from Vandenberg Space Force Base. It was SpaceX’s 49th launch this year. The Falcon 9’s first stage successfully landed on the ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ floating barge about 9 minutes after launch. It was […]
Starlink will start shipping its ‘Starlink for RVs’ flat high performance kit in December offering high-speed, low-latency internet on an as-needed basis in any destination where Starlink provides active coverage. Its active ‘high capacity’ coverage promise includes most of the US and Canada although about a quarter of the US from the Great Lakes down […]
A report from Northern Sky Research (NSR) suggests that satellite-based phone connectivity is “on the brink of mainstream adoption”. NSR says that the latest collaboration agreements between likes of SpaceX, T-Mobile, Apple and Globalstar have reinforced the notion of early deployments. “Satellite operators AST SpaceMobile, Lynk and Omnispace are also advancing in partnership with mobile […]
The October 20th launch of 54 Starlink broadband satellites takes the total number in orbit to more than 3,500 craft. It was mission 4-36 for SpaceX’s Starlink deployments. SpaceX successfully landed the Falcon 9 booster rocket on the waiting floating barge, A Shortfall of Gravitas, some 650 km downrange for reuse in the future. The […]
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 54 Starlink satellites today, October 20th, from Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The instantaneous launch window is at 10:50 am ET (14:50 pm UTC), and a backup opportunity is available on Friday, October 21st at 10:29 a.m. ET (14:29 UTC). The […]
Following on from the slightly delayed but successful launch by SpaceX of Eutelsat’s latest Hotbird satellite (13F) on October 15th, Airbus has also confirmed that Eutelsat’s next-in-line satellite, Hotbird 13G, another of its latest ‘Eurostar Neo’ designs, has been flown to an airstrip at the Kennedy Space Centre from Toulouse in France. SpaceX launched 13F […]
Viasat’s next generation ViaSat-3 Americas satellite has moved a major step forward towards its launch having completed its mechanical environmental test phase. “This is a significant milestone that is designed to verify the satellite can endure the rigors of launch and continues the momentum for launch later this year. During mechanical environmental testing, the ViaSat-3 […]
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has announced that Starlink has launched in Japan, making the country the first in Asia to deploy the broadband-by-satellite service. Starlink will, in particular, tap into potential demand from mountainous areas and remote islands suffering from spotty or hard-to-access internet service. The monthly service fee is 12,300 yen (€86.55) on top of […]