The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found the proposed merger between Viasat and Inmarsat with could lead to airlines facing higher prices for on-board Wi-Fi and has asked the pair to submit proposals to address its competition concerns. The CMSA notes that Viasat and Inmarsat are two of the largest satellite communications companies […]

SpaceX launched four NASA astronauts to the international space station on October 5th from Cape Canaveral. A few hours later, from the Vandenberg Space Force base in California, another Falcon 9 rocket lofted 52 Starlink satellites into orbit. Both rocket boosters made pinpoint landings on their floating barges a few minutes after launch. The Starlink […]

SpaceX scrubbed a planned launch of 52 of its Starlink satellites (Mission 4-29) to its orbital fleet in a launch from Vandenburg. Originally scheduled for October 4th,there is now some uncertainty given the busy schedule that SpaceX has this week. At press time, it is hoped to get the launch away later today (October 4th) […]

Qatar’s Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) has licensed SpaceX’s Starlink to provide satellite links to the peninsula. The CRA licence authorises Starlink Satellite Qatar to provide satellite broadband Internet services to individuals and enterprises in the State of Qatar via the Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation of SpaceX, which provides comprehensive global Internet service coverage. “The […]

Elon Musk has revealed on Twitter that SpaceX has now manufactured more than 1 million Starlink user terminals. Starlink has enjoyed a steady rise in its subscriber numbers. In March this year Starlink claimed 250,000 users. By May that had expanded to 400,000. By June this year the business claimed it had 500,000 users. That […]

Arabsat has selected SpaceX’s Falcon 9 to launch its new satellite, Arabsat 7A – the first Arabsat 7th generation satellite harbouring the latest satellite technologies in terms of manufacturing, payload, efficiency of performance, and coverage flexibility. This announcement marks the third time that Arabsat has selected SpaceX for launch: first in 2019 with Falcon Heavy’s […]

Most unusually for SpaceX, it had to scrub five attempts to launch its latest batch of Starlink broadband satellites because of bad weather at Cape Canaveral. But the sixth attempt on September 18th was a flawless success. A Falcon 9 rocket placed 54 Starlinks into orbit (mission 4.34) at 8.18pm Florida time. The mission finally […]

SpaceX’s VP of Commercial Sales, Jonathan Hofeller, told delegates at the recent Euroconsult World Satellite Business Week that its Starlink broadband-by-satellite system now has some 700,000 subscribers. He added that recent subscriber price reductions are further boosting subscriber numbers. Those price reduction are designed to achieve closer parity with Starlink’s US pricing. The discounts have […]

A month ago the FCC ruled that SpaceX’s Starlink broadband service was not entitled to receive some $900 million from its rural broadband subsidy scheme (RDOF). Now SpaceX (and its Starlink Services subsidiary) is appealing that ruling which it claims is “flawed as a matter of law and policy”. The appeal document was filed on […]