SpaceX was extremely discreet about abandoning a planned launch last weekend of one of its Falcon 9 rockets carrying a batch of Starlink satellites. The launch, from Vandenberg Space Force Base, would have placed the Starlink cargo into polar or near-polar orbits. Launch was set for between 10.34-11.34 on October 17th. SpaceX has not explained […]
Two years ago, French president Emmanuel Macron said he would create a Space Force. On October 12th, he backed up his promise with a €30 billion commitment for investment in France’s high-tech sectors. “We want to have Elon Musks in France,” he told an audience at the Elysée Palace. Macron said that Musk and his […]
Elon Musk announced last week that it would widen its sales efforts in the US for its Starlink broadband-by-satellite service. The news coincided with an updated valuation for SpaceX – the parent company for Starlink – of just over $100 billion. The valuation means that SpaceX is now the second-most valuable private company on the […]
According to a research report from specialist IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the global satellite IoT communications market is growing at a good steady pace. Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the global satellite IoT subscriber base grew to surpass 3.4 million in 2020. The number of satellite IoT subscribers will increase at a […]
The bid for Eutelsat by businessman Patrick Drahi, rejected by the satellite company, might well trigger other bidders to enter the picture. Sami Kassab, equity analyst at investment bank Exane/BNPP, poses some interesting suggestions as to potential rival bidders to Drahi. Kassab argues that the key to anyone’s success in the validation of the bid […]
Starlink India’s new country director, Sanjay Bhargava, says that Elon Musk’s broadband by satellite business is looking to sign up 200,000 subscribers by the end of next year. Bhargava explained in a Linkedin post on October 2nd that obtaining an operating licence over India was a complex operation and initially Starlink would be seeking approval […]
Japanese carmaker Honda wants to build reusable rockets in the style of SpaceX. According to a report in Japan’s Nikkei, the carmaker has set 2030 as the target date to launch a test rocket. Honda says it will invest some $45 billion on R&D over the next six years, and will include so-called ‘flying cars’ […]
The Egyptian Satellite Company’s is already serving some 56 million homes and 270 million viewers across the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf regions. With the launch next year of Nilesat 301 it is intent on adding more homes and viewers from Africa. “Being the mainstay satellite of the Arab world, Nilesat has always […]
A study from the Ohio State University and its ‘CARMEN’ project (Center for Automated Vehicles Research with Multimodal Assured Navigation) says that SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system could be used as an alternate supplier of a new global positioning system (GPS). The CARMEN findings, shared at the Institute of Navigation GNSS annual meeting in St. Louis, […]
Elon Musk, in one of his regular Tweets, says that the Starlink initial beta broadband-by-satellite test stage will end in October. This early adopter test-stage has more than 100,000 users spread over 17 countries. SpaceX has launched almost 1,800 Starlink satellites into orbit and well over 1600 are fully working. Musk’s Tweet suggests that a […]