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 […]
SpaceX has secured a launch contract for Turksat-6A. It will be launched from Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Turksat-6A is the first satellite to be built domestically in Turkey and once in orbit will be used for commercial as well as governmental uses. The satellite should finish its build by the end of […]
Elon Musk’s broadband by satellite service Starlink will launch in Japan next year. Starlink has announced a partnership with Japan’s cellular operator KDDI to offer an urban mobile connectivity experience to its rural mobile customers from its 1200 remote cellular towers. KDDI and SpaceX say they will offer Starlink services to clients living in mountainous […]
SpaceX has launched 51 of its Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The launch happened at 11.55 pm (3.55am UTC on September 14th). The Version 1.5 satellites were launched into Polar orbits and have laser inter-satellite links. The Falcon 9 booster supporting this mission previously launched Telstar 18 Vantage, Iridium-8, and seven […]
It seems SpaceX’s Starlink service is gearing up to meet its outstanding demand and widen distribution of its broadband by satellite service. At last week’s Satellite 2021 show in Washington, SpaceX’s CFO Bret Johnsen told delegates that the company is currently losing money on each and every Starlink system it supplies and in particular on […]
September 8th saw Amazon fire off another salvo to the FCC with a list of complaints about SpaceX and also citing a WSJ comment that Elon Musk wages a “war on regulators” and that Musk allegedly breaks the rules and endangers people. The Amazon letter to the FCC (and from its subsidiary Kuiper Systems) is […]
Abu Dhabi-based Yahsat used the Satellite 2021 show in Washington DC to announce that they have selected SpaceX to launch its upcoming mobile connectivity and broadband Thuraya 4-NGS satellite. The satellite will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the second half of 2023. The craft is being built by Airbus. Yahsat says […]
Bret Johnsen, SpaceX’s CFO & President of Strategic Acquisitions, told delegates to Satellite 2021 in Washington DC that they could still be looking at acquisition possibilities. SpaceX is in the process of buying Swarm Technologies, which makes small ‘cube’ and other similar-sized satellites specialising in Internet of Things services. SpaceX started the process back in […]
Elon Musk says his team are busy “figuring out the regulatory approval process” for launching the Starlink broadband service over India. Musk was asked the question on Twitter as to when his service might start in India, and responded a few hours later. India could well be extra important in Starlink’s ambitions given that Bharti-backed […]
Amazon, in a formal letter to the FCC on August 25th, objected to SpaceX’s enhanced plan for almost 30,000 new Starlink satellites and their adjusted orbits. SpaceX, in a letter to the FCC, said – in essence – that Amazon’s complaint is simply a delaying tactic. The company wrote: “The FCC should recognise this delay […]