SpaceX has asked the FCC for permission to install two (normally) ground-based Starlink user terminals aboard a maritime vessel. The application says the request is “experimental” and would run September 1st until October 31st. The full request says: “[to] operate two mobile ground-based Starlink user terminals aboard a maritime vessel while embarked in US territorial […]
Elon Musk’s Space Exploration rocket company has received another major endorsement. NASA is awarding it a $178 million (€151.1m) launch contract to send a mission – the Europa Clipper – to one of Jupiter’s moons. The news will not affect SpaceX’s imminent start of its Starlink broadband-by-satellite service, but it shows that NASA believes that […]
A report from aerospace engineer Michael Volle says that SpaceX’s Starlink initial ‘broadband by satellite’ low Earth orbiting constellation is almost completely deployed in space. Volle says that the Starlink system has just to fill four remaining orbital planes, commented: “The satellites destined for those planes are currently heading to them. Everything will [have been] […]
SpaceX has launched a new floating barge for use from Florida. Given the name ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’, the barge will allow Falcon 9 rocket boosters which are launched from Kennedy Space Centre to land at sea. “Autonomous SpaceX drone-ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas,” Musk wrote in his Tweet. The drone ship is fully automated […]
Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband by satellite service is planning to use Indian manufacturers to build its customer antenna and user modems and terminal devices. Starlink is expected to launch in India in 2022. “SpaceX is excited to find ways to work together with the Indian industry for manufacturing products for its Starlink devices,” said Matt […]
Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system has been approved for activity in Mexico. Users can access the technology from October 28th and the licence will run for 10 years. Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT) received the Starlink application on April 2nd this year and the licence was granted on May 28th. The system must be operational […]
Elon Musk’s massive Starship is being assembled at its Starbase launch facility at BocaChica in south Texas. The Super Heavy Starship rocket is simply huge; The bottom, booster, stage stands 70 metres tall. Then SpaceX has added another 50 metres of the upper stage and the total combination of some 120 metres, and the end […]
Currently the EU, mostly via the European Space Agency (ESA) and other national space bodies, has totally supported the development of Arianespace’s ‘next generation’ Ariane 6 rocket. However, the development of Ariane 6 (A-6) has been delayed and not helped by Covid restrictions. The original concept was also that A-6 would be significantly cheaper to […]
A Californian motorist was stopped and issued a penalty ticket issued for using a Starlink dish mounted on the car’s front hood. The driver was stopped by California’s Highway Patrol (CHP). The car, a Prius hybrid, had one of SpaceX’s Starlink ‘pizza sized’ dishes along with its connecting cable running across the front window and […]
A webcast organised by the Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council heard some negative comments on the likely impact of Low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites. Most of the criticism came from operators of geostationary satellites. For example, Hispasat’s CTO Antonio Abad Martin spoke extensively about the business model in place for geostationary (GEO) operators, and said they […]