The FCC, somewhat unusually, seems to have changed its mind and it is the world’s operators of Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites which could benefit. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said on June 9th that the Commission had changed the text on its draft order. “We did accommodate a request from a commissioner (Commissioner O’Rielly) to […]
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is normally focused on launching satellites into orbit, plus a couple of astronauts now and again. But now he is targeting his all-new ‘Starship’ super-rocket, and flights carrying up to 100 people. Musk’s Starship is the vehicle which he wants to use to get missions to the Moon, and eventually Mars. He […]
SpaceX completed another flawless launch on June 3rd – and the recovery of its Falcon 9 first stage a few minutes later. It was the sixth SpaceX launch this year (the second in five days) and the fifth use of the first stage booster which some dubbed the ‘sooty launcher’. Sooty or not the whole […]
Following on from last weekend’s success with its two human passengers aboard the Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station, SpaceX will launch 60 of its Starlink satellites on June 3rd. Currently, and weather permitting, the launch is planned for around 9.25pm Florida-time. However, SpaceX has a 60-minute launch window which opens at 8.55pm […]
SES currently has two core deployments of satellites: It has a fleet of powerful geostationary satellites that just about serves the whole planet. It also has 20 O3b (‘the Other 3 Billion’) satellites in Medium Earth Orbit, with seven new ‘super-power’ O3b satellites on order from Boeing, with deployment starting in 2021. The O3b fleet […]
According to Securities & Exchange Commission filing last week, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has raised an extra $346.2 million (net) in its latest fund-raising efforts. This suggests that Musk’s company has raised some $1.7 billion since the beginning of 2019. The company has a valuation of some $36 billion. It previously raised $221 million on March […]
Notwithstanding the financial challenges head – and a string of bankruptcies from those pushing for satellite mega constellations – Ottawa-based Telesat is asking US regulators to approve a significant expansion of its planned 209-craft constellation. Now it wants 1671 satellites. Earlier this week it was reported that OneWeb, despite being in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, […]