Kenya’s largest telco Safaricom is urging the government to bar SpaceX’s Starlink from operating over the country, or at least to require the Elon Musk–owned business to take on a local partner. Safaricom’s letter to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) said: “Satellite coverage inherently spans multiple territorial borders and in doing so has the […]
AST SpaceMobile has enjoyed a spectacular rise in its share price over the past few days as enthusiasm for its target satellite–to–cellular service despite only having one test satellite in orbit. However, and despite much criticism, SpaceX’s Starlink might well steal AST’s thunder with its own satellite–based connectivity for smartphones. Starlink is basing a portion […]
SpaceX has told the FCC that it now has “more than 1.4 million” Starlink customers in the US, its largest market. In December 2023 it had claimed 1.3 million customers in the US. “Clearly, growth has slowed in the US, even while accelerating in other countries,” commented specialist satellite consultant Tim Farrar of TMF Associates. […]
A Chinese state-owned enterprise has launched the first batch of satellites for a mega-constellation designed to rival US company Space X’s Starlink’s near-global internet network. The launch, led by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), took place at Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, one of China’s main satellite and missile launch centres, located in the northern province […]
“Falcon is baaaaaaaack!!!!!!” was the post from SpaceX’s president and COO Gwynne Shotwell following the triple launch weekend of three Falcon 9 rockets, and achieved just two weeks after a partial failure of a Falcon’s upper stage on July 11th. The weekend (July 27th/28th) certainly saw SpaceX regain its stride, and started to make up […]
SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite system says it is now connecting more than 1,000 aircraft with its equipment. SpaceX is also planning multiple rocket launches this weekend (starting July 27th) and thus to help catch-up on the launch times missed because of an Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ruling to suspend SpaceX flights because of a July 11th […]
During Q4, AST SpaceMobile is due to launch five of its massive ‘Block 1 BlueBird’ 5G-ready satellites into orbit. These satellites will deliver 5G signals. In Q1 2025, AST has stated it will start launching its Block 2 BlueBird versions, which it says will be “ten times more powerful” and downloading at least 14 Mb/s […]
SpaceX’s Starlink has slashed prices in some US states for new subscribers to its broadband-by-satellite service. The normal upfront joining fee for the Starlink kit has been $599 (€552.2m) in the US. That price, considered something of a barrier to entry by some critics, is down to $299 in 29 US states and $499 in […]
Pacôme Révillon, CEO of Novaspace (the name of the merged Euroconsult and SpaceTec) says that SpaceX’s Starlink broadband by satellite system has been “transformative” in terms of its maritime customers. Speaking to Constellations, Révillon said that shipping is a highly complex environment, not least because of the variety of rules and obligations and just like […]
Eutelsat’s OneWeb constellation could soon be active over India thanks to its Indian shareholders Bharti Airtel. The latest reports from India suggest that OneWeb’s permissions to operate over India could be approved later this month. Elon Musk’s Starlink, despite favourable comments from India’s prime minister Modi, is still suffering regulatory delays. Starlink has received permission […]