Subject to the usual weather considerations, SpaceX has a busy few days ahead with its Starlink broadband satellites, as well as a launch for SES of two of its much-needed O3b/mPOWER craft. On August 16th at 8.14pm Florida-time it is planning to place a batch of 22 Starlink satellites (Mission 6-10) from Space Launch complex […]

SpaceX carried out a flawless rocket launch and successful landing on its Falcon 9 booster and in the process placed 22 Starlink V-2 ‘mini’ broadband satellites into their transfer orbit on August 11th from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch meant that SpaceX had orbited a total of 51 satellites last week (and […]

Azerbaijani Minister of Digital Development and Transport, Rashad Nabiyev, has met with Elon Musk at the Tesla Giga factory in Austin, Texas. The two discussed the opening up of Azerbaijan for Starlink broadband equipment as well as launches of Azerbaijani satellites on SpaceX rockets. On May 9th Azercosmos announced that it has entered into an […]

Spanish telco Telefónica, through its global business unit, Telefónica Global Solutions (TGS), has become an authorised worldwide partner of SpaceX’s Starlink, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation of highly advanced satellites delivering high-speed, low-latency broadband Internet across the globe, even in the most rural and remote locations. With this agreement, TGS will be able to […]

SpaceX launched a smaller number of its Starlink satellites into orbit on August 6th, with each satellite being the larger and more powerful Version 1.5 craft. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket placed 22 of these Version 1.5 ‘mini’ Starlinks into their transfer orbits. The launch takes the overall number of Starlinks launched to 4,903, of […]

Analyst Tim Farrar of TMF Associates says that Elon Musk’s Starlink system will dominate satellite broadband “for at least the next five years”. Farrar adds that Musk is also dominating the launch business with his Falcon 9 rockets. His comments follow on from SpaceX’s comments to investors that it expects its overall (rocket launches plus […]

SpaceX’s Starlink broadband by satellite service has been made available in two new markets: Malaysia and Malawi. The service launched in Kenya a week ago. It is known that Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania and Zambia are likely to add Starlink services later in 2023, although South Africa is still awaiting being licensed by the authorities. The […]

Around 26,104 smallsats (satellites <500 kg) will be launched between 2023-2032, representing a daily launch mass of 1.5 tons over the 10-year period, according to strategy consulting and market intelligence firm Euroconsult. Two constellations alone – Starlink (SpaceX) and GuoWang (China SatNet) – will collectively account for nearly two-thirds of smallsats to be launched throughout […]

SpaceX lofted 22 second-generation ‘V2-Mini’ Starlink broadband satellites into orbit in the evening of July 23rd (at 23.09pm UTC). After lift-off from Space Launch Complex 40, the Falcon 9 headed south-east, targeting an orbit inclined at 43 degrees to the equator. The cargo element separated from the second stage about two and a half minutes […]

SpaceX aborted a launch of 15 of its Starlink satellites, scheduled to lift-off from its Vandenberg Space Force facility in California in the early hours of July 19th. The launch was scrubbed with just 5 seconds remaining on the countdown clock. This unusual decision was the second ‘abort’ in a week for SpaceX. Conditions on […]