Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its 20th flight of the year on March 24th, carrying 56 Starlink broadband satellites. The Falcon 9’s booster stage came back to Earth as planned 8.5 minutes after liftoff, making a pinpoint touchdown off the Florida coast on the SpaceX droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas. It was the 10th launch and […]
Recently, SpaceX launched some second-generation Starlink satellites for its broadband-by-satellite system. However, Elon Musk has confirmed it has problems with at least some of the satellites. On March 22nd Musk tweeted that there were “some issues” with the set of Starlink satellites launched February 27th, confirming industry speculation that some satellites had their orbits changed. […]
SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite service has slashed its deposit fees on dozens of countries. New subscribers in many countries can sign up for as little as $9 (€8.40) instead of the – to date – $99 (and as high as $599 in the past) for the Starlink kit. Countries such as Turkey can access Starlink for […]
Switzerland-based telco Salt has agreed a deal with SpaceX to provide continuous coverage through satellite technology. This agreement, claimed as the first of its kind in Europe, leverages SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation as much as Salt’s mobile network to connect Salt’s current and future mobile customers to Starlink satellites, providing them with enhanced connectivity and […]
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally cleared the proposed merger between Viasat and Inmarsat following an in-depth review which revealed the business would likely face significant competition from both emerging and established players as the sector expands. While Viasat and Inmarsat compete closely, the merged company would be challenged by new competitor […]
A February 27th launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California will loft 51 Starlink satellites into orbit at 11.31am Pacific-time. The same day should also see SpaceX launching a NASA flight (Crew-6) with 4 astronauts on board to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center. The same day will also see 21 second-generation […]
Internet speeds on SpaceX’s Starlink broadband system are getting better for most users. Measurement specialists Ookla says that over the past few months connection speeds have improved – but they are still not as fast as a year ago. An Ookla Insight blog by Josh Fomon provides analysis on Ookla’s test connections and results from […]
February 17th should see a launch of 51 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Launch time, subject to the usual weather risks, is set for 11.12am California time. There is a back-up opportunity in case of delay on February 18th at 10.58am (18.58pm UTC). The Falcon 9 rocket’s booster has flown eight […]
SpaceX conducted another textbook launch during the early hours of February 12th from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch (officially Mission 5-4) broke a number of records, not least the shortest-time ever (5 days) between launches from the same pad. The mission was SpaceX’s 10th launch of the year, a pace of one launch […]
Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, told delegates at a Federal Aviation Administration conference in Washington DC, that the Starlink broadband satellite “will make money” in 2023. She added that SpaceX’s Falcon launch rocket and Dragon space station spacecraft, and other unspecified work, already makes money for SpaceX. Starlink enjoyed a positive subscriber count during the […]