Russia’s Roscosmos space agency says there’s a risk that a SpaceX Starlink satellite will get “dangerously close” to Russia’s Progress MS-17/78 cargo craft. Progress MS-17/78 was launched on June 29th aboard a Soyuz-2.1a rocket and is due to arrive at the International Space Station in the early overnight hours (GMT) of July 2nd. The decommissioned […]
June 30th saw a routine SpaceX launch lifting 88 smaller satellites into orbit on its Transporter-2 special flight. The Falcon 9 rocket booster landed some 10 minutes later back onto its concrete launch pad. It was yet another success for the Elon Musk concept of reusable rockets. But the news was somewhat overshadowed by a […]
Elon Musk, writing on Twitter on June 25th, said that all 72 orbital planes – that is the route his Starlink satellites take when circling the planet – will be active in August. He added that global coverage will then be activated except for the polar regions which will take a further six months. This […]
Heatwaves across certain US states have thrown up problems with SpaceX’s Starlink broadband by satellite system. Reportedly, Starlink’s pizza-sized antennas are over-heating under the summer sun and closing down. Meanwhile, Starlink OTT Gwynne Shotwell says that its global service will be in place by around September. As to the temperature problem, Starlink was exacerbated in […]
California-based broadband satellite operator has confirmed that it is seeking Indian licences for its geostationary services. India’s Economic Times quotes a Viasat spokesperson saying: “We have filed applications with the Indian government and relevant agencies, seeking authority to use two of our Ka-band ViaSat-3 satellites – currently under construction – to serve India, and we […]
SpaceX is reportedly in talks with several airlines about them utilising its Starlink broadband satellite system on their aircraft. Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX’s VP of Starlink and commercial sales, told a panel at the Connected Aviation Intelligence Summit on June 9th that Starlink was in talks with several airlines and had carried out “some” demonstrations. Starlink […]
SpaceX’s Starlink has submitted an application to the FCC for permission to test a smaller antenna for its broadband-by-satellite service. The application asks for a temporary licence to test 5 new user terminals (in California, Colorado, Texas, Utah and Washington State). These new designs will use the same uplink and downlink frequencies as a conventional […]
California-based satellite broadband supplier Viasat has filed an objection to the FCC’s granting of $885 million to SpaceX and its Starlink satellite service. The FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) awarded the sum to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service in December 2021. The award was part of a massive $9.2 billion granted to successful applicants, and […]
Germany says it is prepared to help its citizens living in rural areas to access better Internet services with subsidies. The government’s Transport Ministry says it will subsidise the purchase of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite dishes and similar providers of wireless Internet connections with grants to households worth €500, business daily Handelsblatt reported. The €500 on […]
A slew of objectors is grumbling to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system. We have reported on Viasat’s complaints, but SES, Hughes Network and others are also arguing for the FCC to either suspend or modify its April 27th permission for SpaceX/Starlink to alter their orbital plans. Some of the […]