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starlink

SpaceX readies 26th Starlink launch

SpaceX is expected to launch its next batch of Starlink satellites today (May 4th). This will be the 26th Starlink launch and is subject to the usual weather and technical considerations. The launch is scheduled for 14.30 Florida time. This extra batch will take the overall total of working Starlink satellites to 1494, and ever-closer […]

May 4, 2021By Chris Forrester

SpaceX has 1,434 Starlinks in orbit

On April 29th, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral carrying another 60 Starlink satellites into orbit. This was Flight 24 for the Starlink mission and the 12th flight this year. SpaceX used a booster rocket which had already flown six times and Elon Musk, speaking a few […]

April 29, 2021By Chris Forrester

Musk gets FCC approval to lower Starlink orbits

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted Elon Musk permission to lower the orbital heights of its Starlink broadband satellite system. “Specifically, we modify the license by reducing the number of satellites from 4,409 to 4,408; modifying the primary operational altitude specified for 2,814 satellites, to change it from the 1,100-1,300 km range to the […]

April 28, 2021By Chris Forrester

India seeks SpaceX Starlink permits

Local reports in India say that its government will demand that SpaceX applies for the relevant permits and to show compliance with India’s telecom rules before it starts offering its satellite broadband Starlink service. India’s telecoms regulator TRAI and Dept. of Telecommunications (DoT) say they are asking SpaceX to outline its plans in order that […]

April 26, 2021By Chris Forrester

Starlink loses two satellites

Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, reports that the past week had seen two of Elon Musk’s Starlink craft have re-entered the atmosphere and burned up. McDowell says two Starlinks – which were already ‘retired’ from the fleet – came down at about 14.30 UTC on April 17 and another at […]

April 20, 2021By Chris Forrester

Amazon buys 9 Atlas launches for Kuiper LEOs

Jeff Bezos has contracted nine rocket launches with the United Launch Alliance (ULA) to launch his initial Project Kuiper low Earth orbiting (LEO) broadband-by-satellite craft. The contract means that for the time being he is not depending on his own Blue Origin rocket system. “We’re determined to make affordable broadband a reality for customers and […]

April 20, 2021By Chris Forrester

Musk: “Starlink out of beta-usage this summer”

Just hours before NASA awarded a massive $2.9 billion contract to restart human flights to the Moon – and back – Elon Musk, in one of his Tweets, told an enquirer that SpaceX’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite service would be transitioning out of a widespread beta-programme into conventional usage “probably by this summer”. Moreover, Musk answered another […]

April 19, 2021

Musk raises another $1.1bn for SpaceX

Elon Musk might well mount an IPO for his SpaceX business somewhere down the line, but for the moment he seems happy to raise cash by issuing new equity. In a regulatory filing, SpaceX says it has raised a total of $1.164 billion over the past few weeks. The company had already reported raising some […]

April 16, 2021

Analyst: LEOs to boost satellite broadband

The demand for broadband connectivity over both fixed and mobile broadband networks is increasing dramatically. However, despite network expansions and upgrades, only half of households worldwide currently have access to fixed broadband services. With the rollout of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations, satellite broadband services will improve broadband penetration significantly. Global tech market advisory firm […]

April 16, 2021

Telesat catching up in LEO race

Ottawa-based Telesat is reportedly “racing” to launch its 298-craft Low Earth orbiting satellite platform. Even though Telesat is some two years behind Elon Musk’s Starlink, the Canadian company’s CEO, Dan Goldberg says Telesat’s Lightspeed LEO system will be the company’s “Holy Grail” and deliver a “sustainable competitive advantage in global broadband delivery”. Telesat is certainly […]

April 13, 2021