SpaceX is asking the FCC for permission to operate some of its mega-constellation of satellites at much lower orbits of 340-360 kms altitude in order to better serve its ‘direct-to-phone’ service. SpaceX, in its FCC application, sayid: “Operating at lower altitudes will also shorten the physical link between the ground and the satellite, enabling lower-latency […]
Some SpaceX satellites are already fitted with laser-based devices (officially called Optical Inter-Satellite Links, OISLs). At the Satellite 2024 event in Washington SpaceX’s president and COO Gwynne Shotwell explained that SpaceX was happy to start selling its lasers to other companies. Shotwell said that SpaceX has around 5000 lasers in use of its satellites, and […]
Boeing’s famous El Segundo, California satellite factory has been turning out satellites since 1955 when it was purchased by Howard Hughes and his Aerospace Group. It had previously turned out cars including the Nash Rambler. It was the production home of the equally famous Hughes HS series of satellites including the HS-376 ‘spinners’ (the first-ever […]
Rivada Space Networks is in the process of building the first batch of 300 low Earth orbiting satellites. Terran Orbital is building the satellites for Rivada, and there is an option for a further 300 satellites. But there are anxieties over how the fleet is being paid for. Rivada’s obligations are considerable: They are contracted […]
Switzerland-based satellite manufacturer, SWISSto12, has secured additional production space at its headquarters, almost doubling the size of its existing site to 5,700m2. Additionally, the Company has welcomed several new Satcom engineering experts to its growing team, which has increased by 25 percent since the start of 2024 to over 125 employees working across its facilities […]
UK comms regulator Ofcom has published three documents which aim to enable more spectrum access for the growing satellite connectivity sector in the UK. Satellite operators offer a range of broadband services in the UK, such as helping better to connect homes and businesses in hard-to-reach rural areas, as well as on trains, in the […]
Ottawa-based satellite operator Telesat’s CEO Dan Goldberg told delegates to the Washington Satellite 2024 event that Telesat was not restricting its ambitions to the 198-craft Lightspeed mega-constellation of low Earth orbiting satellites. “Is 198 satellites enough? Yes, certainly to get started,” Goldberg stated. “With 198 satellites we’ll have terabytes and terabytes of fully global, highly […]
Ghana’s Ministry of Communications & Digitisation has decided to permit SpaceX’s Starlink broadband service to operate. The decision came a week after major disruption to four undersea high-volume broadband cables. The disruption caused considerable difficulties for banking, business and consumers throughout Ghana. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the country’s minister of communications, made the announcement. “We have licensed […]
SpaceX‘s president and COO Gwynne Shotwell was the star speaker at the Washington Satellite 2024 event. She touched on many key elements. She told delegates to the Satellite 2024 event in Washington that Starship Flight #3 was “incredibly successful” and that #4 would take place in “about 6 weeks”. But the flight would not carry […]
Jessica Rosenworcel, chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) addressed for the second year in a row the Satellite Industry Association at the Annual Leadership Dinner being held at the Washington Satellite 2024 event. She told delegates how the FCC’s new Space Bureau, established just a year previous, was now issuing licences for lunar communications, […]