It was a busy weekend for Elon Musk’s SpaceX team. On May 13th, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 3:07pm Pacific time to add another 53 Starlink satellites to SpaceX’s low Earth orbit communications constellation, bringing the total launched to more than 2,500. The successful launch took place from […]
SpaceX is readying to launch two batches of 53 Starlink satellites less than 8 hours apart – breaking its previous record between launches. Flight reference 4-13 will launch from the Vandenberg Space Force Base on May 13th, subject to the usual weather constraints. It is using Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg in California. […]
Quebec’s government is already financially supporting its Canada-based satellite operator Telesat and its planned Lightspeed low Earth orbiting constellation. It is also helping to connect homes in difficult to reach regions using Elon Musk’s Starlink. Just over 10,000 remote homes will be connected by the American company’s service. Starlink’s low-earth orbit satellites, operated by SpaceX, […]
Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband-by-satellite service is now offering limited portability to its customers. For an extra $25 per month, users can add on portability, enabling them to temporarily move their Starlink to new locations and receive high-speed internet anywhere where the service provides active coverage within the same continent. Starlink warns: “If you use Starlink […]
EchoStar is offering improved Pan-European access to its S-band capability over Europe. The service uses capacity from EchoStar XXI as well as its Solaris Mobile bandwidth (on Eutelsat W2A which it owns). The news emerged ahead of its Q1 results, which saw the satellite operator report revenues of $501.5 million, and net income of $91.4 […]
Satellite operator Viasat, in a letter to the FCC, says there is growing evidence of the need to perform an environmental review before approving SpaceX’s Starlink application to launch another 30,000 low Earth orbiting satellites. Viasat’s Jarrett Taubman (VP/deputy chief of Government Affairs), in his letter, claims that SpaceX should not be allowed to expand […]
The UK House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee has invited Elon Musk to discuss his proposed acquisition of Twitter. “At a time when social media companies face the prospect of tighter regulations around the world, we’re keen to learn more about how Mr Musk will balance his clear commitment to free speech […]
British millionaire Sir Martin Sorrell, executive chairman of ad-agency S4 Capital and the former head of WPP, says that broadband satellite venture Starlink is the real “ace up Elon Musk’s sleeve” – not Twitter or Tesla. “The real jewel in Musk’s crown is Starlink. It takes data directly from Tesla’s cars which in reality are […]
Elon Musk, whilst busy buying Twitter, is also focused on sending the latest batch of his Starlink broadband satellites into orbit. SpaceX is targeting April 29th for a Falcon 9 launch of 53 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The instantaneous launch […]
Inmarsat has warned that space is getting increasingly crowded with “dangerous levels of space debris from satellite constellations planned by Elon Musk’s Starlink, Amazon, Chinese operators and others”. Inmarsat CEO Rajeev Suri welcomed innovation in satellite constellations in low Earth orbit but added that there should be better industry and regulatory co-ordination as they are […]