SpaceX has submitted orbital modifications to its ‘next generation’ Starlink satellites to the FCC. If approved, the new Generation 2 Starlink craft will be able to offer higher-density services to rural areas. SpaceX has proposed two variants to the FCC and will await the Commission’s verdict/approval before proceeding with a modification to its existing satellite […]
SpaceX founder Elon Musk, speaking on August 15th, said that its massive Starship rocket should be ready for flight within the next few weeks. The major challenge, despite the obvious technical and engineering work in hand, comes from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and gaining its permission to actually launch the rocket. The complete Starship […]
Swarm Technologies makes tiny cube-satellites. SpaceX has filed a request with the FCC to transfer all of Swarm satellite licences to SpaceX. The FCC application states that Swarm is being sold to SpaceX. Swarm is focused on providing connectivity for Internet of Things products and applications. Swarm has some 150 of its cube-satellites into orbit. […]
Reports suggest that SpaceX will resume launching its Starlink low Earth orbiting satellites in August. It last launched a batch of its own satellites at the end of May. Two launches will take place; one from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and one from SpaceX’s own launch facility in Florida. The Vandenberg launch […]
SES has announced a contract with NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) for 9 transponders on its SES-8 satellite. SES-8 was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in December 2013 to the 95 degrees East orbital slot. It has 33 Ku-band transponders so this nine transponder deal represents more than 25 percent of the satellite’s overall […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has told SpaceX – and a few other would-be beneficiaries of its rural broadband largesse – that the cash it is prepared to award cannot be used to serve “parking lots and well-served urban areas”. Michael Janson, the FCC’s Rural Broadband Task Force director, has written directly to SpaceX as […]
SpaceX has asked the FCC for permission to install two (normally) ground-based Starlink user terminals aboard a maritime vessel. The application says the request is “experimental” and would run September 1st until October 31st. The full request says: “[to] operate two mobile ground-based Starlink user terminals aboard a maritime vessel while embarked in US territorial […]
Elon Musk’s Space Exploration rocket company has received another major endorsement. NASA is awarding it a $178 million (€151.1m) launch contract to send a mission – the Europa Clipper – to one of Jupiter’s moons. The news will not affect SpaceX’s imminent start of its Starlink broadband-by-satellite service, but it shows that NASA believes that […]
A report from aerospace engineer Michael Volle says that SpaceX’s Starlink initial ‘broadband by satellite’ low Earth orbiting constellation is almost completely deployed in space. Volle says that the Starlink system has just to fill four remaining orbital planes, commented: “The satellites destined for those planes are currently heading to them. Everything will [have been] […]
SpaceX has launched a new floating barge for use from Florida. Given the name ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’, the barge will allow Falcon 9 rocket boosters which are launched from Kennedy Space Centre to land at sea. “Autonomous SpaceX drone-ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas,” Musk wrote in his Tweet. The drone ship is fully automated […]