SpaceX aborted its Starship V3 launch after an engine issue, raising new questions about Starlink expansion, launch reliability, and investor pressure.
The post SpaceX Aborts Starship V3 Launch After Engines Fail to Start appeared first on TechRepublic.
SpaceX aborted its Starship V3 launch after an engine issue, raising new questions about Starlink expansion, launch reliability, and investor pressure.
The post SpaceX Aborts Starship V3 Launch After Engines Fail to Start appeared first on TechRepublic.
One week ago, three widely respected European news outlets published the results of an investigation into what they described as a "joint plan" by China and Russia to "defeat Elon Musk's Starlink."
The story was the product of a long-running inquiry by The Insider, Der Spiegel, and Le Monde. Reporters at those publications said they reviewed a cache of documents detailing growing military cooperation between China and Russia. The documents covered discussions between the nuclear powers on integrated air and missile defense systems, autonomous "swarm" loitering munitions, next-generation armored vehicles, and military aviation, the report said.
According to the papers, the investigation found evidence of a partnership between China and Russia in the field of space weapons far deeper than either country has acknowledged. One particular focus for China and Russia has been developing strategies to counter SpaceX's Starlink satellite broadband network.
© SpaceX
SpaceX’s proposed Gen3 network could expand satellite capacity for enterprise connectivity, but the FCC has not approved the 100,000-satellite request. Deployment, pricing and service availability remain unresolved.
The post SpaceX Seeks FCC Approval for 100,000 Gen3 Satellites appeared first on TechRepublic.
SpaceX’s proposed Gen3 network could expand satellite capacity for enterprise connectivity, but the FCC has not approved the 100,000-satellite request. Deployment, pricing and service availability remain unresolved.
The post SpaceX Seeks FCC Approval for 100,000 Gen3 Satellites appeared first on TechRepublic.
Amazon says the overnight launch of 29 satellites should clear the way for its Amazon Leo network to start offering commercial high-speed internet service from space this year, in direct competition with SpaceX’s Starlink network.
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket sent the satellites into low Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:30 a.m. ET today (9:30 p.m. PT Wednesday).
This was the last of eight Atlas 5 launches that Amazon reserved for its satellites. Going forward, ULA will use its next-generation Vulcan rocket to support Amazon Leo’s years-long deployment schedule. Amazon has also made launch reservations with Blue Origin, Arianespace and SpaceX.
The latest liftoff boosts Amazon Leo’s constellation to 396 operational satellites. That will be enough to support continuous connectivity in the initial latitudes targeted for commercial service, according to Chris Weber, vice president of business and product for Amazon Leo.
“Still lots of work ahead — including raising all these new satellites to their assigned altitude — but we’ve completed enough launches for initial service this year, and future missions just add coverage and capacity,” Weber said in a LinkedIn post.
Amazon has been beta-testing the service for months with a select group of customers, but connectivity hasn’t been continuous due to sparse orbital coverage. Amazon Leo’s business plan calls for launching commercial service within a limited zone concentrated at mid-northern and mid-southern latitudes, and gradually expanding the service area as more satellites go up.
“With hundreds of flight-ready satellites standing by at the Cape and a new, dedicated vertical integration facility ready to support Leo Vulcan 1 and subsequent missions, we have a clear path to increase launch and deployment cadence, helping us quickly expand network coverage following an initial service rollout later this year,” Melissa Wuerl, Amazon Leo’s director of launch systems, said in a statement released after the latest launch.
Amazon hasn’t yet announced pricing for satellite broadband service. The first-generation constellation, consisting of 3,232 satellites, is due to reach full deployment in mid-2029 — and Amazon has received regulatory approval for an even larger second-generation constellation.
When Amazon Leo begins commercial service, it will still trail far behind SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, which has more than 10,000 satellites in orbit and 12 million subscribers. The satellites for both Starlink and Amazon Leo are built in the Seattle area.
In the years ahead, SpaceX plans to beef up Starlink’s capabilities in the emerging market for direct-to-device satellite services. Amazon is aggressively targeting that same market through its recent acquisition of Globalstar. Under a separate agreement tied to the deal, Amazon Leo will start powering Apple’s iPhone satellite services starting in 2028.
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