SpaceX’s satellite internet broadband service is expanding by leaps and bounds — and leaping across borders.
Category: satellites
SpaceX is deploying a constellation of internet-beaming Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit where they will beam broadband service globally. Starlink customers will be supporting SpaceX’s ultimate goal to make life multi-planetary. The network could one day provide additional funding to develop a fleet of Starships that will enable astronauts to colonize Mars. To date, SpaceX has deployed nearly 900 satellites out of over 4,400 it plans to launch. The company rolled out a beta service of the network for select customers living in the northern United States and southern Canada. To receive service from the satellites in space, users mount a phased-array antenna dish and connect via a Wi-Fi router device.
On Friday, SpaceX engineers shared details about the Starlink network via a Reddit ‘Ask Me Anything’ discussion. Currently, SpaceX sends invitations to potential customers living within range of the satellites in orbit, a Reddit user asked when SpaceX will offer Starlink service to the public. —“Steadily increasing network access overtime to bring in as many people as possible,” the SpaceX engineer responded, “Notably we’re planning to move from a limited beta to a wider beta in late January, should give more users an opportunity to participate.” To potentially become a Beta tester of the Starlink network you can sign up via Starlink.com.
SpaceX engineers also shared that as of today, SpaceX’s broadband service does not have data caps. “So we really don’t want to implement restrictive data caps like people have encountered with satellite internet in the past. Right now we’re still trying to figure a lot of stuff out—we might have to do something in the future to prevent abuse and just ensure that everyone else gets quality service,” they stated.
China plans to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the moon this week to bring back lunar rocks — the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from Earth’s natural satellite since the 1970s.
The Chang’e-5 probe, named after the ancient Chinese goddess of the moon, will seek to collect material that can help scientists understand more about the moon’s origins and formation. The mission will test China’s ability to remotely acquire samples from space, ahead of more complex missions.
If successful, the mission will make China only the third country to have retrieved lunar samples, following the United States and the Soviet Union decades ago.
2016 was an indelible year for the telecom industry as it marked Mukesh Ambani led Jio’s foray into the sector which led to industry revenue getting caught in a downward spiral as old players’(Vodafone, Idea, Bharti Airtel) saw their profits and subscriber bases dwindling rapidly. The erstwhile flourished industry narrowed to a handful of players with 2019 opening up new challenging frontiers for the sector. It kept surfacing up in headlines owing to several significant developments, let’s dive into what kept India’s telecom sector abuzz throughout 2019.
A ‘golden house’ is orbiting Earth! SpaceX launched the unique spacecraft to orbit this morning. It is the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich ocean observatory, named in honor of former Head of NASA’s Earth Science Division who passed away of cancer in August. The satellite will soon beam the most accurate information of Earth’s oceans which will help meterologists and scientists forecast weather events, like hurricanes, track climate change and rising sea levels. “At NASA, what we do is, we use the vantage point of space to get a global view of the Earth. And in this case, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is going to give us a global view of the sea surface height,” Karen St. Germain Director of NASA’s Earth Science Division stated. “The changing Earth processes are affecting sea level globally, but the impact on local communities varies widely. International collaboration is critical to both understanding these changes and informing coastal communities around the world,” she said. Sentinel-6 is a joint project between NASA and the European Aerospace Agency (ESA).
The house-shaped satellite was deployed to orbit atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket that lifted off at 9:17 a.m. PST from Space Launch Complex 4E at California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Video. And it’s only the first step. Imagine a satellite that doesn’t need to rely on components it brought from earth. It can print out components for itself and for others; spare parts or upgrades for itself, other satellites and space stations.
Made In Space is building a satellite that can 3D print itself in space. If successful, their satellite could revolutionize how we design future spacecraft.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX would like to further expanded testing of its Starlink satellite internet by connecting the network to aircraft.
SpaceX would like to further expand testing of its Starlink satellite internet by connecting the network to aircraft, the company revealed in a recent request to the Federal Communications Commission.
Elon Musk’s space company on Nov. 6 asked the FCC if SpaceX could add Starlink user terminals “on a Gulfstream jet for a period of up to two years.”
“SpaceX seeks experimental authority for operation of one user terminal aboard each of up to five private jets while they are on the ground at an airport, and in flight over the United States (including its territories and territorial waters),” the company wrote in the FCC filing.
Elon Musk wants to connect all corners of the planet via space, but his thousands of orbiting routers may pose a risk to satellites and to science.