Tag: broadband
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Russia’s Rassvet Broadband Constellation Faces In-Orbit Failures and Deployment Risks
Russia’s effort to build a sovereign low-Earth orbit broadband network has encountered propulsion problems and at least three probable satellite failures during the deployment of its first 32 operational Rassvet spacecraft. Bureau 1440, the Moscow-based company developing Rassvet, launched two batches of 16 satellites on March 23 and July 19, 2026. Both missions used Soyuz-2.1b…
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SpaceX Marks 100th Falcon Launch of 2026 with Starlink Group 15-20 Mission
SpaceX continued its record-setting launch pace on Aug. 22, successfully deploying 27 Starlink internet satellites into low Earth orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The mission, designated Starlink Group 15-20, represented the company’s 100th Falcon-family launch of 2026 and further expanded the world’s largest satellite constellation. The Falcon…
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Atlas 5 Ends Satellite Launches with 29 Amazon Leo Sats
Did the Atlas 5 Just Fly Its Last Satellite Mission? Yes — and it went out with a clean record. An Atlas 5 551 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:30 a.m. Eastern on July 2, 2026, deploying 29 Amazon Leo satellites beginning 21 minutes after liftoff and completing the full deployment…
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Open Cosmos Seeks Extension for European Broadband Constellation
Why is Open Cosmos requesting more time for its European broadband constellation deployment? Open Cosmos is requesting an extension for its sovereign European broadband satellite constellation after encountering significant launch vehicle availability constraints that have disrupted its deployment timeline. The British small satellite specialist originally committed to deploying a multi-hundred satellite network to provide secure…
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Astranis Secures $450M Series D for GEO Satellite Scale-Up
Astranis has closed a $450 million Series D funding round to accelerate production of its small geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites, marking one of the largest satellite manufacturing investments in 2026. The San Francisco-based company plans to use the capital to scale manufacturing capacity and expand its broadband services globally, targeting underserved markets where traditional telecom…
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Former NASA Executive Bets on Narrow-Beam LEO Broadband Against Starlink
Can narrow-beam technology challenge Starlink’s LEO dominance? A 63-year-old former NASA Branch Chief and Google executive is launching a narrow-beam satellite constellation strategy to compete against established mega-constellations like Starlink in an increasingly contested Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband market. The approach focuses on higher-frequency, precision-targeted beams rather than the wide-coverage architecture deployed by SpaceX’s…
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We finally know a little more about Amazon’s super-secret satellites
The first production satellites for Amazon’s Kuiper broadband network launched earlier this week, but if you tuned in to the mission’s official livestream, the truncated coverage had the feel of a spy satellite launch. This changed with a video Amazon posted on social media Friday, giving space enthusiasts and prospective Kuiper customers their first look…
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We finally know a little more about Amazon’s super-secret satellites
The first production satellites for Amazon’s Kuiper broadband network launched earlier this week, but if you tuned in to the mission’s official livestream, the truncated coverage had the feel of a spy satellite launch. This changed with a video Amazon posted on social media Friday, giving space enthusiasts and prospective Kuiper customers their first look…
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A rocket launch Monday night may finally jump-start Amazon’s answer to Starlink
The first 27 operational satellites for Amazon’s Kuiper broadband network lifted off from Florida’s Space Coast on Monday evening, the opening salvo in a challenge to SpaceX’s dominant Starlink global Internet service. Amazon’s Project Kuiper, costing up to $20 billion, will beam high-speed, low-latency broadband signals to consumers around the world. Monday’s milestone launch kicks…
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China orbits first Guowang Internet satellites, with thousands more to come
The first batch of Internet satellites for China’s Guowang megaconstellation launched Monday on the country’s heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket. The satellites are the first of up to 13,000 spacecraft a consortium of Chinese companies plans to build and launch over the next decade. The Guowang fleet will beam low-latency high-speed Internet signals in an…