Tag: broadband
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Amazon’s Kuiper satellites are good to go after FCC’s approval of orbital debris plan
Artwork shows ULA’s Vulcan rocket lifting off with Amazon’s Kuiper satellites. (Amazon Illustration) The Federal Communications Commission says Amazon’s 3,236-satellite Project Kuiper constellation is fully cleared for deployment after the company filed an acceptable plan for dealing with the risks of orbital debris. This week’s order follows up on the conditional approval that the FCC…
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Amazon switches Project Kuiper prototype satellites to ULA’s first Vulcan launch
An artist’s conception shows a ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket launching Amazon’s satellites. (Amazon Illustration) The first two prototype satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet network are now due to launch on the first-ever flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket early next year, rather than on ABL Space Systems’ rocket. Today’s announcement comes…
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T-Mobile’s coverage will get a big boost from SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, starting with texts
Starship prototypes serve as a backdrop for T-Mobile’s Mike Sievert and SpaceX’s Elon Musk. (T-Mobile Photo) T-Mobile subscribers will be getting a satellite upgrade to their wireless service, thanks to a newly announced partnership that takes advantage of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. But don’t expect to start streaming high-definition videos via satellite to your T-Mobile connected…
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T-Mobile and SpaceX get set to announce ‘something special’ for Starlink connectivity
An artist’s conception shows Starlink satellites in orbit. (SpaceX Illustration) FOLLOW-UP: T-Mobile’s coverage will get a big boost from SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, starting with texts The CEOs of SpaceX and T-Mobile will join forces on Thursday to reveal how their companies will work together to increase wireless connectivity. Details about the announcement, set to be…
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Astronomers make an Earth Day plea to rein in satellite constellations for the environment’s sake
Astronomers say this streak in a Hubble Space Telescope image is likely to have been created by a Starlink satellite flying just a few miles above Hubble. (MAST Image via Nature Astronomy / Simon Porter) Astronomers have issued an Earth Day call for environmentalism to be extended more fully to the final frontier, and for…
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Amazon reserves up to 83 rocket launches for Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation
Amazon plans to have satellites sent into orbit by (from left) United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rockets, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets and Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rockets. (Amazon Illustration) Amazon has secured as many as 83 launches on three types of heavy-lift rockets to put more than 1,500 satellites into low Earth orbit for its…
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Amid challenges, Kymeta and OneWeb sign deal to widen satellite broadband access
Engineers test Kymeta’s antenna system with OneWeb’s satellite service in France. (OneWeb via YouTube) Redmond, Wash.-based Kymeta Corp., the mobile connectivity company backed by Bill Gates, has signed a distribution partner agreement with OneWeb to offer satellite broadband services around the globe. The agreement clears the way for Kymeta to resell OneWeb services in conjunction…
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Radio astronomers are looking to the future as satellite mega-constellations light up the sky
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sends 47 Starlink satellites into orbit from Kennedy Space Center. (SpaceX Photo) There are plenty of astronomers who worry that the thousands of satellites that are being launched into low Earth orbit for global broadband internet access will cast a pall over their scientific observations. But Tony Beasley, director of…
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SpaceX’s falling Starlink satellites highlight concerns about the future of orbital traffic
A rocket’s-eye view shows a stack of SpaceX Starlink satellites just before orbital deployment. (SpaceX Photo) SpaceX says that most of the satellites it launched last week for its Starlink broadband internet constellation are doomed to fall from orbit due to a solar storm. Based on the company’s analysis, as many as 40 of the…
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Astronomers set up a new center to address issues raised by SpaceX and Amazon satellite networks
This time-lapse image of Venus and the Pleiades shows the tracks of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. (Torsten Hansen / IAU OAE / Creative Commons Attribution) The International Astronomical Union is heading up the creation of a new center to deal with the complications created by broadband satellite constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper. The…