Tag: satellite internet
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SpaceX Sets Starship’s First Orbital Flight for Sept. 28 With Starlink V3 Deployment
Starship Flight 14, also designated Starlink Group 31-1, is scheduled to lift off at 7:15 am CDT with a 75-minute launch window. Backup opportunities run from Sept. 29 through Oct. 4. The flight follows a suborbital test program that SpaceX pursued specifically to avoid stranding an uncontrolled 52-meter-long, nine-meter-wide, 160-metric-ton vehicle in orbit. Those missions…
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China Sets 2030 Targets for Next-Generation Communications and Low-Earth-Orbit Satellite Internet
China will accelerate construction of low-Earth-orbit satellite internet systems and integrate satellite networks more closely with terrestrial communications infrastructure under its 15th Five-Year Plan, including the development of direct-to-device satellite services and satellite Internet of Things applications. The space-based network will form part of a wider program to establish a high-performance national communications system by…
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Elon Musk Says Starlink Could Carry Most Global Internet Traffic Within a Decade
SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk said on September 23, 2026, that Starlink could carry the majority of global internet traffic within ten years, an ambitious forecast tied to the deployment of higher-capacity Starlink V3 satellites and proposed Starmind spacecraft combining broadband connectivity with orbital computing. The projection would represent a fundamental change in internet infrastructure.…
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China Launches Satellite Internet LEO Group 26 on Long March 8A (Video)
China launched its 26th group of low-Earth-orbit satellite internet spacecraft aboard a Long March 8A rocket at 9:32 p.m. Beijing time on September 23, 2026. The rocket lifted off from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site and successfully placed the satellites into their designated orbit, continuing the country’s accelerated deployment of space-based broadband infrastructure. The…
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Ku, Ka and Q/V Bands in Satellite Internet: What Are They, and Why Are Different Bands Used?
A ship is at sea. A phone connects to the vessel’s satellite terminal, and a webpage image finally appears. The image first travels from the terrestrial internet to a gateway, passes through a satellite and then reaches the ship. Following this transmission path helps explain why Ku, Ka, Q and V bands perform different roles.…
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China Launches Four Rockets in 45 Hours as Broadband Constellation Deployment Accelerates
China completed four orbital launches with four different rockets in just over 44 hours between September 15 and 17, 2026, deploying satellites from Jiuquan, an offshore platform east of Shanghai, and the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site. The sequence involved two commercially developed launch vehicles and two rockets operated by state-owned groups, highlighting the growing…
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Rubio Launches Space Catalyst Partnership to Direct U.S. Foreign Aid Toward Space Companies
Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled the State Department’s flagship space diplomacy initiative, the Space Catalyst Partnership, during an official visit to Lima on September 10, 2026. The initiative will direct foreign-assistance funding toward projects that use U.S. space goods and services, making space cooperation a tool for expanding overseas opportunities for American companies. Peru…
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Long March 12 Successfully Launches the 25th Group of Low Earth Orbit Internet Satellites
At 8:32 a.m. Beijing time on September 17, 2026, China launched the 25th group of low Earth orbit satellite internet spacecraft aboard a Long March 12 rocket from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site. The satellites entered their planned orbit, completing the mission successfully. Developed under the leadership of the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace…
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SpaceSail, China SatNet and Starlink: Why Satellite Internet Constellations Need So Many Satellites
On the morning of September 16, 2026, the Gravity-1 Y3 rocket lifted off from waters east of Shanghai and placed eight SpaceSail constellation satellites into orbit. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology subsequently announced that 256 SpaceSail satellites had now been launched.[1] The data centers, fiber-optic cables and base stations underpinning terrestrial internet services…
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China’s Private Rocket Sector Breaks Into the Satellite Internet Constellation Launch Market
At 2:26 p.m. on September 15, 2026, the ZhuQue-2E Y7 launch vehicle lifted off from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, successfully deploying 10 SpaceSail Polar Orbit Group 19 satellites operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies into their designated orbits. Unlike previous missions, this launch warrants particular attention for…