Tag: Satellites

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T-Mobile and SpaceX provide satellite links amid LA fires

T-Mobile support truck on street in LA wildfire zone
T-Mobile’s support trucks hit the streets in fire-threatened neighborhoods of Los Angeles. (T-Mobile Photo)

T-Mobile has opened up direct-to-cellular emergency texting over SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network on a temporary basis in areas affected by this week’s catastrophic wildfires in the Los Angeles area.

In a news release, Bellevue, Wash.-based T-Mobile said the satellite service can be used to send texts to loved ones, deliver wireless emergency alerts and enable 911 texting. “While SpaceX’s direct-to-cell constellation has not been fully deployed, we are once again temporarily making this early test version available for those who need it the most,” T-Mobile said.

John Saw, T-Mobile’s chief technology officer, pointed out in a posting to the X social-media platform that the system should work even in areas without commercial power or terrestrial cell coverage.

Satellite texting could be a lifesaver in areas of the wildfire zone where cell towers have been knocked out of service. “Can’t burn down a tower when there is no tower,” Ben Longmier, SpaceX’s senior director of satellite engineering, said on X.

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Amazon revs up for the internet satellite market

Atlas V launch of prototype Amazon Kuiper satellites in 2023
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket sends two prototype satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper to orbit in 2023. (ULA Photo)

Get ready for Amazon’s Project Kuiper to pick up the pace in the megaconstellation space race.

So far, SpaceX’s Starlink satellite megaconstellation has dominated the market for broadband connectivity from low Earth orbit. In the nearly 10 years since SpaceX founder Elon Musk unveiled the project in Seattle, the Starlink network has attracted more than 5 million subscribers and more than $2 billion in U.S. government contracts (including work on the Starshield national security network).

But the year ahead promises to bring heightened competition: Like Starlink, Project Kuiper aims to offer high-speed internet access from the skies for hundreds of millions of people around the world who are currently underserved.

Following up on last year’s successful test of two prototype satellites, Amazon plans to begin launching operational Kuiper satellites in early 2025, with service due to begin by the end of the year. Pricing details haven’t yet been announced, but Amazon says “affordability is a key principle of Project Kuiper.”

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Blue Origin wins a new customer for New Glenn launches

Illustration: AST SpaceMobile satellites in orbit
An artist’s conception shows AST SpaceMobile’s Bluebird satellites in orbit. (AST SpaceMobile Illustration)

AST SpaceMobile plans to use Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket to launch some of the satellites for its space-based cellular broadband network in 2025 and 2026.

New Glenn has been under development at Jeff Bezos’ privately held space venture for more than a decade. Kent, Wash.-based Blue Origin says the orbital-class rocket’s first launch is “on track” to take place this year at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Texas-based AST SpaceMobile is one of several satellite companies that have struck deals for New Glenn launches in advance of the rocket’s first mission.

“New Glenn’s performance and unprecedented capacity within its seven-meter fairing enables us to deploy more of our Block 2 BlueBird satellites in orbit, helping provide continuous cellular broadband service coverage across some of the most in-demand cellular markets globally,” Abel Avellan, AST SpaceMobile’s founder, chairman and CEO, said in a news release.

“It’s an honor to support AST SpaceMobile’s deployment of their next-generation BlueBird satellites, which will expand connectivity across the globe and positively impact many lives,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said. “New Glenn is purpose-built for these kinds of innovative and ambitious missions.”

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Starfish Space raises $29M for orbital servicing vehicles

Illustration: Otter spacecraft in orbit
An artist’s conception shows an Otter spacecraft in orbit. (Starfish Space Illustration)

Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space today announced that it has raised $29 million to support the development of its first three Otter orbital servicing vehicles for missions serving the U.S. Space Force, NASA and Intelsat.

The investment round was led by Shield Capital, a San Francisco venture capital firm specializing in advanced technologies in fields ranging from space to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Other major participants in the round include new investors such as Point 72 Ventures, Booz Allen Ventures, Aero X Ventures, Trousdale Ventures and TRAC VC, plus existing investors such as Munich Re Ventures, Toyota Ventures, NFX and Industrious Ventures.

Initial word of the funding round came in September, in a regulatory filing and a GeekWire report. At the time, Starfish declined to comment on the investment. Today, Starfish co-founder Austin Link hailed the fresh infusion of capital in a news release.

“This new round of funding is a pivotal moment in the journey of Starfish Space, as it will allow us to launch the first Otter satellites to orbit,” Link said. “These first Otters will change what is possible when it comes to operating satellites in space. We are excited to partner with an outstanding group of investors to make these missions happen, and proud of the growing support we’ve received from existing investors as part of this round.”

Starfish’s Otter spacecraft is designed to rendezvous with satellites in orbit to inspect them and link up with them, either for servicing or for safe disposal. The system makes use of several innovative technologies, including Starfish’s Cetacean and Cephalopod navigation and docking software systems and the Nautilus orbital capture mechanism.

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Starfish Space will lend a hand to spy satellite agency

Illustration: Starfish's Otter spacecraft in orbit
Artwork shows the Otter spacecraft in orbit near another satellite. (Starfish Space Illustration)

Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space and two other companies have won contracts from the National Reconnaissance Office, America’s spy satellite agency, to evaluate advanced technologies for space operations.

Starfish’s work for the NRO will focus on potential applications for the startup’s Otter spacecraft, which is designed to inspect and hook up with other satellites in orbit, either for servicing or for safe disposal.

“This collaboration offers a valuable opportunity to assess how Otter can enhance our national space-based intelligence infrastructure,” Starfish Space said today in a posting to X / Twitter.

The contracts were awarded under terms laid out by the NRO’s Office of Space Launch for a program known as Broad Agency Announcements for Agile Launch Innovation and Strategic Technology Advancement, or BALISTA. Eric Zarybnisky, the director of the Office of Space Launch, said in a statement that the BALISTA effort will help NRO “advance emerging technologies across launch, on-orbit support, and command and control.”

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Starfish Space raises more funds for servicing satellites

Illustration: Starfish's Otter spacecraft in orbit
Artwork shows the Otter spacecraft in orbit near another satellite. (Starfish Space Illustration)

Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space is bringing in more funding after announcing several agreements to use its Otter spacecraft for missions ranging from inspecting dead satellites to extending the life of an operational satellite.

Starfish reported that it has raised nearly $21 million of a larger investment round in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Sept. 27. Investors are not identified.

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Starfish Space will inspect dead satellites for NASA

Illustration: Otter in orbit
An artist’s conception shows Starfish Space’s Otter spacecraft in orbit. (Starfish Space Illustration)

Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space has won a three-year, $15 million contract from NASA for a mission aimed at doing up-close inspections of defunct satellites in orbit.

Such inspections, to be carried out using Starfish’s Otter spacecraft starting in 2027, could blaze a trail for even more ambitious missions involving the repair or removal of such satellites.

The mission is known as SSPICY, an acronym that stands for Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability. NASA awarded the Phase III Small Business Innovation Research contract after a study that provided Starfish and three other small businesses with funds to develop mission concepts. (The other three companies were Kayhan Space, Turion Space and Vast Space.)

Taking care of orbital debris is a key component of NASA’s Space Sustainability Strategy. Orbital debris mitigation and satellite servicing are also key parts of the business model for Starfish, a five-year-old startup that was founded by two veterans of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture, Trevor Bennett and Austin Link.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with NASA, building on our shared commitment to advancing in-space manufacturing and assembly capabilities,” Bennett said today in a news release. “It’s an honor for Starfish to lead the first commercial debris inspection mission funded by NASA. We look forward to collaborating on this and future satellite servicing missions to enable a new paradigm for humanity in space.”

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Report focuses in on Amazon’s costly satellite project

ULA Atlas V rocket launches Amazon Project Kuiper satellites in October
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket lifts off with two prototype Amazon satellites in October 2023. (ULA Photo)

A newly published market analysis of Amazon’s Project Kuiper effort to create a global satellite broadband network estimates the cost of getting the project off the ground at $16.5 billion to $20 billion — which is significantly higher than the $10 billion figure cited by the company four years ago.

In its analysis, Florida-based Quilty Space projects that launch costs alone will amount to $10 billion or more. Most of those launches are to be done by United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket, which has executed only one space launch to date; and by Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, which is still in development. Other launches will be taken on by ULA’s Atlas V and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 (which are tried and true), plus Arianespace’s Ariane 6 (which had its debut liftoff in July).

Project Kuiper aims to put 3,232 satellites into low Earth orbit to support a high-speed internet network that could serve tens of millions of users around the world — and, not incidentally, provide infrastructure for Amazon Web Services and for other current or future offerings from Amazon. Under the terms of Amazon’s license from the Federal Communications Commission, half of those satellites must be launched by mid-2026.

Two prototype Kuiper satellites were successfully launched on an Atlas V last year, and Amazon says another Atlas V is to send the first operational satellites into orbit by the end of this year. The current schedule calls for broadband services to be offered to customers starting sometime next year.

Amazon is well behind SpaceX and its Starlink satellite broadband network, which has more than 6,000 satellites in orbit. Quilty’s financial analysis says Starlink “will exit 2024 with 3.9M subscribers, revenues of $6.6B, and positive free cash flows.” But Quilty suggests that there’s still room in the market for Project Kuiper.

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Amazon plans to expand its satellite facility in Florida

Aerial view of Project Kuiper satellite processing facility
Project Kuiper’s satellite processing center is taking shape in Florida. (Amazon Photo)

Amazon plans to build a secondary support facility for its Project Kuiper satellite processing center at Kennedy Space Center in Florida — a $19.5 million expansion plan that brings total investment in the site to nearly $140 million.

The 42,000-square-foot building will be placed next to the existing 100,000-square-foot structure at the satellite processing facility, Amazon said today in a blog posting. It’s meant to provide additional space for processing and storing flight hardware ahead of launch, allowing for a regular cadence of missions to deploy Project Kuiper’s 3,232-satellite constellation.

Project Kuiper is Amazon’s multibillion-dollar effort to provide broadband internet service around the globe via satellites in low Earth orbit. It’s viewed as a competitor for SpaceX’s Starlink network, which already has more than 6,000 satellites in orbit and more than 3 million subscribers.

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Fiction Science Club

How future satellite wars will be fought — and won

Illustration: Surveillance satellites in orbit
An artist's conception shows satellites that are part of the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program. (Space Force Illustration)

Wars in space are no longer just science fiction. In fact, Space War I has been raging for more than two years, with no quick end in sight.

This isn’t the kind of conflict that involves X-wing fighters or Space Marines. Instead, it’s a battle over how satellites are being used to collect imagery, identify military targets and facilitate communications in the war between Ukraine and Russia.

“As I looked at Ukraine in the early months, it was obvious to me: This is the first space war,” says David Ignatius, a journalist who lives a double life as a foreign-affairs columnist for The Washington Post and a spy-thriller novelist.

In the latest episode of the Fiction Science podcast, Ignatius delves into the potential national-security threats posed by satellite-based warfare — and how he wove those threats into the plot threads of a new novel titled “Phantom Orbit.” The tale lays out a scenario in which Space War I tips toward a potentially catastrophic Space War II.

Continue reading “How future satellite wars will be fought — and won”