BroadbandBusiness

Musk Gives Starlink Update

Yesterday, The Everyday Astronaut (aka Tim Dodd) published his latest Starbase tour and video Q+A with Elon Musk. 

The two journey to the top of the giant, 143-meter robotic chopsticks tower built to catch Starship, taking in the impressive views of Starbase and talking about the super-heavy launch vehicle and the other goings-on at SpaceX. 

Starlink v2: Musk unveiled some news about the next-generation Starlink satellites during the tower tour: 

  • The first editions of the next-gen Starlink buses have been produced. 
  • At 7m long and 1.2 tons apiece, they’re ~4x larger than the first generation sats. 
  • Per Musk, the new generation of Starlink will be an order of magnitude more powerful than the first generation in terms of data throughput.

SpaceX has been launching batches of Starlink V1.5 satellites since September 2021. Those satellites are equipped with laser inter-satellite links to communicate with one another.

SpaceX is counting on the success of Starship to ensure the success of the next-gen Starlink program. The giant rocket’s launch from Starbase has been delayed by extended environmental reviews. Currently, the FAA is planning to publish its review of Starship by the end of this month.

Related Stories
BusinessEuropeInternational

EnduroSat Taps SpaceX, Kuiper Veteran to Lead US Business

Thomas is stepping into the US chief executive role as EnduroSat finalizes several new teams and facilities to ramp up the company’s production.

BusinessEuropeLaunch

Exolaunch’s European Expansion Continues

If Monopoly made a rocket themed board game, Exolaunch would have a hotel on every space.

BusinessEuropeSatcom

AST SpaceMobile and Vodafone Form European JV

The joint venture, called SatCo, said in a statement that it has already received interest from network operators in 21+ European countries.

BusinessMilitary

York Takes Legal Action Against DoD’s SBIR Award to Apex

What’s the purpose of a SBIR award? That’s the question at the heart of a lawsuit York Space Systems has filed against the military, over a contract awarded to fellow satellite builder Apex Space.