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SpaceX Launch Blasts Into 'Space Internet' The galactic excitement that left Central Florida with the ending of manned space travel returned yesterday evening when SpaceX successfully launched communications satellites via a reused Falcon 9 rocket. My normally quiet suburban street was filled with neighbors, smartphones pointed upward and the nearby beaches were lined with locals and vacationers who stared at the rapidly soaring ball of light as it elegantly arced until quickly flying out of sight. There was no sonic boom, no shaking windows or hiding cats. And there'll be no triumphant planting of a flag on faraway soil. But this mission marks a turning point for satellites and the communication service providers that rely on them to deliver crisp audio and speedy broadband services to millions of users on earth. Just before 6:30 p.m., the Falcon booster that had launched almost 12 months prior fired the same nine engines on its flight from Kennedy Space Center, propelling a second mission into orbit. Soon after, the booster ignited on a robotic drone ship offshore, marking the ninth time SpaceX has landed a rocket, reported Florida Today.
(Image Source: SpaceX) SpaceX Founder Elon Musk envisions a network of 4,425 satellites in "non-geostationary satellite orbit" (NGSO) traveling between 1,100 kilometers and 1,325 kilometers above earth, according to a November 2016 filing with the Federal Communications Commission. As a result, the final network -- or "space Internet" -- would cover almost the entire planet. Initially, SpaceX plans to deploy about 1,600 satellites, followed by the remaining 2,825 units, the FCC filing showed. "The system is designed to provide a wide range of broadband and communications services for residential, commercial, institutional, governmental and professional users worldwide," SpaceX wrote to the FCC. "Gateway Earth stations also apply advanced phased array technologies to generate high-gain steered beams to communicate with multiple NGSO satellites from a single gateway site. The system will also employ optical inter-satellite links for seamless network management and continuity of service, which will also aid in complying with emissions constraints designed to facilitate spectrum sharing with other systems." Reusable rockets will accelerate service providers' ability to use new satellites, Martin Halliwell, chief technology officer at Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES which used yesterday's launch for its SES-10 satellite, told Florida Today. With new rockets, it takes an average of seven months for satellites to get into orbit; SES is now considering using previously flown Falcon 9 rockets for two more satellite launches this year alone, he said. US companies are not alone in expanding their use of communications satellites. Today state-owned China Aerospace Science & Industry (CASIC) said it will send up a network of 156 mini-satellites to deliver global broadband coverage. The low-orbiting satellites will travel 1,000 kilometers above earth, according to CASIC. Related posts:
— Alison Diana, Editor, UBB2020. Follow us on Twitter @UBB2020 or @alisoncdiana. |
In a flurry of activity throughout the week, Donald (DJ) LaVoy, Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development at the US Department of Agriculture, and his team spent about $145.8 million in the non-urban or suburban areas of seven states.
Calix reported revenue of $120.19 million – up 4% – in Q4 2019, putting a bounce in the step of company president and CEO Carl Russo and a shine to Calix's ongoing transition from hardware vendor to a provider of platforms enabled by cloud, APIs and subscriber experience.
Looking to curtail e-waste and improve the bottom line, BT will require customers to return routers and set-top boxes, although subscribers will not have to pay a fee when they receive regular broadband equipment.
The industry standards organization is looking to ease operator pain from residential WiFi, while it also sees initiatives in connected home and other projects bear fruit.
Deploying DOCSIS 3.1 across its entire footprint gave Rogers Communications the ability to offer speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s,
contributing to a broadband segement that generated about 60% of the Canadian operator's $3.05 billion (US) in Q4 cable earnings.
 WebinarsARCHIVED
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
1:00 p.m. New York / 6:00 p.m. London When your broadband business adds new services and connected devices, do they also add complexity, slowing customer support teams as they navigate multiple data sources to uncover connectivity issues? We’ve worked with hundreds of support teams to help them implement a subscriber experience management platform that gives greater visibility into subscriber issues. They can proactively troubleshoot amid complexity—improving the subscriber experience and raising customer satisfaction ratings like Net Promoter Scores. Join this webinar with experts from Calix and global research leader Omdia who will share exclusive research about how you can:
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