SpaceX is now launching about 2,000 Starlink satellites every 12 months and may exceed that this year, Quilty Space said Wednesday. The company has kept up that deployment rate even as it introduced larger satellite iterations, which didn't fit as well on its Falcon 9 rocket, Quilty said. As the number of satellites on each Falcon 9 launch dropped from 60 to 22, SpaceX's launch rate has increased, the analysis said. It said SpaceX's introduction of direct-to-device Starlink satellites in May 2024 modestly slowed broadband deployment, taking eight months to launch 1,000 broadband satellites. SpaceX has started conducting more Falcon 9 launches with the V2 Mini version of Starlink, which has 22% less mass, so 29 can fit on each Falcon 9, Quilty said: That satellite iteration is likely to be the last generation of Starlinks to fly on the Falcon 9 before SpaceX moves to V3s, which are designed to launch on the company's Starship rocket.
As part of quantum computing company IonQ's planned purchase of Capella Space (see 2505080048), they're asking the FCC to sign off on transfer of Capella's licenses to IonQ. In an FCC Space Bureau application posted Wednesday, the companies said the deal also needs NOAA approval. They said Capella has FCC authorizations to launch and operate 15 satellites and has four in orbit now. The Capella acquisition is intended to strengthen IonQ’s position in quantum networking technologies to be used to build the quantum internet and related infrastructure for the space economy, the application said.
Starfish Space is planning a satellite servicing demonstration mission, Otter Pup 2, that will launch this summer and conduct the first docking with a commercial satellite in low earth orbit, the company said Tuesday. Starfish also has satellite servicing missions scheduled in 2026 for Intelsat, NASA and Space Force.
SpaceX -- which has petitioned the FCC for greater access to the 2 GHz band (see 2402230027) -- is now seeking agency approval to use parts of the band in its second-generation satellites. In an FCC Space Bureau application posted Thursday, SpaceX said its previous request for 2 GHz access was rejected on the basis of EchoStar providing a 2 GHz mobile satellite service (MSS) in the U.S., yet EchoStar's plans "never happened." SpaceX said EchoStar is using at most 5% of the band clustered in a few densely populated areas. Moreover, it said, EchoStar management has told Wall Street it doesn't have plans to launch additional satellites in the near term. "Since EchoStar has no satellite operations in the 2 GHz band and no meaningful terrestrial network, the fundamental premise underlying the Commission’s expectation that it would dismiss new MSS applications no longer holds true," SpaceX said. "EchoStar has squatted on its spectrum rights for a decade with little to show for it."
The FCC made a mistake when it put a greater portion of satellite regulatory fees on the backs of non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) licensees, reducing the burden on GSO licensees, and should reverse the unfair allocation, SpaceX told an aide to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. In a docket 24-85 filing posted Tuesday, SpaceX said that if the agency instead goes forward with its proposed alternative regulatory fee methodology for satellites, it should use a logarithmic scale rather than relying on the size of a constellation.
Citing lasting effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, Theia is requesting more time to meet the deadlines for its non-geostationary orbit earth observation constellation launch and operation. In an FCC Space Bureau application posted Friday, Theia said the pandemic -- which struck soon after the agency authorized the company's 112-satellite constellation in May 2019 (see 1905090031) -- resulted in supply chain and financial market shocks that had "a devastating effect" on its ability to build and deploy the constellation. Theia asked to extend the milestone deadline to have 50% of its constellation launched and operational, which was Friday, and its final milestone deadline of May 9, 2028, by which time the rest is to be in orbit, to Dec. 31, 2026, and Dec. 31, 2028, respectively.
SpaceX's Starlink is set to gain sizable market share in in-flight connectivity (IFC) service, growing the number of connected aircraft it serves from a few hundred today to more than 10,000 by the end of 2034, Valour Consultancy said Wednesday. Starlink's IFC success is ballooning as airlines' confidence in the service grows, Valour said, noting that SAS Scandinavian Airlines chose Starlink IFC this year, and Emirates will likely follow. Starlink will have 39% of the commercial aviation market share by 2034, Valour estimated, while its growth in business aviation could be more gradual. New competitors are entering IFC, with Intelsat's multi-orbit service up and running and connectivity from Panasonic Avionics and Hughes Network Systems expected later this year.
The number of software-defined satellites in orbit is expected to soar from over 300 in 2024 to more than 10,000 by 2031, ABI Research said Thursday. The software-defined satellites in orbit now are mostly from Iridium, Spire Global and Iceye and represent about 3% of total active satellite deployments, ABI said. Pointing to Amazon's Kuiper, SpaceX, Globalstar and Chinese mega constellations, it said software-defined satellites will represent 26% of active deployments by 2031.
As part of its plan to launch a space-to-space and space-to-ground quantum key distribution network, quantum computing company IonQ said Wednesday it would buy synthetic aperture radar satellite Capella Space. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2025, pending regulatory approvals, it said. Capella holds multiple FCC licenses. IonQ said Capella's top-secret signals capabilities will help it build global quantum-secure networks. Financial details weren't released.
SpaceX provided false equivalencies about EchoStar's challenge to the out-of-band emissions limit waiver granted to SpaceX, EchoStar said Thursday (docket 23-135). EchoStar said the FCC Space Bureau failed in the waiver to determine that waiving the aggregate out-of-band power limit for supplemental coverage from space service was unlikely to cause harmful interference. It added that the waivers that were granted to EchoStar and SpaceX cites in its application for review (see 2504230021) included a bureau finding that harmful interference was unlikely. EchoStar said SpaceX's citations help prove EchoStar's point.