Ars Technica
• Stephen Clark
SpaceX says recent close approaches involving Starlink satellites produced predicted miss distances ranging from tens to hundreds of meters, prompting the company to call for better coordination in orbit. The warning underscores the operational risks posed by increasingly crowded orbital traffic.
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SpaceX says recent close approaches involving Starlink satellites produced predicted miss distances ranging from tens to hundreds of meters, prompting the company to call for better coordination in orbit. The warning underscores the operational risks posed by increasingly crowded orbital traffic.
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SpaceX has agreed to buy cellular spectrum licenses from investment firm Grain Management, its biggest move yet into a wireless market dominated by traditional carriers. The company says the low-band portfolio will help Starlink Mobile become a major U.S. carrier; a separate report describes SpaceX technology for synchronizing beams and compensating for signal delays in direct-to-device satellite communications.
SpaceX has agreed to acquire a nationwide spectrum portfolio to expand Starlink’s reach in the U.S. telecommunications market. News of the deal weighed on shares of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, underscoring the potential competitive implications for established carriers.
Golbriak Space, an Estonian company developing laser communications for space, has raised €4 million ($4.5 million) in seed funding. The funding marks an early financing milestone for the startup, though the available report provides no details on investors, planned use of proceeds or technology and customer milestones.
Lithuanian space startup Astrolight says it has successfully commissioned a space-to-ground laser communication link for a client. The announcement marks the company’s delivery of its first such link, though the available report does not identify the client or provide technical details, operating parameters or the system’s intended use.
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Amazon says it has built its 1,000th satellite and is weeks from beginning its space-based internet rollout. The milestone puts the focus on the manufacturing scale and deployment cadence behind Project Kuiper as the company moves from satellite production toward service launch.
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