Lifeboat Foundation

#China is in the rush to shape the future.

The rollout of 5G networks is nowhere near complete, but China is already looking ahead to what comes next. The Asian power this week successfully launched the world’s first 6G satellite into space to test the technology.

The experimental satellite containing sixth-generation telecommunications technology was launched into Earth’s orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China’s northern Shanxi Province on Friday.

Continue reading “China successfully sends world’s first 6G satellite into orbit to test technology” »

SpaceX rolled-out Starlink beta internet service in northern United States and southern Canada in October. To date, SpaceX has deployed around 888 internet-beaming satellites out of the 4,409 that will operate in low Earth orbit. SpaceX is looking forward to connecting locations around the world where internet connection is unreliable and non-existent. Earlier this year, SpaceX engineers said Starlink is capable of beaming internet connection to remote areas on Earth; 60 Starlink satellites have the capability to beam low-latency, high-speed broadband internet to 40,000 users streaming high-definition videos simultaneously. Starlink customers receive service via a phased-array antenna dish and Wi-Fi router device. Additionally, SpaceX will build hundreds of ground stations that will receive the satellite’s communication. The stations are the linking factor between user terminals and data center for the Starlink network.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) which regulates telecommunications service, granted SpaceX a telecommunications license to offer internet on August 7th this year. SpaceX recieved approval to operate ground stations on October 26. ACMA granted SpaceX licenses to operate a total of 24 Starlink ground stations in Australia, according to a document published by the regulatory agency.

Approximately 2.5 million individuals in Australia still lack access to internet at home due to the service being either too expensive or unavailable in the rural location they reside in. Connecting rural areas around the globe to the network provides benefits to civilization as a whole. The Internet provides an equal chance for everyone to have access to education and job opportunites at their fingertips. Amid the Coronavirus outbreak, the digital divide among communites became more apparent, many students had to study from home but their households did not have internet service. SpaceX hopes to close the digital divide in rural areas worldwide. As more satellites are deployed to orbit, SpaceX will expand broadband coverage to Australia and the rest of the planet in 2021.

China launched a Long March 6 rocket early Friday (Nov. 6), successfully sending 13 satellites into orbit.

The Long March 6 lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 11:19 a.m. local time Friday (0319 GMT; 10:19 p.m. EDT on Nov. 5) carrying 10 remote sensing satellites for Satellogic, an Argentine imagery company.

Evasive Maneuvers

In order to broadcast the 4G and eventually 5G signals, the satellites would come equipped with massive antennas up to 900 square meters in size. Given their planned proximity to other satellites, NASA says that’s a disaster waiting to happen.

“For the completed constellation of 243 satellites, one can expect 1,500 mitigation actions per year and perhaps 15,000 planning activities,” reads NASA’s statement. “This would equate to four maneuvers and 40 active planning activities on any given day.”

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite cluster has been receiving much headline space recently as it continues adding satellites at a breathtaking pace. Much of this news coverage has focused on how it’s impacting amateur skygazers and how it could benefit people in far-flung regions. But technical details do matter, and over on Casey Handmer’s blog, there was a recent discussion of one of the most important aspects of how Starlink actually operates—what will it do with its data?

In networking lingo, data is quantized into “packets,” which are sets of ones and zeros that computers can understand. In the case of Starlink, these packets will bounce between ground stations and a series of satellites parked in nine separate low-Earth orbits. Each orbit will contain a number of satellites, and each satellite’s covered territory will overlap with the satellites to the north and south of it. When the constellation is complete, every spot on Earth will be covered by at least two Starlink satellites.

Continue reading “How will Starlink’s packet routing work?” »

A few days ago, SpaceX started to offer Starlink satellite broadband internet service in areas located in the northern United States and southern Canada. With approximately 888 internet-beaming satellites in orbit the Starlink network is capable of providing ‘moderate’ broadband coverage. Early Starlink customers have shared photographs via social media of the Starlink Kit that is utilized to receive internet connection from the satellites in space. The Starlink Kit includes: “Dishy McFlatface” which is a 19-inch dish phased-array antenna, a mounting tripod for the dish, and an oddly-shaped Wi-Fi router device, pictured below.

It’ll start to roll out in coming months, SpaceX says.

The hardware kit to get started will cost an additional $499 up front.

IEEE RAS CUI Wah SB presents a webinar titled “Lower Earth Orbit High Throughput Satellites Mega-Constellations” and the speaker of this Webinar is “Engr. Muhammad Furqan” Researcher, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane Australia, Former Satellite Communication Specialist, Ministry of Defense, Qatar and Former Senior Executive VSAT/DVB Wateen Telecom Pakistan.

For future events stay tuned with us by visiting our social media platforms.

Continue reading “Webinar on ‘Lower Earth Orbit High Throughput Satellites Mega-Constellations’” »

SpaceX is preparing to conduct a national security mission for the United States Space Force. The aerospace company is tasked to deploy the military’s fourth new-generation series Global Positioning System satellite, known as GPS-III Space Vehicle 04. On October 2nd, SpaceX attempted to launch the satellite to orbit but at around two seconds before the 9:43 p.m. EDT liftoff time, launch controllers aborted the launch at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 40.

During the Live broadcast of the launch attempt the Principal Integration Engineer at SpaceX John Insprucker said the next launch opportunity for this mission is on Saturday, October 3rd at 9:39 p.m. EDT. but the rocket did not attempt a second launch because SpaceX found issues on one of the Falcon 9 rocket’s nine Merlin 1D engines. According to SpaceX founder and Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the GPS-III satellite experienced an “unexpected pressure rise in the turbomachinery gas generator,” he wrote. “… We’re doing a broad review of launch site, propulsion, structures, avionics, range & regulatory constraints this weekend. I will also be at the Cape next week to review hardware in person,” he said early October.

SpaceX’s Vice President of build and flight reliability, Hans Koenigsmann, said during a news conference on October 28th that SpaceX engineers worked alongside the U.S. Space Force and NASA to perform a deep investigation into the issue. They came to the conclusion that the Falcon 9 engine issue was due to a residue of a “masking lacquer” designed to protect sensitive parts during anti-corrosion anodizing treatment. Koenigsmann told reporters the SpaceX vendor that performed the lacquer coating treatment failed to remove all of the lacquer afterward, causing a blockage of small vent holes for Merlin engine valves. “It’s not necessarily bad,” he said, “In most cases, it rattles the engine, and it may cause a little bit of damage to the engine. In extreme cases, it may cause more damage to the engine.” SpaceX officials announced they would fix the issue by replacing the engine. Now, SpaceX targets to deploy GPS-III Space Vehicle 04 satellite atop the Falcon 9 no earlier than Thursday, November 5th at 6:24 p.m. EDT [date is subject to change]. This mission is important for the United States because the GPS-III satellite is designed to upgrade the satellite constellation that actively provides navigation services to over 4 billion users.