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Communication News 4 June 2025 - 20 August 2025

Global Satellite Phone Showdown: Iridium 9555 vs. Extreme 9575 vs. Extreme PTT – Which One Reigns Supreme?

Global Satellite Phone Showdown: Iridium 9555 vs. Extreme 9575 vs. Extreme PTT – Which One Reigns Supreme?

The Iridium 9555 launched in 2008, the Iridium Extreme 9575 in 2011, and the Iridium Extreme PTT edition in 2015. The 9555 has no official IP rating, while the Extreme 9575 and Extreme PTT both have MIL-STD-810F and IP65 ratings. The 9575 adds built-in GPS and a one-touch SOS button, unlike the 9555 which lacks GPS. The Extreme PTT edition adds push-to-talk group communication with up to 15 talkgroups stored on a single device. On the Extreme PTT, Phone mode delivers up to 6.5 hours of talk and 54 hours standby, while PTT mode provides up to 5 hours of
20 August 2025
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Satellite Phones: Comprehensive Global FAQ

Iridium 9575 vs Iridium 9555 vs Thuraya XT Lite Comparison. You Won’t Believe Which Satellite Phone Dominates in 2025

Iridium 9575 Extreme, launched in 2011, is Iridium’s rugged flagship with MIL-STD-810F shock/vibration and IP65 protection plus built-in GPS and a one-touch SOS button. The 9575 measures about 14 × 6 × 2.7 cm and weighs roughly 247 g, and is described as smaller and lighter than the Iridium 9555. Battery life for the 9575 is about 4 hours of talk time and 30 hours of standby, with an extended battery option pushing talk time toward 6 hours. The 9575 offers global pole-to-pole coverage via Iridium’s 66-satellite LEO constellation and supports walk-and-talk with an omnidirectional antenna. Iridium 9555, launched in
8 August 2025
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Lasers vs Radio: Inside the Laser Satellite Communication Revolution (2025)

Lasers vs Radio: Inside the Laser Satellite Communication Revolution (2025)

NASA’s TBIRD CubeSat achieved a 200 Gbps laser downlink in 2023, transmitting 4.8 terabytes in under five minutes. SpaceX’s Starlink had over 4,000 satellites in orbit by early 2024, with inter-satellite laser links moving about 42 petabytes per day (roughly 5.6 terabits per second). Amazon’s Project Kuiper demonstrated 100 Gbps inter-satellite laser links in late 2023 over distances of about 1,000 km, with production satellites planned to launch in 2025 and each carrying multiple laser terminals. Europe’s European Data Relay System (SpaceDataHighway) uses Tesat laser terminals on two GEO satellites, delivering up to 1.8 Gbps links and as much as
28 July 2025
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Texting From Space: The T-Mobile–Starlink ‘T-Satellite’ Launch Heralds the Direct-to-Device Era

Texting From Space: The T-Mobile–Starlink ‘T-Satellite’ Launch Heralds the Direct-to-Device Era

In August 2022, T-Mobile and SpaceX announced the Coverage Above and Beyond partnership to end mobile dead zones by connecting standard smartphones to Starlink satellites, branded as T-Satellite with Starlink, aiming to cover roughly 500,000 square miles of the U.S. Starlink Gen2 satellites feature Direct to Cell antenna arrays that enable direct-to-device connectivity with unmodified 4G/5G smartphones, effectively emulating a space-based cell tower. The first batch of six direct-to-cell capable Starlink satellites was launched in January 2024 on a Falcon 9 rocket. In March 2024 the FCC issued rules for non-terrestrial networks and, in November 2024, granted SpaceX conditional approval
28 June 2025
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No Signal? No Problem: Why Satellite Phones Are Booming in 2025

No Signal? No Problem: Why Satellite Phones Are Booming in 2025

In June 2025, T-Mobile began a nationwide beta of its “T-Satellite” service built on SpaceX Starlink technology, with a July 2025 rollout and plans to include it at no extra cost on high‑end plans and about $10/month for others. On June 19, 2025, Vodafone Idea and AST SpaceMobile announced a partnership to deliver 4G/5G access from space in India using AST’s BlueWalker 3 satellites to reach remote areas. The FCC Space Bureau accepted Globalstar’s petition in early June 2025 to launch a second‑generation LEO constellation called “C‑3” for direct‑to‑device services, with Apple owning about 20% of Globalstar and a 50‑satellite
21 June 2025
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Top 100 Most Important Operational Satellites in 2025

Top 100 Most Important Operational Satellites in 2025

Starlink Constellation (2019–present) by SpaceX comprises about 4,500 microsatellites in ~550 km LEO with Ku/Ka-band user links and laser crosslinks, enabling global internet including disaster response. James Webb Space Telescope (2021) features a 6.5 m segmented mirror and instruments NIRCam, NIRSpec, and MIRI, delivering the deepest infrared images of the universe including SMACS 0723 and exoplanet atmospheres. Gaia (2013) operates at the Sun–Earth L2 point to map ~2 billion stars with micro-arcsecond precision, with DR3 released in 2022 transforming stellar and galactic astronomy. Parker Solar Probe (2018) became the closest spacecraft to the Sun and the fastest human-made object, with
20 June 2025
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Top 10 AI Chatbots Dominating 2025 – Conversational AI Platforms Revolutionizing Communication

Top 10 AI Chatbots Dominating 2025 – Conversational AI Platforms Revolutionizing Communication

ChatGPT (OpenAI) launched in November 2022, added GPT-4 in 2023, reached about 122 million daily active users by early 2025, and offers a free GPT-3.5 tier plus ChatGPT Plus at $20 per month and an Enterprise tier introduced in 2023. Google Bard launched in 2023, evolved from LaMDA to PaLM 2 and Gemini by 2025, uses real-time Google Search results, and remains free to users with no paid tier. Microsoft Bing Chat launched in February 2023, runs GPT-4 with retrieval-augmented generation, was integrated as Windows 11 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot by 2023–2024, and is free for consumers while Microsoft
19 June 2025
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Quantum Technologies Unleashed: The Ultimate 2025 Guide to Computing, Communication, Sensing & More

Quantum Technologies Unleashed: The Ultimate 2025 Guide to Computing, Communication, Sensing & More

The four pillars of quantum technology are quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing (metrology), and quantum simulation. In 2016, China’s Micius satellite demonstrated satellite-based quantum key distribution by distributing entangled photons between ground stations over 1,200 km. IBM aims to build a 4,000+ qubit machine by 2025 and demonstrated a 433-qubit processor in 2022. D-Wave’s latest quantum annealers exceed 5,000 qubits. QuEra unveiled a 256-atom neutral-atom array called Aquila for quantum simulation. China’s quantum milestones include the 66-qubit Zuchongzhi superconducting processor achieving a sampling advantage in 2020–2021 and the Jiuzhang photonic computer performing Gaussian boson sampling with 113 photons. The
18 June 2025
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Satellite Technologies FAQ

Satellite Technologies FAQ

Sputnik 1, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, was the first artificial satellite. Explorer 1 became the United States’ first satellite in 1958. As of 2025, there are roughly 11,000+ active satellites orbiting Earth, with tens of thousands of pieces of inactive satellites and debris. Geostationary satellites orbit about 35,786 km (22,236 miles) above the equator and stay fixed over one ground spot. Most satellites use solar panels with large arrays and rechargeable batteries to power their instruments and systems, including during eclipses. The first known accidental collision of two satellites occurred in 2009. Starlink is SpaceX’s
6 June 2025
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Where Satellite Phones Are Illegal?

Where Satellite Phones Are Illegal?

Bangladesh bans satellite phone use; possession can lead to arrest and imprisonment. North Korea prohibits all unauthorized communication devices, foreigners must surrender phones and privacy is not guaranteed, with detention possible. India restricts satellite phones to government‑approved Inmarsat devices, requiring a license (No Objection Certificate) from the Department of Telecommunications before bringing one in. China maintains a de facto ban on private sat phones, requiring registration for limited state use and has deployed jammers in some areas to block unapproved devices. Chad bans satellite phones under any circumstances, with Thuraya explicitly outlawed and Iridium sometimes tolerated. Myanmar (Burma) effectively bans
6 June 2025
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Mega-Constellations Exposed: How Swarms of Tiny Satellites Are Taking Over Low Earth Orbit

“No Signal? No Problem!” – Next‑Gen Satellite Phones Set to Change Everything

In 2022, Apple’s iPhone 14 introduced Emergency SOS via satellite, later expanded in the iPhone 15 to support satellite texting via Globalstar. In April 2023, AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 demonstrated a two-way 4G call using a standard smartphone on Earth with a 64 m² satellite antenna. Lynk Global demonstrated the first direct satellite text to an unmodified phone in 2022 and is partnering with mobile operators in over 40 countries to fill coverage dead zones. SpaceX’s Starlink Direct to Cell uses 2023-generation satellites with advanced antennas to connect to ordinary phones via terrestrial bands, with a plan to offer basic
5 June 2025
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When the Grid Goes Dark: How Satellite Phones Keep Us Connected in Emergencies

When the Grid Goes Dark: How Satellite Phones Keep Us Connected in Emergencies

Iridium operates 66 active LEO satellites in a cross-linked constellation, providing truly global coverage including the poles. Inmarsat uses 3–4 GEO satellites at about 36,000 km altitude to cover most of the globe from roughly 70°N to 70°S, and its IsatPhone 2 offers 8 hours of talk time. Globalstar runs about 48 LEO satellites to provide regional coverage (roughly 50°N to 50°S) with the Globalstar GSP-1700 handset. Thuraya uses two GEO satellites, with Thuraya 4-NGS launched in 2025 to expand service across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia, while it does not cover the Americas. Geostationary satellite networks
4 June 2025
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