Innovation News 6 June 2025 - 16 June 2025

Solid-state batteries use a solid electrolyte and lithium-metal anodes, offering 50–100% higher energy density than today’s Li‑ion and 1,000+ cycles with about 95% capacity retention, with Toyota targeting 750 miles per charge and 10-minute charging by 2027–2028. Lithium-sulfur batteries have a theoretical energy density above 500 Wh/kg, and a recent all-solid-state Li‑S cell demonstrated around 25,000 cycles with 80% capacity retention, though energy density still needs improvement. Sodium-ion batteries today run around 160–175 Wh/kg, CATL claims 175 Wh/kg with over 10,000 cycles and operation from −40°C to +70°C, and Chery launched the first Na‑ion EV in 2023 with mass production

Starlink has over 6,700 satellites in orbit as of early 2025 and surpassed 4 million subscribers by late 2024 across 100+ countries. Starlink satellites orbit at about 550 km altitude and deliver typical download speeds of 50–200 Mbps with latency around 20–40 ms. Starlink Gen2 introduces inter-satellite laser links to route data between satellites, reducing reliance on ground gateways. SpaceX began testing Direct-to-Cell satellites in 2023–2024 to text ordinary phones using T-Mobile spectrum, with voice and data services planned for 2025. OneWeb’s first-generation constellation targets 648 satellites, with about 632 operational by late 2024, and it merged with Eutelsat to

HTS use numerous narrow spot-beams and on-board processing to deliver dramatically higher data rates than legacy FSS, with platforms like Boeing 702X and SES-17 featuring fully digital, reconfigurable payloads. HTS constellations can deliver terabits of capacity worldwide to power broadband, backhaul, IoT and government networks. Modern HTS platforms operate primarily in Ku/Ka-bands and increasingly in V/Q/KuL bands to support mobility. In aviation, Ka-band GEO and LEO HTS provide in-flight connectivity on thousands of passenger aircraft, with SES-17 Ka-band HTS expected to meet exponential airline connectivity needs. On-the-move broadband can deliver gigabit links to moving antennas for military, emergency-response and commercial

DGNSS improves GNSS accuracy by using stationary reference receivers to broadcast corrections to rovers, transforming standalone GPS accuracy from about 5–15 m to sub-meter or centimeter levels, with SBAS like WAAS (USA) and EGNOS (Europe) delivering about 1–3 m for aviation. Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) uses carrier-phase measurements and double-differencing to fix integer ambiguities, delivering centimeter-level accuracy in real time, with highest performance when the base is within about 10–20 km. Early differential GPS (DGPS) yielded about 1 meter accuracy within tens of kilometers of the base, with degradation of roughly 1 m per 150 km. Precise Point Positioning (PPP) provides