In 2023, the global space economy reached $570 billion, with private/commercial ventures accounting for about 78%. In 2023 there were 221 orbital launches (the most on record), more than 2,500 satellites launched, and experts project up to 100,000 satellites in orbit within the next decade. Since 2009, investors have poured about $347.9 billion into roughly…
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The F-35 is a family of three variants: F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL), F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL), and F-35C carrier-capable version. The aircraft first flew in 2006, with IOC achieved by the F-35B in July 2015, the F-35A in August 2016, and the F-35C in early 2019. As of mid-2025, more than 1,170…
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CANTV, the state-owned fixed broadband incumbent, dominated traditional internet with about 56% market share as of late 2022, while its aging ADSL copper network remained slow and repair backlogs persisted. From August 2020 to August 2023, Venezuela jumped 50 places in Speedtest’s global broadband index, rising from an average 6.15 Mbps to 29.5 Mbps. By…
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By late 2024, the F-35 Lightning II had surpassed 1,000 deliveries worldwide, fueling Lockheed Martin’s market dominance and its ubiquity across more than a dozen nations. Lockheed Martin continues F-16 production into a 50th year with new Block 70/72 variants exported to Slovakia and Bahrain. Boeing is delivering the F-15EX Eagle II to the U.S.…
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Direct war damage reached $176 billion by end-2024, with 72% of losses concentrated in frontline regions Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Kyiv oblasts. An updated needs assessment estimates Ukraine will require about $524 billion (€506 billion) over the next decade to repair and rebuild, roughly 2.8 times the country’s 2024 GDP. Housing is the…
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As of early 2024, about 26% of Eritrea’s 3.7 million people were internet users. Eritrea is the only coastal African nation with zero submarine fiber-optic cable landings. The telecom sector is entirely state-owned and monopolized by Eritrean Telecommunication Services Corporation (EriTel), with no private ISPs or competing mobile operators. Public mobile data is essentially unavailable;…
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In 2020, Ukraine planned a commercial 5G spectrum auction for end-2021, but the tender was delayed and regulators cut mobile termination rates from ₴0.12 to ₴0.08 per minute in October 2020 as they focused on 4G. In June 2021, Datagroup completed its acquisition of Volia, creating a combined fiber backbone with over 4 million fiber-connected…
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Equatorial Guinea is described as a digital desert due to the internet’s high cost, slow speeds, and limited availability. Internet access began in 1997 via a France-backed connection, and by 2010 only about 2% of the population were internet users. GETESA, the state-dominated operator, held about 60% ownership with Orange S.A. around 40%, and controlled…
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The United States operates the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) constellation, delivering jam-resistant, global, protected military communications including nuclear command and control links. Navstar GPS is a 31-satellite global navigation system that provides precise positioning, navigation, and timing to guide munitions such as JDAM and to synchronize encrypted networks. Defense Support Program (DSP) and the…
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Starlink has launched over 8,000 satellites since 2019, serves 125 countries, and by April 2025 reached the 250th dedicated Starlink launch, establishing SpaceX’s network as the largest in orbit. OneWeb, founded in 2014, began Gen1 launches in 2019 with 618 of 648 satellites deployed by March 2023, filed for Chapter 11 in 2020, was rescued…
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