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Satellite News 15 June 2025 - 5 July 2025

Connected Suriname: A Deep Dive into Internet Access and Satellite Connectivity in the Guianas

Connected Suriname: A Deep Dive into Internet Access and Satellite Connectivity in the Guianas

As of January 2024, about 75.8% of Suriname’s population were online, roughly 474,000 people, with about 24% remaining offline. In August 2024, the Deep Blue One subsea fiber optic system, operated by Digicel’s submarine fiber subsidiary, went live in Paramaribo, delivering 25 Tbps over a 2,250 km route linking French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, and Trinidad & Tobago. Telesur began fiber rollout in Paramaribo in 2013 and completed a National Broadband Project by 2019, with residential fiber plans offering 50/50, 100/100, and 200/200 Mbps at SRD 1,472, SRD 2,061, and SRD 2,805 per month respectively. There is a sharp urban–rural divide:
Internet Access and Satellite Connectivity in Turkmenistan

Internet Access and Satellite Connectivity in Turkmenistan

As of early 2024, Turkmenistan had about 2.59 million internet users, roughly 39.5% of the population—the lowest penetration in Central Asia. Turkmenistan’s telecom market is a state monopoly led by Turkmentelecom (Turkmen Telecom), with TM CELL/Altyn Asyr as the sole mobile operator after MTS exited in 2017–2018. There were about 4.34 million mobile subscriptions in early 2024, representing 66% of the population, with 3G introduced in 2010 and 4G LTE in 2013. In 2023 the government set a minimum broadband speed of 1 Mbps and a top tier of 6 Mbps, though real-world speeds are often far lower. The median
Taiwan’s Internet Access – Fiber Power, 5G Expansion, and Satellite Horizons

Taiwan’s Internet Access – Fiber Power, 5G Expansion, and Satellite Horizons

In 2022 Taiwan had about 6.55 million fixed broadband accounts, with 4.12 million (63%) fiber-based and 2.17 million (≈33%) cable modem subscribers, while ADSL subscriptions fell to around 260,000. As of 2024, the median fixed download speed is about 198 Mbps (mean ~137 Mbps), over 45% of fixed accounts enjoy 100–500 Mbps, and gigabit subscribers reached 13.5% by 2022. Taiwan is connected to roughly 10–14 international submarine cables carrying more than 95% of its international data traffic, and the early-2023 Matsu cable cuts underscored the need for backup links. By Q4 2022, three major mobile carriers—Chunghwa Telecom, Far EasTone, and
29 June 2025
Ghost Signals and Laser Shields: The Pentagon’s 500-Satellite Orbital Defense Net

Ghost Signals and Laser Shields: The Pentagon’s 500-Satellite Orbital Defense Net

In June 2024, Australian astronomers traced a 30-nanosecond radio burst to NASA’s defunct Relay-2 satellite, offline since 1967, likely caused by a micrometeoroid hit or decades of charge buildup. The LES-1 Lincoln Experimental Satellite, silent since 1967, transmitted again in 2012 after 45 years of dormancy. The Pentagon plans a 500-satellite orbital defense net by 2028 to form the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, including laser-connected Transport and Tracking Layers. The PARCAE (White Cloud or NOSS) program deployed triplet satellite clusters in the 1960s to triangulate Soviet naval transmissions, declassified in 2023. The Vela satellites monitored nuclear detonations, with the 1979
29 June 2025
ForgeStar-1: Pioneering the UK’s Orbital Chip Foundry in Space

ForgeStar-1: Pioneering the UK’s Orbital Chip Foundry in Space

ForgeStar-1 launched on June 12, 2025 aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-14 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, marking the UK’s first in-space manufacturing mission. The Welsh-built ForgeStar-1 is a fully retrievable, reusable space factory designed to survive re-entry and be reused for multiple missions. The Pridwen deployable heat shield protects ForgeStar-1 during atmospheric re-entry and will be demonstrated as a key proof-of-concept. On-Orbit Steering and the Aether software provide real-time tracking and predictive mapping to guide the satellite’s re-entry into a controlled corridor. ForgeStar-1 functions as an autonomous Microgravity Foundry, performing crystal growth and thin-film deposition without human operators. The mission
29 June 2025
SpaceX Wins $81.6 Million U.S. Space Force Deal to Launch WSF-M2 Weather Satellite in 2027

SpaceX Wins $81.6 Million U.S. Space Force Deal to Launch WSF-M2 Weather Satellite in 2027

The USSF-178 task order is an $81.6 million NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 award to SpaceX to launch WSF-M2 on a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg SFB in the first half of FY2027, including a BLAZE-2 rideshare. This award marks SpaceX’s third consecutive Lane 1 win under NSSL Phase 3, following two earlier Lane 1 awards totaling $733.5 million for SDA and NRO missions. WSF-M2 is the second Ball Aerospace–built microwave weather satellite, following WSF-M1 (USSF-62) which flew on a Falcon 9 on 11 April 2024, with Ball renamed to BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems after the 2024 acquisition. Each
29 June 2025
Plan-S Expands Connecta Constellation to 17 Satellites, Boosting Gigabit Industrial IoT and Cutting Latency

Plan-S Expands Connecta Constellation to 17 Satellites, Boosting Gigabit Industrial IoT and Cutting Latency

The four new Connecta satellites named Connecta IoT-9, IoT-10, IoT-11, and IoT-12 were launched in June 2025 aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 on the Transporter-14 rideshare. The launch brings Plan-S’s Connecta constellation to 17 satellites in orbit, with 12 commercially active satellites and the remainder as test/demo units. The new satellites enable gigabit-level data access across the Connecta network, with aggregate throughput on the order of gigabits per second (Gbps). <li Plan-S reports a 40% increase in data collection frequency due to the new satellites, reducing data latency and moving toward near real-time global data collection. The Connecta system uses a
Xona’s Pulsar Constellation Secures $92M to Revolutionize GPS with Centimeter-Accurate, Unhackable Navigation

Xona’s Pulsar Constellation Secures $92M to Revolutionize GPS with Centimeter-Accurate, Unhackable Navigation

Xona’s Pulsar constellation plans to deploy 250–300 small LEO satellites at about 326 miles (525 km) altitude to deliver centimeter-level PNT. Pulsar signals are encrypted and authenticated, with satellites orbiting ~40× closer to Earth than GPS to produce about 100× stronger received signals. A ‘cloud architecture for atomic clocks’ coordinates timing from ground stations instead of placing ultra-expensive clocks on every satellite, delivering nanosecond-level timing. Most existing GPS chipsets can access Pulsar signals with a firmware update, enabling rapid, near-term adoption. The system targets GPS vulnerability by defending against jamming and spoofing, branding Pulsar as an unhackable alternative. In June
India Grants License to Starlink: A New Era for Satellite Internet Connectivity

India Grants License to Starlink: A New Era for Satellite Internet Connectivity

In mid-June 2025, India’s Department of Telecommunications granted Starlink a Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) license, publicly confirmed by Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Starlink becomes the third GMPCS licensee in India after Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jio’s satellite venture. Starlink operates a Low-Earth Orbit constellation at about 550 km altitude, and globally has deployed nearly 7,000 satellites by early 2025, with about 4.6 million subscribers in 2024. The DoT license will be followed by spectrum allocation, with TRAI recommendations in May 2025 for a renewable 5-year license and 4% of AGR annual spectrum fee, plus a minimum ₹3,500
Space-Based 5G Backhaul: The Billion-Dollar Race to Orbit 5G (2024–2031)

Space-Based 5G Backhaul: The Billion-Dollar Race to Orbit 5G (2024–2031)

Starlink’s upfront CapEx was estimated at about $10 billion and later as high as $30 billion, SpaceX launched over 8,000 Starlink satellites with about 4,000 in operation by April 2025, and the service exceeded 5 million subscribers worldwide by 2025. Amazon’s Project Kuiper is a $10 billion plan for a 3,236-satellite constellation, with 27 production satellites launched by April 2025 and a requirement to have 1,618 satellites in operation by July 2026 under its FCC license. Telesat Lightspeed plans 198 satellites, has secured roughly $2.54 billion in funding, aims to launch by mid-2026 and deliver global service by around 2027,
Space at Stake: The Boom in Satellite Insurance & Risk Management (2025–2032)

Space at Stake: The Boom in Satellite Insurance & Risk Management (2025–2032)

In 1965 Lloyd’s of London issued the first space insurance policy for an early Intelsat satellite. In 2019 insured losses reached about $788 million against roughly $500 million in premiums, following major failures such as a Vega launch with a ~$414 million loss. The global space insurance market was valued at about $3.6 billion in 2023 and is forecast to reach about $12 billion by 2032, with a CAGR in the 8–11% range. A record 180 orbital launches occurred in 2022, driving launch-insurance demand. In 2024 North America accounted for about $1.7 billion of the market (projected to $3.2 billion
Inside Saint Lucia’s Digital Revolution: The Untold Story of Internet and Satellite Access

Inside Saint Lucia’s Digital Revolution: The Untold Story of Internet and Satellite Access

Flow provides hybrid fiber-coax and some FTTH with up to 400 Mbps fixed download, and the Internet Select 400 plan costs EC$117.68 per month (VAT included). Digicel+ offers FTTH up to 500 Mbps fixed download (40 Mbps upload) on standard plans, with a 350 Mbps Home Fibre 350 plan at EC$174/month and a 500 Mbps Home Fibre 500 plan at EC$209/month, plus a 1 Gbps option on premium plans. Starlink entered Saint Lucia in late 2024, with residential plans around US$80 per month for unlimited data, a one-time dish cost of roughly US$350–$600, and typical speeds of 50–150 Mbps download

Stock Market Today

Eli Lilly stock rises after FDA steps up crackdown on GLP-1 copycats

Eli Lilly stock rises after FDA steps up crackdown on GLP-1 copycats

7 February 2026
Eli Lilly shares climbed 3.7% in after-hours trading after the FDA announced plans to restrict GLP-1 ingredients in unapproved compounded drugs. Hims & Hers shares dropped nearly 12% after being referred for a Justice Department probe. Investors are watching for details on enforcement and pricing pressure as the market reacts to moves against copycat obesity drugs.
IREN stock whipsaws after earnings as bitcoin rebounds; Microsoft GPU financing in focus

IREN stock whipsaws after earnings as bitcoin rebounds; Microsoft GPU financing in focus

7 February 2026
IREN Limited shares rose 5.1% to $41.83 in after-hours trading Friday as bitcoin jumped 11.4% to $71,198, lifting crypto-linked stocks. The company reported $184.7 million in quarterly revenue, with $167.4 million from bitcoin mining and $17.3 million from AI cloud services. Net loss reached $155.4 million. IREN recently announced $3.6 billion in GPU financing for a Microsoft contract and a new Oklahoma data center.
Netflix stock price rises after-hours as DOJ widens scrutiny of Warner deal

Netflix stock price rises after-hours as DOJ widens scrutiny of Warner deal

7 February 2026
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating Netflix’s business practices as part of its review of the proposed Warner Bros Discovery deal, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Netflix shares rose 1.6% to $82.20 in after-hours trading. Warner expects a shareholder vote on the deal in March. Paramount Skydance’s rival bid remains active.
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