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Technology News 19 June 2025 - 21 June 2025

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
10,000 Satellites and 5 Million Users: Inside the Satellite Internet Revolution of 2025

10,000 Satellites and 5 Million Users: Inside the Satellite Internet Revolution of 2025

Starlink has launched over 8,000 satellites since 2019 and serves more than 5 million users across 125+ countries as of 2025. Amazon’s Project Kuiper launched its first 27 satellites in April 2025 on an Atlas V, aiming for a 3,236-satellite constellation with Ka-band and user terminals around $400. The EU’s IRIS² plan is a €10.6 billion multi-orbit network targeting about 300 satellites by 2030. China began launching the first of 13,000 Guowang satellites, with 64 craft launched by the end of 2024. OneWeb has about 650 satellites and merged with European operator Eutelsat in September 2023 to form a GEO-LEO
Space Force’s Secret 480-Satellite MILNET: Inside SpaceX’s New Military “Starlink” Revolution

Space Force’s Secret 480-Satellite MILNET: Inside SpaceX’s New Military “Starlink” Revolution

MILNET is a secret Space Force project that will be a government-owned, contractor-operated LEO satcom constellation of about 480 satellites, announced in June 2025. On June 18, 2025, Breaking Defense revealed that Space Force is funding MILNET in partnership with SpaceX, with SpaceX building and flying the satellites while Space Force Delta 8 oversees operations and the NRO manages the program. MILNET will use SpaceX’s Starshield platform, delivering enhanced encryption and security, with Starshield ground terminals derived from Starlink hardware able to interoperate with Starlink via laser cross-links. The network is designed as a hybrid mesh that will fuse DoD
21 June 2025
Elon Musk’s Starlink vs. Iran’s Blackout: Fact-Checking the 20,000 Secret Dishes Reconnecting a Nation

Elon Musk’s Starlink vs. Iran’s Blackout: Fact-Checking the 20,000 Secret Dishes Reconnecting a Nation

On June 14, 2025, after Israeli strikes, Iran imposed a nationwide internet blackout, and Elon Musk tweeted that Starlink was “The beams are on,” effectively activating Starlink over Iran. The activation made Starlink connectivity available only to users with Starlink terminals, not to the entire Iranian population. Estimates by late 2024 placed roughly 10,000 to 20,000 clandestine Starlink terminals operating inside Iran. Reuters reported in December 2022 that nearly 100 Starlink terminals were active in Iran as SpaceX began enabling Starlink there. By January 2025, Iran International reported up to 100,000 Iranian users benefiting from satellite internet, with official figures
21 June 2025
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
21 June 2025
Pentagon’s Space Internet Nightmare: Why the Unified Satellite Network Keeps Stalling

Pentagon’s Space Internet Nightmare: Why the Unified Satellite Network Keeps Stalling

The Pentagon aims to field a software-defined, multi-layer Enterprise SATCOM network that seamlessly routes data across DoD, allied, and commercial satellites in LEO, MEO, and GEO to support Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2). In 2020 the Space Force and DoD CIO committed to the shift, with the SDA launching the National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA), later renamed the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), to field hundreds of small satellites as a mesh-layer backbone. Interoperable Hybrid Terminals would allow a single device to talk to any authorized satellite by software, with the Air Force aiming to field its first multi-network
Eyes in the Sky: How Earth Observation Is Revolutionizing Disaster Management

Eyes in the Sky: How Earth Observation Is Revolutionizing Disaster Management

Sentinel-1 radar imaged the aftermath of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique in 2019 and revealed approximately 2,165 km² of flooding around the coastal city of Beira. Idai’s satellite flood maps pinpointed about 400,000 people stranded and helped allocate rescue resources. NOAA’s GOES weather satellites monitored Hurricane Dorian in 2019 as it approached the Bahamas, providing real-time imagery for track and intensity forecasts. The 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption led to satellites tracking its ash plume across Europe, prompting unprecedented airspace closures. In July 2019, NASA’s FIRMS distributed over 780,000 near real-time fire alerts worldwide. The NASA–ISRO NISAR mission, launching in 2024, will scan
Internet Access in Jamaica: From Fiber to the Final Frontier

Internet Access in Jamaica: From Fiber to the Final Frontier

Jamaica’s internet penetration is about 83–85%, with 2.37 million internet users in January 2025, representing 83.4% of the population online. Rural areas show roughly 77% internet usage compared with about 87% in urban centers, highlighting an urban–rural digital divide. Median mobile data speed is about 29–30 Mbps, while median fixed broadband speed is around 60–80 Mbps, with fixed speeds rising from ~61 Mbps in January 2024 to ~82 Mbps in January 2025 and mobile speeds down about 3.5% in 2023. By 2023, 99% of Jamaicans had access to at least a 4G mobile signal, while 5G networks were essentially non-existent
21 June 2025
Solar Tempests & Orbital Guardians: The Secret Life of Space-Weather Satellites

Solar Tempests & Orbital Guardians: The Secret Life of Space-Weather Satellites

1859: British astronomer Richard Carrington observed a powerful solar flare, and within a day telegraph systems worldwide went haywire while auroras appeared near the equator—the Carrington Event, the largest geomagnetic storm on record. During the 1957–58 International Geophysical Year, Explorer-1 became the first U.S. satellite to discover the Van Allen radiation belts encircling Earth. SOHO, launched in 1995, sits at the Sun–Earth L1 point and uses the LASCO coronagraph to image CMEs, providing continuous data for 1–3 day storm forecasts and imaging the Sun for over 25 years. ACE (launched 1997) and DSCOVR (launched 2015) operate upstream solar-wind monitors at
20 June 2025
Iranian Satellites and Space Agency: Capabilities, Missions, and Strategic Vision

Iranian Satellites and Space Agency: Capabilities, Missions, and Strategic Vision

February 2009: Iran becomes the ninth country to launch an indigenous satellite with its own rocket, sending Omid into orbit on the Safir launcher. Khayyam (2022) is a 600 kg Earth-observation satellite with 1-meter resolution, built with Russian collaboration and launched by a Russian Soyuz to a ~500 km orbit. Noor-1, Iran’s first military satellite, was launched in April 2020 on the Qased rocket into a ~425 km orbit and weighed about 25 kg. Noor-2 (2022) followed Noor-1, about 27 kg, placed in a ~500 km LEO using the Qased launcher and remains in orbit. Noor-3 (2023) is the third
20 June 2025
Satellite Definition: Ultimate Guide from Sputnik to SpaceX and Beyond

Satellite Definition: Ultimate Guide from Sputnik to SpaceX and Beyond

Sputnik 1, launched on October 4, 1957, was the world’s first artificial satellite. Sputnik 2, launched in 1957, carried Laika the dog into orbit, the first living creature in space. Explorer 1, launched January 31, 1958, discovered Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts, proving satellites could do serious science. TIROS-1, launched in 1960, was the first weather satellite, demonstrating that orbiting cameras could observe cloud patterns and improve forecasting. Telstar 1, launched in July 1962, became the first active communications satellite and relayed the first live television signals across the Atlantic. Geostationary orbit at about 35,786 km above the equator allows
Connecting the Peaks: Internet Access in Kyrgyzstan’s Digital Landscape

Connecting the Peaks: Internet Access in Kyrgyzstan’s Digital Landscape

The World Bank–funded Digital CASA project is deploying over 2,500 km of fiber, establishing 30 backbone nodes and 200 local access points, and will connect about 4,000 public facilities nationwide to high-speed broadband. As of late 2023, 4G/LTE mobile networks cover 98.8% of Kyrgyzstan’s inhabited localities. Internet penetration reached about 79.8% of the population by early 2024, amounting to roughly 5.41 million internet users in a country of 6.8 million people. Urban areas account for about 38% of the population with dense coverage, while rural areas, home to about 62%, have slower connectivity. Kyrgyzstan’s mobile market is dominated by MegaCom
20 June 2025
Live Satellite Images and Real-Time Maps: Top Platforms for Web & Mobile

Live Satellite Images and Real-Time Maps: Top Platforms for Web & Mobile

NOAA Earth in Real-Time offers an interactive, real-time global weather map with live imagery from GOES geostationary satellites, updated continuously and accessible free via nesdis.noaa.gov. NASA Worldview provides more than 1,000 global image layers (MODIS, VIIRS, Sentinel-2, etc.) with many layers updated within three hours of observation, plus animation, date comparison, and data download, all in a free web app. Zoom Earth aggregates imagery from NOAA GOES-East/West, EUMETSAT Meteosat, JMA Himawari, and NASA Terra/Aqua MODIS, updating as frequently as every 10–15 minutes and offering a free web and mobile app service. Google Earth provides high-resolution imagery from Landsat-8 and aerial
20 June 2025
Internet Access in Peru: A Comprehensive Overview

Internet Access in Peru: A Comprehensive Overview

As of the end of 2024, Peru had over 4.06 million fixed internet connections, with fiber-optic accounts exceeding 3 million and about 73.8% of all fixed lines. Peru’s National Fiber Optic Backbone, Red Dorsal, is being expanded by Pronatel, with 11 regional fiber networks in operation and 8 under execution as of 2025–26, to connect about 3,070 villages and 5,171 public institutions. By late 2024, 4G LTE covered 93.85% of Peru’s population, with roughly 56,000 population centers served and about 3.7% of people (around 40,500 villages) still without 4G. 5G rollout is in early stages, reaching only about 15.5% of
20 June 2025
Midjourney Video V1 Just Dropped: Turn Any Photo into a 21-Second AI Movie—See the Jaw-Dropping Demos and Secret Settings You Need to Try Today

Midjourney Video V1 Just Dropped: Turn Any Photo into a 21-Second AI Movie—See the Jaw-Dropping Demos and Secret Settings You Need to Try Today

Midjourney released Video V1 to all subscribers on June 18–19, 2025. Video V1 turns any image into four five-second clips, extendable to 21 seconds, at roughly eight image-credits per job. It offers two motion presets, Low and High, plus an optional manual prompt to control camera flow and subject animation. Video V1 enforces hard caps of 480–1080p resolution, 24–30 fps, with no audio. The model sits on Midjourney’s V7 image pipeline; you upload or generate a still, press Animate, and motion is interpolated across 120–630 frames depending on clip length. The tool runs on the web (Discord remains image-only for
20 June 2025
From Field Phones to 5G: The Evolution of Military Radio and Telecommunications

From Field Phones to 5G: The Evolution of Military Radio and Telecommunications

Field telephones were standard on the battlefield from the 1910s through the 1980s, with the EE-8 field telephone (1930s–Vietnam) offering a 7-mile range. The SCR-300 Walkie-Talkie, developed by Galvin Manufacturing (Motorola) in 1940, was the first backpack FM radio with about a 3-mile range. SINCGARS, fielded by the U.S. Army in the late 1980s, has 2320 channels in the 30–87.975 MHz range and introduced frequency hopping to defeat jammers. The AN/PRC-148 MBITR multiband SDR is a widely deployed handheld radio, covering 30–512 MHz and with over 22,000 units deployed since 2009. The Mobile Subscriber Equipment (MSE) system, deployed in the
20 June 2025
Satellite Radio Revolution: 14 Things You Need to Know About Its History, Technology, and Future

Satellite Radio Revolution: 14 Things You Need to Know About Its History, Technology, and Future

WorldSpace, founded in 1990, launched the first satellite radio broadcasts in October 1999 over Africa and the Middle East, with India accounting for 90% of its subscribers before filing for bankruptcy in 2008 and ceasing broadcasts in 2009. XM Satellite Radio launched its first satellite in March 2001 and began broadcasting to U.S. customers on September 25, 2001. Sirius Satellite Radio rolled out in February 2002 in select U.S. cities and reached nationwide service by July 2002. Sirius signed Howard Stern in 2004 in what it described as “the most important deal in radio history.” XM secured a $650 million
20 June 2025
Beyond Cell Coverage: The Ultimate 2025 Guide to Satellite Texting Services

Beyond Cell Coverage: The Ultimate 2025 Guide to Satellite Texting Services

In late 2022, Apple launched Emergency SOS via satellite on the iPhone 14 series, enabling two-way emergency texting via Globalstar satellites. As of iOS 17 and later, iPhone 14/15 users in supported regions can share their location and send basic non-emergency texts via satellite, with two years of free service after activation before a paid plan. Garmin’s inReach Mini 2 provides global two-way texting via the Iridium network, with plans from about $15/month to $65/month and devices typically priced around $350–$450. ZOLEO uses the Iridium network for global messaging, costs about $200 for the device, offers plans from roughly $20
20 June 2025
Satellite TV Secrets Unveiled: From Space-Age Origins to the Future of Television

Satellite TV Secrets Unveiled: From Space-Age Origins to the Future of Television

Telstar 1 (NASA) transmitted the first live television signals via satellite in 1962, linking Europe and North America. Syncom 2 became the first geosynchronous satellite in 1963, and Syncom 3 in 1964 broadcast the Tokyo Olympics to the United States. Intelsat I (Early Bird) was launched in 1965 as the world’s first commercial communications satellite carrying regular transoceanic TV service. Astra 1A, launched in 1988, used Ku-band to enable small 90 cm dishes and sparked a European satellite TV boom. In 1979 the FCC ruled that anyone could install a home satellite earth station without a federal license, accelerating consumer
19 June 2025
Sky Spies: The Ultimate Guide to Weather Satellites Tracking Storms, Saving Lives, and Monitoring Climate

Sky Spies: The Ultimate Guide to Weather Satellites Tracking Storms, Saving Lives, and Monitoring Climate

TIROS-1, launched by NASA on April 1, 1960, weighed about 120 kg and transmitted over 19,000 cloud images in 78 days, proving the concept of space-based weather observation. GOES-16 (GOES-East), launched in 2016 as part of the GOES-R series, delivers 0.5 km resolution imagery across 16 spectral bands and can scan as often as 30 seconds, and it carries the Geostationary Lightning Mapper. Meteosat-1, launched in 1977, was Europe’s first geostationary meteorological satellite at 0° longitude and introduced a water vapor channel for moisture tracking. Japan’s Himawari-8 (2014) and Himawari-9 (2016) operate at 140°E, providing high-resolution full-disk imagery every 10
19 June 2025
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Stock Market Today

Eli Lilly stock pops as FDA targets cheap weight-loss copycats — what to know before Monday

Eli Lilly stock pops as FDA targets cheap weight-loss copycats — what to know before Monday

7 February 2026
Eli Lilly shares rose 3.7% to $1,058.18 Friday after the FDA said it would act against telehealth firm Hims & Hers for marketing a $49 compounded weight-loss pill. The move followed a sharp selloff Thursday when Hims announced plans to sell a version of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy. Investors remain uncertain how aggressively regulators will police copycat drugs and pricing in the obesity drug market.
Saudi Aramco share price set for Sunday test after Tadawul ends market-making deal

Saudi Aramco share price set for Sunday test after Tadawul ends market-making deal

7 February 2026
Saudi Exchange approved Merrill Lynch KSA’s exit as market maker for Saudi Aramco, effective Feb. 8. Aramco shares closed at 25.60 riyals Thursday, down 0.06, with 22.1 million traded. The Tadawul index fell 1.3% as Brent crude dropped to $67.93. Aramco set March official selling prices at $2.10 above Argus for North America and $0.65 above ICE Brent for Western Europe.
Meta stock ends week down about 6% as Wall Street fixates on $135 billion AI capex

Meta stock ends week down about 6% as Wall Street fixates on $135 billion AI capex

7 February 2026
Meta closed down 1.3% Friday at $661.46, capping a 6.4% weekly drop as investors questioned heavy AI spending. Amazon and Alphabet also fell after outlining major capital outlays. Meta’s Instagram suffered a brief outage this week. Legal risks persist, with trials involving Meta set for next week in Los Angeles and New Mexico.
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