Technology News 2 June 2025

Mega-Constellations Exposed: How Swarms of Tiny Satellites Are Taking Over Low Earth Orbit

By 2024, small satellites accounted for over 95% of all satellites launched annually. SpaceX’s Starlink operates the world’s largest constellation with over 7,000 active satellites in orbit as of late 2024. Starlink’s initial shell consisted of about 4,400 satellites at roughly 550 km altitude and 53° inclination, with FCC approval for about 12,000 satellites and potential expansion to 42,000. Iridium uses 86.4° near-polar orbits in six planes at ~780 km to achieve global coverage including polar regions. OneWeb’s Gen1 network aimed for ~1,200 km orbit with ~86–87° inclination and had deployed 618 satellites by March 2023, before merging with Eutelsat

5 June 2025

Military Satellite Services: Complete Guide to Secure Communications

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 Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) form the U.S. early-warning constellation that uses infrared sensors to detect missile launches worldwide. U.S. Keyhole KH-11 optical reconnaissance satellites (and successors) provide high-resolution imagery from space. Russia operates the Liana ELINT constellation, including Lotos-S1 in low orbit and Pion-NKS in

4 June 2025

Defense · Military · NASDAQ:IRDM · NYSE:BA · NYSE:GD · NYSE:LDOS · NYSE:LHX · NYSE:LMT · NYSE:MAXR · NYSE:NOC · NYSE:RTX · Satellite · Secure Communications · Technology

Aviation Satellite Services: Benefits, Providers, and New Technologies

By late 2022, more than 10,000 aircraft worldwide were equipped with in-flight connectivity, and about 65% of airlines planned further IFC investments in the next few years. Aireon’s space-based ADS-B payloads on Iridium NEXT have been operational since 2019, enabling global real-time tracking and supporting ICAO’s 15-minute GADSS position reporting standard. COSPAS-SARSAT, a global satellite distress system, relays 406 MHz ELT signals from aircraft to ground stations to coordinate search and rescue and has saved thousands of lives. Global Navigation Satellite Systems—GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (EU), BeiDou (China)—provide precise positioning, while SBAS like WAAS and EGNOS offer 1–2 meter

4 June 2025

Aviation · Connectivity · NASDAQ:IRDM · NASDAQ:VSAT · Providers · Satellite · Technology

Maritime Satellite Services: Complete Guide to Ship Connectivity & Communications

L-band MSS terminals, such as Inmarsat FleetBroadband and Iridium Certus, provide global coverage with compact antennas but limited data throughput. Ku-band VSAT (12–18 GHz) has been the maritime workhorse, Ka-band HTS (26–40 GHz) offers higher capacity, while C-band deployments are restricted near shore due to interference and large dish requirements. GEO satellites offer broad coverage with about 600 ms latency, while LEO Iridium NEXT, a 66-satellite constellation upgraded 2017–2019, provides true global L-band coverage and was recognized as a GMDSS provider in 2020. SpaceX Starlink and OneWeb have emerged as disruptive LEO players in maritime, with Starlink signing on nearly

4 June 2025

Communications · Maritime · Satellite · Ship Connectivity · Technology

How Satellite Internet Is Revolutionizing Disaster Response and Humanitarian Relief

Hurricane Maria in 2017 damaged 95% of cell towers in Puerto Rico, leaving the island largely without phone service. SpaceX’s Starlink uses a low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite constellation of hundreds to thousands of satellites, lowering latency to about 20–40 ms with ~600 ms for geostationary satellites. Starlink can deliver 100–200 Mbps per user, versus about 25 Mbps on legacy satellite links. Ground terminals are plug-and-play, roughly pizza-box-sized dishes that require only a power source and a clear view of the sky to connect. In Ukraine since 2022, SpaceX shipped thousands of Starlink terminals, with tens of thousands in operation, becoming essential

4 June 2025

Disaster Response · Humanitarian Relief · Innovation · NASDAQ:SATS · Satellite Internet · Technology

Internet Access in Cameroon: The Race to Connect a Nation

As of early 2025, about 12.4 million Cameroonians were internet users, representing 41.9% of the population. As of 2024, roughly 60% of Cameroonians live in urban areas, with internet access heavily concentrated in cities and rural areas almost inaccessible. Cameroon’s fiber backbone extends over 12,000 kilometers and is connected to five landfall cables: SAT-3, WACS, ACE, SAIL, and NCSCS, with SAIL linking Kribi to Brazil. Plans are underway to add more than 4,000 kilometers of fiber, expanding the backbone to about 17,000–22,000 km and improving regional redundancy. The mobile market is dominated by Orange Cameroon (about 11.7 million subscribers, 39.6%

4 June 2025

Cameroon · Connectivity · Infrastructure · Internet · Technology

Satellite vs Fiber Internet: The 2025 Latency & Bandwidth Showdown

Fiber-optic broadband latency is typically a few milliseconds on local networks, with total latency to nearby servers generally in the 10–30 ms range. Geostationary satellites sit about 22,000 miles (35,000 km) above Earth, producing round-trip latencies of roughly 600–650 ms. Starlink uses a low-Earth orbit constellation, delivering typical latencies of about 20–50 ms and, by mid-2025, operating with nearly 7,000 satellites and over 1.4 million active US subscribers. Starlink typical download speeds are 50–150 Mbps (up to 200+ Mbps in ideal conditions) with uploads of 5–20 Mbps. Fiber gigabit plans are widely available, and many providers offer 2 Gbps, 5

4 June 2025

Bandwidth · Fiber Optic · Latency · Satellite Internet · Technology

The Sky Connect: How Satellite Internet Is Revolutionizing Rural and Remote Life

LEO satellites orbit at roughly 500–1,200 km, delivering latency of about 20–50 ms and broadband speeds comparable to terrestrial networks, versus GEO’s ~600 ms latency. SpaceX Starlink has launched over 7,000 satellites since 2019, provides coverage in about 130 countries, had more than 4 million subscribers by late 2024, and offers 50–200 Mbps to rural homes with a pizza-box–sized dish. OneWeb has 618 active LEO satellites with global coverage achieved in early 2023, merged with Europe’s Eutelsat in 2022, and now focuses on enterprise and government backhaul rather than consumer services. ViaSat-3 consists of three GEO high-throughput satellites launched in

3 June 2025

Innovation · Remote Areas · Rural Connectivity · Satellite Internet · Technology

Cambodia’s Internet Boom or Digital Doom? Inside the Kingdom’s Connected Revolution

Cambodia has over 22 million cellular subscriptions in a population of about 17 million, yielding a mobile penetration of roughly 131.5% due to multiple SIM ownership. As of early 2023, fixed internet subscriptions were about 310,000 nationwide, underscoring a mobile-first connectivity pattern. Cambodia’s first submarine cable, the Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand link, landed in 2017, and a Hong Kong–Sihanoukville upgrade planned for 2024 will add 640 km of undersea fiber within Cambodian territory. The core backbone is operated by Telecom Cambodia, Viettel/Metfone, and CFOCN, with 38 licensed ISPs and five fiber-infrastructure operators reported in 2023. In early 2023 about 11.37 million Cambodians were

3 June 2025

Cambodia · Digital Revolution · Internet · Society · Technology

Inside Burundi’s Digital Struggle: The Truth About Internet Access and the Satellite Solution

As of January 2025, Burundi had about 1.78 million internet users, roughly 12.5% of ~14 million people, leaving about 88–90% offline. About 99.6% of internet subscriptions are mobile broadband, while fixed broadband is virtually nonexistent with ~0.3% of homes wired and only about 3,000 fixed broadband subscriptions in 2023. 4G coverage reached about 32% of the population in 2023, 3G about 53%, while 2G covers around 97%, leaving many rural areas without true internet. The rural population accounts for about 84% of Burundians, and the government’s Universal Service Fund is rolling out 4G to 178 rural communities, aiming to reach

2 June 2025

Africa · Digital Access · Internet · Satellites · Technology

Global Drone Market Outlook (2025–2030)

In 2024, the total global drone market was about $73 billion, with forecasts to reach roughly $163–165 billion by 2030 at around a 14% CAGR. Some analyses forecast growth from about $30 billion in 2022 to $260.5 billion by 2030, implying a 27–39% annual growth rate. By 2030 the market’s major segments are projected to be: Consumer about $11.6B, Commercial about $55B, Military about $90B, Delivery about $10.5B, and Agricultural about $22.5B in annual revenue. DJI dominates the consumer drone market with an estimated 70–80% global share, over 90% in some sub-categories, led by Phantom and Mavic series as of

2 June 2025

Drones · Global Trends · Market Analysis · NASDAQ:ESLT · NYSE:NOC · Reports · Technology

Satellite Phones: A Comprehensive Report

Iridium, a LEO network, started service in 1998 and operates 66 active cross-linked satellites, delivering near-global coverage, with the Iridium NEXT second-generation network launched in 2019. Globalstar uses 48 satellites (24 second-generation as of 2013), has no inter-satellite links and relies on ground gateways, and Apple’s Emergency SOS on iPhone 14 uses about 85% of Globalstar’s capacity for emergency texts. Inmarsat operates a GEO fleet of about 11 satellites, offers IsatPhone handheld services, the IsatPhone 2 provides ~8 hours of talk time and 160 hours of standby, and Inmarsat expanded with I-4/I-6 series after its 2023 acquisition by Viasat. Thuraya

2 June 2025

Communication · Gadgets · Mobile Devices · Satellite · Technology

Technology News 2 June 2025 - 5 June 2025