The China National Space Administration (CNSA) was established in 1993 as China’s civil space authority. By the end of 2024, China operated more than 1,060 active satellites in orbit, a count that has grown more than six-fold since 2015. Chang’e-4 achieved the first landing on the Moon’s far side in 2019. Micius (Mozi), launched in…
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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,…
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In 2024 the global GNSS correction and augmentation services market is estimated around $3.5 billion and is on track to double by 2030 to over $6 billion. RTK-based services accounted for $796.8 million in 2022, about 25% of the market. PPP was the largest segment in 2022, valued at $1,833.1 million (roughly 59% share). Galileo…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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The CORONA (Discoverer) program operated from 1959 to 1972 as the United States’ first photo-reconnaissance satellite program, with Discoverer XIV achieving the first mid-air film recovery in August 1960. KH-11 KENNEN (CRYSTAL), first launched in 1976, introduced electro-optical digital imaging with about 15 cm per-pixel resolution, and a 2019 declassified image from USA-224 reportedly achieved…
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Google Cloud Speech AI provides Text-to-Speech with 380+ voices across 50+ languages using WaveNet/Neural2, Speech-to-Text in 125+ languages, and Custom Voice generally available in 2024. Azure Speech Service offers Neural Text-to-Speech with 446 voices in 144 languages (as of mid-2024), Speech-to-Text in 75+ languages, and Custom Neural Voice with cloud or on-prem deployment. Amazon Polly…
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ChatGPT (OpenAI) launched in November 2022, added GPT-4 in 2023, reached about 122 million daily active users by early 2025, and offers a free GPT-3.5 tier plus ChatGPT Plus at $20 per month and an Enterprise tier introduced in 2023. Google Bard launched in 2023, evolved from LaMDA to PaLM 2 and Gemini by 2025,…
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Global government and military Satcom spending is projected to grow about 7–10% annually, rising from roughly $50 billion in 2024 to $64 billion by 2030. The Ukraine conflict underscored Satcom’s importance, with Starlink keeping forces online for combat and coalition operations. Militaries are shifting to enterprise Satcom architectures that blend military and commercial satellites across…
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