mega-constellations

Space Race Heats Up: Vulcan’s Milestone Launch, Ariane 6 Success, and Mega-Constellations Surge (Aug 13-14, 2025)

Vulcan Centaur debuted on its first national security mission, USSF-106, launching from Cape Canaveral on August 12, 2025 at 8:56 p.m. EDT and is powered by two BE-4 engines while carrying the NTS-3 satellite. The USSF-106 mission deployed the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) and marks the Defense Department’s shift to flying critical military satellites on domestic rockets powered by U.S.-made engines. Ariane 6 mission VA264 delivered MetOp-SG A1 to a 800 km polar sun-synchronous orbit after a 2:37 a.m. CEST launch from Kourou on August 13. MetOp-SG A1 is Europe’s next-generation polar-orbiting weather satellite, built by Airbus for ESA/EUMETSAT and

14 August 2025

The Space Race for the Internet: Inside the Billion-Dollar Satellite Mega-Constellation Boom

As of mid-2025, Starlink operates about 7,500 active satellites, the largest fleet in history, accounting for more than 60% of all active satellites. Starlink’s next-generation satellites (v2) weigh about 800 kg each, vs 260 kg for v1, and use inter-satellite laser links to route data across continents. Amazon’s Project Kuiper plans 3,236 LEO satellites at roughly 600 km altitude, with more than $10 billion invested, the first 27 operational satellites launched in April 2025, and a target to deploy half the constellation by July 2026. OneWeb completed its Gen1 constellation with 618 of 648 satellites in 1,200 km polar orbits

5 June 2025

Innovation · Internet · NASDAQ:AMZN · Satellites · Space · Technology

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

Low Earth Orbit · Mega-Constellations · NASDAQ:AMZN · NASDAQ:IRDM · Satellites · Space · Technology