Satellite and Space News Roundup for July 13–14, 2025 The past two days saw major space milestones and surprises across the globe. A mystery SpaceX launch carried a “smartphone in space” satellite for Israel, marking the Falcon 9’s 500th mission spokesman.com spaceflightnow.com. Meanwhile, satellite internet initiatives made strides – Starlink scored regulatory wins and debut…
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Ukraine’s largest operator Kyivstar has quietly leapt to the front of the “direct‑to‑cell” space race, pledging to switch on Starlink‑powered texting by late 2025 and full voice/data service by mid‑2026. In this deep‑dive you’ll learn exactly what was agreed, how the technology works, why regulators fast‑tracked it in a war zone, what analysts think it means…
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Namibia is undergoing a digital transformation that promises to bridge vast distances and connect its people like never before. With about half of Namibians now online – a figure that climbed from roughly 53% in 2023 to over 60% in 2024 datareportal.com namibiansun.com – the country stands at the cusp of a connectivity revolution. Yet,…
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SpaceX’s Starlink constellation and T‑Mobile’s “T‑Satellite” network are racing toward a milestone moment: on 1 October 2025 the service will graduate from today’s SMS‑only beta to full third‑party app data, letting ordinary smartphones send WhatsApp messages, refresh AllTrails maps, and even check AccuWeather forecasts in places where no terrestrial tower exists. The upgrade follows FCC clearance, months of beta testing,…
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Iran’s attempt to criminalize Starlink use is colliding head-on with an underground network that is bigger, richer, and more technologically agile than the regime anticipated. Unless SpaceX bows to the ITU—or Iran finds a reliable way to geolocate and seize every dish—satellite internet will continue to poke holes in the Islamic Republic’s digital iron curtain.…
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Infrastructure Overview Iran’s internet infrastructure is a mix of aging fixed broadband and expanding mobile networks, all under strain from sanctions and state control. Fixed broadband largely relies on ADSL (phone-line internet) and a limited fiber-optic rollout. The government has ambitious fiber plans – aiming to cover 20 million premises with fiber by end of…
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The past ten days have seen an unprecedented collision between a Silicon Valley billionaire and one of the world’s most restrictive regimes. When Iranian authorities plunged the country into an almost total internet blackout after Israeli air-strikes on June 13 – 14, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk switched Starlink coverage on over Iran less than 24…
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Palau, a Pacific archipelago famed for its coral reefs and remote islands, has been rapidly modernizing its internet connectivity in recent years. As a small nation of about 18,000 people, Palau long faced challenges in digital access due to its isolated geography and limited infrastructure. Until 2017, Palau relied entirely on satellite links for internet,…
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Internet Penetration and User Statistics Tanzania is experiencing a rapid digital transformation, with millions of new users coming online. As of January 2024, about 21.82 million Tanzanians were using the internet, representing an internet penetration rate of 31.9% of the population datareportal.com. This marks steady growth (+3% in users from the previous year) but also…
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China’s June 2025 demonstration of a 1‑gigabit‑per‑second laser down‑link from geostationary orbit sparked sensational headlines claiming a weak “candle‑bright” beam had “pulverized Starlink.” In reality, the 2‑watt transmission was a communications breakthrough, not an anti‑satellite strike. Yet the episode sits at the crossroads of two fast‑diverging trends: (1) a legitimate push to replace crowded radio channels with…
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