Satellite

Israel told Elon Musk his Starlink satellite network will only be allowed to operate in Gaza with Israel's approval, as the entrepreneur met the country’s leaders amid a furore over alleged antisemitism on his social platform X. Musk declared in late October 2023 that his satellite internet service Starlink would “support connectivity to internationally recognised aid organisations in Gaza”, which has suffered lengthy blackouts under Israel’s bombardment.

The White House denounced Elon Musk for “abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate,” for his endorsement of what an administration spokesman called a “hideous lie” about Jews. All of which might make one think the Biden administration was going to try to pull back from doing business with the world’s richest person. Except that, in recent weeks, the U.S.

Policymakers inundated with self-serving arguments for specific spectrum allocation need ways to evaluate which actually advance the public interest. By focusing on the goal of productive spectrum use, one can differentiate between reasoning that would enhance productivity and that which would only advance private interests.

The Federal Communications Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau seeks to partner with any entities that have a solution for delivering Wireless Emergency Alerts to mobile devices that are not connected to functioning cell towers. The Bureau asked interested parties to submit detailed information about their solution, including whether it would work with mobile devices currently in use by consumers, how to address any issues with delivering geographically targeted alerts, and how best testing should be conducted.

SpaceX has published a new webpage to promote its upcoming “Starlink Direct to Cell” service that plans to offer cellular connectivity to “existing LTE phones” via satellite. The website, which went live mid-October 2023, notes that the service will initially be limited to texting services in 2024, with voice and data functionality following in 2025, alongside support for IoT devices. “Direct to Cell works with existing LTE phones wherever you can see the sky.

Amazon stretched its reach to space, sending its first two internet satellites to orbit, a key step toward building out a constellation of more than 3,000 satellites that it hopes will compete with SpaceX’s Starlink system to provide online access to millions without it. The pair of prototype satellites were launched from Cape Canaveral (FL) on October 6. Over the coming days and weeks, Amazon hopes to use the satellites to “add real-world data from space to years of data collected from lab and field testing” as it works to put up the rest of its Kuiper constellation. Amazon, which has said

When Executive Director for ConnectLA—Louisiana's broadband office—Veneeth Iyengar was asked if he was concerned that there might be areas of Louisiana that no broadband provider would want to serve, his response was, "We’re not concerned [because] it’s all in how you design the program.

The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau settled an investigation into DISH for its failure to properly de-orbit its EchoStar-7 satellite. This marks a first in space debris enforcement by the FCC, which has stepped up its satellite policy efforts, including establishing the Space Bureau and implementing its Space Innovation Agenda.

Elon Musk’s international influence poses an interesting problem for the US In a world where geopolitical leadership depends increasingly on technology, Musk ought to be one of the US’s most important assets. And yet he is a de facto independent actor. Musk owes his influence not to the control of oil, capital or private armies, but of technologies vital to economic competitiveness, national security and public opinion. NASA and the Pentagon depend heavily on Musk-owned SpaceX to get into space.

The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules to expedite its processing of space and earth station applications to meet the growing needs of today's commercial space sector. These new rules also serve to lay the groundwork for the Space Bureau’s new Transparency Initiative, which will provide information and guidance, in a variety of forms, to potential applicants in order to prepare them to successfully obtain authorizations for space and earth stations—that is, satellites and the ground-based transmitters communicating with them.