Satcom

The most exciting moment of Sunday’s Super Bowl was finally getting concrete direct-to-cell pricing numbers. 

AST SpaceMobile announced a landmark agreement with Ligado Networks last month that will provide AST 40 MHz of L-band Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) spectrum across the US and Canada, as well as an additional 5 MHz of spectrum in the US. 

Last month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) updated its spectrum sharing rules for Non-Geostationary (NGSO) Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) systems to establish quantified interference protection criteria for satellite systems based on their level of spectrum priority.   

Another day, another mega LEO constellation. 

Last week, Air France was the latest major airline to announce it will be moving its in-flight Wi-Fi to the Starlink network, offering it for free to members of its frequent flier program. 

Traditional Ground Station as a Service (GSaaS) providers will soon face competition from relay communications networks that promise faster transmitting, simplified licensing, and potentially lower cost. 

Out are the days of onesie twosies large GEO satcom birds, and in are the mega-constellations in LEO, consisting of an army of hundreds or thousands of smaller satellites that provide ultra-fast connectivity. 

Space businesses have gained a reputation as cash-burning machines. Investors typically fork over tens of millions in development dollars before a startup can launch a single piece of hardware.

SpaceX unveiled its Starlink Mini terminal last week.