It is now a widely held belief that Elon Musk’s SpaceX/Starlink is the biggest threat to satellite industry incumbents and in a few short years, Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Kuiper. The threat is not isolated to the space and satellite industries. Telcos/MNOs and cloud industry players are likewise worried that these two players, indeed two key.
In early May, 2 GEO communications satellites launched on a Falcon Heavy rocket. It was supposed to be the next step in GEO satcom from two opposite ends of the market spectrum: Viasat’s 6-tonne powerhouse delivering massive capacity to compete with constellations, and Astranis’ Arcturus, a 300 kg platform meant to test both the “micro-GEO”.
Space is tough. GEO satellites are realized on redundancy and reliability as their core philosophy. With decades of research, design, development and operations data, manufacturers have been able to achieve systems & spacecrafts with lower failure probabilities. Clearly, this does not ensure success with every launch. From a market forces perspective, GEO players are experiencing.
Co-Authored by Jose Del Rosario and Brad Grady CNBC reported that in early-June, “the Pentagon agreed to purchase Starlink satellite internet terminals from SpaceX for use in Ukraine as Kyiv continues to defend itself against a full-scale Russian invasion. Contract details, specifically price, scope and timeline were not disclosed for operational security reasons and due.
Starlink has made significant strides in the satellite industry, positioning itself as a major threat to established players. Within a short period, the company has emerged as a major market shareholder in the consumer broadband sector, achieving a subscriber base of 1.5 million users worldwide. This unprecedented growth is translating to a consistent reduction in.