Starlink

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket pictured Oct. 19 as it launched 28 Starlink satellites on mission 10-17 from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. On Wednesday, 29 additional Starlink satellites devices will liftoff around 12:16 p.m. EDT on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket into low-Earth orbit at the same complex. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 29 (UPI) — SpaceX is set to launch Wednesday more than two dozen Starlink satellites in Elon Musk’s bid to expand global Internet access.

About 29 additional Starlink satellites devices will liftoff around 12:16 p.m. EDT on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket into low-Earth orbit via Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Space Launch Complex 40.

A live-streamed broadcast of Starlink 10-37 mission will begin minutes prior to the scheduled launch.

It will be the 15th flight for the Falcon 9 stage booster transporting the company’s scores of Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites.

Satellites are expected to be deployed roughly an hour into the SpaceX mission.

Meanwhile, the first stage booster will land following separation on Just Read the Instructions — a droneship which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

It will follow Sunday’s liftoff by SpaceX which sent 28 Starlink devices into low orbit above Earth.

SpaceX’s Starlink, which provides Internet service via satellites like those pictured being released into orbit around Earth, this week cut service to thousands of its internet service devices after Myanmar’s military shut down a scam center along the country’s border region. File Photo by SpaceX/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 23 (UPI) — SpaceX cut Starlink Internet service to thousands of its devices providing access to compounds in Myanmar linked to human trafficking and monetary scams worldwide.

The company said late Tuesday that it terminated more than 2,500 Starlink devices Chinese crime syndicates were using to contact and scam people globally.

“SpaceX continually works to identify violations of our Acceptable Use Policy and applicable law because — as with nearly all consumer electronics and services — the same technology that can provide immense benefits has a risk of misuse,” Lauren Dreyer, Starlink’s vice president of business operations, said in a post on X.

“In Myanmar, for example, SpaceX proactively identified and disabled over 2,500 Starlink kits in the vicinity of suspected ‘scam centers,'” she wrote.

The scam centers, which operated largely along the border between Myanmar and Thailand, lure people in with the promise of good jobs before often being taken captive and being forced to defraud people through fake investments and pretend romantic schemes, according to reports.

Myanmar’s military, which in 2021 staged a coup that has kept the country mired in a civil war, announced this week that it shut down a scam operation called KK Park, seizing 30 sets of Starlink Terminals and arresting more than 2,000 people.

The military earlier this year launched an operation to go after the scam centers after other nations, specifically Thailand and China, exerted pressure to ease the situation that has seen people from both countries trafficked and forced to work in the scam parks.

Although the military has moved to shut down some operations, reports suggest that many compounds in Myanmar remain active, with tens of thousands of employees and some protected by militia groups that are aligned with Myanmar’s military.

The spectrum purchase allows SpaceX to expand the cell network’s capacity by ‘more than 100 times’ and will help ‘end mobile dead zones’.

SpaceX will buy wireless spectrum licences from EchoStar for its Starlink satellite network for about $17bn, a major deal crucial to expanding Starlink’s nascent 5G connectivity business.

The Elon Musk-owned aerospace company announced the purchase on Monday.

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The companies also agreed to a deal that will enable EchoStar’s Boost Mobile subscribers to access Starlink direct-to-cell service to extend satellite service to areas without service.

The spectrum purchase allows SpaceX to start building and deploying upgraded, laser-connected satellites that the company said will expand the cell network’s capacity by “more than 100 times”.

Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, said the deal will help the company “end mobile dead zones around the world … With exclusive spectrum, SpaceX will develop next-generation Starlink Direct to Cell satellites, which will have a step change in performance and enable us to enhance coverage for customers wherever they are in the world.”

The push comes amid fast-rising wireless usage. In 2024, Americans used a record 132 trillion megabytes of mobile data, up 35 percent over the prior all-time record, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) said on Monday.

SpaceX has launched more than 8,000 Starlink satellites since 2020, building a distributed network in low-Earth orbit which has seen demand from militaries, transportation firms and consumers in rural areas.

Roughly 600 of those satellites – which SpaceX calls “cell towers in space” – have been launched since January 2024 for the company’s direct-to-cell network, orbiting closer to Earth than the rest of the constellation.

Crucial to those larger satellites’ deployment is Starship, SpaceX’s giant next-generation rocket that has been under development for roughly a decade. Increasingly complex test launches have drawn the rocket closer to its first operational Starlink missions, expected early next year.

The deal comes months after the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) questioned EchoStar’s use of its mobile-satellite service spectrum and raised concerns about whether it was meeting its obligations to deploy 5G in the country.

EchoStar said it anticipates that the transaction with SpaceX and the AT&T deal will resolve the FCC’s inquiries.

An FCC spokesperson said the “deals that EchoStar reached with AT&T and Starlink hold the potential to supercharge competition, extend innovative new services to millions of Americans, and boost US leadership in next-gen connectivity”.

The company in August sold some nationwide wireless spectrum licences to AT&T for $23bn. AT&T agreed to acquire 50 MHz of nationwide mid-band and low-band spectrum.

US President Donald Trump previously prodded EchoStar and FCC Chair Brendan Carr to reach an amicable deal for the company’s wireless spectrum licences.

Underused airwaves

SpaceX will pay up to $8.5bn in cash and issue up to $8.5bn in stock. SpaceX has also agreed to cover roughly $2bn in interest payments on EchoStar’s debt obligations through late 2027.

After the sale, EchoStar will continue operating its satellite television service Dish TV, streaming TV platform Sling, internet service Hughesnet and its Boost Mobile brand.

SpaceX had aggressively pressed the FCC to reallocate underused airwaves for satellite-to-phone service after alleging EchoStar failed to meet certain obligations.

In a letter to the FCC in April, SpaceX said EchoStar’s spectrum in the 2 gigahertz band “remains ripe for sharing among next-generation satellite systems” and that the company has left “valuable mid-band spectrum chronically underused”.

The deal with EchoStar will allow SpaceX to operate Starlink direct-to-cell services on frequencies it owns, rather than relying solely on those leased from mobile carriers like T-Mobile.

In May, the FCC approved Verizon’s $20bn deal to acquire fibre-optic internet provider Frontier Communications. Verizon spent $5bn to acquire and clear key spectrum in 2021.

The news sent shares of EchoStar surging 14.7 percent as of 1pm in New York (17:00 GMT). Shares of US wireless carriers are trending downwards. AT&T is 1.6 percent lower and T-Mobile is down by 2.2 percent. Verizon as well is down 1.8 percent.

Neighbour Poland has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest backers since Russia invaded in 2022.

Ukraine’s access to Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Starlink could be cut due to the Polish president’s veto of a refugee aid bill, a Polish deputy prime minister said, as a conflict between the government and head of state deepens and undermines the once ironclad support of its war-torn neighbour.

Poland pays for Ukraine to use Starlink, which provides crucial internet connectivity to the country and its military as they try to push back invading Russian forces.

Right-wing Polish President Karol Nawrocki on Monday vetoed a bill extending state financial support provided to Ukrainian refugees and unveiled plans to limit their future access to child benefits and healthcare.

However, Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said the vetoed legislation also provided the legal basis for providing Starlink to Ukraine.

“This is the end of Starlink internet, which Poland provides to Ukraine as it wages war,” he wrote on X.

Centrist Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticised the veto. But his government does not have the two-thirds majority in parliament needed to overcome the move.

“We cannot punish people for losing their job — particularly not innocent children. This is the ABC of human decency,” Labour Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bak wrote on X.

Gawkowski, stressed that Nawrocki veto jeopardised Ukraine’s use of Starlink.

“We want to continue paying for internet by satellite for Ukraine. Unfortunately, this disastrous decision by the president greatly complicates things, and we will have to inform our partners that this support will finish at the end of September,” he told the PAP news agency.

Nawrocki’s spokesperson however, told the Reuters news agency that the basis for paying for Starlink could still be restored if parliament adopts a bill proposed by the president by the end of next month.

Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, around one million refugees have settled in neighbouring Poland. Most of them are women and children.

Poland is a key supporter of Ukraine and a major transit route for Western aid but public attitudes towards Ukrainians have hardened.

Nawrocki, a staunch nationalist, had promised to cut social welfare benefits for Ukrainians during the campaign ahead of his election victory on June 1.

“I will not change my mind and I think that (this aid) should be limited only to Ukrainians who are committed to working in Poland,” Nawrocki, who took office this month, told reporters on Monday.

Nawrocki also said Ukrainians who do not work in Poland should not be allowed to receive free medical treatment as they do now.

“This puts us in a situation in which Polish citizens, in their own country, are less well treated than our Ukrainian guests,” he said.

Gawkowski said that Poland spent 77 million euros ($90 million) between 2022 and 2024 to buy and subscribe to Starlink systems for Ukraine.

A Ukrainian diplomatic source told the Reuters news agency that Kyiv was analysing the possible impact of the move on Ukrainians in Poland, adding they believed “their rights will be protected no less than in other EU countries”.

Ukrainian refugees are currently eligible to receive the monthly family benefit of 800 zlotys ($219) per child if their children attend Polish schools. Other EU countries such as Germany have also proposed cutting benefits recently.

In Poland, the president can propose bills and veto government legislation. The government can similarly also block the president’s proposals.

SpaceX is one of the best-known companies in the world. It is privately valued at an estimated $400 billion, with a lot of that market value coming from its fast growing satellite internet service called Starlink that has a reported 6 million customers and is growing rapidly. But what if there was a company about to disrupt Starlink’s entire business model?

Enter AST SpaceMobile (ASTS 4.65%). This satellite internet upstart has innovated to eliminate the need for clunky terminals to connect devices to the internet directly from satellites. Its shares are up around 100% already this year, with its service set to become operational within the next few quarters.

Let’s dive into the numbers and see what potential AST SpaceMobile stock has for investors going forward.

No terminal, no problem

Satellite internet services like Starlink are great, but they come with one big drawback: clunky terminals. The standard dish is not ginormous, but is not something you could take out on a hike. AST SpaceMobile plans to get rid of the terminals altogether with its constellation of ultra-large satellites that can beam high speed internet directly to smartphones.

This would be a stepchange in customer value for satellite internet, and could lead to two outcomes. One is more people willing to pay for satellite internet, and two is existing customers of Starlink and equivalent services switching to AST SpaceMobile with its direct-to-device technology.

As it launches more of its satellites, AST SpaceMobile expects to turn on its service in the United States and then grow to Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan throughout 2026. It will take steady launches of these large satellites, but eventually AST SpaceMobile has a path to true global coverage with direct-to-device internet.

A huge global opportunity

Direct-to-device satellite internet could be a game changer for tens of millions of customers. The market opportunity includes geographically remote workers, hikers, fire service workers, people who work on commercial boats, and cruise ship passengers. It does not need to replace existing telecommunications infrastructure (at least, not today), but can be the perfect add-on to fill in the gaps in service.

This is why AST SpaceMobile has partnered with numerous telecommunications companies around the globe like Verizon Communications, giving it access to 3 billion potential customers. AST SpaceMobile will sell this service as an additional plan through the existing wireless contract relationships, and then sharing revenue earned with these telecommunication partners.

Revenue generation potential is immense once the AST SpaceMobile constellation goes global. For every 1 million customers who sign up at an estimated $10 a month, that is $120 million in revenue potential. If just 3% of the global addressable market signs up for AST SpaceMobile’s satellite internet service at any one time, that is 90 million customers and potentially $10 billion in revenue. The company also has contracts that it will deploy with the U.S. military, which should lead to even more sales growth.

Can AST SpaceMobile keep soaring?

Having 90 million customers is a greenfield scenario for AST SpaceMobile, and is not going to happen anytime soon. It will take years to build up the constellation to full capacity, as well as for telecommunications partners to market the add-on service to their customers. But the potential is there for AST SpaceMobile to disrupt a fast growing and lucrative sector in satellite internet, if it can execute on its growth plans.

At a market capitalization of $16 billion today, AST SpaceMobile looks cheap relative to the estimates laid out above. However, investors need to remember that this is a company generating zero revenue at the current moment and burning a boatload of cash each year. A lot can go wrong with its launch partners, like the recent delay from the India Space Agency that may keep some of its satellites from launching later this year. Even if things go all according to plan, it may be a decade before AST SpaceMobile starts posting a profit and gets to revenue and earnings figures that would make the current market capitalization reasonable.

If you have faith that AST SpaceMobile can hit $10 billion in revenue and fully disrupt the satellite internet market, then the stock will likely keep doing well for investors who buy today. Just remember there are always downsides when investing in highly risky companies like AST SpaceMobile.

Brett Schafer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Company says 2.5-hour disruption of high-speed internet service was due to ‘failure’ of internal software services.

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet has suffered one of its biggest international outages, knocking tens of thousands of users offline, a rare disruption that prompted an apology from senior executives, including founder Elon Musk.

Starlink, which has more than six million users across roughly 140 countries and territories, suffered the disruption on Thursday that lasted for about two hours and 30 minutes, according to Michael Nicolls, Starlink’s vice president of Starlink Engineering, in a post on X.

The outage was a rare hiccup for SpaceX’s most commercially sensitive business that had experts speculating whether the service, known for its resilience and rapid growth, was beset by a glitch, a botched software update or even a cyberattack.

Users began experiencing the outage at about 3pm on the United States’ East Coast (19:00 GMT) on Thursday, according to Downdetector, a crowdsourced outage tracker that said as many as 61,000 user reports to the site were made.

“The outage was due to failure of key internal software services that operate the core network,” Nicolls explained in his post.

“We apologise for the temporary disruption in our service; we are deeply committed to providing a highly reliable network, and will fully root cause this issue and ensure it does not occur again,” he said.

Musk also apologised: “Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” the SpaceX CEO and founder wrote on X, which he also owns.

SpaceX has launched more than 8,000 Starlink satellites since 2020, building a uniquely distributed network in low-Earth orbit that has attracted intense demand from militaries, transportation industries and consumers in rural areas with poor access to traditional, fibre-optic-based internet.

Starlink has focused heavily in recent months on updating its network to accommodate demands for higher speed and bandwidth.