Deep Dive - Satellite Insights

Orbital energy cost against launch price, from Starcloud's $30 per kilogram to the $500 its chief executive cited in March, at two spacecraft masses, beside the four-cent terrestrial figure.

LEO broadband

Deep Dive: Starcloud's Orbital Data Center Math Needs a $30 per Kilogram Launch

Starcloud's white paper puts a data center in space at one twentieth of the cost of one on the ground. Rerun with 2026 launch prices and spacecraft mass, the same arithmetic gives two to five times more.

The uplink half of Europe's 2 GHz satellite band in three rows: Viasat and EchoStar halves today, the proposed optional 2027 to 2029 extension, and six proposed blocks by category.

Sovereignty

Deep Dive: SpaceX's Carrier Playbook Meets Europe's 2 GHz Rules

SpaceX bought its way to US carrier status. In Europe, the 2 GHz MSS rules reserve two of three blocks for EU operators and freeze incumbents' rights during the bridge.

Direct-to-Device

Deep Dive: 0.0002 Percent of the Traffic, and One Company to Buy It

The carriers' new D2D venture is a single buyer with a spectrum pool. SpaceX holds its own spectrum and does not need it. AST SpaceMobile does.

Starship Flight 14 lifted off September 28, 2026, and deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites, the first operational payload flown on Starship.

LEO broadband

Starship Reached Orbit With 26 Starlink V3 Satellites. Here Is What They Cost Everyone Else.

SpaceX's Starship Flight 14 reached orbit with 26 Starlink V3 satellites on September 28, 2026. What ten times the capacity per satellite means for OneWeb, Amazon Leo, Telesat, SES and Viasat, and why the FCC's spectrum vote matters as much as the launch.

Bar of Amazon Leo's remaining contracted launch capacity by vehicle: Ariane 64, Vulcan and New Glenn hatched as grounded, Falcon 9 solid as flying, marker at 2,836 satellites still required.

LEO broadband

Amazon Ordered Six More Ariane 6 Launches Just as a Turbopump Problem Slowed the Rocket

Amazon Leo expanded its Arianespace order as a turbopump problem slowed Ariane 6, with Vulcan and New Glenn grounded. What it means for its FCC dates.

Direct-to-Device

What Amazon Is Actually Buying at Globalstar

Globalstar books 63% of revenue from Apple and is being sold to Amazon for a sum its revenue cannot explain. The answer is in the spectrum and landing rights.

Sovereignty

IRIS² Finally Cut Checks, and the Biggest One Landed on the Ground

The first IRIS² industrial contracts are signed: OHB's €1B for 18 MEO platforms, HispaSat's €1.6B ground segment. Who gets paid, and what the order reveals.