Satellite Internet

Who Should Regulate Space?

Congress has challenged the FCC's authority to regulate satellite safety, exposing a federal oversight gap as orbital traffic surges and raising an urgent question: which agency should be responsible for preventing collisions and debris disasters? more

Is Satellite Cellular a Competitive Threat?

Direct-to-device satellite cellular promises to extend coverage beyond terrestrial networks, but physics, capacity constraints, and indoor limitations suggest it will complement existing mobile service rather than emerge as a true competitor. more

Amazon Targets Satellite-to-Phone Market With 5,105-Satellite Leo Expansion

Amazon has outlined plans for a 5,105-satellite constellation that will connect smartphones directly from space, expanding emergency and mobile services while intensifying competition in the fast-growing satellite-to-device communications market. more

SpaceX Wants to Handle the World’s Broadband - Here’s Why That’s Unlikely

SpaceX wants to expand Starlink to 100,000 satellites and eventually carry most of the world's internet traffic. Ambition is not the problem. Market competition, geopolitics and the resilience of fiber networks make that goal implausible. more

Can Orbiting Data Centers Solve Terrestrial Deal Breakers?

Orbiting data centers promise cleaner power, cheaper cooling and relief from terrestrial opposition, but formidable engineering, regulatory and orbital governance challenges may keep ambitious space-based computing grounded for years unless launch economics improve dramatically first. more

The Economics of SpaceX: Can Starlink Justify a $2 Trillion Valuation?

SpaceX's towering valuation rests less on Starlink's current connectivity economics than on ambitious platform expectations, raising doubts that satellite broadband and mobile services alone can justify trillion-dollar valuations indefinitely despite intensifying competition for investors.
 more

Starlink and Amazon Could Gain Access to Europe’s Satellite Airwaves

The European Union plans to reserve most future satellite spectrum for regional firms while still allowing Starlink and Amazon to compete, reflecting Brussels' attempt to balance technological sovereignty with market openness in a strategically sensitive communications sector. more

Time Sovereignty: Internet Policy and Defense Frameworks for Critical Infrastructure Synchronization Under Geopolitical Conflict

As power grids depend on microsecond precision, states must treat time synchronization as sovereign infrastructure, hardening satellite, fiber and orbital defenses against hybrid attacks that could trigger catastrophic blackouts through resilient sovereign time defense frameworks. more

The New Space Race for Direct-to-Device Mobile Networks

Three decades after Iridium's costly collapse, falling launch costs and improved signal processing are reviving satellite-to-phone ambitions, as Starlink, Amazon and AST SpaceMobile race to build direct-to-device networks that could reshape mobile coverage and competition. more

Two Ways to Build the Internet in Space - China, Inc. vs Starlink Et Al

Starlink's rapid integrated model contrasts with China's coordinated, multi-constellation strategy, where specialised networks share roles. Though slower to deploy, this system could narrow the gap and reshape global satellite internet competition by 2030 significantly ahead. more

Satellite Industry Heats Up as Amazon, SpaceX and Blue Origin Compete for Orbit

April's satellite sector saw Amazon's $10.8bn Globalstar bid, surging plans for orbital data centres, intensifying SpaceX rivalry, regulatory friction, and doubts over broadband promises, underscoring a crowded, contested race to control next-generation connectivity infrastructure global. more

The Kinetic Frontier: Lessons From Geopolitical Violence and the Bunkerization of AI Infrastructure

Kinetic attacks on Gulf data centres expose the cloud's physical fragility, recasting AI infrastructure as strategic targets and accelerating bunkerisation, while outdated data laws leave firms choosing between legal compliance and digital survival. more

Iran’s Record Internet Blackout Deepens Civilian Isolation, Fuels Humanitarian Concerns

Iran’s unprecedented internet blackout, imposed after February’s strikes, has reduced connectivity to near zero, tightened state control over information, and set a global precedent for wartime digital isolation with significant humanitarian consequences. more

How Many Internet-Service Satellites Will Be in Orbit at the End of China’s Five-Year Plan?

China's latest five-year plan accelerates its push into low Earth orbit, with competing constellations projected to field tens of thousands of satellites by 2030, narrowing the gap with Starlink while raising concerns over congestion. more

Iran’s Digital Arsenal: When Invisible Fences Rise in the Conflict

Iran's near-total internet blackout during airstrikes reveals how cyberattacks, sanctions and platform power can isolate a nation. The conflict shows digital infrastructure, satellites and cloud services becoming decisive weapons in modern geopolitical competition worldwide today. more