satellites

has the green light to deploy 7,500 additional satellites

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Rarely has a technological infrastructure grown so quickly and so out of the everyday radar. While for almost everyone the sky remains as usual, thousands of Starlink satellites are already moving in low Earth orbit, building a network designed to bring connection to almost any point on the planet. In just a few years, SpaceX has gone from a first experimental launch to becoming the world’s largest satellite operator, and that buildup of hardware in space presents opportunities, but also annoyances in parts of the scientific sector. The most recent movement comes in a context of criticism from the astronomical community for the impact of these constellations on sky observation. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authorized SpaceX to deploy another 7,500 Starlink second-generation satellites, bringing the total authorized Gen2 satellites to 15,000. The organization not only gave the green light to this expansion, but also allowed technical improvements and a more flexible use of frequencies and coverage, in a decision that seeks to facilitate advanced mobile services and connections up to 1 gigabit per second. The authorization, in detail. The FCC has given SpaceX room to redesign and squeeze its constellation. The permit includes the update of the second generation Starlink with new form factors and advanced technology, the joint use of the Ku, Ka, V, E and W bands, and the possibility of providing both fixed and mobile services from space. Added to this is the elimination of limits that blocked beam overlap and the creation of new orbital layers between 340 and 485 kilometers, which the FCC itself presents as a way to optimize coverage and performance. In May 2019, Elon Musk announced the launch of the first batch of Starlink satellites The permit, however, does not cover everything SpaceX had requested. The company requested authorization to deploy nearly 30,000 second-generation satellites, but the regulator has decided to stay at half for now. In its resolution, the FCC emphasizes that part of these Starlink Gen2 has not yet been tested in orbit and that there remain doubts about operations at higher altitudes, above 600 kilometers, which explains why the decision on the remaining 14,988 satellites has been postponed, according to Reuters. The clock starts ticking. The FCC approval is not indefinite. SpaceX will have to prove concrete advances in the coming years, with at least half of the authorized constellation operating in their assigned orbits before December 1, 2028 and the rest before December 2031. In addition, the regulator forces the deployment of the first generation to close before November 2027, while the company prepares a reconfiguration for 2026 that will lower thousands of satellites to a lower orbit to reduce risks. Versions of Starlink satellites Expansion is not justified only by more bandwidth. Part of the constellation is intended to enable direct mobile connectivity in regions outside the United States and also strengthen coverage within the country, which would allow mobile services and data in areas without land towers at high speed. It is the same approach that already supports Starlink’s agreements with T-Mobile and with several international operators aimed at converting the satellite into an extension of the cellular network. The cost of filling the orbit. Now massive satellites are not without criticism. Astronomers They have been warning for years that constellations like Starlink generate trails in optical images and “noise” in radio telescopes, to the point that the International Astronomical Union created a specific center to protect the “dark and silent sky.” Added to this is the fear of orbital saturation and the risk of collisions, a debate that has been revived after recent incidents. Images | Mark Handley | SpaceX In Xataka | China has taken a silent step in the new space race: the world’s first system to measure time on the Moon

We have so many satellites orbiting the Earth that they have become a barrier for someone: telescopes

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For years, the astronomical community has looked at the sky with considerable concern from Earth. And it’s normal. In recent years, the number of satellites that we have put into orbit has grown exponentially, highlighting above all starlinkwhich promised to bring the internet to the entire planet in exchange for fill our nights with “trains of lights”. But this is only hindering our ability to continue investigating the universe where we are immersed. Trapped in a cage. The telescopes that we now have closer to Earth to do their work logically have to look towards our sky. The problem, as the research points out led by Alejandro S. Borlaff, is that they are going blind. Specifically, the low orbit (LEO) space telescopes that are not only not safe, but they are trapped in a real cage that prevents them from seeing further. Until now, it was possible to think that satellite traces could only affect terrestrial observatories. However, orbital reality is pure geometry: most large space telescopes like Hubble They orbit at about 540 km high. A height at which the internet megaconstellations that are located above or in the layers that range from 340 km to 8,000 km. Because. Satellites do not emit any type of light and should not cause problems. But the problem comes when they reflect sunlight, and when this happens in the new coverage satellites that have a large size, we find that even if it is night on Earth (or wherever the telescope is), at a hundred kilometers high the Sun continues to illuminate the satellite. And the lighting and telescopes they get along very badly. Space telescopes are designed to look at objects that are “still” at infinity (stars, galaxies). To capture its faint light, the telescope must fix its gaze on an exact point and not move. However, satellites move at thousands of kilometers per hour in relation to the telescope and since the camera shutter is open for a long time (long exposures of minutes or even hours) to capture weak light, the satellite crosses the entire frame during the photo, being recorded not as a point, but as a continuous line or “scar” of light. A problem. In this way, if a telescope is 540 km high when pointed at the sky, it will encounter an increasingly dense network of space traffic in the form of satellites. Specifically, there are currently about 15,000 satellites in orbit, but requests to different regulators suggest that we could reach half a million satellites by the end of the 2030s. Something that would leave large space observatories unusable. To put specific cases, we have the NASA Hubble that right now 3–4% of the images it captures have satellite trails. A figure that will increase to almost 40%, causing one in every three photographs of the most famous telescope in history to have a ‘light scar’. We have another case in SPHEREx which is the future explorer of the origins of the universe and which will have almost 100% of its catchments contaminated. Its impact. It is undoubtedly incalculable. Missions like ARRAKIHS (of the European Space Agency, with strong Spanish participation) or SPHEREx depend on taking very wide-field images to map the structure of the universe. By having such a large field of view, the probability of dozens of satellites being “snuck in” in a single shot is 100%. For him Chinese Xuntian Telescopewhich orbits lower, the situation is much worse. Being “below” most of the Starlink, Kuiper constellations and the Chinese networks themselves such as Guangwang You’ll have a harder time dealing with nearly a hundred bright lines crossing every image you take. The solution. Orbiting telescopes were a solution to this problem that was occurring in terrestrial telescopes. Now history repeats itself. Experts point to the need to define precise orbits so that telescopes can avoid satellites in a simple way. But this requires great international coordination to share this information and, above all, to regulate the number of launches that are carried out. Images | NASA Hubble Space Telescope In Xataka | Which telescope to buy to enjoy the nights and stars: 20 telescopes, binoculars, gadgets, accessories and more

SpaceX changed the space economy. Now he wants to do the same with the cost of satellites

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The cost of launching cargo into space was, for years, one of the great limits of the aerospace industry. LaNASA documents in several works, including the analyzes of Harry W. Jonesthat during the last decades of the 20th century many pitchers moved in a typical range of between 10,000 and more than 20,000 dollars per kilowith an average cost of around $18,500/kg in low orbit, with the space shuttle far above due to its complexity and operating expense. It was not just the price of the launch systems, but of a model based on disposable components, manual processes and highly specialized operations. The situation remained stable for decades, until SpaceX decided to rethink how the economics of orbital launch should work. Instead of assuming these costs as inevitable, the company opted to reuse stages, optimize processes and manufacture its own engines and systems from scratch. This combination allowed the price per kilo to be reduced to unprecedented levels, although the change did not occur immediately. What is relevant is that, for the first time, a private actor demonstrated that launches could be much cheaper and that price did not have to be a structural barrier for the industry. When launch is no longer the limit, attention shifts to satellites The resulting prices began to change behavior in the sector. With Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, the cost per kilo became in the range of 3,000 to 1,500 dollars, according to NASA calculations based on catalog prices. These figures not only mark a reduction, but a turning point: for the first time, companies, institutions and even governments could rethink the design of missions knowing that launch was no longer the main economic barrier. From there a question arose that until then had no answer: if the trip had been made cheaper, what would happen to what was sent into space? The traditional satellite model was built on the idea of ​​optimizing each unit. It was not important to produce many, but to produce one that could operate for years, with high capacity and low probability of failure. Manufacturers and operators were investing in complex systems, with long development cycles, exhaustive testing and specialized structures to fulfill specific and prolonged missions. This strategy responded to an environment in which launch was so costly and infrequent that it was more profitable to prioritize reliability and durability than to think about scalability or rapid replenishment. One of the first companies to help change this approach was OneWeb, that introduced a manufacturing model designed for scale. Instead of ordering each satellite as an individual piece, the company designed a common architecture and partnered with Airbus to produce repeatable unitswith standardized processes and shorter manufacturing times. The plant installed in Florida in 2019 was presented as the first factory of satellite serial production on a large scale, with two lines capable of removing up to two units a day. It was not about building a better satellite, but about building many. SpaceX took the satellite constellation idea and turned it into its own industrial system. With Starlink, it not only replicated the use of mass-produced satellites, but also linked that production to its launch capacity with Falcon 9, operated by the company itself. This integration allowed the deployment to be accelerated without depending on external release windows or commercial suppliers. The constellation began to grow at an unprecedented rate and, in a few years, it vastly surpassed any other similar project in number and pace. The difference was not only in manufacturing satellites, but in being able to launch them at will. Although OneWeb was one of the first players to apply industrial logic to satellite manufacturing, its constellation has grown at a very different pace than Starlink. At the end of 2025, OneWeb has around 648 satellites in orbit, while SpaceX exceeds 8,000 operational satellitesaccording to the most recent data published by orbital monitoring firms. The difference is not only due to the number of launches, but also to the mode of production. According to an economic analysis published in 2025the estimated manufacturing cost of OneWeb satellites is around $14,000 per kilo, compared to approximately $2,500 per kilo for Starlink satellites. These figures reflect a gap that has more to do with the integration model than with the technology itself. The estimated manufacturing cost of OneWeb satellites is around $14,000 per kilo, compared to approximately $2,500 per kilo for Starlink satellites. The reaction of the sector did not take long to arrive. With the advancement of Starlink, both companies and public institutions Similar projects began to be considered based on constellations with a high number of satellites and sustained deployments. Amazon launched KuiperEutelsat and OneWeb reinforced their alliance to maintain presence in the market and the European Union approved the IRIS2 program with institutional support.China is also working on its own large systems. It is not just about competing in numbers, but about accepting that scale and replacement capacity are part of the new spatial model. When the satellite becomes a replicable product, the way of planning its presence in orbit also changes. It is no longer about launching a mission and hoping it works for as long as possible, but rather about building a structure that can grow, modernize and replace units regularly. The satellite becomes a component of a network, not the center of the mission. This logic favors models based on scalability and continuous replacement, similar to those of other technological infrastructures. Space stops being a destination and becomes a platform. SpaceX demonstrated that the cost of the launch was not a technical limit, but rather a model one. Now it is trying to apply that same logic to satellites, with an approach based on scale, continuous manufacturing and integration with its own launch systems. The result is not only a larger constellation, but a different way of understanding what it means. operate in orbit. The question is no longer how much it costs to get to space, but who can … Read more

Real Betis Balompié has joined the space race to solve a pressing problem: collisions between satellites

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It sounds unlikely, but it is a fact. Real Betis Balompié has entered the space sector. And without leaving Seville. GMV’s new partner. The historic football club and the aerospace company GMV have installed in the Rafael Gordillo sports city a satellite surveillance and tracking antenna. The agreement makes Betis the first football club in the world to host a facility dedicated to the sustainability of the space. More specifically, at pressing space debris challenge and the increasing risk of collisions in orbit. Betis 1 – Space trash 130 million. Earth orbit congestion may not be the main concern of green and white fans, but it is a danger for the satellites we use every daywhether with the car navigator, to see the weather forecast or when we turn on the broadcast of a football match. Thousands of operational satellites coexist with up to 130 million fragments of space debris: pieces of dead satellites and rocket remains that travel at hypersonic speeds and have triggered the evasion maneuvers of the active satellites. It is “one of the great challenges that humanity faces in the orbital environment,” says Miguel Ángel Molina, of GMV. Monitor and prevent. This is where the new 2.7 meter satellite dish installed at the Betis training center in Seville comes into play. Its mission is to track space debris and predict collisions in order to avoid them. To this end, GMV internally developed a system called Focusear. It works by “listening” to the signals that the satellites themselves emit in the Ku band (the same one used by satellite television) from the geostationary orbit, about 36,000 km high. Nanosecond precision. Upon receiving these signals, the system uses radio frequency triangulation techniques (TDoA and FDoA) to determine the position and orbit of the satellites with a margin of error of about three meters, equivalent to 10 nanoseconds. These data are vital to inform satellite operators, who are in charge of managing the evasion maneuvers of their fleets. But also to expand the European Space Surveillance System (EUSST), a catalog of objects that helps prevent large-scale collisions. Why Betis. The Sevillian club had created the Forever Green foundation, whose name has a double meaning. In addition to being green for its kit, Betis has become the most sustainable club in LaLiga (and the second in Europe) in terms of energy efficiency, recycling and water reuse. Expanding this vision of sustainability to space is literally taking its environmental commitment “beyond the Earth,” says Rafa Muela, manager of the foundation. But there is something else. Seville is the headquarters of the Spanish Space Agencyso the choice is not accidental. Somehow the Andalusian capital must be placed on the map of national spatial development. Image | GMV, Real Betis Balompié In Xataka | Three large pieces of space debris reenter every day: “one day our luck will run out and they will fall on someone”

We’ve been obsessed with strong passwords and public Wi-Fi for years. It turns out that the data sink was in the satellites

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While we worry about choose strong passwords and Don’t let the neighbor steal our WiFiit turns out that anyone can capture private data simply by pointing a dish at a satellite. It is not a government conspiracy, it is what some Californian researchers have discovered using a piece of equipment that only costs $800. What has happened? They count in Wired that several researchers from the universities of California and Maryland have been capturing communications from various satellites for three years. During this time they have collected a huge amount of private data. Among the information collected there is data on calls and messages from users of various operators, the pages visited by airplane passengers who used WiFi on board, communications between different critical infrastructures such as oil platforms or electrical companies and even police and military communications that revealed the position of their equipment. Why it is important. According to the study’s conclusions, it is estimated that around half of the signal from geostationary satellites carries sensitive information of consumers, companies and also governments. We strive to protect our WiFi networks, our online accounts or mobile devices, but the results of the research make it clear that satellites are a critical element through which data can also be leaked. A basic equipment. What is striking is that the researchers did not use super complex technology to obtain these findings. They simply placed a satellite dish on the roof of a university building and started pointing it at the satellites. They only invested $800 in the entire equipment. The data they obtained is only from the satellites that they could capture from their position in southern California, which according to their calculations is 15% of the total, so logic leads one to think that the amount of sensitive data will be much larger. In addition, it also shows that anyone could do it from another part of the world. Operators. The most significant data came from telephone providers, mainly T-Mobile, but also Telmex and AT&T México. In just nine hours of communications logging, researchers were able to collect the phone numbers of more than 2,700 T-Mobile users, as well as text messages and phone calls. After contacting T-Mobile to alert them, the company took steps to encrypt the data. AT&T also fixed this and claimed it was due to a satellite provider failing to configure some towers in a region of Mexico. Telmex has not said anything about it. Military and police data. That anyone’s data is exposed is already problematic, but that it is data from the army and security forces adds another layer of seriousness. Investigators were able to intercept communications between US military ships and the names of those ships. Since they were in Southern California, they also obtained data from Mexican authorities, including transmissions of confidential information about ongoing operations. “When we started looking at military helicopters, it wasn’t the sheer volume of data that worried us, but rather the extreme sensitivity of that data,” says Aaron Schulman, co-director of the research. Cybersecurity in space. In August of this same year, researchers found several vulnerabilities which, under certain conditions, could allow remote control of satellites. At the beginning of the Ukrainian war, Russia carried out a cyber attack against ViaSat which affected thousands of users. Cases like these highlight the need to bring the cybersecurity debate to space systems as well and not just terrestrial systems. Image | SpaceX on Pexels In Xataka | There are so many satellites orbiting the Earth that Starlink has a new concern: avoiding colliding with them

Some of the most advanced satellites in the world seemed untouchable. Two hackers showed that they could be kidnapped

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In satellites, each maneuver depends on software that is rarely subjected to public security evidence. Demonstrations in controlled environments have put vulnerabilities on the table that, under certain conditions, could allow the Remote Space Systems Control. It is not a timely failure or an isolated experiment: it is a sign that security should be reviewed with magnifying glass before it becomes news for wrong reasons. In August, during conferences Black Hat USA and Def with held in Las Vegas, researchers shared their findings, According to IEEE Spectrum. The work focused on two key pieces: the Core Flight System (CFS), used in NASA multiple missions, including the telescope James Webband Yamcs, a control system of the European company Space Applications Services. The failures, however, were identified and corrected before their dissemination. The finding reopening the debate on cybersecurity in space Behind the finding are Andrzej Olchawa and Milenko Starcik, experts from Visionspace with direct experience in space operations. They analyzed open source software with the mentality of an adversary, seeking reproducible vulnerabilities. They did not need months of analysis: in a few hours they managed to locate 37 failures that, in controlled scenarios, allowed to manipulate critical systems. They acted on their own environments and coordinated with developers to patch the software before disseminating their conclusions. The analysis of the Core Flight System (CFS) revealed that, although it is a key piece in NASA missions, its exploitation would not be simple. To compromise it would take toCceso Physical to a land station and operate at frequencies reserved for space communications. Even so, researchers warn that, in the hands of a state actor with sufficient resources and coverage, this scenario is plausible. In their demonstration they explained that, with that capacity, it would be possible to raise orders to the satellite and modify their behavior. Yamcs, unlike CFS, was more accessible to an attacker. The researchers showed that a campaign would suffice Phishing Successful to load a malicious configuration in the control center. With that entrance door they could issue arbitrary orders or alter files, all from any location with Internet connection. The exercise showed how this vector opens a much larger and less protected attack surface. In Black Hat USA 2025, Andrzej Olchawa deepened the reach of the tests and shared details on how vulnerabilities exploited. He stressed that All maneuvers were executed in simulated environments and that no real satellite was at risk. His explanation sought to give unlarmed technical context, showing precisely how far actors with sufficient knowledge and access to the right systems could reach. “In some cases, we were able to send arbitrary telecomandos to the ships through the mission control system. In others, we managed to take control of the entire control center and, in other cases, if you are able to send telecomands to the ship, you can get remote execution of code directly in it.” The threat panorama has changed: where there were private networks and local stations before, there are now remote control, cloud services and connections from home. This evolution multiplies the attack possibilities, according to researchers, and explains why theoretical vulnerabilities are now a reason for alert. An example is THE ATTACK AGAINST VIASAT IN 2022which affected thousands of users and coincided with the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The case suggests that space systems are not isolated from global conflicts. Corrections arrived on time for open projects, with updates that mitigated the techniques demonstrated in the laboratory. The pending challenge is in closed systemswhere the absence of access to the code limits the review by external experts. Images | Gontran Isnard | Xataka with Grok In Xataka | Perseverance has found what, according to NASA’s director, is “the clearest indication of life we ​​have seen on Mars”

Flight 10 was a success and showed that the rocket can launch Starlink satellites

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After Three failed attempts And the occasional catastrophic explosion, Spacex can breathe calm. He Starship’s tenth test flight He has fulfilled all the objectives that until now had resisted. Short. He larger rocket in the world Not only did it take off and reached space. He also displayed his first payload, a engine in vacuum re -founded and survived an infernal reentry to merit in a controlled way in the Indian Ocean. Starship’s tenth test flight demonstrates that Spacex’s iterative design still works. And although the vision of a totally reusable ship to colonize Mars is still far, Starship can already start throwing Starlink satellites. A promising start. At the scheduled time, the 33 Raptor engines of the Super Heavy propeller came alive, promoting with a deafening rumble the mole of more than 120 meters high. Although one of the engines failed halfway, it did not affect the mission at all, demonstrating the redundancy of the system. As he burned his 4,900 tons of propellant, the huge Starship rocket exceeded the phase of greater aerodynamic stress and hot separation, lighting the motors from the upper stage before separating. The Super Heavy began its return, but this time it did not look for a soft landing, but to complete a series of risky maneuvers. A skyscraper floating in the air. Booster 16 successfully performed its air in the air to change trajectory. After planning for a few minutes with its aerodynamic grilles and approaching the Gulf of Mexico, intentionally deactivated one of its central engines to test if a backup engine could take over. The most incredible moment came just after, when the 70 -meter rocket used two engines to fly over the ocean in stationary flight before turning off and meriting. As A commentator said“A 20 -story building in the air has just floated.” A milestone that demonstrates to what extent Spacex has controlled the capture of the super heavy with the launch tower, although the reentry is hard. The dispenser fish in action. While the Super Heavy completed its mission, the Starship 37 ship continued on its way to space. Once in his suborbital trajectory, the time for two of the most anticipated tests of the day came. First, the opening of the load bay and the first deployment of a payload. Using a mechanism that Remember a caramel dispenser fishthe ship eject one by one eight Starlink satellite simulators. This test is essential, since Starship’s future as a heavy load vehicle depends on it. Everything ready to launch Starlinks. Spacex plans to launch up to 60 Starlink V3 satellites in future Starship missions, adding 60 tbps capacity to the constellation with each launch, A more than 20 times higher figure to which a Falcon 9 can carry with the current V2 Mini. The rocket is able to reach orbit, display load (yes, it takes a minute per satellite) and then exorbitant. Flight 10 has returned to demonstrate the redempted of a huster engine in a vacuum. This capacity is indispensable to stop the rocket in a controlled way or perform a translunar injection for NASA Artemis missions. Surviving hell to tell. After an hour of flight, Starship began his reentry in the Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. This is the time when the previous missions had failed. On this flight, however, the ship showed a robustness that reminds of the first releases. Although the cameras on board showed visible damage (some parts of the ailerons burned and the engines bay suffered a small explosion), the crucial thing is that Starship maintained aerodynamic control throughout the descent. Guided by its spoilers, the incandescent plasma of the resentment with total stability furrowed. The flight culminated with gentle and controlled ameter In the Indian Ocean. Although the ship was quite chamuscada, the simple fact of having completed the reentry and frightening in this way after three consecutive failures is a gigantic victory for Spacex. It is the definitive proof that Starship can start with Starlink launches. Image | Spacex Em xataka | It was hired by Spacex at age 14. Now, with 16, the young genius has turned his back on Elon Musk to go to Wall Street

Russia is building a nuclear weapon capable of destroying all satellites in orbit

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In 1962, the world looked on the edge of the nuclear abyss when the United States discovered the installation of Soviet missiles in Cubaa few kilometers from its coasts. The tension derived from that geopolitical pulse symbolized the fragility of the strategic balance and the ease with which a technological advance or risky play could precipitate the planet towards a total confrontation. Today, more than sixty years later, United States evokes That historical episode when warning about a similar threat, although transferred to space. A new crisis. The announcement that Russia would be developing a Orbital nuclear weapon Able to disable the totality of the satellites in land low orbit has turned on alarms in Washington, with direct comparisons to That crisis of the missiles of Cuba that we commented. According to the declassified data For the US Congress, this system would combine an initial physical attack that would generate a reaction in orbital destruction chain with a nuclear pulse destined to fry the electronics of all affected satellites. The result. It would be, in his opinion, devastating: With the collapse of GPS, communications, intelligence and early missile alert systems, all critical elements for global safety and economy. The United States argues that the weapon, not yet operational, could be unusable for orbit for a whole yeargenerating an unprecedented strategic vacuum in which both Washington and its allies would be exposed to conventional or even nuclear threats without the coverage of their space constellations. The role of satellites. Today orbit More than 12,000 satellites that fulfill vital functions for modern life: from television and navigation services to international military and economic architecture. In fact, the war in Ukraine has already demonstrated its vulnerability when the Russian attack against Viasat In 2022 he left tens of thousands of users without service in much of Europe. More recently, the kidnapping of a satellite signal to issue the Victory Day Parade In Ukraine he showed how cyberspace and outer space are intertwined as new battlefields. The experts They warn that it is enough to exploit outdated software or insecure communication links to disable key satellites, which makes space a Achilles heel of Western democracies. The new space race. We have gone counting. The announcement of the possible Russian weapon coincides with the resurgence of the Spatial competition for the domain of the extraterrestrial resources. The moon has become The centerpiece Of this rivalry: its wealth In Helio-3fuel potential for future nuclear fusion reactors, has triggered plans to establish permanent bases. NASA advertisement the installation of a small nuclear reactor as an initial step to consolidate presence before they do so Russia or Chinathat they already project their own lunar plants. The control of strategic areas of the lunar surface is perceived as a determinant to define the next global hegemony in energy and technology, in a context where the growing demand for energy for artificial intelligence accelerates competition. China between half. While Russia is silent about the alleged antisatellite weapon, China has reacted denouncing Washington for “militarizing space” and accusing it to expand military alliances that convert spatial domain into a war zone. Beijing insists that he opposes an arms race outside the earth, although in parallel promotes projects of space mining and Bases on the Moon that place it on the same competitive board as the United States and Russia. Chinese rhetoric is presented as a guarantor of the international order against a United States accused of exacerbating tension, although the simultaneous development of Technological capabilities of Great reach It reveals a broader power game. Washington’s response. Created In 2019the US space force has assumed the task of protecting national interests in orbit, from communications constellations to military intelligence and navigation satellites. Its fleet includes The X-37ban unmanned ferry that executes prolonged secret missions In orbit and symbolizes Washington’s will to dominate this area. Although small compared to branches such as the army or the navy, the space force It expands and the pentagon Plan to consolidate Soon its headquarters. For US military controls, safe access to space is already a vital interest in national security. The perspective of Russia deploying a space nuclear weapon raises the challenge to a Unpublished scale: The possible paralysis of world satellite infrastructure, with military, economic and psychological consequences comparable to a strategic nuclear attack. A turning point. Be that as it may, the ghost of a “missile crisis in space” reflects that the competition is no longer limited to land, sea and air, not even to cyberspace, but reaches the orbital and lunar domain as new power scenarios. If the United States is right and Russia is allowed to advance with An antisatellite weaponthe global strategic balance could be altered radically, inaugurating an era in which the great powers dispute not only territories, but also access to the infrastructure that sustains modern life. The urgency, both for some and for others, seems clear: or firm limits are established in the military use of space, or the risk that the next great international crisis explodes hundreds of kilometers above our heads will be increasingly real. Image | Steve Jurvetson In Xataka | Bombard the poles with nuclear weapons or build a giant magnet: the most reposted ideas to terraft Mars In Xataka | China has just taken another step in the technological and spatial conquest: an orbital computing network designed for AI

The hidden reason why Elon Musk Lanza Satellites of Archienemigos like Jeff Bezos: The radio spectrum

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On Monday morning, Spacex completed its 100th launch so far this year. But aboard the Falcon 9 rocket there were no new Starlink satellites, but a lot of 24 competition satellites. How have we reached a point where Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, rivals on so many fronts, collaborate in space? A little context. Starlink has been growing without opposition for six years. At this time, Spacex has deployed More than 8,000 satellitesconsolidating an almost absolute domain of the satellite broadband Internet market. Now, a competitor with a comparable financial muscle has entered the scene: the Amazon Kuiper Project. The company founded by Jeff Bezos has begun to display its own megaconstellation to offer high -speed connections worldwide and compete directly with the Elon Musk service. Time against. The main challenge for Kuiper is time. The license granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States requires him to have half of his constellation in orbit (that is, 1,618 satellites of a total of 3,232) before July 2026. Unlike Spacex, which has a complete vertical integration, Amazon does not manufacture its own rockets. To fulfill the deadline, the technological giant made in 2022 the “greater commercial acquisition of history of history”, signing contracts with ULA to use its atlas V and Vulcan rockets, with Arianespace to use the European rocket Ariane 6, and with Blue Origin, the aerospace company of Jeff Bezos himself, to use the gigantic new Glenn rocket. The problem is that most of these pitchers are new and have suffered important delays. They are just business. Although Bezos tried to prevent Amazon from using Spacex services, the most honest option with shareholders was to hire several Falcon 9 rockets, which thanks to their unique reuse capacity usually offer the lower price per kilogram Put in orbit. Spacex has already shown that he is willing to launch satellites of his competitors. Between 2022 and 2024 he launched four lots of satellites for Eutelsat Oneweb, his European rival, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine took the Soyuz and proton rolling from the market. For Spacex, this is a round business because the money of its competitors is pocketed, which can reinvest in its own satellite constellation. But there is another reason. A strategic issue that goes beyond the launch business. The coin of covert change is the increasingly saturated radio spectrum. According to one Wall Street Journal ResearchSpacex has used its dominant position in the release market to press its rivals and obtain a crucial advantage for Starlink: spectrum rights. The radio spectrum is the electromagnetic wave set that are used for wireless communications. It is a resource finite, invisible and absolutely essential so that satellite constellations can send and receive data without interference. Governments around the world, through organizations such as FCC in the United States, are responsible for assigning rights to use it. Spacex needs more spectrum. And he needs it desperately to be able to serve the More than four million Starlink users As it continues to expand. According to the Journal, Musk’s company would have asked companies such as Oneweb and Kepler Communications to give him part of his spectrum rights as a condition for launching his satellites. Although Spacex denies it, the report details how Oneweb, after running out of the Russian rockets, reached an agreement with Spacex that included “spectrum concessions” to ensure the releases it needed. Elon Musk’s web. This strategy places Spacex competitors in an incredibly difficult situation. It is a dilemma that the analyst Tim Farrar Describe as “Carefully choose”. Companies such as Echostar or GlobalStar have had to decide between going through the Spacex ring, giving competitive advantages, or paying more for slower access to space with other rocket companies. If there are. Ast Spacemobile, who had opted for the New Glenn rocket of Blue Origin, found that Bezos’s rocket would not be ready on time And their satellites, much heavier than expected, will have to wait. Apple’s case. In 2022, Musk I had offered Apple exclusive access to Spacex For 5,000 million dollars, an offer that Apple rejected. Apple ended up closing an agreement with GlobalStar for its satellite emergency service, but later, the delay in the launch of GlobalStar’s satellites by Spacex seems to have benefited Starlink. The explanation of the delay and renegotiation of the launch contract seem to have to do with that Apple will end up reaching an agreement To offer Starlink Direct-to-Cell on the iPhone 13, a model that is not compatible with the GlobalStar service. This gave Starlink an advantage in the race for the cell connection at a time when Apple already debated internally if he could compete with the rhythm of Spacex. The giant Starlink. In the end, each launch of a competition or agreement satellite by the spectrum becomes a tactical victory for Elon Musk. Not only does it charge for the service, reinforcing the finances of a company whose income They are about to overcome NASA’s budgetbut it uses its domain to ensure the most vital resource for the future of global communications. Image | Spacex In Xataka | The Ukraine Army has an almost important problem as Russia: Starlink belongs to Elon Musk

launch satellites to space without rocket

by

Adak is a small island at the western end of Alaska. With a military past for its proximity to Russia, today it has less than 400 inhabitants. In this almost pospocalyptic scenario, A Californian startup called spinlaunch Plan to build a giant centrifugator for catapult satellites to space. The perfect place for a space catapult. Although the argument of a science fiction film seems like the company, the company has signed an alliance With The Aleut Corporation, owner of much of Adak Island, to build its orbital launch platform there. The choice of the island is not accidental. Its northern latitude and its location in the Pacific allow polar and high inclination launch trajectories without the need to fly over populated areas. Air and sea traffic are also minimal. Adak was an important air base of the United States until 1997, so it has an operating airport and a deep water port, which would greatly facilitate the logistics of building and operating the installation. In addition, the island has enormous wind, hydraulic and geothermal potential that would allow feeding the electric centrifuger with renewable sources. How the spinlaunch centrifuger works. The Californian startup He did a concept of concept in 2022. The system is essentially a kinetic accelerator sealed in vacuum. Inside, a carbon fiber arm rotates the projectile that the satellite contains at hypersonic speeds, reaching 7,500 km/h. At the precise moment, the projectile is released and triggered to heaven by a fireplace. Once it reaches an altitude of 60 km, where the atmosphere is very dim, a small engine turns on to give the final thrust that allows the orbital speed to reach. In one of its most spectacular tests, They placed a camera aboard To see it in the first person. The greatest technical challenge is the brutal acceleration that subjects the payload to forces of up to 10,000 g. Spinlaunch has collaborated with NASA to demonstrate that satellites specially designed for centrifuging can survive the extreme trip. But although Keep working In perfecting the system, it has had to diversify its business so as not to fail. Launches in rockets to finance the tyrachinas. After years of silence, Spinlaunch reappeared in April 2025 with a plan that left many of his perplexed followers: displaying his own constellation telecommunications satellites. The most surprising: the 280 satellites of the Meridian project would be put in orbit using traditional rockets. Although many thought it was a tacit form of leave the catapultthe project on Adak island shows that the intention is to move on. In the words of David Wrenn, CEO of Spinlaunch: “The launch market is relatively small compared to the economic potential of satellite communications, more focused on costs than benefits.” So, if Meridian is successful, the centrigurator in the most remote town in the United States could end up seeing the light in the most post -epocalyptic environment imaginable. Image | Paxson WoelberSpinlaunch In Xataka | What to use rockets when you can use kinetic energy: this is the spectacular Spinlaunch space release system

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