spacex starlink

report-details-how-russia-obtains-starlink-terminals-for-war-in-ukraine

Report details how Russia obtains Starlink terminals for war in Ukraine

Policy, russia starlink, spacex starlink, starlink ukraine / /

Starlink black market —

Russians buy from middlemen and “deliver SpaceX hardware to the front line.”

–

A Starlink terminal in front of a sign that says,

Enlarge / A Starlink terminal at the Everything Electric London conference on March 28, 2024 in England.

Getty Images | John Keeble

A report published today describes how Russia obtained Starlink terminals for its war in Ukraine despite US sanctions and SpaceX’s insistence that Russia hasn’t bought the terminals either directly or indirectly.

The Wall Street Journal report describes black market sales to Russians and a Sudanese paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently determined that the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias committed war crimes and are responsible for ethnic cleansing in Darfur.

The WSJ said it “tracked Starlink sales on numerous Russian online retail platforms,” “interviewed Russian and Sudanese middlemen and resellers, and followed Russian volunteer groups that deliver SpaceX hardware to the front line.”

The WSJ described Oleg, a salesman at Moscow-based online retailer shopozz.ru, who “supplemented his usual business of peddling vacuum cleaners and dashboard phone mounts by selling dozens of Starlink internet terminals that wound up with Russians on the front lines in Ukraine.”

Starlink terminals reportedly provide a technical upgrade to Russian troops whose radio communications were being jammed or intercepted by Ukraine troops.

“In Russia, middlemen buy the hardware, sometimes on eBay, in the US and elsewhere, including on the black market in Central Asia, Dubai or Southeast Asia, then smuggle it into Russia,” the report said. “Russian volunteers boast openly on social media about supplying the terminals to troops. They are part of an informal effort to boost Russia’s use of Starlink in Ukraine, where Russian forces are advancing.”

These “middlemen have proliferated in recent months to buy the user terminals and ship them to Russian forces,” the report said.

Lawmakers doubt SpaceX compliance with sanctions

Today’s report came about a month after two Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to SpaceX alleging that Russia’s use of Starlink in Ukraine raises questions about SpaceX’s “compliance with US sanctions and export controls.”

“We are concerned that you may not have appropriate guardrails and policies in place to ensure your technology is neither acquired directly or indirectly, nor used illegally by Russia,” said the letter from US Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.).

In February, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk denied what he called “false news reports [that] claim that SpaceX is selling Starlink terminals to Russia,” saying that, “to the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia.”

We contacted SpaceX today and will update this article if we get a response.

Russia has said it doesn’t allow Starlink use. A spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin said in February that Starlink “is not certified [in Russia], therefore it cannot and is not officially supplied here. It cannot be used in any way.”

The Journal report said that US adversaries have been able to connect to satellites after dealers who sell Starlink terminals “register the hardware in countries where Starlink is allowed.” SpaceX uses geofencing to limit Starlink access, and Musk has said that “Starlink satellites will not close the link in Russia.” But blocking Russian use of Starlink in Ukraine without affecting Ukraine troops’ use of the service would likely be more complicated.

Ukraine, Sudan ask SpaceX for help

Ukraine’s top military-intelligence officer, Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, said in an interview that “Russian invasion forces in his country are using thousands of Starlink satellite Internet terminals, and that the network has been active in occupied parts of Ukraine for ‘quite a long time,'” according to a WSJ report in February.

The Journal’s new report states that “Ukrainian officials said they contacted SpaceX about Russian forces using Starlink terminals in Ukraine and that they are working together on a solution.” The report also quotes US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb as saying that the US is “working with Ukraine and we’re working with Starlink” on how to end Russian use of Starlink in Ukraine.

The RSF reportedly uses Starlink in fighting against government forces. “Sudanese military officials and unauthorized Starlink dealers said in interviews that Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, the RSF’s deputy commander, has overseen the purchase of hundreds of Starlink terminals from dealers in the United Arab Emirates,” the WSJ report said.

The report also said that “Sudanese authorities have contacted SpaceX and requested help in regulating the use of Starlink, including by allowing the military to turn off service areas where it was helping the RSF. Starlink never responded to the request, Sudanese officials said.”

Report details how Russia obtains Starlink terminals for war in Ukraine Read More »

starlink-mobile-plans-hit-snag-as-fcc-dismisses-spacex-spectrum-application

Starlink mobile plans hit snag as FCC dismisses SpaceX spectrum application

Policy, spacex starlink, starlink fcc / /
Snow and ice cover part of a Starlink satellite dish.

Enlarge / A Starlink user terminal during winter.

Getty Images | AntaresNS

Starlink’s mobile ambitions were dealt at least a temporary blow yesterday when the Federal Communications Commission dismissed SpaceX’s application to use several spectrum bands for mobile service.

SpaceX is seeking approval to use up to 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites with spectrum in the 1.6 GHz, 2 GHz, and 2.4 GHz bands. SpaceX could still end up getting what it wants but will have to go through new rulemaking processes in which the FCC will evaluate whether the spectrum bands can handle the system without affecting existing users.

The FCC Space Bureau’s ruling dismissed the SpaceX application yesterday as “unacceptable for filing.” The application was filed over a year ago.

The FCC said the SpaceX requests “do not substantially comply with Commission requirements established in rulemaking proceedings which determined that the 1.6/2.4 GHz and 2 GHz bands are not available for additional MSS [mobile-satellite service] applications.”

But the FCC yesterday also issued two public notices seeking comment on SpaceX petitions to revise the commission’s spectrum-sharing rules for the bands. Dish Network and Globalstar oppose the SpaceX requests, and SpaceX will have to prove to the FCC that its plan won’t cause harmful interference to other systems.

T-Mobile deal still on, but SpaceX wants more capacity

The FCC order won’t stop SpaceX’s partnership with T-Mobile, which uses T-Mobile’s licensed spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band. In January, Starlink demonstrated the first text messages sent between T-Mobile phones via one of Starlink’s low-Earth orbit satellites. Texting service for T-Mobile users is expected sometime during 2024 with voice and data service beginning later.

But SpaceX wants to use more spectrum bands to increase capacity in the US and elsewhere. Space has Starlink partnerships with several carriers outside the US.

SpaceX filed its application in February 2023. “Granting this application will enable SpaceX to augment its MSS capabilities and leverage its next-generation satellite constellation to provide increased capacity, reduced latency, and broader service coverage for mobile users across the United States and the world, including those users underserved or unserved by existing networks,” the application said.

Dish Network owner EchoStar is angry that the FCC is still entertaining SpaceX’s request for the 2 GHz band. “The FCC should immediately dismiss SpaceX’s petition for rulemaking without seeking comment, because the mere action of seeking comment would provide it with undeserved credibility and threaten the certainty that has allowed EchoStar to innovate in this band leading to significant public interest benefits,” the company told the FCC yesterday.

Starlink mobile plans hit snag as FCC dismisses SpaceX spectrum application Read More »

google-and-at&t-invest-in-starlink-rival-for-satellite-to-smartphone-service

Google and AT&T invest in Starlink rival for satellite-to-smartphone service

ast spacemobile, Policy, spacex starlink / /

Satellite for smartphones —

AST SpaceMobile gets $206.5 million and is partnering with Google and AT&T.

–

Illustration of a large, square satellite orbiting the Earth.

Enlarge / Illustration of AST SpaceMobile’s cellular satellite.

AST SpaceMobile

Google, AT&T, and Vodafone are investing $206.5 million in AST SpaceMobile, a Starlink competitor that plans to offer smartphone service from low-Earth-orbit satellites.

This is the first investment in AST SpaceMobile from Google and AT&T, while Vodafone had already put money into the satellite company. AST SpaceMobile announced the funding in a press release on Thursday and announced a $100 million public offering of its stock on the same day.

“Vodafone and AT&T have placed purchase orders for network equipment from AST SpaceMobile to support planned commercial service,” the satellite company said. Google has meanwhile “agreed to collaborate on product development, testing, and implementation plans for SpaceMobile network connectivity on Android and related devices.” AST, which has one very large test satellite in orbit, previously received investments from Rakuten, American Tower, and Bell Canada.

SpaceX subsidiary Starlink has deals with T-Mobile in the US and several carriers in other countries for satellite-to-smartphone service. T-Mobile is expected to offer Starlink-enabled text messaging this year, with voice and data service beginning sometime in 2025.

Though AT&T hadn’t previously invested in AST SpaceMobile, the companies were already working together. AT&T is leasing spectrum in the 700 MHz and 850 MHz bands to AST SpaceMobile. They plan “to provide mobile broadband to unserved and underserved areas covered by the Leased Spectrum,” the companies told the Federal Communications Commission in an application last year.

AST SpaceMobile's BlueWalker 3 test satellite, which is 693 square feet in size.

Enlarge / AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 test satellite, which is 693 square feet in size.

AST SpaceMobile

For hard-to-reach areas

Satellite-to-smartphone technology is generally seen as a supplement to cellular networks in hard-to-reach areas. “Because AST’s technology can focus satellite coverage in discrete portions of licensed areas, it does not need a nationwide swath of terrestrial mobile spectrum that a mobile network operator licensee has left fallow. Rather than displacing terrestrial network facilities nationwide, AST’s coverage will be complementary to AT&T’s extensive terrestrial network coverage,” the companies’ FCC filing said.

In April 2023, the companies announced that they completed the first two-way voice calls using AST SpaceMobile’s test satellite with standard mobile phones. “The first voice call was made from the Midland, Texas area to Rakuten in Japan over AT&T spectrum using a Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone,” the announcement said.

In September 2023, AST SpaceMobile said it made “the first-ever 5G connection for voice and data between an everyday, unmodified smartphone and a satellite in space” and that it achieved a download rate of 14Mbps.

Five satellites should launch soon

AST SpaceMobile’s prototype satellite launched from a SpaceX rocket in September 2022. AST’s early plans detailed in 2020 called for 243 satellites overall, and its first five satellites for commercial operations are expected to launch by March 31, 2024. AST is manufacturing the satellites at its Texas facilities.

The prototype satellite delivers data over 5 MHz channels. “For the company’s planned operational satellites, beams are designed to support capacity of up to 40 Mhz, potentially enabling data transmission speeds of up to 120Mbps,” the company said.

An AST description of its satellite says it has “a large surface area of phased-array antennas, which work together to electronically form, steer, and shape wireless communication beams into cells of coverage,” similarly to cell towers on the ground. AST says its BlueWalker 3 test satellite is 693 square feet.

AST said it has “over 40 agreements and understandings with mobile network operators globally, who collectively service over 2 billion subscribers.” Besides Vodafone and AT&T, these “agreements and understandings” are with firms including Rakuten Mobile, Bell Canada, Orange, Telefonica, TIM, MTN, Saudi Telecom Company, Zain KSA, Etisalat, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Telkomsel, Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, Millicom, Smartfren, Telecom Argentina, Telstra, Africell, and Liberty Latin America.

While Starlink already has over 5,000 satellites delivering home Internet service and plans to launch tens of thousands more, it isn’t too far ahead of AST SpaceMobile in terms of cellular-enabled satellites. SpaceX launched the first six Starlink satellites that can provide cellular transmissions to standard LTE phones a few weeks ago and demonstrated the technology with text messages sent between T-Mobile phones.

Google and AT&T invest in Starlink rival for satellite-to-smartphone service Read More »

starlink-shows-off-first-texts-to-t-mobile-phones-sent-via-spacex-satellite

Starlink shows off first texts to T-Mobile phones sent via SpaceX satellite

Policy, spacex starlink, starlink t-mobile / /

Such texting —

Starlink’s Direct to Cell satellites to fill in dead spots in T-Mobile network.

–

A batch of Starlink satellites prior to launch

Enlarge / Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell capability.

SpaceX

SpaceX is showing off the first text messages sent between T-Mobile phones via one of Starlink’s low Earth orbit satellites. “On Monday, January 8, the Starlink team successfully sent and received our first text messages using T-Mobile network spectrum through one of our new Direct to Cell satellites launched six days prior,” a Starlink update said.

SpaceX last week launched the first six Starlink satellites that can provide cellular transmissions to standard LTE phones. The service from what Starlink calls “cellphone towers in space” is expected to provide text messaging sometime this year for customers of T-Mobile in the US and carriers in other countries, with voice and data service beginning sometime in 2025.

SpaceX posted a photo of the two iPhones that exchanged the texts, which included messages such as “Such signal” and “Much wow.” The process that allowed those texts to be sent was pretty complicated, Starlink said.

“Connecting cell phones to satellites has several major challenges to overcome,” Starlink said. “For example, in terrestrial networks cell towers are stationary, but in a satellite network they move at tens of thousands of miles per hour relative to users on Earth. This requires seamless handoffs between satellites and accommodations for factors like Doppler shift and timing delays that challenge phone to space communications.”

Mobile phones have “low antenna gain and transmit power,” making it “incredibly difficult” to communicate with satellites hundreds of kilometers away, the company said. But Starlink’s new satellites “are equipped with innovative new custom silicon, phased array antennas, and advanced software algorithms that overcome these challenges and provide standard LTE service to cell phones on the ground.”

The satellite-to-phone service should work just about anywhere on the planet, but there would be no point in using it when you can connect to a ground-based cellular tower. As SpaceX CEO Elon Musk pointed out, the limited bandwidth means that “it is not meaningfully competitive with existing terrestrial cellular networks.”

T-Mobile said last week that field testing of Starlink satellites with the T-Mobile network will begin soon but did not announce a start date for actual service. T-Mobile said the Starlink connectivity will be useful in areas of the US where it has no coverage “due to terrain limitations, land-use restrictions,” and other factors.

Starlink shows off first texts to T-Mobile phones sent via SpaceX satellite Read More »

spacex-blasts-fcc-as-it-refuses-to-reinstate-starlink’s-$886-million-grant

SpaceX blasts FCC as it refuses to reinstate Starlink’s $886 million grant

FCC, Policy, spacex starlink / /
A Starlink broadband satellite dish placed outside on the ground.

Enlarge / Starlink satellite dish.

Getty Images | olegda88

SpaceX is furious at the Federal Communications Commission after the agency refused to reinstate an $886 million broadband grant that was tentatively awarded to Starlink during the previous administration.

The FCC announced yesterday that it rejected SpaceX’s appeal. “The FCC followed a careful legal, technical and policy review to determine that this applicant had failed to meet its burden to be entitled to nearly $900 million in universal service funds for almost a decade,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said.

In December 2020, shortly before the departure of then-FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, Starlink was tentatively awarded $885.51 million in broadband funding from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). But the satellite provider still needed FCC approval of a long-form application to receive the money, which is meant to subsidize deployment in areas with little or no high-speed broadband access.

The Rosenworcel FCC rejected the long-form application in August 2022, and SpaceX appealed the decision the next month. The FCC also rejected the long-form application of LTD Broadband, a fixed wireless provider that was originally slated to get $1.3 billion. LTD recently renamed itself “GigFire.”

The Starlink and LTD rejections were the two biggest changes to a $9.2 billion round of grants that, in the Rosenworcel FCC’s words, fueled “complaints that the program was poised to fund broadband to parking lots and well-served urban areas.” The FCC denied LTD’s appeal last week and proposed a fine of $21.7 million for defaulting on grant bids.

SpaceX “disappointed and perplexed”

After yesterday’s Starlink denial, SpaceX quickly filed a response saying the company “is deeply disappointed and perplexed by the Commission’s decision to exclude SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband service from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.”

“This decision directly undermines the very goal of RDOF: to connect unserved and underserved Americans,” SpaceX told the FCC. “Starlink is demonstrably one of the best options—likely the best option—to accomplish the goals of RDOF. Indeed, Starlink is arguably the only viable option to immediately connect many of the Americans who live and work in the rural and remote areas of the country where high-speed, low-latency Internet has been unreliable, unaffordable, or completely unavailable, the very people RDOF was supposed to connect.”

We asked SpaceX whether it plans to appeal in court and will update this article if we get an answer.

Starlink’s grant was intended to subsidize deployment to 642,925 rural homes and businesses in 35 states. The August 2022 ruling that rejected the grant called Starlink a “nascent LEO [low Earth orbit] satellite technology” with “recognized capacity constraints.” The FCC questioned Starlink’s ability to consistently provide low-latency service with the required download speeds of 100Mbps and upload speeds of 20Mbps.

In rejecting SpaceX’s appeal, yesterday’s FCC order said the agency’s Wireline Competition Bureau “followed Commission guidance and correctly concluded that Starlink is not reasonably capable of offering the required high-speed, low-latency service throughout the areas where it won auction support.”

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has acknowledged Starlink’s capacity limits several times, saying for example that it will face “a challenge [serving everyone] when we get into the several million user range.”

SpaceX blasts FCC as it refuses to reinstate Starlink’s $886 million grant Read More »