Magdalena Petrova’s Post

SpaceX hopes to expand its megaconstellation to as many as 42,000 satellites. China is aiming for a similar scale and hopes to have around 38,000 satellites across three of its low earth orbit internet projects, known as Qianfan, Guo Wang and Honghu-3.

📡 Here is a summary seen from the terrestrial telcos perspective about LEO and SpaceX. SpaceX’s Starlink is setting the pace in the satellite industry, powered by a unique combination of rapid innovation and nearly unlimited ("free") funding. For terrestrial telcos, this presents a new reality: a fast-moving, well-funded competitor that’s pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in global connectivity. With aggressive timelines and constant advancements, SpaceX has positioned itself to scale quickly and deliver coverage that traditional players struggle to match. The question for telcos and other providers—how do we respond to a competitor like Starlink that seems capable of rewriting the rules? 🌍 The race for "space" has never been more intense. #SpaceX #Starlink #LEO #Telecom #Innovation https://lnkd.in/dt9vtVaQ

“…China’s answer to Starlink, the U.S.-based satellite internet pioneer, and the first step toward breaking America’s dominance in this market. Qianfan intends to grow its constellation to more than 600 satellites by the end of 2025 and to eventually place 14,000 satellites into orbit. …Overall, China’s leaders hope to launch 40,000 LEO satellites in the coming decade…”

Yesterday, the European Commission signed "the most ambitious" project in a decade. By 2030 they plan to send 290 satellites to low and medium Earth orbits. The program has been called "a deal in bid to rival" Elon Musk's Starlink.  At the moment Starlink counts over 6700 satellites. Considering cost reduction and existing network by 2030 Starlink may count for 2 digit number of thousands of satellites on our orbits (they aim for 42000!!!).  By the time the EU finishes its "ambitious" satellite project, Elon will be halfway to Mars. For this "ambitious project", it means that prices for anything related to space will go up significantly (the original budget for this project was supposed to be €6bn, right now it's €10,6bn), and by the time they are finished (in over 5 years) it could be twice that, after 3 years the project will be canceled and buried, with billions of euros vanishing in thin air. EU must be independent for security sake, but can't say this is the way.  As an old and a bit nasty saying goes "Typical Europe, a day late and a dollar short". We are at the very start of The New Space Race!  We as CatapultX Accelerator are joining it, be one of the first with us! #newspacerace #europeancomission #spacex #space https://lnkd.in/dzywpsw https://lnkd.in/dH8BarUY

China's Geespace Targets Elon Musk’s Starlink: The Race for Global Satellite Internet Heats Up! China’s Geespace, backed by Geely, is rapidly expanding its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network to compete directly with Elon Musk’s Starlink. With 30 satellites now in orbit and plans for thousands more, Geespace aims to offer global broadband coverage, positioning itself as a major player in the satellite internet space. This move reflects the intensifying competition for dominance in global satellite communication. Dive into the growing competition between Geespace and Starlink—what’s your take on the future of satellite internet? #SatelliteInternet #LEOConstellations #GlobalConnectivity #Geespace #StarlinkVsGeespace #starlink #elonmusk

Starlink says it now has over 2.6M customers. Will the SpaceX rocket launches ever stop? BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – It’s about once a week or more that we relay news from the Space Coast of yet more Starlink satellites hitching a ride to low-Earth orbit on a SpaceX rocket, but what are they, how many are there and will the launches ever end? After development began in 2015, post-prototype Starlink deployments started in May 2019, at a time when SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said he could expect as many as 2,000 of the satellites to be deployed each year. The small satellites communicate directly with ground transceivers to achieve Musk’s stated goal of providing broadband internet worldwide, everywhere from packed suburban neighborhoods to remote dead zones. Read more: https://zurl.co/YDJE

Starlink says it now has over 2.6M customers. Will the SpaceX rocket launches ever stop? BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – It’s about once a week or more that we relay news from the Space Coast of yet more Starlink satellites hitching a ride to low-Earth orbit on a SpaceX rocket, but what are they, how many are there and will the launches ever end? After development began in 2015, post-prototype Starlink deployments started in May 2019, at a time when SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said he could expect as many as 2,000 of the satellites to be deployed each year. The small satellites communicate directly with ground transceivers to achieve Musk’s stated goal of providing broadband internet worldwide, everywhere from packed suburban neighborhoods to remote dead zones. Read more: https://zurl.co/YDJE

O ARIANESPACE, where art thou? Starlink's estimated free cash flow this year is about $600 million. According to the research firm Quilty Space, SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet business is now profitable (see: https://lnkd.in/gJc7XeyE ) During a webinar, analysts from the firm outlined the reasons why they think SpaceX has been able to achieve a positive cash flow in its space internet business just five years after the first batch of 60 satellites were launched. The co-founder of the firm, Chris Quilty, said the rapidity of Starlink's rise surprised a lot of people, including himself. "A lot of industry veterans kind of scoffed at the idea," he said. "We'd seen this before." Some History: Both SpaceX and another company, OneWeb Technologies, announced plans to build satellite megaconstellations back in 2015 to deliver broadband internet from low-Earth orbit. There was a lot of skepticism in the space community at the time because such plans had come and gone before. Chris Quilty recalled his own comments in 2015, admitting he was wrong about the long-term impact. "I think I called for possibly a partial impact on certain segments of the industry. Incorrect." Build a Model: To assess Starlink's profitability, Quilty Space built a financial model since SpaceX's financials are private. They estimate Starlink's revenue will grow to $6.6 billion in 2024, up from essentially zero just four years ago. "What Starlink achieved in the past three years is nothing short of mind-blowing," Quilty said. Chris Quilty cites SpaceX's vertical integration, design for cheap manufacturing, and high production volumes as key factors allowing them to control costs. Getting to a Profit: Chris Quilty estimates Starlink will have an EBITDA of $3.8B this year and capital expenditures of $3.1B, leaving an estimated free cash flow of about $600M. In other words, Starlink is profitable and self-sustaining for SpaceX. The analysis addresses concerns about long-term viability, with user terminals no longer subsidized in the US and manageable satellite replenishment costs. There is also significant growth potential as Starship enables the launch of enhanced Starlink satellites with expanded capabilities. Will Europe ever catch-up? #spacex #russia #arianespace #lowearthorbit #satellitecommunication #iridium #methalox #lng

CNBC [excerpt]: #China on Tuesday launched its first batch of #internet #satellites that will form part of a constellation it hopes will rival #SpaceX's #Starlink. Known as "Thousand Sails," the constellation is a low-Earth orbit set of more than 15,000 satellites that China has said will create global internet coverage. A Long March 6A carrier rocket took off from the Taiyuan launch center in the northern Shanxi province of China to deliver the initial 18 satellites into #space, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which called the mission a complete success. By 2025, China is aiming to deploy 648 satellites in the first phase of the constellation's buildout, in order to create an internet network with global coverage, according to state media CCTV. China's constellation is known as a low-Earth orbit — or LEO — set of satellites that aim to provide internet coverage. Two high-profile names in the space are Starlink, developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX, and OneWeb which is owned by European firm Eutelsat. The launch of an internet constellation underscores China's big space ambitions and Beijing's bid to dislodge the U.S. dominance in the sector, as the technology battle between the two nations expands. In 2020, China completed the BeiDou network — a set of satellites forming a global navigation system to rival the U.S. government-owned Global Positioning System (#GPS), which is widely-used across the world. #News