August 20, 2024 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Viasat has lost more than half its subscribers since Starlink arrived
In 2020 its U.S. subscriber count was 603K. Now it is 257K. The article also notes that Hughes has lost 200K subscribers over that same time period.
- Two Chinese satellites, stranded in Earth orbit when the rocket’s upper stage did not function properly, have apparently reached lunar orbit using their attitude thrusters
The two satellites are part of a planned three-satellite constellation (the third was launched separately and is in Earth orbit) to test orbital communications and navigation technology in retrograde lunar orbits.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Viasat has lost more than half its subscribers since Starlink arrived
In 2020 its U.S. subscriber count was 603K. Now it is 257K. The article also notes that Hughes has lost 200K subscribers over that same time period.
- Two Chinese satellites, stranded in Earth orbit when the rocket’s upper stage did not function properly, have apparently reached lunar orbit using their attitude thrusters
The two satellites are part of a planned three-satellite constellation (the third was launched separately and is in Earth orbit) to test orbital communications and navigation technology in retrograde lunar orbits.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Viasat dropping data caps… Competition is a wondrous thing!
Hearing that Viastat is dropping data caps is great news. I’ve had customers and family members that had to use them for decades, and those caps always created issues. To the point as soon as terrestrial anything faster than a phone line emerged they would sign up, no matter the cost. I understand that Viasat has limited bandwidth so they don’t want people “hogging” the signal, but, they have to find a better way to manage this.
Honestly, I suspect they will only be used for military and low bandwidth remote access only in the near future. There is no way they can beat the capacity and the latency of Starlink, and the Starlink LEO competitors once they have been deployed.
No need to wonder why Viasat has been waging regulatory lawfare against Starlink at every turn for the last five years.