August 20, 2024 Quick space linksCourtesy 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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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.