Page 87 - SAMENA Trends - October-December 2024

SATELLITE UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

mission is to provide high-speed Internet in Cape Verde aligns with Starlink's broad- Namibia ordered Starlink to cease opera-
to areas lacking reliable connectivity. Its er African strategy. Earlier this year, the tions, citing the lack of necessary telecom-
low Earth orbit satellite constellation offers service became operational in countries munications licenses. The entry of Starlink
faster and more reliable Internet services like Nigeria, Mozambique, and Zambia. In into new markets has significant implica-
compared to traditional satellite provid- August 2024, Starlink secured licensing to tions for local Internet service providers
ers. In Africa, where internet penetration operate in Chad, aiming to enhance Inter- (ISPs). Its competitive pricing and superior
remains low—approximately 40% as of net access across the central African na- service quality have prompted discussions
recent estimates—Starlink's technology tion. However, the expansion hasn't been among stakeholders.
holds transformative potential. The launch without challenges. In November 2024,

China's Commercial Satellite Constellation to Provide Brazil with Internet
Services

China's commercial satellite constellation and Telebras, a Brazilian telecommuni- is a low Earth orbit megaconstellation with
Spacesail will provide satellite communi- cations enterprise, according to a memo- full frequency bands and a multi-layer and
cation services to Brazil and broadband randum of cooperation signed by the two multi-orbit design. Its commercial network
internet access to the country's remote companies. The memorandum noted that construction was officially launched on
and underserved regions. The services the commercial services to Brazil will of- Aug. 6, 2024. At present, the constellation
will be carried out through the partner- ficially kick off in 2026. The cooperation has 36 operational satellites in orbit. They
ship between the constellation's developer marks the official launch of the Chinese have completed relevant service tests
Shanghai Spacesail Technologies Co., Ltd. company's overseas business. Spacesail and have proven to be capable of provid-
ing broadband communication services.
The Spacesail Constellation will start its
worldwide satellite Internet service in
2025, facilitating the fields such as trans-
portation, new energy, smart cities, smart
agriculture, emergency disaster relief and
low-altitude economy. Shanghai Spacesail
Technologies Co., Ltd. has begun business
negotiations with more than 30 countries
to promote the global commercial applica-
tion and services of its constellation. Chi-
na currently has 1,059 satellites in orbit,
492 of which are commercial satellites. By
the end of June this year, 546 commercial
space enterprises were registered and ef-
fectively operating in China.

Spacex Launches 24 Starlink Satellites in Back End of Coast-to-Coast
Double Launch

SpaceX launched 24 more Starlink Globe 2, Turksat-6A, Eutelsat 36X, Ovzon-3, liftoff and landed on the drone ship Just
satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral CRS-26, and now 10 Starlink missions.” Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean.
Space Force Station in Florida. SpaceX said The launch placed 24 additional Starlink The liftoff was part of a double launch for
in a statement, “On Thursday, November V2 Mini satellites into lower Earth orbit in SpaceX. Five hours earlier another SpaceX
14 Falcon 9 launched 24 Starlink satellites, what has become a routine occurrence rocket lifted 20 Starlink satellites into
to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch for SpaceX's business. It will be part of space from the Vandenberg Space Force
Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral a constellation that will allow Internet Center in California. It will include testing
Space Force Station in Florida. This was service around the world, even in its most a suite of heatshield experiments and
the 18th flight for the first stage booster remote areas. The launch is the 18th for maneuvering changes to have the ship re-
supporting this mission, which previously the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, which enter and descend over the Indian Ocean,
mPOWER-C, OneWeb2, Intelsat 40e, Digital returned to Earth about eight minutes after according to a SpaceX mission update.

87 OCT-DEC 2024