As of Sunday, SpaceX has launched 7,956 Starlink satellites -- 13% of all satellites ever launched, with all the Starlinks sent during the past five years, satcom consultant Carlos Placido wrote Monday. He said more than 490 direct-to-device Starlinks have been launched, with 489 currently operational. A Starlink report issued last week indicated that the company has 329 satellites in the process of deorbiting and 865 that have deorbited. SpaceX's report said it has one failed satellite in orbit and expects to have none by year-end.

Rocket Lab is committed to a 2025 inaugural launch of its Neutron rocket. "We look forward to unlocking the medium launch bottleneck by bringing Neutron to the pad," CEO Peter Beck told analysts Thursday. Some have questioned whether Neutron would be delayed (see 2502250062). Beck said the company anticipates a trio of Neutron launches in 2026 and is building an ocean-based landing platform for the reusable rocket, meant to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9.

Globalstar's expanded contract with Apple (see 2411010003) will fund its next satellite constellation, CEO Paul Jacobs told analysts Thursday. In an application earlier this month with the FCC Space Bureau, Globalstar said its planned next-generation low earth orbit mobile satellite service deployment, with a price tag of more than $1 billion for the satellites and ground infrastructure, would augment its connectivity in areas where there's no terrestrial coverage. It said that C-3 system would have greater signal strength and multiple satellites overhead, meaning better in-building and in-vehicle connectivity for users. The constellation will consist of 48 satellites and six orbiting spares, enabling new IoT and consumer-based offerings. Globalstar said its existing direct-to-device SOS emergency messaging service to iPhones is available in the U.S., Canada, 12 European countries, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Apple’s September release of iOS 18 enabled satellite-delivered two-way messaging in the U.S. and Canada between users, it said. When asked about a deployment timeline, Jacobs didn't comment.

DOD should pause further investment in intersatellite laser link technology until it demonstrates that it works, the Government Accountability Office said Wednesday. GAO said an initial tranche of satellites produced by the Space Development Agency that employ laser tech have yet to demonstrate all the planned communications capabilities, yet the agency has awarded almost $10 billion in contracts for two more tranches of satellites. GAO said DOD concurred with its recommendation that the space agency should demonstrate laser communications capabilities before making further investments in subsequent tranches.

Multi-orbit capabilities are "becoming a must-have" for satellite operators looking to stay competitive, Carolina Daza of consultancy Access Partnership wrote Wednesday. She said the biggest challenge facing multi-orbit networks is "significantly heterogeneous regulatory frameworks." She also cited regulatory hurdles, including the fact that spectrum licensing for non-geostationary and geostationary orbit systems typically follow "distinct regulatory paths" with different technical parameters. There are no standardized criteria for multi-orbit terminals, and regulators "can be reluctant when faced with the unknown, further complicating the licensing process."

Based on data from reentries, the median operational lifetime of a SpaceX Starlink satellite appears to be 5.3 years, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astronomer Jonathan McDowell wrote Tuesday on X.

As the satellite industry matures, the number of new constellation businesses forming is on the decline, Payload Research said Wednesday. It said 2024 saw seven constellation businesses launch -- those being satcom, earth observation or in-orbit servicing -- compared with 14 in 2023 and 16 in 2022. It said the peak in constellation business formation was 50 in 2015. "Seeing the graveyard of bankrupt competitors and the dominance of entrenched players, new entrepreneurs will then refrain from entering the market" unless they have a differentiated niche.

The FCC Space Bureau "got the Commission’s policy and precedent right" when it denied U.S. market access to Sateliot, "and Sateliot continues to get it wrong" in challenging the decision, EchoStar said. In an opposition filed with the Space Bureau this week to Sateliot's petition for review (see 2502100033), EchoStar said the FCC's findings about the infeasibility of operators sharing the 2 GHz band "remain true today." It said Sateliot hasn't argued that the Space Bureau got anything wrong in its denial.

The FCC is seeking feedback on charging regulatory fees for all authorized satellites and earth stations, not just ones that are operational. That is among the regulatory fee proposals in a Further NPRM issued Tuesday. The FNPRM asks for input by March 27, replies April 11, in docket 24-85 on a variety of ideas brought up during the FY 2024 space regulatory fee proceeding. The FNPRM tentatively promotes an alternate methodology for assessing satellite regulatory fees, with earth station fees and satellite fees being allocated proportionally to the FCC Space Bureau resources involved in licensing and regulation of each segment, and with different fee categories for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) versus geostationary orbit satellites. It also asks about other options beyond that alternate methodology, such as dividing the existing NGSO fee category into two tiers: constellations of up to 1,000 satellites and constellations of more than 1,000. It also asks about the idea of creating tiers of "small" and "large" NGSO constellations in the existing "less complex" NGSO fee category and creating subcategories of earth station regulatory fee payers. Chairman Brendan Carr said it is "important that the FCC put the right regulatory framework in place -- one that will further fuel the space industry’s growth."

Rocket Lab's new Neutron rocket likely won't be ready until 2026 or 2027, rather than mid-2025, Bleecker Street Research wrote Tuesday. It said numerous aspects of the rocket's development are not on track for a launch this year. It added that Neutron's only announced launch contract is likely with satellite startup E-Space, but E-Space's own financing is questionable.