DALLAS—Parks Associates has launched its new Broadband Market Tracker with data showing that SpaceX's Starlink satellite broadband residential service has already attracted some 1.3 million subs in the U.S. 

The estimate is notable because it means that Elon Musk's Starlink service has overtaken long-time satellite broadband incumbents HughesNet and Viasat. As of Q1 2024, Starlink is the 12th largest residential internet service provider in the US market. The company is on track to become a top 10 residential ISP by market share by the end of 2024, Parks reported. 

"This year, significant changes in the broadband market include regulatory shifts, increasing competitiveness from wireless options, and mergers and acquisitions," said Kristen Hanich, research director, Parks Associates. "The end of the Affordable Connectivity Program has challenged both ISPs and consumers, and growing price sensitivity is driving renewed interest in service bundling. This research will follow this and other trends and measure their impacts on the bottom line of subscriber counts and revenues for all major providers."

As part of the new broadband market tracker, Parks also released a chart showing that nearly one fifth of all home broadband subscribers now have broadband speeds of 1 Gpbs or faster. 

The new annual research subscription service from Parks profiles more than 25 market leaders in the US and Canadian residential internet service markets. The Broadband Market Tracker delivers quarterly reports that analyze market trends, profile market leaders, and provide estimates for residential internet subscribers and revenues for the North American market. More information is available here. 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Ca.—TVU Networks partnered with SpaceX’s Starlink service to enhance the reliability of France Télévisions’ coverage of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral last month.

Considering the magnitude of the event and the large crowds involved, it was anticipated that cellular networks would become overburdened, leading the TV network to certify the combination of TVU Networks’ TVU One with Starlink. The unique ability of TVU One to aggregate multiple separate signals into a single redundant stream frees its users from cellular saturation and puts an end to instability, the main cause of signal degradation in many live news situations, TVU said.

The combination of TVU Networks and Starlink technologies was tested and validated in the extreme transmission conditions in Ukraine and Corsica before being certified by the technical teams of France Télévisions.

"We must offer news production teams and reporters technological solutions to cover every major event regardless of constraints,” says Skander Ben Attia, Director of Engineering at France Télévisions. “The flexibility and ease of use of the TVU Networks solutions met these conditions 200%.”

This capability provides more reliability for broadcasters to successfully transmit their live footage to their newsrooms, particularly in cases of violent weather with impact on infrastructure, or in areas without strong communication networks, or in the case of Queen Elizebeth’s funeral, large gatherings that completely saturate the cellular networks. 

France Télévisions anticipated that media coverage combined with security associated with the funeral would rule out the use of live traditional vans and satellite trucks and that the cell service was going to be non-existent. 

Through its partner Magic Hour, TVU Networks provided transmission packs allowing the routing of signals via Starlink as well as reception servers to increase the traffic needs of the France Télévisions news control room on the day of the funeral.

Thanks to this configuration, France Télévisions was able to have continuous live broadcasts, control their production costs, and cover the event from all editorially relevant locations. The TVU One with Starlink deployed ensured the national editorial staff of France Télévisions success in its mission.

“After very conclusive trials in Ukraine and Corsica, we decided to deploy this TVU Networks/Starlink configuration on a large scale,” says Romuald Rat, News Production Director for France Télévisions. “TVU Networks/Starlink configuration has brought us to the crossroads of technology and history, creating the certainty of being able to serve our audience without fail and focus on the storytelling. It is impossible not to be very proud of what we accomplished.”

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—SES announced the successful launch of its SES-22 satellite onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX’s Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States on Wednesday.

This is the first of SES’s C-band satellites designed to free up the lower 300 MHz of C-band spectrum. Built by Thales Alenia Space, it will operate in the 135 degrees West orbital slot and will deliver TV and radio to millions of American homes and provide other critical data transmission services. SES-22 is expected to start operations by early August 2022.

The launch of SES-22 is part of the FCC’s years-long campaign to clear a portion of C-band spectrum to enable wireless operators to deploy 5G services across the contiguous US (CONUS). In response commission mandates, satellite operators such as SES are required to transition their existing services from the lower 300 MHz to the upper 200 MHz of C-band spectrum to make room for 5G.

To meet the FCC’s accelerated deadline of clearing C-band spectrum across the US by December 2023 while maintaining uninterrupted services, SES says it will launch five satellites—SES-18, SES-19, SES-20, SES-21 and SES-22 in 2022.

“We are thrilled with the successful launch of SES-22, thanks to our partners at Thales Alenia Space and SpaceX,” said Steve Collar, CEO of SES. “The launch of SES-22, together with other upcoming C-band satellite launches scheduled this year, will enable us to continue providing the high-quality services that our customers have been accustomed to over the last several decades, while freeing up spectrum that will enable the US to rapidly unlock the promise of 5G.”

“The successful launch of SES 22 is the result of our long-standing and fruitful collaboration with SES,” said Hervé Derrey, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space. “This achievement reflects the robustness and flight-proven heritage of our Spacebus 4000 B2 platform combined with our ability to timely and quickly deliver SES-22, two key elements leading to the decision of SES working with us to replace its existing C-Band fleet.”

The SES-22 spacecraft had a fast on-ground delivery time as satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space shipped it only 22 months after it was ordered. SES-22 is the seventh SES satellite launched by SpaceX over the last 10 years.

HACKENSACK, N.J. & WATERLOO, Ontario—LiveU and Dejero have announced their participation in the NASA TV broadcast of the historic NASA Commercial Crew Program launch with SpaceX that is scheduled to take place on May 27.

A consortium of companies, including TVU Networks, are aiding the broadcast of the launch—the first of American astronauts to take off from American soil since 2011—so video can be transmitted to broadcasters from all over, especially as the coronavirus pandemic has limited on-site production capabilities.

LiveU will be providing its LU600 4K HEVC field unit to the NASA TV crew to document the astronaut’s trip from the holding area to the rocket ship launch pad and the subsequent launch. LiveU Matrix, meanwhile, will assist with the worldwide distribution of multiple positioned pool cameras—provided by the Central Florida Media Committee—to cover the launch.

For Dejero, its PathWay encoders/transmitters has been inserted into a portable broadcast kit to provide low-latency video, and the MultiPoint IP video distribution network will handle the multiple feeds from the pool cameras that can be simultaneously shared with Dejero customers. Local Florida station WJXT is also using two Dejero WayPoint receivers to reconstruct, decode and output feeds from PathWay transmitters.

Dejero customers can access the pool feeds from www.dejero.com/spacexlaunch. 

The NASA/SpaceX launch will take place on May 27 at 4:32 p.m. from Kennedy Space Center.

Full coverage will be available via NASA Live. 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—TVU Networks has announced that it will be part of a consortium of technology partners bringing live video of the historic NASA and SpaceX launch to global broadcasters on May 27.

The launch is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will see a SpaceX rocket carry NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station. This is the first time that NASA has launched astronauts from American soil since 2011.

As part of the broadcast team, which also includes LiveU and Dejero, TVU will provide technical support and its IP-based TVU Grid platform to assist with the distribution of multiple live video pool feeds covering the launch.

Because of the current coronavirus pandemic and the need to practice social distancing, broadcasters around the world will be able to supplement their use of NASA Television’s feed with the additional isolated live video camera feeds provided by TVU and others without the need for on-site personnel.

“We’re thrilled to partner with NASA and local Florida broadcasters in bringing this significant undertaking to the world,” said Paul Shen, CEO of TVU Networks. “During this unprecedented time in the world, we are pleased to help with providing the technology needed to safely and effectively cover groundbreaking events such as the first ever commercial manned space launch.”

TVU Grid customers will be able to access the NASA feeds by logging into the TVU Command Center, choosing TVU Grid tab and selecting either of the NASA_Pool sources.

For more information, visit www.tvunetworks.com.  

WASHINGTON—More than 50 years after viewers were glued to their TV sets for the Apollo 11 Moon landing, NASA will once again broadcast a historical mission with coverage of the SpaceX Demo-2 test flight.

Part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, the SpaceX Demo-2 test flight will have NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley travel to the International Space Station, the first time that a commercially built and operated American rocket will carry humans to the space station. The event also marks the first time astronauts have launched into space on American rockets and from American soil since 2011.

NASA will broadcast prelaunch and launch activities live on NASA Television and the agency’s website. The launch date is currently scheduled for May 27 at 4:32 p.m ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The docking to the ISS will be shown live at 11:29 a.m. ET on May 28.

This is intended to be the final test flight of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which has a goal of establishing “safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station,” NASA said.

Media coverage of the prelaunch events will be conducted remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic, while there will be a limited number of press at Kennedy Space Center to cover the launch.

For more information and a schedule of coverage, visit www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew.  

HAWTHORNE, CALIF.—SpaceX is moving forward with its “satellite constellation” plan it first announced in January 2015, filing a request with the FCC to launch 4,425 satellites that will provide global broadband and communications services. The goal of this constellation is to give SpaceX full and continuous global coverage.

SpaceX satellite details from FCC filing

The request states that the satellites will operate on the Ku and Ka bands, which fall on the 12-18 GHz and 26.5-40 GHz ranges of electromagnetic spectrum. Using what SpaceX describes as “advanced phased array beam-forming and digital processing technologies,” the satellite payload will be able to use the Ku and Ka band spectrum while also sharing with other licensed users.

Designed to last between five and seven years, the low-Earth orbit satellites will be steered back to the ground using antenna beams, and operated using ground control facilities and user stations. Each satellite would way an estimated 850 pounds and could cover a distance of about 1,300 miles.

The filing estimates that when all the satellites are put into place the system would be able to provide high bandwidth at up to 1 Gbps per user.

SpaceX’s original goal for launching the satellites when first announced in 2015 was 2020, but no date was mentioned as part of the filing.