Lifeboat Foundation

Amazon announced today they have bought 3 Falcon 9 launches to deliver their Project Kuiper internet satellites to low Earth orbit in mid-2025.

This wouldn’t be the first time SpaceX has launched a competitor satellite as they have now launched 4 times for one of their other competitors, OneWeb, with a total of 136 satellites delivered to orbit.

Amazon recently made the decision to move up the launch of their first Project Kuiper satellites from United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket which has faced numerous delays to an Atlas V that launched on October 6th.

The addition of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 brings a new dynamic to Amazon’s Project Kuiper, introducing unexpected competition within the space industry.

Amazon, SpaceX

Continue reading “Amazon buys rival SpaceX’s launches for its satellite internet” »

In the age of rapid technological advancements, a new player has emerged on the scene, promising to revolutionize the way we transmit data wirelessly. Li-Fi, or Light Fidelity, is a cutting-edge technology that employs visible light to transmit information, offering an innovative alternative to traditional radio frequency-based wireless communication systems.

The IEEE published the 802.11bb standard for light-based networking in July 2023, an extension of the Wi-Fi specification enabling wireless networking using visible and infrared light rather than the radio spectrum. The standard outlines adjustments to the physical and medium access control layers, allowing wireless networking through light source modulation imperceptible to the human eye.

The Li-Fi specification mandates bidirectional transmission within the 800nm to 1,000nm electromagnetic spectrum range, ensuring a minimum throughput of 10 Mb/s and a maximum of 9.6 Gb/s at the MAC data service access point. By comparison, Wi-Fi operates within wavelengths of 120mm (2.4 GHz) and 60mm (5 GHz), with speeds that vary across versions, including Wi-Fi 6, which reaches up to 9.6 Gb/s, akin to Li-Fi capabilities.

Billionaire CEO Elon Musk on Friday said that his rocket manufacturing company SpaceX launched the satellite systems of its rivals without favoring their own.

The CEO took to X to clarify the same after SpaceX entered into a contract to launch Amazon.com Inc’s AMZN Kuiper satellites, aimed at providing satellite internet along the lines of SpaceX’s Starlink.

What Happened: Under the newly announced contract, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch thrice to deliver Kuiper satellites to low-Earth orbit starting mid-2025. Project Kuiper is a project by the e-commerce giant aimed at providing broadband with the help of a network of satellites in low-Earth orbit like Starlink.

Dec 1 (Reuters) — Amazon (AMZN.O) on Friday said it booked three Falcon 9 launches with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to help deploy the ecommerce giant’s Project Kuiper satellite network, tapping a rival in the satellite internet business for its multi-billion dollar launch campaign.

Amazon aims to build Kuiper as a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit to beam broadband internet globally and compete with SpaceX’s Starlink network, which already has some 5,000 satellites providing nearly global coverage.

Amazon, which vowed in 2019 to invest $10 billion into the project, will put an unspecified number of Kuiper satellites on three Falcon 9 rockets from SpaceX beginning in mid-2025, the company said Friday.

Researchers at the University of Sydney Nano Institute have invented a compact silicon semiconductor chip that integrates electronics with photonic, or light, components. The new technology significantly expands radio-frequency (RF) bandwidth and the ability to accurately control information flowing through the unit.

Expanded bandwidth means more information can flow through the chip and the inclusion of photonics allows for advanced filter controls, creating a versatile new semiconductor device.

Researchers expect the chip will have applications in advanced radar, satellite systems, wireless networks and the roll-out of 6G and 7G telecommunications and also open the door to advanced sovereign manufacturing. It could also assist in the creation of high-tech value-add factories at places like Western Sydney’s Aerotropolis precinct.

The network’s total capacity will surpass 500 Gbps by 2025.

While China is already marching ahead with its internet infrastructure, the country has announced the completion of its first high-orbit satellite communication network, which aims to provide fast and reliable internet service within its territory and to several countries along its Belt and Road initiative.

The network, which consists of three high-throughput satellites named ChinaSat 16, 19, and 26, is expected to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink, a low-orbit satellite system developed by the American aerospace company, according to a Beijing-based communications expert.

Continue reading “China soars Starlink-challenger satellite network to counter Elon Musk” »

Chinese researchers report the successful quantum storage of entangled photons at telecom wavelengths within a crystal, in a breakthrough achievement that reportedly lasted 387 times longer than past similar experiments.

The research team, based at Nanjing University, says their findings could potentially “pave the way for realizing quantum networks based on solid-state devices.”

The Coming Quantum Internet

The co-founder of website builder Wix is embracing generative AI, and he’s not too worried that it might destroy the business models of the web.

Wix CEO Avishai Abrahami is embracing generative AI and thinks the business models of the web can survive it.