Author: Newsbit

India plans to launch more than 100 satellites over the next 15 years, and it will be a mix of government technology missions and private sector-led operational missions, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said.

He also released a roadmap for the space sector for the next 15 years during the second National Space Day celebrations in the presence of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman V Narayanan, INSPACe Chairman Pawan Goenka and four astronauts short-listed for the Gaganyaan mission.

Singh said the roadmap will guide India’s space journey to 2040 and beyond, supporting the vision of Viksit Bharat by leveraging space technology for food and water security, disaster resilience, environmental sustainability and inclusive growth.

He said India’s space programme has entered a transformative phase, where it is no longer confined to symbolic achievements but has become a vital contributor to the country’s scientific progress, technological innovation and public welfare.

The minister added that the opening up of the space sector to private players has brought in a new wave of innovation and entrepreneurship.

From once being limited to government-led projects, India today has hundreds of start-ups engaged in developing technologies with potential applications in interplanetary exploration as well as in day-to-day governance, he noted.

Space technology has silently entered people’s lives, powering projects such as those for disaster management, infrastructure monitoring, smart-city planning, housing programmes and even land-ownership mapping through drones, Singh pointed out.

The minister outlined the ISRO’s future programmes and said the launch of the uncrewed Gaganyaan-1 mission was expected to take place by the year-end.

Gaganyaan-1 will be a human-robot mission with a humanoid robot, Vyommitra, travelling to space.

In 2027, India will attempt its first human spaceflight under the Gaganyaan mission, followed by Chandrayaan-4 in 2028, a mission to Venus, and the establishment of the proposed Bharat Antariksh Station by 2035.

Singh said the country has also set its sights on placing an Indian astronaut on Moon by 2040. PTI

According to a recently published report from Dell’Oro Group, the trusted source for market information about the telecommunications, security, networks, and data center industries, the Optical Transport equipment market grew 14 percent year-over-year in 2Q 2025. This high growth rate was primarily attributed to the rising demand for disaggregated WDM and data center interconnect (DCI).

“Following six quarters of soft sales in optical transport, it was great to see this market recover and post a strong double-digit growth rate,” said Jimmy Yu, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “One area contributing to the strong growth for optical was the rising demand for disaggregated WDM, a concept that arose over a decade ago when both cloud providers and communication service providers wanted to have a more open, vendor-agnostic environment. One where a network operator had more choice in suppliers for transponders, optical line systems, and pluggable optics,” added Yu.

Additional highlights from the 2Q 2025 Optical Transport Quarterly Report:

• The Optical Transport market growth was due to higher year-over-year (Y/Y) revenue for both optical transport systems and ZR/ZR+ optical plugs for IPoDWDM.
• The Disaggregated WDM market outperformed expectations in the quarter, growing nearly 35 percent Y/Y due to strong demand across all of the individual technology segments: transponder units, optical line systems (OLS), and ZR/ZR+ optics for IPoDWDM.
• Communication service provider spending returned to growth in the quarter, increasing slightly from the same period a year ago.
• Cloud providers, once again, drove the vast majority of the optical revenue growth in the quarter: direct cloud provider purchases of WDM systems grew 60 percent Y/Y.
• The top six vendors in the quarter, ranked by revenue share, were Huawei, Ciena, Nokia, ZTE, FiberHome, and Cisco.

Dell’Oro

Fox Corporation today announced the official launch of FOX One, a bold new streaming service that brings together the full portfolio of FOX’s News, Sports and Entertainment branded content—all in one place, both live and on demand.

Available today across major web, mobile and connected TV platforms, FOX One is priced at $19.99/month with a 7-day free trial or $199.99/year, with the option to add-on B1G+ or bundle FOX Nation for an even greater value. Starting October 2, customers will also have the opportunity to bundle FOX One with ESPN DTC Unlimited for $39.99/month.

Designed for today’s digital-first audience, FOX One is here to serve the 65+ million U.S. households that live outside the cable bundle. With something for everyone—FOX One offers ease of access to the bold voices, breaking news, career-making plays, dynamic features and entertainment America loves and has come to expect from FOX, all in a single, highly personalized platform.

“We are excited to get FOX One in the hands of viewers today, and bring our leading News, Sports and Entertainment programming to fans who have been underserved in the streaming ecosystem to date,” said Pete Distad, CEO, Direct to Consumer, Fox Corporation. “In my time here, I have come to appreciate that FOX is as ambitious and entrepreneurial a tech company as it is a media company. The team has worked tirelessly to bring all of our live programming together with our emerging technology into the new FOX One platform in a very short period of time…and we are just getting started. FOX One will continue to rapidly evolve in the weeks and months ahead to seek to not only meet, but exceed our customers’ expectations for a premium and personalized viewing experience in an AI-powered world.”

“We live for live” – fox’s superpower, now streaming
With FOX’s long legacy as a leader in live programming, the introduction of FOX One is a powerful extension of that DNA. FOX One delivers a seamless, live streaming experience for the moments that matter most, from breaking news and record-setting sports to must-see competition series and acclaimed animation.

A new standard for streaming technology
FOX’s incomparably executed live-stream presentation of Super Bowl LIX on Tubi raised the bar for digital broadcasting at scale, reaching 15.5 million peak concurrent viewers and 24 million unique viewers. FOX One builds on that technological achievement and momentum with a next-generation platform engineered for a live-first experience.

Underpinning the experience are smart, purpose-built AI integrations that give audiences of all types choice and flexibility in when and how they watch. From personalized content packaging and publishing to intelligent discovery, enhanced search capabilities powered in partnership with Perplexity and responsive support through Sierra AI, FOX One applies emerging tech to unlock value, clarity and connection.

• Live and unfiltered: fox one has a robust collection of live sports, news and entertainment for your viewing pleasure. The latest news and biggest plays as they happen in real time. Stay current with breaking news as it unfolds. From our hottest fox series to iconic live events—you won’t miss a beat. We live for live.
• Fox news – now available on fox one: stream fox news live 24/7 anytime, anywhere. Get around-the-clock access to live coverage, breaking news and your favorite fox news shows—all in one seamless experience, with alerts to keep you informed.
• Your fox, your way: skip the search and cut down on aimless scrolling with personalized content from fox one. Discover relevant live and on-demand shows right on your home screen.
• Record your favorites: watch live or save it for later. You can record your favorite leagues, teams and shows with no storage limits. Find all your recordings in your personal library to enjoy anytime.
• Catch up with highlights: joined the game late? No problem—catch up with the highlights you missed, then join live instantly. Bypass the spoilers and hide the live score until you’re all caught up. The biggest moments in sports, served just how you like them.
• Swipe-worthy shorts: discover the top trending sports stories, informative news, and tv clips filled with jaw-dropping hot takes in a fresh vertical video format. Get all the moments you crave in bite-sized, sharable pieces of content. (currently in beta)

FOX One was built from the ground up to meet the evolving needs of today’s cord-cutters and cord-nevers. With a loyal, intentional fanbase, premium content portfolio and differentiated technology, FOX One is poised for the next era of streaming.

Modern bundling options & flexible access
With ease-of-access and a full slate of programming at their fingertips—FOX One has something for everyone, all in one place. FOX One is now available on Apple iOS and Android mobile, web (www.FOXOne.com) and connected TV platforms including Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Prime Video Channels, Apple TV, Google TV, Android TV, Microsoft Xbox, Samsung, LG and VIZIO. Existing pay TV customers will have the ease of authenticating within the FOX One platform for no additional cost.

FOX Nation and B1G+ are available on the FOX One platform where users can add-on B1G+ or bundle FOX One and FOX Nation for $24.99 per month or the equivalent of $19.99 per month when purchasing the annual plan at launch.

And, in a recently announced partnership with ESPN, sports fans will have the opportunity to bundle the new ESPN DTC Unlimited offering with FOX One for $39.99 a month beginning October 2. Through this bundle, viewers will have access to all of ESPN’s linear networks—ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes—in addition to ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, SECN+ and ACCNX, covering 47,000 live events each year, on-demand replays, studio shows, original programming, as well as newly expanded NFL content and more in addition to the complete FOX One content offering.

FOX One will continue to explore ways to maximize value for subscribers with additional bundling options.

Strategic marketing & audience engagement
To bring the service to market, FOX One’s launch campaign hones in on FOX’s dominance in the area of LIVE and its distinguishing functionality in the service. “We Live For LIVE” connects with today’s cord-cutters and cord-nevers where they live, through a host of creator platforms, social media, podcasts and digital-first strategies. PR Newswire

Starlink operator SpaceX is continuing its fight against state plans to expand fiber broadband availability. After saying the Trump administration should deny a Virginia proposal, SpaceX is taking the same approach in a fight against Louisiana.

SpaceX made its view known to the Louisiana Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity in a filing, which was reported yesterday by PCMag. SpaceX complained that Louisiana proposed awarding 91.5 percent of funds to fiber Internet service providers instead of to the Starlink satellite system. SpaceX alleged that Louisiana was influenced by “a legion of fiber lobbyists and other hangers-on seeking to personally benefit from massive taxpayer spending.”

The Trump administration rewrote rules for the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant program in a way that benefits Starlink. Instead of prioritizing fiber networks that offer better service and are more future-proof, the Trump administration ordered states to revise their plans with a “tech-neutral approach” and lower the average cost of serving each location.

SpaceX’s letters to Virginia and Louisiana claim the states are violating the new rules with their funding proposals.

“The State of Louisiana’s Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program Final Proposal proposes to spend nearly $500 million dollars [sic] to provide connectivity to its unserved and underserved locations,” SpaceX wrote. “SpaceX applied to serve virtually all BEAD households for less than $100 million dollars. As such, Louisiana’s proposal includes over $400 million dollars in wasteful and unnecessary taxpayer spending.”

SpaceX unhappy with $7.75 million
Instead of selecting Starlink for all locations, Louisiana allocated the company $7.75 million to serve 10,327 locations. The plan would spend $499 million for 127,842 locations overall. The Louisiana Local Fiber Consortium, which includes two Louisiana providers that partnered with T-Mobile, was the biggest winner, with $378 million for 68,535 locations.

“Louisiana’s results demonstrate that it did not observe statutory requirements or program rules and did not conduct a competitive process,” SpaceX alleged. “A process in which Louisiana is required to award grants based on the lowest cost to the program, and awards 91.5% of funds to fiber projects at an average per-location cost of $4,449, while rejecting applications at $750 per location because the bid was based on Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) technology could not possibly be considered compliant, technology neutral or a ‘competition.’”

SpaceX said it will ask the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to reject the Louisiana plan if the state doesn’t change course. “NTIA simply cannot approve the Final Proposal as it stands if the ‘Benefit of the Bargain’ remains the goal. Louisiana must revise its final proposal to appropriately consider the applications received, or NTIA must reject its Final Proposal,” SpaceX said.

A previous Louisiana proposal drafted during the Biden administration would have spent $748 million for broadband deployment and provided fiber to nearly 95 percent of 140,000 eligible locations. The new Louisiana proposal, written to comply with Trump administration rules, reduced projected spending by $250 million.

We contacted Louisiana’s broadband office about SpaceX’s letter and will update this article if it provides any comment.

State officials worry about satellite limits
As we noted in previous coverage, Starlink is already widely available and doesn’t need to build infrastructure to each home like fiber and cable operators do. But states can direct grant money to Starlink in exchange for guaranteed service availability or deals on equipment.

While subsidizing fiber deployment is more expensive, fiber offers faster speeds and doesn’t have the capacity problems inherent in satellite networks. As even SpaceX CEO Elon Musk acknowledged years ago, Starlink is best suited for “the hardest-to-serve customers that telcos otherwise have trouble” serving.

Louisiana’s draft plan said its analysis of low-Earth orbit satellite and fixed wireless technology suggests those providers “will not be able to scale into the future due to a combination of limitations on available spectrum, the impact of tree canopy on service availability, high customer density and potential demand, [and] the impact of 5G and/or other wireless backhaul on residential end-user capacity.” ars Technica