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Space Archive

Archives for October 2024

Tech leaders kiss the ringTech leaders kiss the ring
Gaby Del Valle
Starlink Mini review: space internet goes ultraportable

9

Verge Score

Impossibly small, incredibly convenient.

Thomas Ricker
Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
“You have a Washington Post problem.”

Blue Origin leadership has viewed Donald Trump as positive for space. Most of Jeff Bezos’ focus is currently on Blue Origin. “Elon’s real superpower is getting government money,” Bezos has said, according to The Post.

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
Today I learned AMD is sending chips to space, powering new SpaceX Starlink internet satellites.

Did you know SpaceX’s “latest generation broadband satellites” use AMD chips? The chipmaker just bragged about that in Q3 2024 earnings, and it’s news to me.

AMD’s product page says: “AMD Versal Adaptive SoCs combine application processors, real-time processors, and vector processors with traditional FPGA resources such as programmable logic fabric, DSP resources, and embedded memory.”

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
Jeff Bezos would like you to know that his non-endorsement of Kamala Harris was “a principled decision.”

It was just a little whoopsie it got announced so close to the election, that’s all! Also he didn’t know about the Blue Origin meeting with Trump and besides that was not his fault. “I sighed when I found out,” he says. I guess people are still canceling their subs!

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
Donald Trump meets with Blue Origin execs the same day WaPo declines to endorse a presidential candidate.

Nothing to see here, I’m sure. Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin and The Post, just really strongly felt like there didn’t need to be a presidential endorsement this time around, no reason.

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
‘Yikes’: Is Elon Musk bragging about his Diablo prowess or his SpaceX near-miss?

Okay, this one’s weird: Musk has posted a three-minute clip of a game, but the audio is someone telling him how “We were one second away from telling the rocket to abort” — and how the amazing ‘chopstick’ Super Heavy booster catch was close to being a scary crash.

While TechCrunch suggests he “inadvertently” broadcasted this, it’s not a broadcast. Someone clipped it this way.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Maine will use Starlink to bring internet to hard-to-reach areas.

The Maine Connectivity Authority announced that it will purchase Starlink hardware for around 9,000 homes and businesses in the state without internet. Eligible residents can start applying for subsidized Starlink equipment next month.

Prada helped make a spacesuitPrada helped make a spacesuit
Allison Johnson
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Starlink Mini actually works in a backpack.

I’m working on a full review in a variety of scenarios but I’m shocked it works at all in the outer sleeve of this Peak Design backpack connected to a USB-C power bank. Once it gets satellite lock it holds on to it reasonably well for an average of 54Mbps down and 11Mbps up, despite the dish’s vertical alignment and 110-degree field of view.

I don’t know why you’d do this, but you can!

<em>The 27,600mAh (99.36Wh) 140W USB-C PD 3.1 power bank I carried could have powered this connected walk for up to three hours.</em>
<em>Here’s what it looks like walking through a forest with the overhead tree coverage causing the outages. The Mini would reengage just as soon I entered a clearing.</em>
1/2
The 27,600mAh (99.36Wh) 140W USB-C PD 3.1 power bank I carried could have powered this connected walk for up to three hours.
Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge