Helmed by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, SpaceX has made a name for itself as a leading rocket launch provider. We bring you complete coverage of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket launches and landings, as well as SpaceX’s more ambitious exploration goals. That includes flying people around the Moon in the company’s Dragon capsule and starting a human colony on Mars.
Elon Musk says that only 31 of the 33 engines on SpaceX’s Starship booster actually fired, but the static fire test was still a thing to behold. Despite that, the test went really well otherwise according to the people over at the NASA Spaceflight channel, paving the way towards the ship actually launching.
They should start playing replays soon, so tune in if you want to see some flames.
During an event on Wednesday, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said the company would attempt a 33-engine static fire test today.
Naturally, the folks at NASA Spaceflight have their cameras trained on the test stand in Rocketland / Boca Chica, TX, and the livestream has caught signs that the time of the test is approaching soon.
According to SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell, it will happen this year. The company seems to be doing well even though CEO Elon Musk has been distracted by Twitter.
We’ve talked before about how SpaceX is actually run by Gwynne Shotwell and as if to prove it, SpaceX is thriving now that Musk is ignoring it: “When Musk’s focus is elsewhere, there’s some semblance of calm,” writes Loren Grush at Bloomberg.
Soon, airBaltic will be the first European airline to provide free Starlink internet services across its entire Airbus fleet, according to an announcement from the popular low-cost carrier.
The airline is working with SpaceX to achieve the certifications required as Starlink Aviation is still subject to regulatory approval, and is expecting to begin installing the system sometime in 2023.
I’m an avid Starlink RV user and tech journalist and still learned some things from this Washington Post story about the challenges SpaceX faces in putting its 3,500-plus internet-from-space satellites into operational orbit, with thousands more to come. WaPo’s excellent animations and illustrations certainly help.
[Washington Post]
SpaceX has announced that its satellite internet service now has a million active subscribers. That’s a lot of people getting their internet from space.
It makes sense that the company hit the milestone this year — in the past 12 months it’s expanded its Starlink offerings, adding options for people with businesses, boats, planes, and RVs. All the extra subscribers do come at a cost though; the company recently announced that it’s adding data caps.
If you weren’t at the Dave Chappelle / Chris Rock comedy show in San Francisco on Sunday night, then you missed this event. Chappelle brought Elon Musk on stage, only for Twitter’s billionaire owner to receive so many boos he couldn’t get a word in edgewise.
Presumably, this isn’t the reception Musk usually gets on the 10th floor of the Twitter HQ from any of the software engineers who still work there.
The first JSX flights with Starlink Aviation happened this week, according to a tweet from SpaceX. That’s a bit behind schedule, as JSX’s CEO originally said Starlink’s in-flight internet would start to be available on the airline in October. Starlink will be installed on more JSX planes “in the weeks ahead,” SpaceX says.
The Elon Musk-owned company successfully launched its Dragon cargo capsule atop its Falcon 9 rocket around 2:20PM ET on Saturday.
In addition to carrying solar arrays, dwarf tomato seeds, and other supplies, the capsule’s also packed with ice cream, spicy green beans, cranberry apple desserts, pumpkin pie, and candy corn as a belated Thanksgiving treat. It’s expected to reach the ISS around 7:30AM on Sunday.
Bloomberg reports that the funding round values the company at more than $150 billion. That’s a pretty big jump from earlier this year, when the company was valued at $125 billion.
The Starlink subreddit (one of my favorite communities on the whole internet) is having a field day with the new data caps.
Elon Musk has acknowledged his current residence, so Verge EIC Nilay Patel stopped by Vox’s Today, Explained podcast to discuss why social media’s newest CEO is in for a Bad Time as the owner of Twitter.
As Elon and company debate whether Twitter Blue should be $20 a month and required for verified users, another Musk company, SpaceX, launched a more traditional product into space. The Falcon Heavy rocket successfully made its first return to space in three years.
“...because rockets don’t talk back.”
As you enjoy your weekend, don’t miss this episode of The Vergecast covering exactly what Elon Musk has gotten himself into now that he owns Twitter.
Yes, Elon Musk owns Twitter. No, he has not laid off an entire team of data engineers, including one “Rahul Ligma.”
David Pierce explains what we actually know so far.
Liz Lopatto is laying out all the details we know about Elon’s Twitter takeover right now, so read that or check below for the rundown of every ridiculous thing that happened in this deal over the last six months.
Then, take a break. We expect to see official paperwork arrive tomorrow, plus we’ll have more coverage and a special episode of The Vergecast in the morning.
Falcon Heavy is back on the pad, preparing for a launch as early as October 31st, as it delivers... something into orbit for the US Space Force.
Turns out, there’s a lot scientists can discover about the mega-constellation — even if SpaceX isn’t cooperating.
[MIT Technology Review]
First, the Washington Post reports Elon might fire 75 percent of Twitter’s staff, and now Bloomberg cites anonymous sources saying that — like Elon himself — US government officials may be uncomfortable with the billionaire buying Twitter.
The report says the Biden admin is considering a CFIUS review of his deals to consider national security risks.
US officials have grown uncomfortable over Musk’s recent threat to stop supplying the Starlink satellite service to Ukraine — he said it had cost him $80 million so far — and what they see as his increasingly Russia-friendly stance following a series of tweets that outlined peace proposals favorable to President Vladimir Putin. They are also concerned by his plans to buy Twitter with a group of foreign investors.
Politico reported on Monday that the US government might help pay for the network, but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the company has “already withdrawn its request for funding.”
Over the weekend, Musk tweeted that SpaceX would keep providing service to the Ukrainian government for free despite claiming the company is losing money by doing so.
SpaceX’s Dragon Endurance spacecraft is set to launch with four astronauts on board, two of whom will usher in firsts for space flight.
Nicole Mann will make history as the first indigenous woman from NASA to launch into space. She also will be the first female commander of the Dragon crew capsule. Roscosmos’ Anna Kikina will be the first Russian cosmonaut on the SpaceX Crew Dragon.
