SpaceX

According to Bloomberg and user reports, T-Mobile’s list of eligible devices for beta testing Starlink direct-to-cell connections now includes iPhones. While only a few Samsung Galaxy devices were supported at first, now iPhone owners with the most recent update can reportedly connect, as well as some people with Android 15 devices.

The Minor Planet Center (MPC), which tracks and reports minor planet discoveries, recently removed a new listing of a near-earth object after the amateur astronomer who found it realized it was just the Tesla Roadster that was stuck to a rocket that SpaceX launched in 2018, according to Astronomy Magazine.

SpaceX noted that for this seventh Starship flight test, “a significant number of tiles will be removed to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle.”

Qantas airlines airline has delayed some flights to avoid the rockets’ splashdown in the Indian Ocean, reports The Guardian. Some at the last minute, says Ben Holland, head of Qantas’s operations center:

With Musk cozying up to President-elect Donald Trump, more countries, including South Africa, are considering loosening requirements to allow Starlink to operate, Bloomberg reports:

Taipei wants to make its communications networks less vulnerable to Chinese attack. Starlink isn’t an option because of Musk’s business ties to China and his company’s refusal to relinquish control in a joint venture. And Eutelsat’s OneWeb constellation of low Earth satellites isn’t up to snuff, according to technology minister Wu Cheng-wen:

The satellite internet company received a Pentagon contract that will give 2,500 Starlink terminals access to Starshield, its secure satellite service for governments, according to Bloomberg. With this contract, Ukraine will have a total of 3,000 terminals connected to Starshield.

The Starship vehicle successfully reignited a single Raptor engine while in space before splashing down in the Indian Ocean, writes SpaceX.

The launch is happening in Boca Chica, Texas and is scheduled for 5PM ET. SpaceX’s stream for the launch is live now.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The “catch” marks SpaceX’s first successful touchdown of Starship’s booster back at its launch site in South Texas.

Starship launched about 25 minutes later than planned, at about 8:25AM ET, as SpaceX needed to clear its range of boats.

You can catch the livestream on SpaceX’s website, its X account, or the X TV app.

The company now expects its fifth Starship flight test to lift off at 8:25AM ET from its launch site in South Texas. SpaceX has a 30-minute window that started at 8AM ET, so it’s cutting it a little close.

The House Oversight Committee will investigate the FCC’s decision to deny the Elon Musk-owned Starlink $885.5 million in federal subsidies through the Rural Digital Opportunity fund in 2022.

The company has a guide on how to sign up on its website.

The rocket’s second stage “experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn” and missed its landing target following yesterday’s flight, SpaceX posted.