Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | imaginima) More broadband-industry groups are lining up against SpaceX’s bid to get nearly $900 million in Federal Communications Commission funding. Two groups representing fiber and rural Internet providers yesterday submitted a report to the FCC claiming that Starlink will hit a capacity shortfall in 2028, when the satellite service may […]
Enlarge / A stack of 60 Starlink satellites launched in 2019. (credit: SpaceX) A new SpaceX filing outlines plans for Starlink to offer phone service, emergency backup for voice calls, and cheaper plans for people with low incomes through the government’s Lifeline program. The details are in Starlink’s petition to the Federal Communications Commission for […]
Enlarge / A SpaceX Starlink user terminal/satellite dish. (credit: SpaceX) Lobby groups for small ISPs are urging the Federal Communications Commission to investigate whether SpaceX can deliver on its broadband promises and to consider blocking the satellite provider’s rural-broadband funding. Meanwhile, SpaceX says the Starlink beta is now serving high-speed broadband to 10,000 users. SpaceX […]
Liftoff of SN9 sure looked fine on Tuesday afternoon. [credit: Trevor Mahlmann ] Once again, on Tuesday afternoon, a Starship prototype soared into the clear skies above South Texas like something out of the pages of a science fiction novel. Once again, after reaching a high altitude, the spaceship leaned into a “belly flop” maneuver, […]
Enlarge / A Starship on the pad, and a second on the way in South Texas. (credit: Elon Musk/Twitter) SpaceX finally has won approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to launch its Starship prototype vehicle SN9 in South Texas. The notification came early Tuesday morning, when the FAA posted “The SpaceX Starship launch is scheduled […]
Enlarge / Jared Isaacman at SpaceX Headquarters in Hawthorne, California. (credit: SpaceX) SpaceX announced Monday that it will fly a space tourism flight as early as the fourth quarter of this year, billing it as the first “all-civilian” mission to space. A tech entrepreneur named Jared Isaacman has financed the mission, named “Inspiration4,” and will […]
Enlarge / Starship prototype SN9 has not launched yet. (credit: SpaceX) There were moments of high drama on Thursday afternoon, and again Friday morning, in South Texas. For two days in a row, SpaceX evacuated the handful of residents remaining in Boca Chica Village. Sheriff’s deputies cleared beaches and closed roads. And at the company’s […]
Enlarge / Northrop Grumman conducted a validation test of its GEM 63XL rocket motor on Jan. 21 at its Promontory, Utah, facility. (credit: Northrop Grumman) Welcome to Edition 3.31 of the Rocket Report! Most of the news this week has happened with bigger rockets, with an especially interesting bit concerning the Falcon Heavy rocket and […]
Enlarge / Starlink logo imposed on stylized image of the Earth. (credit: Starlink) SpaceX has begun launching Starlink satellites with laser links that will help provide broadband coverage in polar regions. As SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter on Sunday, these satellites “have laser links between the satellites, so no ground stations are needed […]
Enlarge / SN8 very nearly made a safe landing in South Texas in December. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann) It’s finally time to find out whether Starship prototype Serial No. 9 will become SN Fine or SN Nein. After a series of static fire tests on its latest Starship prototype, SpaceX appears set to launch the full-scale vehicle […]