Enlarge / Cars could eventually get satellite Internet from SpaceX Starlink. (credit: Getty Images | Ozgur Donmaz) SpaceX on Friday asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to deploy Starlink satellite broadband to passenger cars and other moving vehicles. The application describes SpaceX’s plans for Earth Stations in Motion (ESIMs) for automobiles, ships, and aircraft. […]
Enlarge / An orbital view of SpaceX’s South Texas launch site, with SN10 on the pad, in early March. (credit: Maxar Technologies) As part of a federal review process for its plans in South Texas, details of SpaceX’s proposed spaceport have been made public. They were posted late last week in a public notice from […]
Enlarge / The SpaceX Starlink satellite dish partway through a teardown. (credit: Ken Keither) SpaceX says it is building a factory in Austin, Texas, to design systems that will help make satellite dishes, Wi-Fi routers, and other equipment for its Starlink satellite broadband network. The news comes from a job posting for an automation and […]
This gallery of SN10 images shows the vehicle’s flight on Wednesday. [credit: Trevor Mahlmann ] So what, exactly, are we to make of the third flight of a full scale Starship prototype? If nothing else, Wednesday afternoon’s flight provided several minutes of first rate entertainment: Rocketship goes up. Rocketship comes down. Rocketship lands. And then, […]
Enlarge / Starship SN10 on the pad on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann) SpaceX may launch its third full-scale Starship prototype—named Serial Number 10, or SN10—as early as Wednesday from South Texas. With this vehicle, the company will seek to successfully land the Starship vehicle where the last two versions, SN8 and SN9, […]
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | skegbydave) SpaceX and Dish Network are fighting at the Federal Communications Commission over Dish’s attempt to block a key designation that SpaceX’s Starlink division needs in order to get FCC broadband funding. A SpaceX filing submitted yesterday said that Dish’s “baseless attempt” to block funding “would serve only to delay […]
Enlarge / The launch of Flight Three of the Falcon 1 rocket looked promising at the beginning. (credit: Chris Thompson/SpaceX) This is an excerpt from chapter eight of the book LIFTOFF: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX by our own Eric Berger. The book will be published on March 2, 2021. […]
Enlarge / A stack of 60 Starlink satellites launched in 2019. (credit: SpaceX) Starlink broadband speeds will double to 300Mbps “later this year,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter yesterday. SpaceX has been telling users to expect speeds of 50Mbps to 150Mbps since the beta began a few months ago. Musk also wrote that […]
Enlarge / At left, a glow can be seen on the horizon just as a Falcon 9 rocket was due to land. (credit: SpaceX webcast) A Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday night carrying its payload of 60 Starlink satellites. After dropping off the second stage in a parking […]
Enlarge / Screenshot from the Starlink order page, with the street address blotted out. (credit: SpaceX Starlink) SpaceX this week began accepting preorders for Starlink broadband, asking for $99 deposits for service that would be available in the second half of this year. To start the process, you can go to Starlink’s website and enter […]