SpaceX

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

Unlike the 5th flight test, this one didn’t include a tower catch for the booster, as “automated health checks of critical hardware on the launch and catch tower triggered an abort of the catch attempt,” and it diverted to the Gulf of Mexico.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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

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.

Last week, Musk claimed the satellite internet company “would probably have saved lives” in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina if the FCC didn’t “illegally” revoke Starlink’s funding.

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.

The company is investigating the root cause. In the meantime, as Space notes, a California satellite launch that was scheduled for today has been postponed.

At 9:10AM ET, the agency will kick off a livestream of the start of the Crew-9 mission meant to bring stranded NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams back to Earth next year.

Out of the loop? Check our storystream on the Boeing Starliner issues that left them stuck on ISS. Liftoff is scheduled for 1:17PM ET today.

It’s taken just four years and more than 6,000 satellites placed into low Earth orbit — at a rate of about 24 per launch — with service now in over 100 countries.

As noted by TechCrunch:

The milestone would mean that SpaceX has gained a million new customers since the end of May alone. This outpaces the company’s already impressive rate of growth: Starlink started providing beta service of its product in October 2020; it hit 1 million subscribers in December 2022, 2 million subscribers in September 2023, and 3 million in May.

I’ve been a user since 2022 and am currently testing the Starlink Mini — ask me anything.

Two weeks ago it was United announcing fast free in-flight Wi-Fi for all. Who’s next? 

The Federal Aviation Administration can’t “keep pace with the commercial spaceflight industry” and “lacks the resources” to respond to mission changes, SpaceX said in a letter sent in response to $633,000 in federal fines for launching two missions with unapproved changes. SpaceX owner Elon Musk has promised to sue the agency, but it seems as if we’re still in the “strongly worded letter” phase of this particular feud.

At 3:38AM ET, SpaceX confirmed the successful conclusion of its historic Polaris Dawn mission, which took four people, including Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, farther into space than any astronaut has been in decades.

During the flight, Isaacman and Gillis became the first private astronauts to conduct a spacewalk. Gillis also recorded herself playing violin while in space, as Engadget notes.

After a historic spacewalk, the Polaris Dawn crew sent a message to Earth using Starlink’s laser communication technology. SpaceX has already started selling its “Plug and Plaser” tech to other companies to help improve communication from space.

Or is it a sound stage? Interesting.

When Dragon’s hatch opens for astronauts Sarah Gillis and Jared Isaacman, all four Polaris Dawn crewmembers will be exposed to the vacuum of space, according to SpaceX.

Gillis and Isaacman will then exit the spacecraft for about 12 minutes to perform the spacewalk and conduct suit mobility tests.

At 5:23AM ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully launched the four-person all-civilian crew into space on the multi-day mission. Among other things, they’ll be conducting the first-ever space walk by commercial astronauts wearing SpaceX-developed suits, and testing Starlink’s laser-based communications.