Business

Elon Musk Says Starlink Now At “Breakeven” Cash Flow

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says the Internet-providing satellite constellation Starlink has “achieved breakeven cash flow,” meaning it is now bringing in as much money as it spends.

Musk went on to say that Starlink now has the majority of active satellites in orbit and he expects the constellation to have most of the total satellites in orbit very soon.

This led some commentators to speculate that Musk could spin Starlink off with an Initial Public Offering very soon. He had previously hinted that Starlink could become a publicly traded company once cash flow became “predictable.”

SpaceX President Gwynn Shotwell had hinted that Starlink had a profitable quarter earlier this year. She also previously speculated that pinning down a respectable share of the global satellite Internet market could help SpaceX pay for its ultimate goal of launching crewed journeys to Mars.

SpaceX has been building out the Starlink constellation for four years and now has nearly 5,000 active satellites in orbit. It began launching the satellites as often as once every two weeks on the Falcon 9 rocket in 2019. It has also floated the possibility of launching the “Version 2” satellites on the Starship/Super Heavy stack once the heavy-duty rocket becomes operational.

Starlink currently has two million subscribers, many of them in regions that normally do not have reliable access to “landline” based Internet service. The service has been cited as a way to provide better access to services like telehealth and online education in rural areas where Internet access can be unreliable. It has also made deals with countries like Brazil and Chile to provide Internet access to remote communities.

Since launching the first operational Starlink satellites, SpaceX has rolled out plans for providing Internet service for large vehicles and maritime operations. It also got its first contract for the national defense-focused Starlink derivative, “Starshield,” from the Pentagon. It had previously beefed up cybersecurity for Starlink to fend off jamming attempts by Russia as part of the Russia-Ukraine war — something that Elon Musk said wasn’t cheap.

(To be fair, good cybersecurity can be expensive. Cybersecurity experts can earn well over $100,000 and sometimes as much as $200,000 annually.)

Starlink subscriptions aren’t cheap either. The baseline subscription fee is $199 per month and a $599 onetime fee for the “Starlink kit,” which includes a dish antenna that can connect to the Starlink satellite and a wireless router.

If your Starlink dish has trouble connecting in the winter, check it for small animals that might be using it to warm up. It has an internal heater to help prevent cold-weather stress on the electronics. If your outdoor pet has discovered this, consider bringing it inside during the winter to prevent this catastrophe.

Even with potential feline-related complications and the expensive subscription plan, enough people still consider Starlink “better than nothing” for Starlink to reach the break-even point.

Space

European Space Agency Signs Deal with SpaceX to Launch Galileo Satellites

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The European Space Agency signed a deal with SpaceX to launch four navigation and communication satellites for the Galileo constellation on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets. Each launch will contain two of the satellites.

The ESA had initially hesitated to use a foreign space launch service due to the classified information in the satellite constellation. However, it has become more flexible in choosing a launch service since most of Europe imposed sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. Arianespace has had issues with the development of the Ariane 6, the latest in its line of heavy-lift launchers. Arianspace’s Vega-C rocket launched seven satellites during its inaugural flight in July 2022. However, the Vega-C has faced issues with a rocket engine nozzle design that delayed further planned use of the rocket.

“We have 10 satellites that are ready to be launched, and those satellites should be in space, not on the ground,” said ESA director of navigation Javier Benedicto when discussing the decision to tap SpaceX to launch the four Galileo satellites.

The ESA is still considering who will launch the other six satellites and may not use SpaceX. This is notably the first time in 15 years that a Galileo satellite will be launched by a non-European launch service. It also marks the first time that SpaceX will launch a European-built satellite that contains classified information.

Last year, the ESA announced that it was phasing out the first generation of the Galileo satellites. These new satellites will replace them.

SpaceX previously made the ESA’s shortlist of international launch providers that could provide an alternative to the Russian Soyuz rocket. It recently launched the Euclid Space Telescope for the ESA. It also launched satellites for satellite Internet service rival OneWeb after OneWeb got cut off from using Russian rockets.

The deal still has to be approved by the European Commission and the European Union’s member states. The European Commission is looking into whether X (formerly Twitter) facilitated the spread of misinformation and hate speech surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict. An X spokesperson said that it had been doing the best it could to remove abusive content and has shut down Hamas-linked accounts. Despite the claims, X has had issues with spambots and abusive content since it scaled back its moderation team under Musk’s direction. Many major advertisers have left the platform since Musk took Twitter private.

However, it remains unknown whether the investigation into X will color the Commission’s decision on the ESA-SpaceX deal. The Wall Street Journal expects the approval to go through by the end of the year. Galileo is the European Union’s alternative to the United States’ GPS satellites and a Chinese satellite navigation system and is routinely used by European military forces. Dates for the satellite launches have not been selected yet.

SpaceX to Provide Access to Starlink Constellation for “Recognized” Aid Groups in Gaza

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk announced that SpaceX will provide Starlink-based Internet access to internationally recognized aid groups attempting to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza. It will also provide access to groups from the United Nations working in Gaza.

He had initially stated that it wasn’t clear who had the authority to coordinate ground links, but no ground station had attempted contact. Gaza lost most communications on October 27, likely due to Israeli Defense Force operations in the area.

Other X (formerly Twitter) accounts called for him to provide Starlink service to civilians in the Gaza strip and journalists working in Gaza. The announcement that he would support only internationally recognized aid groups was something he reiterated in several replies to X posts (formerly tweets) without giving a reason. Inofficially, he may wish to dodge any possibility of inadvertently supporting terrorist groups like Hamas.

Other corporations, such as the cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Binance, recently faced scrutiny for allegedly facilitating money laundering for Hamas. When called out for it, though, Binance swiveled to helping Israeli authorities seize assets in Hamas’ exchange accounts. As a Dogecoin fan, Elon Musk would likely have caught wind of this news and decided to play it cautiously by providing Starlink service only to international aid groups and the United Nations.

SpaceX previously demonstrated Starlink’s ability to provide communications in a crisis zone by providing connectivity to the island of Tonga after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted. It also provided Starlink kits to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service for the response to tornadoes in Kentucky. Washington State used Starlink to help coordinate its firefighting efforts during the wildfires of 2020.

Meanwhile, Israel says it is in talks with SpaceX to provide Starlink service as a wartime backup. Elon Musk was recently heavily criticized for refusing to provide service to Ukraine during an offensive in the Crimea region.

Local telecommunications company Paltel blamed the service disruptions on Israel’s aerial bombardments of the region. Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari says its defense forces are expanding operations in Gaza.

Some individuals on Twitter/X expressed concern about friends they had in Gaza in the wake of the communications cutoff. One person asked if anyone had heard anything.

The conflict started when Hamas launched an attack just across the border and took several hostages, including women, the elderly, and children. The corpses of some of the hostages have since been found. A few hostages with dual citizenship have been released. Victims include attendees of a music festival that had been taking place near the Gaza strip.

Elon Musk’s decision to provide Starlink service for internationally recognized aid groups is a cautious but positive step. He may simply be concerned about the risk of inadvertently helping terrorist groups by failing to fully vet the parties he provides Starlink-based communications to in this latest Israel-Hamas conflict.

Space

NASA Launches Psyche Mission on SpaceX Falcon Heavy

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

NASA launched its Psyche probe from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on October 13, 2023, at 10:19 am EDT. The launch became the first launch of an interplanetary mission for SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy.

The core Falcon Heavy rocket spent all its fuel to ensure that Psyche obtains the best trajectory for its 2.2-billion-mile journey. SpaceX did not plan on retrieving the core booster for reuse. However, it did retrieve the two side boosters for refurbishment and reuse.

SpaceX says the side boosters could be reused for future launches like an upcoming Falcon Heavy launch for the Department of Defense and the launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper as early as October 6, 2024. Future missions also include a weather observation satellite for NOAA and the launch of the first components of NASA’s Gateway space station, which will orbit the Moon.

“This is the beginning of a suite of amazing science missions we have coming up on Falcon Heavy,” said SpaceX Civil Satellite Mission Chief Julianna Scheiman during a post-launch press conference.

The Psyche probe will travel to an asteroid of the same name in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This asteroid has a high metals content. Scientists plan to study this asteroid for clues on the formation of “rocky” planets like Earth and Mars.

Psyche might have once been part of a planetesimal, or a proto-planet that never finished forming and might have broken apart due to collisions and gravitational forces. Initial studies of its makeup indicate that it might have been part of the planetesimal’s core, which makes sending a probe to this asteroid a more attractive proposition than any “journey to the center of the Earth.”

Psyche might also be a completely different type of object that just happens to have a high metals content. This would make it a completely unique primordial object that can provide additional clues about the early solar system.

Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis discovered Psyche in 1852. More recent observations of this asteroid came close to sparking a space-based “gold rush” involving several startups that would very much like to mine an asteroid like Psyche — if only they could get out to the asteroid belt. Initial analyses indicate that its iron and nickel content could be worth up to $10 quintillion at current metals prices.

That sounds pretty impressive for an asteroid that is only 140 miles in diameter. Of course, Psyche isn’t the only potential quintillion-dollar asteroid out there. Another asteroid called Davida is estimated to contain metals worth $27 quintillion.

Naturally, SpaceX may be doing the smart thing by “selling shovels,” or at least providing launch services for missions like the Psyche probe.

NASA made the Psyche probe the first to use Hall-effect thrusters, which use tennis-court-sized solar arrays to power an electric propulsion system. This propulsion system generates xenon ions that are expelled at high speed to produce thrust. Psyche can use this system’s four thrusters to steadily accelerate toward its target asteroid.

The Psyche probe will reach the asteroid in July 2029. On the way, it will make a Mars flyby for a gravitational assist. Scientists and mission team members plan to spend 21 months using its instruments to map and analyze Psyche’s surface.

SpaceX Publishes Details on Direct-to-Cell Starlink Service

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

According to a new page on SpaceX’s official Starlink website, the company is planning a Starlink-based direct-to-cell service. The plans include texting service as early as 2024 and voice, data, and an “Internet of Things” application in 2025.

The service will be available on existing LTE phones and requires only a clear view of the sky. The thousands of Starlink satellites in orbit, with more being launched frequently, makes this kind of service possible.

By the time the direct-to-cell service goes live, some of the satellites will have an eModeB modem on board. SpaceX plans to launch the satellites with this new capability on the Falcon 9, and then the Starship rocket when it becomes operational. eModeB, or E-UTRAN Node B, connects mobile handsets with the mobile phone network.

SpaceX also says the newly equipped satellites will communicate with other Starlink satellites through a laser communications backhaul to ensure global connectivity.

This service will make it possible for cellular devices to connect to the mobile phone network even when they cannot get a line-of-sight connection with nearby cellular towers. This may make the new service attractive to people in remote or mountainous terrain where there hasn’t been a lot of investment in cellular service — the same promise that made Starlink’s Internet service popular for people in remote areas who do not have many good options for Internet access. Direct-to-cell service will have the additional perk of allowing individuals who have an emergency in a “dead zone” to call for help.

SpaceX already has deals with cellular providers to provide the direct-to-cell service. These providers include the United States’ T-Mobile, Canada’s Rogers, Japan’s KDDI, Australia’s Optus, New Zealand’s One NZ, and Switzerland’s Salt. It has already filed for permission to launch the service in cooperation with T-Mobile with the FCC.

Last year, Elon Musk said SpaceX was in talks with Apple to provide Internet access to iPhones. Apple said only that it planned to make its iPhones capable of making emergency calls through communications satellites. It did not confirm that it planned to use Starlink.

Others were curious about whether SpaceX planned to launch its own cell phone with the direct-to-cell service already implemented. However, SpaceX has not floated any plans in that regard.

Interested in helping to speed up Starlink’s new direct-to-cell service? I don’t blame you because, seriously, this could save lives just by making it more possible to make emergency calls in dead zones. As always, SpaceX is hiring. (No worries if you’re not an engineer. A position that will have you working with “space lasers” for Starlink might seem a little wacky to people who have long memories right now anyway. There’s a position for sous chef open!)

Business

SpaceX Settles Allegations of Stifling Employee’s Speech

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX has settled allegations of stifling an employee’s right to discuss workplace conditions with other SpaceX employees. The U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed the allegations after the employee complained.

The unnamed employee had communicated with SpaceX’s human resources department about issues in the workplace. He had been told not to discuss the matter with coworkers.

The complaint with the NLRB was filed in September 2022. The NLRB alleged that SpaceX reprimanded the employee for discussing potential collective action “involving opposition to offensive racial comments in the workplace.”

The settlement requires that SpaceX file a notice of employees’ rights at its workplace in Redmond, Washington, and digitally notify employees of their rights. The Redmond facility produces Starlink satellites.

SpaceX did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement. Neither has it issued a statement or responded to media queries about the complaint.

The NLRB can require that companies change their policies or reinstate fired employees if they violate labor regulations, but cannot impose fines or hold senior employees personally liable for violations.

Elon Musk’s companies have faced several complaints about potentially toxic and racially charged workplace environments. Most recently, the Justice Department alleged that SpaceX discriminates against refugees and asylum seekers when making employment-related decisions.

SpaceX denies the allegations, saying that it gets thousands of applications for each position and hiring foreign nationals who have not been fully vetted for certain positions may violate national security-related regulations. SpaceX frequently bids on military launch contracts, including occasionally launching classified payloads. It has filed a request to dismiss the lawsuit, alleging that the venue selected by the Justice Department denies it the right to a jury trial.

The NLRB is also investigating the dismissal of nine employees who complained about the workplace environment. These employees had signed a letter protesting “inappropriate, disparaging, sexually charged comments” that Elon Musk had posted on X (formerly Twitter).

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has also filed a lawsuit against Tesla alleging a hostile workplace environment at its factory in Fremont, California. Tesla has faced years’ worth of complaints from employees alleging the prevalence of racial slurs and occasional racist graffiti in restrooms.

Tesla also lost its appeal of a court case in which the NLRB alleged retaliation against employees who were attempting to unionize. The case involved a tweet posted by Elon Musk that the NLRB interpreted as an illegal threat against employees who were advocating for a union.

X/Twitter recently settled the NLRB’s allegations of retaliation against employees who protested against its “return to the office” policy. Many employees previously worked remotely.

California’s legislature introduced a bill meant to strengthen the rights of employees in the event of layoffs after Twitter required that laid-off employees sign a non-disparagement clause to receive severance pay.

The National Labor Relations Board’s latest settlement with an Elon Musk-headed company continues Elon Musk’s often-rocky relationship with regulators. In this case, it settled a complaint that SpaceX attempted to stifle an employee’s speech when handling a Human Resources-related matter.

Space

SpaceX Lands Pentagon Contract for Starshield

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

In December 2022, SpaceX unveiled Starshield, a proposed application for the internet-providing Starlink satellite constellation. Now the Pentagon has awarded SpaceX a one-year contract for Starshield that could be worth up to $70 million.

The contract allows for “end-to-end service” that includes Starlink terminals, access to the Starlink constellation’s communications capabilities, ancillary equipment, and network management. The contract will provide services for fifty service partners across all branches of the military. SpaceX is expected to receive the first payment of $15 million by October 1.

SpaceX began providing Starlink-based service to Ukraine’s defense forces near the beginning of the Russian invasion and bolstered the Starlink satellites’ ability to resist jamming. The Pentagon previously praised Starlink’s increased cybersecurity — which is, of course, not cheap when attempting to counter serious attackers like the Russian military. U.S. authorities also warned that SpaceX, an aerospace contractor that routinely launches satellites for the military, is likely to be a prime target for espionage. Elon Musk had complained about burning through cash to keep Starlink functional in Ukraine while negotiating with the Pentagon to cover the expenses.

However, SpaceX and Elon Musk recently drew a considerable amount of criticism for refusing to activate Starlink in the Crimea region to support a Ukrainian counteroffensive against the Russian navy. Ukraine says the refusal cost lives by denying it an important avenue of communications for its military forces.

The Department of Defense may be equally interested in the redundancy that comes with having thousands of Starlink satellites in orbit — especially ones that it did not have to pay SpaceX to launch. SpaceX owns Starlink and the Department of Defense only needs to pay for access to a constellation that cannot easily be disabled by jamming or hacking a few satellites.

According to Elon Musk, Starlink is meant for civilian applications and Starshield is a variant meant for “national security” interests. He says Starshield will primarily be managed by the U.S. Space Force.

SpaceX is competing with other satellite Internet companies for up to $900 million in contracts. Future competitors may include Amazon’s Project Kuiper, which is currently facing an investor lawsuit over allegations that Jeff Bezos’ feud with Elon Musk leaked over into a refusal to consider launching Project Kuiper satellites on SpaceX’s rockets. ViaSat naturally has an Internet satellite constellation. However, its satellites are in a geosynchronous orbit that is far more distance than Starlink’s low-earth orbit, which hurts their signals’ response time. OneWeb is a Europe-based company.

The Pentagon previously found Starlink’s enhanced cybersecurity attractive. Now it has awarded an up-to-$70 million contract to SpaceX for access to Starlink to take advantage of the Starshield derivative.

Space

Axiom Space Selects Axiom-3 Crew

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Axiom Space has selected the crew for its third privately funded mission to the International Space Station.

Retired NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría will command Axiom-3. He has previously commanded Axiom-1. His NASA experience includes three space shuttle missions and a role as commander for the International Space Station’s Expedition 14. He joined Axiom Space after retiring from NASA in 2012.

“The Ax-3 mission will be transformational as it fosters partnerships outside the construct of the ISS, and positions European nations as pioneers of the emerging commercial space industry,” López-Alegría said in Axiom Space’s crew announcement.

The crew also includes Italian Air Force Colonel Walter Villadei, who previously flew on Virgin Galactic’s first commercial launch in June 2023, as seen in the below video. He also trained on the Russian Soyuz, though he never had a chance to fly on the Russian spacecraft.

European Space Agency reserve astronaut Marcus Wandt will also fly on Axiom-3. ESA’s reserve astronauts are ones who passed the selection process but have not yet been selected for a flight opportunity. During the Axiom-3 mission, Wandt will also participate in ESA’s “Munnin” mission, which takes its name from a raven belonging to the Norse god Odin.

Alper Gezeravcı will become Turkiye’s first citizen in space. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had pledged that Gezeravcı would fly by the end of 2023 as part of an event announcing his selection as an astronaut candidate.

Axiom-3 is expected to fly no earlier than November 2023. It will use a SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon as part of Axiom Space’s multi-launch contract with SpaceX.

This will be Axiom Space’s third flight to the International Space Station as part of preparations for the inflatable modules that will be added to the space station. These modules are expected to be “spun off” into one of the first privately owned space stations before the International Space Station is expected to be retired. Space on the Axiom space station will be available to rent, an option for NASA as it refocuses its efforts on the Artemis Program and the Lunar Gateway. NASA says this will help reduce the gap between the retirement of the International Space Station and launching new space stations into Earth orbit. NASA’s previous space station, Skylab, had fallen back into the atmosphere and burned up over Australia before the space agency could get the Space Shuttle operational. (Australians reported finding pieces of Skylab that had survived the trip through the atmosphere.)

Axiom Space works closely with NASA on this series of flights, include the coordination of supplies for the privately funded visits to the space station and an option to bring samples back to Earth on the Crew Dragon for various biomedical experiments.

As someone who already has experience on the space station, López-Alegría might also help with experiments on the space station when he isn’t busy with AX-3 related duties. Current biomedical experiments include a study of cardiac tissue in microgravity that could improve treatment of cardiac ailments on Earth.

Axiom Space also expects to work more closely with government space agencies for the foreseeable future, including transporting astronauts to the space station for ISS partners. It had previously provided rides to paying customers, though NASA required that any private mission to the space station be commanded by an astronaut like Peggy Whitson or Michael López-Alegría, who both previously worked for NASA before joining Axiom Space.

Telesat Selects SpaceX to Launch Broadband Satellites

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Canadian broadband communications company Telesat tapped SpaceX to launch its “Lightspeed” satellite constellation. The first satellites will launch in 2026 and the full constellation will be in orbit by late 2027 if everything goes as planned.

According to Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg, the company chose SpaceX for “the best combination of price, performance, reliability and schedule tempo.”

SpaceX also previously launched a Telesat satellite in 2018, as seen in the below video. Referred to as Telstar 19V, this satellite maneuvered its way to a geostationary orbit after launch.

The contract includes 14 launches, which can contain as many of 18 satellites apiece. No dollar value was given for the launch contract. Telesat has 198 Lightspeed satellites planned but could expand the constellation to fill up the “extra” launches.

Telesat recently moved the contract to build the 198 planned satellites from Thales Alenia Space to MDA Ltd. Goldberg cited variables that included COVID-19, supply chain issues, and inflation as reasons for the move. The need to move this contract became one reason for delaying the launches by as much as three years.

Lightspeed will provide broadband Internet service from low Earth orbit (LEO). LEO allows signals to travel faster from endpoint to endpoint by reducing the distance they need to travel compared to geostationary orbits.

Satellites in LEO typically orbit at an altitude of only a few hundred miles. This reduces the distance that a signal relayed by the satellites would have to travel compared to geostationary orbit, which is typically 35,786 kilometers (22,236 miles) above Earth’s equator.

SpaceX’s Starlink also uses LEO to reduce latency, or the amount of response time for signals — a sticking point for some competitors like ViaSat, which has Internet satellites in geostationary orbit.

Unlike Starlink, Telesat’s Lightspeed will exclusively focus on serving governments and enterprise-level customers like shipping companies and aircraft that rely on mobility. Starlink does have licenses to provide service for maritime operations and large vehicles. However, most of its customers are individuals in regions that have very few options for reliable high-speed Internet.

Satellite launches like the new Lightspeed contract accounts for a considerable amount of the demand for launches from U.S. soil. SpaceX still frequently launches new Starlink satellites and has several contracts to launch government- and privately-owned satellies. It is on track to set a new company record for number of launches in a year with 64 launches so far in 2023.

For Elon Musk’s occasional needling of competitors, SpaceX does not seem to mind launching satellites for competitors in the satellite Internet sector. It has launched satellites for ViaSat and OneWeb in what could be seen as a “no hard feelings” move on SpaceX’s part. However, Jeff Bezos allegedly snubbed SpaceX when selecting launch providers for Project Kuiper, which led to an ongoing investor lawsuit. Apparently, shareholders don’t think it’s cool to for Bezos to put his feud with Elon Musk above sound business practices.

SpaceX became known for its reliability in launching satellites, including its “Transporter” series of rideshare launches, in an environment in which satellite launches make up the vast majority of launches from U.S. soil. It became one reason Telesat selected it to launch the Lightspeed constellation.

Business

Elon Musk’s “X” Files Lawsuit to Invalidate California’s Content Moderation Legislation

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

X has filed a lawsuit to stop enforcement of California’s new state-level content moderation law, Assembly Bill 587. It alleges that the measure could have a chilling effect on rights outlined in the First Amendment to the Constitution, especially free speech laws.

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed the bill into law. One provision of the bill requires that websites and online services publish their privacy policy if they collect users’ personal information.

Supporters of the bill call it a “transparency measure.” It also requires online companies to publish a twice-annual report that includes details on their moderation of specific content categories that include hate speech or racism, extremism or radicalization, disinformation or misinformation, harassment, and foreign political interference.

When signing the bill, Newsom said, “California will not stand by as social media is weaponized to spread hate and disinformation that threaten our communities and foundational values as a country.”

However, the lawsuit alleges, statements from supporters indicate they mean to put a dampener on free speech rights by forcing websites like X (formerly Twitter) to remove speech that the state dislikes.

It cites a California assembly report that says, “If social media companies are forced to disclose what they do in this regard [apparently, moderating content], it may pressure them to become better corporate citizens by doing more to eliminate hate speech and disinformation.”

The lawsuit further argues that the bill would force corporations like X, a social media platform, to do what U.S. State governments cannot, according to the Constitution: “The true intent of the bill is to pressure social media platforms to ‘eliminate’ certain constitutionally-protected content viewed by the State as problematic.”

Similar lawsuits against measures in Florida and Texas are currently winding their way through the court system. These measures take the opposite approach of forbidding online platforms to censor speech based on political slant, especially right-wing content that often gets flagged as hate speech or misinformation. If the court system allows all three measures to stand, platforms like X that rely on user-generated content may have to pick and choose which States to even operate in.

Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon says the satire site filed its own lawsuit to block Assembly Bill’s 587 earlier this year. However, the case was dismissed. He expressed confidence that X’s lawsuit would be less easy for California to have dismissed — likely because X might be seen as a joke in some quarters since Elon Musk took ownership, but its purpose isn’t necessarily satire.

Others questioned why California seemed to be singling out social media platforms and not other services that publish content online, like many news stations like MSM.

One possible explanation is that Elon Musk has a reputation for pushing back against U.S. state- and federal-level governments and regulatory agencies. He famously got into a serious disagreement with California when it shut down Tesla’s Fremont Gigafactory as part of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The State of California has since declared the factory an essential business, but not before Elon Musk moved Tesla’s headquarters out of the state and sold his Californian homes.

He has also reacted to President Biden’s apparent snubbing of Tesla. Elizabeth Warren also seems to dislike Musk enough to run Facebook ads criticizing him even though Musk is not running for public office, let alone against Warren.

To Musk’s credit, though, he pushed back against the governor of Texas when the governor tried draw him into discussions of some of Texas’ controversial social policies.

X’s lawsuit challenging Assembly Bill 587 will likely wind its way through the courts while some may scratch their heads regarding why California chose to target social media platforms recently. It may be a pure coincidence that Elon Musk is unpopular among many Democrats — possibly including state officials and politicians in California who remember that he pushed back against the State of California’s response to COVID-19.

FAA Completes Mishap Report for Abortive Starship/Super Heavy Orbital Test

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The FAA announced completion of its mishap investigation for SpaceX’s abortive Starship/Super Heavy orbital test on April 20. The Starship/Super Heavy stack had suffered a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly only a few minutes into the flight after the first stage failed to separate from the prototype Starship spacecraft. Some first stage rocket engines also failed to activate during the launch.

The FAA reported multiple root causes of the mishap and identified 63 issues that SpaceX needs to fix before it can launch another prototype for a similar test. The issues included redesigns of vehicle hardware to prevent leaks and fires, redesign of the launch pad to increase its robustness, incorporation of additional reviews in the design process, additional analysis and testing of safety critical systems and components including the Autonomous Flight Safety System, and the application of additional change control practices.

The FAA clarified that completion of the report does not equal approval for another test launch at its facility in Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX must still go through the application process before it can conduct another test. This echoed a previous FAA warning that it wasn’t going to approve another Starship/Super Heavy launch until SpaceX met its conditions.

Elon Musk was slightly less sharp in his commentary about the regulatory process than normal while acknowledging that SpaceX was just waiting on FAA approval for the next test launch. He had previously estimated that the Starship/Super Heavy prototype could launch in as little as six to eight weeks after the previous abortive test.

Elon Musk says SpaceX has already made several significant changes to the Starship/Super Heavy stack and the launchpad. The changes include a modified procedure for stage separation that is similar to the ones the Russians use for the Soyuz spacecraft.

The launchpad had previously been badly damaged during the attempted orbital test flight and now sports a water deluge system similar to the one that NASA used for Space Shuttle launches. The water deluge system is meant to help neutralize any heat, sound, and vibrations that can damage a launchpad.

(Of course, environmental regulators complained about THAT, too. They say SpaceX failed to obtain proper licensing for the deluge system, which requires a way to control the release of pollutants that might be left behind when the water boils off.)

SpaceX began making changes to the management for Starship/Super Heavy development even before the abortive test flight. It added direct supervisory roles to the list of duties for SpaceX President Gwynn Shotwell and Vice President Mark Juncosa in November 2022. It also hired former NASA Commercial Crew Program chief Kathy Lueders as Starship’s general manager.

The application process for the previous attempt at an orbital test took nearly two years, with the number of comments received and environmental impact report requirements accounting for some of the delays. Even with the amount of time it took, environmentalist groups alleged that the FAA was too hasty in its approval in a lawsuit they filed. The FAA and SpaceX have requested that the lawsuit be dismissed.

As usual with anything involving space launches or an Elon Musk-run company, things don’t always go as desired or even as fast as Musk would like. However, as usual, excitement is guaranteed.

Space

Crew-6 Departs International Space Station

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Crew-6 has departed the International Space Station in the Crew Dragon “Endeavour” after a brief delay due to Hurricane Idalia. Idalia primarily hit the Gulf Coast in Florida, causing concern about the safety of the splashdown site.

Crew-7 launched on August 26, 2023, and reached the International Space Station to begin a handover process that typically lasts a few days.

Crew-6 spent six months on the space station, conducting experiments and research. It became especially known for the first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to serve a long-duration mission on the space station. Sultan Alneyadi joined the crew as part of a deal between the UAE, SpaceX, and NASA.

NASA is expected to livestream the Endeavour’s reentry and splashdown later today (September 3).

Crew-6 has been on the International Space Station since March 3, 2023. Along with Alneyadi, its crew included NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, along with Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

Although the weather was foul — and, yes, caused flooding, damage, and power-outs on the gulf coast — Endeavour remained in good enough shape for flight controllers to give the go-ahead for undocking once everything cleared out. This mission was Endeavour’s fourth flight. It previously flew Demo-2 with Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, the Crew-2 mission, and the Axiom-1 mission.

Axiom-1 was the first fully private mission to visit the International Space Station and was organized by Axiom Space to begin preparing for the arrival of Axiom Space’s inflatable modules. The company eventually plans to spin those modules off into a privately owned space station that NASA can rent space on.

While Endeavour reenters and recovery ships retrieve it, a perimeter will be established to prevent privately owned boats from getting too close. This had been an issue during Demo-2, when curiosity-seekers with boats got too close to the splashdown sight.

Valuable experiments conducted by Crew-6 included a study of heart, brain, and cartilage tissue samples in microgravity. Two studies featured drugs that could have benefits for cardiac patients on Earth. The crew also tested the ways that certain materials burn in microgravity, which could help with the development of more advanced firefighting equipment on Earth.

The crew also upgraded equipment on the International Space Station, including adding a new model of solar panel that had been delivered on a SpaceX Cargo Dragon. This solar panel is designed to roll out like a sleeping bag, making it easier to stow in an automated cargo spacecraft. The new panels will supplement the familiar, yet aging, “rigid” solar panels that had been delivered to the space station by the Space Shuttle.

(This would be a cool spinoff for portable applications, by the way. Imagine getting to your campsite and you can just roll out a solar panel to keep your devices charged the way you’d roll out a sleeping bag. A search on Amazon only turned up some “flexible” and “thinner” solar panels. For now, though, one can only watch NASA’s spinoff page for news.)

Now that Crew-6 is returning to Earth, the crew will be expected to spend time readjusting to life on Earth. NASA is still improving its understanding of the health effects of long-duration space missions using the International Space Station. However, it’s normal for returning crew members to have issues with their balance, blood pressure, and senses while they readjust. They may even misplace items due to being used to them staying in midair or drifting off with the flow of air when they let go:

However, they are likely to hold a post-mission press conference as soon as they can. For right now, Crew-6 is on its way back to Earth after a successful six-month mission on the International Space Station.

Business

Elon Musk Denies Plans to Add Native Token as “X” Obtains Another Currency Transmitter License

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The social media platform formerly known as Twitter obtained a Rhode Island Currency Transmitter license. It already has a federal money transmitter license. However, it still has to go state by state to obtain regional licenses.

A money or currency transmitter license allows companies to hold and send money on behalf of their clients. “Money transmitters” like PayPal or CashApp are third-party apps that function differently from truly decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which does not require a third party to function.

The new state license added fuel to speculation that Elon Musk plans to turn “X” into a platform for holding, trading, buying, and selling with cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin. However, it hasn’t had the effect on Dogecoin’s price that past comments and actions from Elon Musk have had. Traders may be taking a “wait and see” attitude to see what Musk actually does with it.

Musk has spoken of turning X into an “everything app” that can be used for everything from ordering food delivery to booking a hotel, something that people typically have to download multiple apps for.

“Elon’s dream is to make Twitter, aka X, into this super global DApp that can be used for everything … including having a crypto wallet and being able to conduct crypto payments,” the founder of CryptosRUs, who goes by “George,” told The Street.

Historically, adoption of crypto has been good for digital asset markets through a combination of people actually using it to buy stuff and gaining greater visibility for digital assets, something that George obliquely referred to: “Any kind of announcement of that magnitude will definitely be very good for the entire market.”

Elon Musk managed to buy back the X.com domain from PayPal and has been squatting on it until now. He had originally envisioned X.com as an online financial institution that could provide an alternative to traditional brick-and-mortar banks. Now his vision may be back in force with the rise of digital assets, which may help make it a reality.

Several probably-fraudulent “X Tokens” have popped up on decentralized exchanges (DEX) since Elon Musk changed Twitter’s name to X. Digital asset insiders like crypto fund DFG founder James Wo warned against touching them despite the chance of big returns if they get pumped by pump groups.

“Meme coins are huge parts of the crypto trading landscape, whether we like it or not. … Meme trading is a risky way to try to seek excessive return.”

Despite the rise of unofficial-at-best “meme coins,” Musk has denied plans to introduce a native token for X.

Several other platforms that introduced a native token have failed and so have companies that used the native tokens to pad their books. The FTX exchange went bankrupt and dragged down Alameda Research, which had billions of dollars’ worth of FTX’s native FTT token in its ledger and was allegedly trading with FTX users’ funds. Celsius Network’s CEL token cratered in value now that Celsius Network went bankrupt. So Elon Musk may reasonably hesitate to do much more than add already-existing digital assets that are already widely used to a future “Everything App.”

A future exchange and marketplace for cryptocurrency users may already be in the works as Elon Musk does his best to accelerate the “Everything App.” However, any token claiming to be the official “Twitter” or “X” token is not to be trusted. Elon Musk does not plan to launch a native token for X.

Space

SpaceX Launches Crew-7 to International Space Station

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX has launched the Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station on Saturday, August 26, at 3:27 am EDT. The crew includes astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli (NASA), Andreas Mogensen from Denmark (European Space Agency), Satoshi Furukawa (JAXA), and Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov. Crew-7 will replace Crew-6 on the space station after a brief handover period.

The launch was originally scheduled for August 25, but was delayed by about a day to allow engineers and technicians more time to inspect the life support system and environmental controls on the Crew Dragon. Valves on the Dragon had been a concern due to several recent in-flight malfunctions. Before today’s launch, technicians inspected a potential propellant leak and cleared it as too minor to be a concern.

This flight notably marks the second time that crew members from four different nations launched on the same mission from U.S. soil. The first time was a 2001 Space Shuttle mission in support of the International Space Station.

Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli is the daughter of Iranian immigrants who became a test pilot in the US Marine Corps. NASA selected her as an astronaut in 2017. Her parents fled the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Now she hopes her mission will inspire young Iranians.

She told the press, “Something I didn’t recognize is it’s really important for kids to see someone they connect to in some way, whether that’s Iranian girls or Iranian children looking up to me because I’m also Iranian and realizing they, too, can do this.”

Cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov praised NASA’s professionalism even in the face of poor Russia-U.S. relations due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine: “It has been both very relaxed and very professional. I want to point out that it’s really important that we continue that relationship.”

Mogensen is an aerospace engineer and former oil rig engineer who was selected by ESA in 2009. He previously served a 10-day mission on the space station in 2009. WIth this mission, Mogensen becomes the first international astronaut to serve as pilot on a U.S.-built spacecraft launched from American soil.

Having previously flown on the Soyuz, Mogensen was quick to note differences that include more advanced ground support for the Crew Dragon. The support includes better radio contact with the ground and digital systems that can be used to send commands and telemetry back and forth between the Crew Dragon and SpaceX’s mission control center in Hawthorne, California. This ground support has previously been used to troubleshoot issues on a Crew Dragon in flight that included a finicky waste disposal system on the Inspiration4 mission.

“Soyuz and Dragon are two very, very different spacecraft, principally because one, Soyuz, was developed in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and Dragon was developed in the last 10 years,” Mogensen said. “Soyuz has, in the past, at least, relied on ground stations for radio communication, which means that for maybe half of the flight, the astronauts on-board Soyuz have to be … able to work independently, which means that any problems that arise during flight, they have to be able to solve on their own. So it requires an incredibly intricate knowledge of all the systems on-board Soyuz.”

(Don’t feel bad, NASA. The Gemini 8 crew did a great job of recovering from a bad spin even though they had to do some of the troubleshooting without any contact with mission control. Now NASA’s radio coverage has been better developed.)

Satoshi Furukawa is a former surgeon with a previous 159-day mission on the ISS.

Crew-7 is expected to spend the next several months conducting valuable experiments and maintenance on the International Space Station. Experiments will include collection of microbial samples from the space station exterior, a sleep study, and more studies on the effects of long-duration spaceflight on crew members’ health. The Axiom-3 mission and a Soyuz carrying three more crew members are expected to arrive during their stay. A Russian Progress and a SpaceX Cargo Dragon will also deliver cargo while Crew-7 is aboard the ISS.

Crew-7 also marks the first flight for SpaceX’s newest reusable first stage booster. SpaceX uses the Falcon 9 for Crew Dragon launches. This marks the eighth Commercial Crew mission for SpaceX (the first was a crewed spaceflight called Demo-2) and SpaceX’s tenth crewed mission overall.

Business

DOJ Alleges SpaceX Engaged in Discriminatory Hiring Practices in New Lawsuit

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has alleged that SpaceX engaged in discrimination against refugees and asylum seekers in its hiring practices in its newest lawsuit. The DoJ says SpaceX refused to hire anyone who wasn’t a U.S. citizen or didn’t have a green card during the period between September 2018 and May 2022. The DoJ says this violated the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The regulation specifically seems to impact Information Technology systems, which SpaceX may be interested in pursuing through its Internet-providing Starlink satellite constellation. It already beefed up Starlink’s ability to resist jamming to fend off Russia’s efforts to attack the satellite constellation as part of its invasion of Ukraine. SpaceX also proposed “Starshield,” a Starlink derivative for military applications.

SpaceX has also launched payloads for the military, including new GPS satellites and experimental “transport layer” satellites that can relay signals from other satellites. Most importantly, it can launch classified payloads like it did on a Falcon Heavy on November 2022. Launches like this would require SpaceX to work with the military to integrate the payloads with its rockets — potentially pitting national security interests against laws forbidding discrimination against foreign nationals when making employment-related decisions.

U.S. authorities also released a report warning that aerospace companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin may be vulnerable to cyberattacks. Most successful cybersecurity breaches are “inside jobs” or social engineering attacks. At least one attempted cyberattack on an Elon Musk company involved a Russian national’s attempt to bribe a Tesla employee to inject malware into Tesla systems, for instance.

The critical element involves SpaceX job postings explicitly stating that it could only hire U.S. citizens and green card holders for certain positions. SpaceX maintains that it had been following Department of Defense (DoD) regulations meant to prevent transfer of sensitive innovations to rival foreign governments like Russia or China. The DoD regulation in question specifically says:

(k) Non-U.S. citizens shall not be authorized to access or assist in the development, operation, management or maintenance of Department IT systems under the contract, unless a waiver has been granted by the Head of the Component or designee, with the concurrence of both the Department’s Chief Security Officer (CSO) and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) or their designees. Within DHS Headquarters, the waiver may be granted only with the approval of both the CSO and the CIO or their designees. In order for a waiver to be granted:

(1) There must be a compelling reason for using this individual as opposed to a U.S. citizen; and

(2) The waiver must be in the best interest of the Government.

Elon Musk also reiterated that he did not want to add a potential International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) violation to his list of potential legal problems by having a foreign national hired by SpaceX steal trade secrets and hand them off to a foreign government. He phrased it in a way that made it sound like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place and chose to err on the side of national security.

ITAR forbids the export of important defense-related technology, services, hardware such as the rockets used to launch military satellites. In this case, Elon Musk is interpreting to mean that SpaceX should not risk a situation in which an unauthorized foreign national working in his company swipes trade secrets to send to a rival government.

The DoJ disagrees, saying that ITAR does not forbid hiring job applicants who do not have a green card or U.S. citizenship. It filed a lawsuit in a bid to force SpaceX to cease alleged discrimination against refugees and asylum seekers.

United States Authorities Warn SpaceX Among Companies Targeted by Espionage Efforts

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

According to an advisory published by the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the FBI and the Air Force, SpaceX and Blue Origin could be targets for espionage efforts by China and Russia.

“They see US space-related innovation and assets as potential threats as well as valuable opportunities to acquire vital technologies and expertise,” the advisory says.

The advisory lists aerospace as a major growth industry on a global scale and estimates that it could be worth as much as $1 trillion annually by 2030. It says the United States is a driving force behind aerospace innovation and many military and civilian applications depend on space assets. This includes GPS, communications, emergency services, energy, and agriculture.

SpaceX has already dealt with Russian attacks against its Internet-providing Starlink satellites and shored up their ability to resist signal jamming. It provides satellite Internet connectivity to Ukraine, which it uses to support its defense against the Russian invasion that began in February 2022. Elon Musk has mentioned that providing Internet service in a war zone is expensive, likely because good cybersecurity doesn’t come cheap. However, SpaceX has negotiated a deal with the Pentagon to continue providing Internet access to Ukraine.

Besides potentially angering Russia by providing Internet access to Ukraine, SpaceX began encrypting telemetry data from its rocket launches after some “ham” radio amateurs could intercept and decipher plain-text data and photos from the launches.

Foreign nationals may target SpaceX’s and Blue Origin’s IT infrastructure to uncover intellectual property and other trade secrets that cost the companies time and resources to develop. Fraudulently branded products are already an issue in the world economy. The International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition estimates that 3.3% of global trade involves counterfeit products.

So SpaceX could reasonably be annoyed by efforts to reverse-engineer Starlink’s signals purely because they could be used to produce counterfeit “Starlink Kits” — even if somebody did figure out how to do something cool like using Starlink as an alternative to GPS. SpaceX has also promoted Starship as a rocket that could become the world’s most powerful launch vehicle once it becomes operational. China would very likely be interested in getting its hands on the technical details.

Like SpaceX, Elon Musk’s other companies such as Tesla have been targets for cybersecurity threats. A Russian national pled guilty to charges related to a case in which he attempted to bribe a Tesla employee to inject ransomware into the company’s IT infrastructure. A “hacktivist” group managed to access the surveillance system at one of Tesla’s facilities. Tesla has also sued former employees such as Martin Tripp and Alex Khatilov for attempts to steal or leak sensitive documents. Many similar incidents are “inside jobs” or social engineering attacks, as demonstrated by cybersecurity expert Kevin Mitnick in the below video.

The advisory encouraged aerospace companies to shore up their cybersecurity to ensure that the United States — and these companies — can remain competitive on the world stage. SpaceX has already demonstrated its ability to act as a backup launch service in case global politics leave companies like OneWeb and space agencies like the ESA scrambling to find alternatives. However, the advisory headlined by the National Counterintelligence and Security Center expressed concern that Russia and China could “cheat” by hacking into SpaceX’s and Blue Origin’s systems and stealing their notes.

Business

SpaceX Turns Quarterly Profit for First Time in Q1 2023

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

According to leaked company information, SpaceX turned a profit of $55 million on $1.5 billion in expenses in Q1 2023. It had been operating at a loss, though it managed to start closing the gap in 2022.

Most startups will normally operate at a loss for years before finally posting profits. This phenomenon is called “runway,” or the amount of time a company can operate before it runs out of money if it does not raise more money from investors or a Kickstarter-like crowdfunding campaign. Many startups fail because they could not raise more money or start turning a profit before they ran out of runway.

One thing that makes SpaceX normal for a startup is that it has conducted several investment rounds. In fact, SpaceX has been on the brink of bankruptcy at least once and needed a successful launch to get past it. Now reports indicate that it has a $150 billion valuation as of a recent “insider shares” sale.

SpaceX’s posting of a quarterly profit for the first time may indicate that it is starting to move past the startup stage. In 2022, it cut its annual losses in half and doubled its revenue. Of course it did not hurt that it attracted more than half a million Starlink subscribers, cut deals with a few foreign and local governments to provide satellite Internet access for remote or low-income communities, and conducted 61 launches in 2022. 34 of those 61 launches were devoted to building out the Starlink constellation, which currently has thousands of operational satellites in low-Earth orbit.

It could start ramping up launch of larger payloads once Starship becomes operational. Potential Starship missions include rapidly sending humanitarian supplies from point to point on Earth, launching larger satellites like Starlink V2, and sending people and cargo to Mars. It currently has a contract to develop a Starship-derived lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis Program.

It lost the prototype only a few minutes into its first attempt at an orbital test but says it could try again as early as late August. Naturally, this depends on how fast the FAA can complete its review of the loss and approve future Starship-related testing.

SpaceX’s focus on growth instead of quarterly profits led to it being called “the last growth-focused unicorn.” Many venture capitalists like companies that can grow fast to dominate a sector, like AirBnB or Uber. However, the Federal Reserve can slow startup growth down by raising interest rates, which can spook investors.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has not blinked at either higher interest rates or spending on R&D, however. He can become impatient when slowed down by the regulatory approval process or a competitor files a challenge. (Like any good businessman, though, he can let a potential grudge drop when he has a chance to make a sale.) It took nearly two years for the FAA to approve the first attempt at an orbital test, and even then, environmentalists sued the FAA for being too hasty in approving it. The FAA’s latest requirements involved turning in a mishap investigation report.

That has not stopped SpaceX from making progress such as testing a new fire suppression system. Similar systems are often used to control the flames and noise for rocket launches at sites like Cape Canaveral in Florida.

One thing is for sure, rocket launches aren’t cheap at the best of times. SpaceX spent $3.1 billion on operating costs and an additional $1.3 billion on research and development. NASA’s Office of the Inspector General estimated that NASA spends $55 million per seat for each Crew Dragon launch to the International Space Station. Even then, it’s getting a bargain, considering it spent $90 million on one seat on the Russian Soyuz.

(Yes, Russia is probably mad that it no longer has the monopoly on crewed space launches that it had from the time the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011 until SpaceX launched the Demo-2 mission in May 2020.)

SpaceX’s posting of a profit for the first time ever is a good sign that it is starting to move past the startup stage. Now it just needs to get Starship up and running to really grow fast.

Space

FAA Nixes Future Starship Launches Until SpaceX Meets Conditions

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

FAA put a pause on future launches of Starship prototypes until SpaceX turns in a mishap investigation report.

“The FAA will not allow a return to flight operations until it determines that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety or any other aspect of the operator’s license,” an FAA spokesperson told media outlets.

SpaceX’s first attempt at an orbital test for the Starship/Super Heavy stack ended in a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly minutes after launch. The event may have scattered debris miles away, causing concern about public safety, potentially toxic materials, and its effect on the local environment.

It also caused severe damage to the launchpad. Some of the alleged debris that might have come from the launchpad turned out to be sand from the beaches closest to the test facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

Soon after the abortive test, Elon Musk said SpaceX could try again in as little as 6 to 8 weeks. That typically optimistic timeline could have assumed that the FAA wouldn’t have something to say about it. However, that does not mean SpaceX is wasting time. Since then, it has made many changes to Starship/Super Heavy and conducted static fire tests for its remaining Starship prototypes.

SpaceX is working on making the launchpad better able to handle the flames and force coming from the rocket stack, which will be the largest operational rocket to ever exist once it’s ready to start carrying cargo and people on live missions. This includes adding a fire suppression system that it recently conducted a full-pressure test for.

However, CNBC reporters now allege that SpaceX did not obtain required environmental permits for the fire suppression system, which is designed to release a deluge of water to control the flames and noise of rocket launches. The apparent concern is that the amount of water released and anything dissolved in that water could impact the local environment, including any area wetlands.

Texas state regulators confirmed that SpaceX had not applied for a Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES) permit. However, they say they are discussing the matter with SpaceX. Permits similar to TPDES are often used for flame suppression systems like the ones that were once used by the Space Shuttle. A deluge of water is a common method for limiting the launchpad’s exposure to the heat and stress of rocket launches. However, it could come with the release of chemicals dissolved in the water that could degrade the local water supply if the water is not treated as required by permits like TPDES.

Clashes with local environmental groups seem to be a common theme for SpaceX’s Boca Chica test facility. Most recently, environmentalists filed a lawsuit alleging that the FAA was hasty in approving the test launch despite the process taking nearly two years. The FAA and SpaceX asked the presiding judge to dismiss the case.

Meanwhile, the FAA, NASA, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the incident. The FAA says it can close the investigation once SpaceX files the report.

SpaceX has proposed using the Starship/Super Heavy stack for a variety of applications, including providing transportation for future Martian settlers, launching large satellites, and rapidly delivering critical humanitarian supplies to any point on Earth. It currently has a contract with NASA to develop a Starship-derived lunar lander for the Artemis Program. Paying passengers are already lining up for trips around the Moon on Starship, including “space tourist” and aerospace engineer Dennis Tito and Japanese businessman Yuzaku Maezawa.

Space

NASA Selects Crew for Crew-8 Mission, Prepares for Crew-7 Launch

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

NASA is making final preparations for the launch of the Crew-7 mission later this month. It was recently pushed back by two days to August 25 due to work on the launchpad that will be used for the launch.

The launchpad was recently used to launch the EchoStar satellite on a Falcon Heavy. SpaceX is spending the extra time to make sure the launchpad is fully prepared for the Crew-7 launch.

NASA also says the delay will help reduce potential conflicts due to heavy traffic around the International Space Station. A Russian Progress is scheduled to launch on August 24 and deliver cargo to the International Space Station. The new Crew-7 launch date means it can dock with the space station on August 26.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon named “Endurance” will carry NASA’s Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency, Japan’s Satoshi Furukawa and Russian Cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov to the International Space Station.

Crew-6 is currently slated to return to Earth on the same day. Normally, the space station crews have a few-day handover period between the time new crew members arrive and previous crew members return home. However, NASA has not commented on whether it plans to delay Crew-6’s return.

Meanwhile, NASA has announced the crew for Crew-8, which will launch as early as February 2024. NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick and Michael Barratt will serve as commander and pilot, respectively. Fellow NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps will serve as a mission specialist. She was one of a few astronauts who was reassigned from the Boeing Starliner, which is still being developed and suffered setbacks due to technical issues. She had previously been removed from an ISS crew assignment for unspecified reasons, so this will be her first mission.

“I don’t know where the decision came from and how it was made, in detail or at what level,” she told an interviewer shortly after her previous removal from the crew assignment.

In most cases when astronauts get removed from a flight, NASA made the decision due to the astronaut’s health or family issues. An early case involved Mercury astronaut Deke Slayton being removed from his Mercury flight due to a minor heart ailment, though he later flew on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

Russian Cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin will join the crew as a mission specialist.

Both crews will serve a 5- to 6-month increment on the International Space Station. During their respective increments, they will work on maintenance and valuable experiments in the space station’s microgravity labs.

Crew-7 will conduct more than 200 experiments during their increment. These experiments include collection of microbial samples from the station’s exterior, tests of the health effects of different amounts of time spent in microgravity, and a test of the physiological effects of sleep in space.

They may also welcome Boeing Starliner’s first crewed flight to the International Space Station. Boeing is expected to announce a launch date during an update on August 7.

Other spacecraft arrivals will include Axiom Space’s AX-3 mission. Axiom Space already conducted two successful missions to the space station, each commanded by a retired NASA astronaut.

Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser is also expected to make its first cargo delivery to the International Space Station during their stay.

Space

SpaceX Launches Jupiter 3 Satellite for EchoStar

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX launched the Jupiter 3 satellite on a Falcon Heavy after two scrubbed attempts. Jupiter 3 is part of EchoStar’s commercial communication satellite constellation. It was produced by Hughes Communication and built by Maxar Technologies. It deployed about 3.5 hours after launch.

The satellite is one of the largest communications satellites ever launched with a weight of more than 9 tons. Many modern communications satellites are much smaller. A typical Starlink Version 2 satellite weighs less than a ton, for instance. The Version 1 Starlink satellites weigh only 573 pounds.

Hughes Communication also refers to it as EchoStar XXIV in a fact sheet about the satellite. It calls Jupiter 3 an Ultra High Density Satellite (UHDS) that can relay communications for applications like in-flight Wi-Fi services, maritime communications, enterprise networks, and Mobile Network Operators.

It also says this line of satellites can support satellite Internet services similar to SpaceX’s Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, or OneWeb. Starlink already has permission from the FCC to provide Internet services for large vehicles and maritime operations and has made deals with airlines to provide in-flight Wi-Fi. Unlike some competitors like ViaSat, EchoStar and Hughes Communication seem more interested in building a viable alternative to Starlink than getting into fights with SpaceX and Elon Musk with regulators and judges acting as referees.

For all that Musk sometimes makes sharp comments about their eagerness to get in Starlink’s way, he doesn’t mind taking their money for launch services, though. SpaceX has launched OneWeb and ViaSat satellites after its respective disputes with each company.

This communication relay will help reduce latency for these networks by increasing the reliability of communications. It can boost signals so that the receiving device essentially won’t have to ask the sending device to “repeat itself” due to a garbled signal as often. Jupiter 3 will help cover North and South America.

Jupiter 3 will support Ka-Band communications, along with Q- and V-band for gateways. It has a capacity of up to 500 Gbps, though it will normally handle speeds of up to 100 Gbps. Its “stowed size” — the compact form that was most likely to fit into the Falcon Heavy’s fairing — was about the size of a school bus. It has 14 solar panels that Hughes Communications says will span 10 stories once it unfolds from its stowed form.

Hughes Communication says the satellite went through the typical testing to see whether it can survive the intense vibrations of launch and the intense temperature extremes of space. Hardware in space can experience intense temperature swings as it orbits from the “day side” to the “night side” of Earth, which can be hard on electronics and planned operations.

SpaceX says this is the 250th successful launch for the company. It launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The larger size of the Jupiter 3 satellite warranted the use of Falcon Heavy for its ability to launch heavier payloads than the normal “Transporter” missions that can launch dozens of small satellites on a Falcon 9.

Business

Elon Musk to Rebrand Twitter to “X”

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk announced plans to rebrand Twitter to X as early as July 23, 2023. The rebrand will include replacing Twitter’s famous blue bird logo with a logo featuring the letter X.

While answering a question during a Twitter Spaces event, he said, “We’re cutting the Twitter logo off the building with blow torches.” The building in question is likely Twitter’s headquarters.

Elon Musk’s association with the letter X began with his founding of X.com in 1999. He meant X.com to be an online bank. Eventually, X.com merged with PayPal. Later, eBay acquired PayPal and Musk sank his share into other companies like SpaceX, Tesla, and Solar City. Tesla, of course, later acquired Solar City — something that later sparked allegations that he had bailed out relatives who also owned a stake in Solar City.

He was also able to hold onto ownership of X.com, probably buying it back from PayPal, but didn’t do anything with it. This was likely due to being hyperfocused on keeping SpaceX and Tesla afloat at times when they were nearly bankrupt. Now, though, Tesla repeatedly beats its own company records for quarterly vehicle deliveries and SpaceX makes landing and reusing Falcon 9 first stage boosters look routine. These turnarounds likely give Musk more breathing room to push through the “X App” as Twitter’s CTO.

According to Elon Musk, X.com now redirects to Twitter.com. Why bring back X, though? Well, as Musk put it:

Last year, Elon Musk took Twitter private in a $44 billion takeover that might not have happened at all if a lawsuit hadn’t forced him to follow through on the deal. Since then, he made several changes to the platform such as introducing a monthly subscription that includes the “blue check mark” previously used to denote verified accounts. The monthly subscription also allows tweets that are nearly as long as a short blog post.

Under Musk, Twitter also introduced Twitter Spaces, which has a format similar to an audio podcast. Twitter users who regularly host Twitter Spaces include occasionally controversial figures like “Crypto Town Hall” host Mario Nawfal. The FBI and SEC are currently investigating Nawfal for alleged irregularities involving a failed investment fund and another company he once led as CEO.

Despite the occasional controversy, Elon Musk can have a sense of humor about Twitter Spaces. He kidded about the title of a Twitter Spaces event hosted by a Twitter user known as “Greg” for short. “Greg” is best known for his involvement with Elon Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, and for trolling PETA well enough to get blocked by them.

Elon Musk also spent some time searching for a new CEO after running a poll asking whether he should step down from the role. He tapped former NBCUniversal chairman Linda Yaccarino for the position.

Of course, Twitter still faces its share of challenges such as falling advertising revenue, likely forcing Musk to find new revenue sources like the new subscription plan. Musk laid off about 75% of Twitter’s workforce as part of cost-cutting measures but still faces a negative revenue flow due to many advertisers dropping their advertising on the platform. Elon Musk says many of these advertisers have returned but did not say which ones.

Many former Twitter users have also left the platform, often migrating to competing platforms like Mastodon or Meta’s new “Threads” platform.

Musk seems confident that he can continue his track record of bringing a company back from the brink of bankruptcy, however. He may be continuing his plans to develop the X App as an “Everything App” that can do things that mobile device owners currently need as many as a dozen apps to accomplish.

Uncategorized

SpaceX’s IoT Service Provider, Swarm, Ceases Sale of New Devices

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The IoT manufacturer Swarm sent a notice to customers that it was not going to manufacture new devices. Instead, it will focus on integrating its low-power modems into Starlink’s plans to provide Internet service directly to mobile phones.

Swarm was founded in 2016 and acquired by SpaceX in 2021. Its co-founders still work for SpaceX. Sara Spangelo is the senior director of satellite engineering and helps lead SpaceX’s efforts to develop the direct Internet service to mobile phones. Ben Longmire also has a leadership role in satellite engineering.

The “Internet of Things” (IoT) make it possible to control appropriately equipped “Smart” devices in the home, often with an Internet connection and an app on a mobile device. Ring doorbells and Internet-enabled sweeping and mopping robots could be considered examples of “Internet of Things” devices. Your refrigerator ordering more milk when it notices that the milk is getting low is one proposed use for IoT technology. (Or, it could just add milk to your grocery list to make things more efficient.)

Even before being acquired by SpaceX, Swarm had plans to integrate satellite-based connectivity with its modems and IoT devices. This could add an additional level of reliability to the back end by allowing users to remotely control their devices even when they’re away from home and in an area where service is normally unreliable.

Swarm had planned to launch its own microsatellites for the job before SpaceX’s acquisition. Starlink could also have been a serious contender for providing that connectivity with its low latency and the redundancy that comes with having thousands of satellites in its constellation.

Large mobile phone companies like T-Mobile have already shown interest in using Starlink to fill gaps in their normal data coverage. Satellites can reach areas like mountain ranges in which it would be difficult to maintain a connection with a cell phone tower. Adding Starlink to cell phone services could become a literal lifesaver in situations where someone has an emergency but normally would have difficulty calling for help due to lack of cell phone service.

However, other companies like AT&T have objected to T-Mobile’s plan to integrate Starlink. AT&T filed a complaint with the FCC asking it to block the deal between T-Mobile and Starlink. It claims the deal could jeopardize its mobile and wireless broadband services.

Starlink itself has, of course, faced its share of challenges from other satellite Internet providers like ViaSat with regulators and judges as referees. Naturally, this earned the occasional sharp comment from Elon Musk, who said ViaSat just didn’t like competition.

However, Starlink got over this hump and Musk didn’t hold enough of a grudge to prevent SpaceX from launching a ViaSat satellite. SpaceX has gotten good at treating past rivals like any other paying customer when it matters. It did a similar thing for OneWeb when the UK-based competitor got caught in a bind due to sanctions against Russia.

Under SpaceX’s direction, Swarm is likely to weather the regulatory challenges rather well as it swivels from manufacturing IoT devices to providing satellite Internet service for mobile phones — naturally, using Starlink.

Elon Musk Jumps Back Into AI With New Company

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk unveiled his new AI company, xAI, four months after registering the name of X.AI as a Las Vegas-based corporation. A Twitter Spaces event discussing the new company introduced the founding team, whose resumes include backgrounds at companies at Deep Mind, OpenAI, Google, and Tesla.

Tesla’s driver assist programs, Full Self-Driving and Autopilot, already use AI trained with more than a billion miles’ worth of driving data. The company has spun up supercomputers to manage the driver-assist AI. However, that hasn’t stopped regulators from probing the safety record of these programs. Some Tesla engineers even admitted to Californian regulators that Elon Musk has overstated their capabilities. (So, yeah, maybe one shouldn’t pull stunts like riding in the back seat of a Tesla vehicle on Autopilot.)

During the Twitter Spaces event, Musk mentioned that Tesla may use xAI to enhance its driver assist programs. Musk also previously hinted that AI could power the humaniform robots he introduced at a Tesla event. On the flip side, he says not to worry about them becoming Terminators. He says most people will be able to outrun those robots.

Musk had been an early contributor to OpenAI, although it may now be murky exactly how much he donated. However, he now criticizes OpenAI as a major disappointment. It had transformed from a nonprofit, open-source AI application to a closed-source, for-profit entity with a $30 billion valuation.

As mentioned during the Twitter Spaces event, he now intends xAI to become an artificial general intelligence that may become a tool for understanding the universe. He hinted that it could help solve mysteries like the nature of gravity and the Fermi Paradox.

As expected, Musk questioned whether certain politicians like Kamala Harris are capable of understanding AI well enough to regulate it. He has clashed with politicians — often Democrats, although Donald Trump once also insulted Musk over the question whether Trump’s Twitter account would be restored — in the past. However, he agrees that AI needs to be regulated and thought it likely that the CCP would try to control it rather than allow AI to control the CCP. He expressed a preference for regulation to not slow down AI-related progress too much unless it’s for legitimate safety reasons.

He also criticized text generation applications like ChatGPT for scraping data from Twitter to train their artificial applications. He says Twitter imposed data limits to prevent mass scraping of tweets.

OpenAI is similarly being sued by a comedian and two authors who accuse it of using their copyrighted materials to train its AI programs without permission.

Musk had previously hinted that Twitter could form the basis for an X App that does everything that current popular mobile apps can do. An “X App” that can handle most things such as CashApp-style payments (one possible reason for registering a money transmitter firm) could give additional monetization options in the wake of big advertisers suspending Twitter ads. Ride sharing, meal delivery services, and a peer-to-per marketplace app are also options.

Now he says xAI could use Twitter to train its AI. Perhaps it could finally produce a chatbot that can generate more useful legal briefs than ChatGPT apparently can or a tweet that is likely to get engagement from Musk himself. Considering the combination of Elon Musk’s occasionally overstated promises and AI’s disappointing performance so far, just don’t hold your breath.

Space

SpaceX, FAA Seek to Dismiss Lawsuit Filed by Boca Chica Area Environmentalist Groups

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX and FAA have filed motions to dismiss a lawsuit filed by environmentalist groups in the wake of the loss of a Starship prototype during an attempted orbital test on April 20, 2023. The test ended in a rapid unscheduled disassembly triggered by a self-destruct command a few minutes into the flight.

The test was aborted because the upper stage of the spacecraft failed to separate from the first stage properly. Debris that included chunks of concrete from the launchpad and shards of metal from the launchpad and rocket scattered and came down in the surrounding area.

The environmentalist groups allege that it caused a fire in a nearby park. They also allege that the FAA was too hasty in approving the test launch despite environmental concerns.

In its filing, the FAA claims that the lawsuit “lack legal standing for their claims.” SpaceX’s filing says the abortive Starship launch should not trigger additional environmental reviews from the FAA, which could set back future testing by years.

SpaceX’s concerns may not be completely unwarranted, considering it could have attempted the first orbital test for Starship as early as Summer 2021. The FAA’s bureaucratic red tape, which included environmental reviews and the need to go through thousands of comments submitted during the required public commenting period, caused repeated delays.

Predictably, Elon Musk has expressed frustration with the FAA in the past — often due to having to deal with required investigations into past Starship prototypes having gone through equally dramatic rapid unscheduled disassemblies during high-altitude testing. (It finally managed to nail the landing during a high-altitude test with a prototype called SN15, though.)

Also, an FAA inspector getting stuck in traffic can apparently force a postponement of a test launch:

Since the loss of the prototype used for Starship’s first orbital test, SpaceX has been working on reinforcements to the launchpad and making changes to the Starship rocket. Elon Musk says one of the changes is a new method for separating the two stages during launch.

Musk also anticipates a quick turnaround for a second orbital test if the FAA doesn’t get in the way. The lawsuit could force the FAA to become even more cautious than it had been before the abortive test.

Environmentalists and Boca Chica area residents had often complained about SpaceX’s activities at its test range. Past complaints include allegations of excessive beach closures, illegal road closures, and test-related activities’ impacts on local wildlife.

The U.S. House of Representatives has also looked into SpaceX’s alleged regulatory violations, though it could be seen as more political grandstanding. Even the FAA administrator once defended SpaceX during a Congressional committee hearing, as seen in the below video.

Elon Musk has also made appearances before Congressional committees. This includes the below appearance during a Defense Subcommittee hearing on National Security Space Launch Programs.

The FAA took nearly two years to approve SpaceX’s application for permission to conduct the first orbital test for Starship. It had time to do a thorough environmental review, which likely explains its request to dismiss the environmentalists claims as lacking legal standing.

Business

Tesla Reports 466,140 Vehicles Delivered in Q2 2023

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Tesla reported another company record-setting quarter for deliveries with 466,140 vehicles delivered and 479,700 vehicles produced in Q2 2023. It had reported 254,695 vehicles delivered and 258,580 vehicles produced in the same quarter of 2022.

Deliveries often serve as a proxy for Tesla’s sales figures. Besides setting a new company record, Tesla beat analysts’ expectations of 445,924 vehicles delivered in Q2 2023.

Tesla has been working on improving its production capacity over the past couple of years, including finally getting Gigafactory Berlin open after ironing out issues with regulators and environmentalist groups. The latter especially seemed to have a bone to pick with Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin, including filing challenges to local licensing and one suspected act of arson.

It also opened a Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, where it currently manufactures the Model Y and plans to manufacture the long-anticipated Cybertruck. It is also looking to build a factory in Mexico.

Elon Musk hinted at possible investment in India after meeting with the prime minister. He has occasionally hinted at frustration with India’s import taxes, which can drive up the price.

Deliveries (and sales) also got a likely boost from Tesla’s price cuts and tax breaks for buying electric vehicles. The Model 3 and Model Y are eligible for $7,500 in tax credits under the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act. They are also Tesla’s two least-expensive models and accounted for 96% of Tesla’s deliveries.

Tesla has been accused of starting a “price war” in the EV market by offering steep discounts in some markets in Q2 2023. Like any company led by Elon Musk, though, it may not see itself as responsible for protecting the feelings of competitors. It’s also facing rising competition in some markets like China.

Although the delivery numbers were better than expected, Elon Musk warned against trading on margin even if buying Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA, for those curious).

Tesla was once in the S&P 500, but sometimes events beyond its control happen. It had to close Gigafactory Shanghai due to COVID-19 for a while. CEO Elon Musk also got into a fight with the State of California over its response to COVID-19, moving Tesla’s headquarters to Texas and selling his Californian homes. (Musk will bite back if a governor tries to drag him into a social issue he prefers not to comment on, though.)

Tesla says it will release Q2 2023 financial results after close of trading on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. It will also host a Q&A webcast.

SpaceX Launches Euclid Space Telescope for ESA

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX has launched the Euclid Space Telescope for the European Space Agency on July 1, 2023, at 11:11 am EDT. Euclid will search for evidence of dark matter and dark energy to solve some of the biggest mysteries of the universe.

Dark matter and dark energy cannot be detected directly with current instruments because they do not interact with the light spectrum. However, evidence of their presence can be picked up through their effect on “normal” matter in the area around it. They can impact galaxy mergers, the movement of stars, and the movement of large objects like stars. Some scientists estimate that dark matter makes up 95% of the matter in the universe.

The European Space Agency plans a six-year mission during which Euclid will observe the universe outside the Milky Way Galaxy. It will map a third of the detectable universe and observe the movement and chemical makeup of observable objects.

According to ESA director of science Carole Mundell, Euclid will add to an already robust archive of data from other instruments and telescopes. Even after its mission is over, the data it produces will remain available for scientists who want to use it for their research.

During a press conference, Mundell extended praise to “our science communities who now will work very hard to commission this mission.”

The European Space Agency has been working on the projects that became Euclid for almost two decades. It initially began as two different, yet complementary, methods for searching for dark energy using instruments initially known as Dune (Dark Universe Explorer) and Space (Spectroscopic All Sky Cosmic Explorer). The two methods were eventually merged into the telescope that became Euclid, likely to avoid redundant efforts and save costs. Euclid cost $1.5 billion (1.4 billion Euros).

Euclid will complement other scientific instruments like Gaia, which searches for dark matter within the Milky Way.

Euclid was initially slated to launch on an Arianespace Soyuz. However, that fell through when Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022 and most of Europe responded with strict sanctions against Russia. The ESA became one of several European organizations that needed to find alternative launch services. SpaceX made its shortlist of launch providers in August 2022 and was selected to launch scientific missions that included the Euclid Space Telescope soon afterward.

To be launched, the Euclid Space Telescope had to take a two-week journey by ship from Italy to Florida, where it was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral. This marks the second launch for the Falcon 9 first stage booster used for the launch. It also marks SpaceX’s 204th successful landing of a first stage booster, adding to its track record of making landing and reusing Falcon 9 booster rockets look easy. (Test launches? Not so easy, but they usually figure it out eventually. Elon Musk certainly remains confident about Starship.)

Now that Euclid has been launched, it will spend the next thirty days maneuvering to its final position in deep space. Scientists have not said when they will get the first scientific images, but hinted that it could be in a few months.

Space

SpaceX Changes Stage Separation Procedure Before Next Starship Test Flight

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX changed the stage separation procedure for Starship before its next attempt at an orbital test flight. It is switching to a “hot-staging” procedure that has the upper stage firing its engines before it separates from the Super Heavy first stage booster.

Elon Musk says the change will improve payload performance. He discussed the change with Bloomberg journalist Ashlee Vance in a Twitter Spaces event.

“There’s a meaningful payload-to-orbit advantage with hot-staging that is conservatively about a 10% increase,” he told Vance. However, he acknowledged the risks involved and said SpaceX was working on a ventilation system to allow the exhaust from the upper stage engines to escape. It will add additional shielding to the top of the booster to protect it from the hot exhaust.

Musk also said that SpaceX had made “well over a thousand” other changes to Starship, likely using data from the first, abortive attempt at an orbital test flight. It is also working on additional protection for the launchpad to help avoid a repeat the damage caused during launch. Most of the protection involves what he called a “steel sandwich” water deluge system.

The changes seemed to improve the odds of a better performance during the next test launch.

“I think the probability this next flight working, getting to orbit, is much higher than the last one. Maybe it’s like 60%,” Musk said. For the previous orbital test, Musk promised only that it wouldn’t be boring.

Russian launch vehicles also use hot-staging. On the Starship/Super Heavy stack, most of the 33 Raptor engines on the Super Heavy stage will already be turned off when the upper stage engines are ignited. A few lower stage engines will still be ignited, which saves the loss of thrust associated with having all the first stage engines off when the upper stage separates.

During the first attempt at an orbital test for Starship, some of the first stage booster rockets failed to fire. The upper stage also had difficulty separating from the lower stage. It ended with the stack suffering a rapid unscheduled disassembly two minutes into the flight. Despite the loss, Elon Musk seemed to remain optimistic about the chance of a quick turnaround — at least in public.

Details of what might have occurred behind the scenes have been scanty; however, there has been some reshuffling of Starship management even before the abortive test flight occurred. SpaceX President Gwynn Shotwell and a VP named Mark Juncosa took overall charge of Starship as its new overseers in November 2022. In May 2023, SpaceX hired former NASA Commercial Crew Program manager Kathy Lueders as Starship’s general manager.

SpaceX and Elon Musk may have also become frustrated with delays in the FAA approval process for the orbital test flight, which had originally been scheduled for Summer 2021. However, the time it took has not stopped environmental groups from alleging that the FAA was too hasty in its approval. They say the rapid unscheduled disassembly caused debris to rain down on a beach and in a local park and caused a fire in the park.

Musk seemed to hesitate to give an exact date for the next test launch, saying it depended on “A lot of variables here that are outside of our control.” One of these variables is probably the FAA approval process. However, he seemed confident in SpaceX’s ability to get work done: “We think, probably, the launch pad upgrades, and the booster and ship, are ready in about six weeks.”

Business

SpaceX to Conduct “Insider Shares” Sale

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX is reportedly planning a new sale of shares at a $150 billion valuation, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke with Bloomberg. SpaceX is pursuing a potential $750 million tender offer and plans to sell shares at $80 per share.

This round will give “insiders,” people or organizations who own a significant number of voting shares, a chance to liquidate their holdings. The tender offer could change depending on interest from sellers and buyers.

(Yes, it is possible for “insiders” to get in trouble for “insider trading,” but that mostly involves publicly traded companies like Tesla. SpaceX is a privately held company.)

SpaceX previously conducted a $750 million funding round at a $137 billion valuation in January. It reportedly has $5 billion in cash on hand. Elon Musk has also said that SpaceX holds Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase confirmed that Tesla and SpaceX are customers.

Yes, Dogecoin is still Elon Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency. It can be spent on swag in the SpaceX gift shop. Also, the DOGE-1 mission promoted Dogecoin by using it to pay for a launch. For those who would like to catch the launch of DOGE-1, it is scheduled to take place during Q3 2023 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida — most likely during September 2023. It will launch alongside the first of the Intuitive Machines lunar landers.

As usual, SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment on the share sale. The sources asked not to be named.

SpaceX has done well with its launch services, recently delivering a new model of solar panels to the International Space Station on a Crew Dragon. Its contracts with NASA include two future launches of CubeSats for NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and a Commercial Crew Program contract that made SpaceX’s Crew Dragon the first (and, so far, only) privately owned spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. It also has contracts to launch the first components of the Lunar Gateway and develop the Artemis Lunar Lander that is slated to fly on Artemis III.

It will also launch robotic lunar landers for Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, and Astrobotic as a subcontractor for these companies, which have contracts with NASA to send lunar landers to the Moon to help select a good landing site.

Starlink is also doing fairly well despite the occasional setback such as SpaceX having to issue refunds to India residents who signed up for the service due to a licensing issue in January 2022 and an apparent dispute over who will pay for Starlink services used by the Ukrainian defense force that has since been resolved. As the above video shows, SpaceX still regularly launches new Starlink satellites.

Starlink has regulatory approval for large vehicles like RV, buses, trains, and airplanes. Most recently, regional train line Brightline selected Starlink to provide Internet access on its trains.

SpaceX does not seem to mind launching Internet-providing satellites for Starlink’s competitors despite occasional disputes with ones like ViaSat and OneWeb, often with regulators acting as referees. It has launched satellites for both companies in the wake of Russian rockets becoming unavailable to European companies like OneWeb. It also made a shortlist of launch services that the European Space Agency will consider for future contracts.

Space

SpaceX to Launch CubeSats for NASA

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

NASA awarded SpaceX a task order to launch two CubeSat Launch Initiative missions as part of a Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. The two missions will launch on Falcon 9 rockets.

The CubeSat Launch Initiative provides opportunities for universities, high schools, and educational nonprofit organizations such as museums and science centers to send small satellites into orbit at a low cost. Students, teachers, and faculty members can get hands-on experience with developing and deploying space-bound hardware. CubeSats have established themselves as a lower-cost method to conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations in Earth orbit.

NASA promotes the CubeSat Launch Initiative as a way to arrange low-cost launch services for payloads like CubeSats that can tolerate higher risk. Lower mission assurance standards make up part of the reduced costs besides using SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 first stage rockets. NASA also saves on overhead by providing less oversight than normal.

SpaceX was originally one of thirteen companies selected to provide launch services for the VADR program. NASA capped the money awarded for the fixed-price contracts at $300 million. It had not yet deterymined the number of launches it would assign to each company when it announced the VADR contracts. The satellite types to be launched for VADR range from CubeSats to Class D satellites.

SpaceX’s experience with launching small satellites include its frequent launches of Starlink satellites and its Transporter missions. The most recent Transporter mission, Transporter-8, launched 72 satellites that included NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, and four Starlink satellites. It landed a first stage booster for the 200th time. This was the ninth launch and landing for that booster. (SpaceX makes it look so easy these days that it’s easy to forget that the occasional booster has missed the barge in the past.) Transporter-8 launched from Vanderberg Space Force Base.

Prices for launching a small satellite on a Transporter mission starts at $275,000 and depends on the amount of mass to be launched. The lower cost for a “rideshare” mission makes it an attractive option for organizations with lower budgets that want to send a small satellite into space but do not want to wait for room on a rocket launching a larger payload. NASA’s choice of 13 companies to provide launch services for VADR indicates that SpaceX has competition for “rideshare” missions as more startups recognize the demand for low-cost satellite launch services.

Barely 14 hours before Transporter-8 launched, SpaceX launched 52 Starlink satellites. The Starlink launch went off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Demand for SpaceX’s satellite Internet service continues to grow in areas that have been neglected when investing in Internet infrastructure. The Nebraska Farm Bureau recently signed a deal to provide two months of free Starlink service to members who have had trouble accessing reliable high-speed Internet, for instance.

NASA has not announced the payloads that will fly on the two CubeSat Launch Initiative missions it awarded to SpaceX yet. They will launch as early as 2025, possibly on a “previously flown” Falcon 9 booster that has already launched and landed several times.

Business

Delaware Supreme Court Rejects Appeal of Tesla Investor Lawsuit

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The Delaware Supreme Court rejected an appeal of a lawsuit brought by Tesla investors. The plaintiffs originally alleged that Tesla failed to properly assess an appropriate value for SolarCity when it acquired the company in 2016.

The plaintiffs alleged that CEO Elon Musk pushed the company to overpay for SolarCity. Musk had owned a 22% stake in SolarCity and was the chairman of its board of directors. His cousins had founded the company.

During testimony at the original trial in April 2022, Musk denied that the acquisition amounted to a bailout of the nearly-insolvent SolarCity. He said acquiring the company had been part of the planned strategy for Tesla since about 2006.

SolarCity manufactured and installed rooftop solar panels and Tesla already had an early version of the Powerwall solar power battery. Tesla published a rationale that included a strategic vision for creating what it called an “integrated sustainable energy company” that produced power generation, transportation, and energy storage.

Tesla and SolarCity also unveiled Powerwall 2 and a prototype for the solar rooftop at about the same time as the acquisition, leading the plaintiffs’ attorney to question whether it had been used to prop the acquisition up. Delaware Court of Chancery judge Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights’ ruling acknowledged that Tesla still relies on third parties to manufacture parts of its solar products instead of doing it entirely in-house as planned, but the value of Tesla stock has gone up since then — including being included in the S&P 500 index for a bit.

The Delaware Supreme Court ruled that Slights did err in some portions of his analysis, but the overall premise that Tesla paid a fair price for SolarCity was otherwise sound.

During the appeal, attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that Slights relied too much on the market price for SolarCity, which was based on incomplete financial disclosures. They also argued that Slights acknowledged that Musk might have interfered with the deal, but failed to take that into account when making his ruling.

However, Slights rejected the theory that SolarCity was insolvent at the time of the acquisition. Elon Musk had argued during testimony that SolarCity would have been able to raise funds even without the deal.

Slights also rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that Tesla’s board of directors did not take appropriate steps to analyze the acquisition. Tesla had followed requirements outlined in Delaware law when it acquired SolarCity.

Other members of Tesla’s board of directors had settled similar lawsuits. Some legal experts such as Columbia Law School professor Eric Talley were critical of the Delaware Supreme Court’s decision. Talley had been a signatory for a Friends of the Court brief supporting the plaintiffs.

“In the end, perhaps more than anything, this outcome will add another hash mark on Elon Musk‘s belt for being able to avoid legal scrutiny,” Talley told Reuters in an email — an acknowledgment of Musk’s ability to win court cases or at least get a payout reduced when he decides to fight back in court.

The plaintiffs included union pension funds and asset managers. They had sought to force Musk to return the Tesla stock he had received as part of the deal. The value of the Tesla stock peaked at $13 billion. An attorney for the plaintiffs has not commented on the ruling.

Space

SpaceX Delivers New Solar Panels to International Space Station

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX delivered a new batch of upgraded solar panels to the International Space Station. The International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays (IROSA) solar panels are a flat version that can roll out like a sleeping bag when they are installed during a future EVA.

The IROSA panels will supplement the familiar “rigid” solar panels that supply power for the space station. The ones that are being delivered on CRS-28 are expected to provide an additional 60 kW of power. Developed by a partnership between NASA and Deployable Space System, they are designed to be a less expensive and less massive option for providing power for the ISS.

Equipment onboard the SpaceX Cargo Dragon included replacement parts for the International Space Station’s water purification system and a replacement for the oxygen storage system used for EVAs.

They were delivered on a Cargo Dragon as part of the CRS-28 mission. The Falcon 9 rocket that launched CRS-28 included a first stage booster that was being used for the fifth time.

Additional cargo includes supplies such as fresh fruit, which is considered a treat among space station crews. Astronauts on the ISS typically rely on freeze-dried or otherwise easily preserved and “shelf-stable” foods for most of their diet.

CRS-28 also delivered experiments and equipment such as a sensor that can detect “blue lightning” in thunderstorms. A better understanding of “blue lightning” can improve atmospheric modeling.

Experiments also include a study of the viability of seeds produced in space. This study can improve growing techniques for vegetables that might be grown during future long-duration missions far from Earth.

Previous attempts to grow plants from seeds that have been in space include the famous “Moon Trees” grown from seeds that flew to the Moon and back on Apollo 14. Descendants of one of the original trees can still be seen at Kennedy Space Center. Some other Moon Trees remain unmarked or unidentified due to concerns that they might be stolen or vandalized.

Other experiments on CRS-28 include a study on the effects of long-duration space missions on telomeres. Telomeres are structures that protect DNA that tend to shorten with age. However, previous studies show that telomeres are often longer than expected after an increment on the International Space Station. This study will look at stem cell proliferation as one hypothetical cause of telomere lengthening during a space mission.

The International Space Station will also provide a jumping-off point for a study of permafrost thawing in the Canadian Arctic called ESSENCE. The ISS will deploy a CubeSat equipped with a camera that can observe the permafrost. Universities in Canada and Australia are sponsoring this study along with the ISS National Lab.

The ISS will also deploy a CubeSat that will study the effects of solar and cosmic radiation on geological samples. This mission could improve scientists’ understanding of asteroids’ origins. This study was designed by graduate and undergraduate students with help from middle school students.

When the Cargo Dragon returns to Earth, it will carry used hardware such as a charcoal bed assembly that removes some of the contaminants form the International Space Station’s air supply. This assembly will be refurbished for reuse. The External High-Definition Camera Assembly and the COLBERT (Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill) Data Avionics Unit are likewise being returned for repairs.

Like the Crew Dragon, SpaceX’s fleet of Crew Dragons can be refurbished and reused. The Cargo Dragon used for CRS-28 previously flew the CRS-21, CRS-23, and CRS-25 resupply missions. It is expected to spend 21 days docked to the International Space Station before undocking and returning to Earth.

Space

Axiom-2 Mission Returns from International Space Station

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Axiom Space’s Axiom-2 (AX-2) mission returned to Earth late at night on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. The mission commanded by record-setting astronaut Peggy Whitson spent ten days in space.

Florida residents reported hearing a sonic boom as it headed for a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico late Tuesday night. Some Floridians called 911, thinking they had heard an explosion or a tree fell on their house. Santa Rosa County Emergency Management issued a statement clarifying that it was only a SpaceX Crew Dragon returning to Earth.

Crew members also included businessman John Shoffner, stem cell researcher Rayyanah Barnawi and fighter pilot Ali al-Qarner. Saudi Arabia paid for Rayyanah Barnawi’s and Ali al-Qarner’s rides to the International Space Station. Barnawi, the first Saudi woman in space, was especially interested in working on stem cell samples that the Crew Dragon had also carried to the International Space Station as part of her research.

“Every story comes to an end and this is only the beginning of a new era for our country and our region,” she said shortly before the Crew Dragon undocked from the International Space Station to get into position for reentry.

Peggy Whitson added to her record amount of time in space with this latest mission. She had served on the International Space Station three times and logged 665 days in space as a NASA astronaut. This set an American record for longest total amount of time spent in space and put Peggy Whitson in eighth place worldwide for most time in space.

During her first ISS mission, Expedition 5, she became NASA’s first Science Officer. She also commanded Expedition 16 and served on Expedition 50/51.

Axiom-2 brought her total up to 675 days in space. She said those ten days seem to fly by.

“Can you believe we landed less than 48 hours ago?” she said during a press conference on Thursday.

Axiom Space plans a series of four flights to prepare for the arrival of its first inflatable modules, which will be delivered to the International Space Station as early as 2025. If everything goes as planned, the Axiom Space-owned modules will spin off into one of the first independent, privately owned space stations.

NASA is one of several potential customers that could rent space on Axiom Space’s space station once the International Space Station is retired. Then NASA and its partners can focus on the Artemis lunar landings and construction of the Lunar Gateway.

Axiom-1, commanded by Michael Lopez-Alegria, launched in April 2022. Besides working on initial preparations, Axiom-1 conducted dozens of experiments on the space station. Its return to Earth got delayed by bad weather at the landing site.

Other companies working on privately owned space stations include Vast, which recently selected SpaceX to launch the first components. Bigelow Aerospace made some early progress on a private space station and launched an inflatable module to the ISS, but had to give up due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns over funding from NASA. It also seemed to butt heads with then-NASA Administrator Charles Bolden over progress on its space station.

Business

Pentagon to Pay for Starlink Service in Ukraine

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed that it is paying for Starlink service in Ukraine. It did not provide details on any contract with SpaceX for access to Starlink’s satellite-based Internet service.

“We continue to work with a range of global partners to ensure Ukraine has the satellite and communication capabilities they need. Satellite communications constitute a vital layer in Ukraine’s overall communications network and the department contracts with Starlink for services of this type,” the Department of Defense said in a statement provided to media outlets.

Last September, SpaceX threatened to withdraw Starlink service from Ukraine on the grounds that it could not afford to continue providing it for free. Elon Musk seemed to backtrack after some public backlash and SpaceX withdrew the funding request it had made to the Pentagon.

At the time, less than half the active Starlink terminals in Ukraine were being paid for. SpaceX impressed the Pentagon by beefing up cybersecurity and anti-jamming protocols for the satellites providing Internet services to Ukraine to counter Russia’s jamming attempts. Cybersecurity that is good enough to earn compliments from the Department of Defense is not cheap.

Since then, the Department of Defense has been in talks with SpaceX to fund Starlink service. It did not confirm exactly when it started paying for service but announced plans to provide Ukraine with satellite communications terminals and services in December 2022. At the time, the Department of Defense said only that additional terminals were likely to be purchased and sent to Ukraine as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

At about the same time, a Ukrainian government official also confirmed that Ukraine would receive 10,000 more “Starlink kits” that include the terminal due to a new deal with SpaceX.

SpaceX and Elon Musk had previously objected to Ukraine’s use of the Starlink Internet service for a counteroffensive that might push into Russian territory. SpaceX especially acted to prevent the Ukrainian military from using Starlink to control its drones.

As early as March 2023, SpaceX used geofencing to block use in Russian territory, over water, or if the receiver was moving at speeds of over 100 kilometers per hour.

In February, Gwynn Shotwell mentioned that the military using Starlink for communication was acceptable, but “our intent was never to have them use it for offensive purposes.”

Elon Musk echoed concerns that the Russia-Ukraine war could escalate into World War 3 in a response to a tweet by former astronaut Scott Kelly.

Scott Kelly is best known for having commanded the International Space Station and served nearly a year on the ISS as part of the “Year in Space” mission. Senator Mark Kelly is his twin brother and also a former astronaut.

The Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. The International Criminal Court has since indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin, alleging that he committed war crimes. Russia is not under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, so Putin might not stand trial for those charges. However, it may affect him in other ways, such as limiting which countries he can freely travel to.

Details on the Pentagon’s deal with SpaceX to provide Starlink service in Ukraine has been scanty. It is not clear how much the Pentagon is paying for the service, for instance. However, Musk’s complaints about having to donate Starlink access to Ukraine appear to have been addressed to his satisfaction.

Space

SpaceX Launches Second Axiom Space Mission

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The second Axiom Space mission, AX-2, launched to the International Space Station on a Falcon 9 rocket at 5:37 pm ET on May 21, 2023. AX-2 is expected to dock to the space station on May 22 to continue preparations for the arrival of Axiom Space’s first inflatable modules.

Axiom Space plans to start launching the inflatable modules as early as 2025. When the International Space Station is retired, it will spin the modules off into one of the first privately owned space stations. When the International Space Station is retired in the 2030s, NASA could become one of several paying customers that rent space on private space stations like Axiom Space’s while it continues work on the Lunar Gateway.

Veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson is commanding AX-2. Peggy Whitson previously served on three crew rotations. During Expedition 5 in June through December 2002, Whitson installed important components for the International Space Station, including the Mobile Base System, the P1 and S1 truss segments, and a micrometeoroid shield for the Zvezda Service Module.

Whitson also commanded Expedition 16 from October 2007 to April 2008, during which she oversaw the installation of the Harmony connecting node, the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo logistics pressurized module and the Canadian Space Agency’s Dextre robot. She conducted five EVAs to support this expansion of the International Space Station.

Whitson’s final long-duration mission on the International Space Station was Expedition 50/51 from November 2016 to September 2017. During this long stay on the space station, she helped conduct hundreds of experiments on the International Space Station. She retired from NASA with a total of 665 days in space.

The AX-2 mission also includes crew members Rayyanah Barnawi, Ali AlQarni, and John Shoffner. Shoffner is an American businessman who has started businesses in the telecom and hardware industries. Saudi Arabia is sponsoring Barnawi’s and AlQarni’s presence on the AX-2 mission. Rayyanah Barnawi is a stem cell researcher who will be working with stem cells. The stem cells are also being delivered on AX-2 as one of 20 biomedical experiments that the crew plans to conduct. Alik AlQarni is a Saudi Arabian fighter pilot.

Axiom Space brokered the deal with Shoffner and the Saudi Arabian government as a way to get in on the market for private spaceflight and other countries that have not developed their own capacity for crewed spaceflight. Since Dennis Tito became the first “space tourist” by paying Russia for a ride to the International Space Station in 2001, several private citizens have visited the space station. Until SpaceX began flying the Crew Dragon, Russia had a monopoly on the market for private spaceflight. However, SpaceX now has experience in this market with flights like the Axiom Space series of flights and the separate orbital mission Inspiration4.

Paid trips to the International Space Station were initially controversial due to the risk of relatively untrained parties damaging valuable equipment on the space station, leading indirectly to NASA making a rule that any private missions to the ISS that launch from U.S. soil have to be commanded by a veteran astronaut like Peggy Whitson. The space station partner countries also have rules such as certain areas being off-limits for private crews, including the airlocks used as a staging area for EVAs.

Axiom Space has an expanded contract with SpaceX to launch a total of four flights to the International Space Station. AX-1 already launched in April 2022 and splashed down after an extended stay on the ISS due to poor weather at the splashdown site.

Space

SpaceX Hires Former NASA Official as Starship General Manager

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX has hired former NASA human spaceflight official Kathy Lueders as general manager for Starship development. Lueders’ duties will include helping make Starship flightworthy for future crewed missions.

Lueders previously oversaw NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which successfully incubated SpaceX’s development of the Crew Dragon. The Crew Dragon regularly flies NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station as part of the Commercial Crew Program. It has also been used for private flights such as Inspiration4 and Axiom Space’s series of flights to the International Space Station.

Lueders will work at the “Starbase” test facility in Boca Chica, Texas, where she will report to SpaceX President and COO Gwynn Shotwell. Shotwell took charge of Starship development amid delays in testing that included the FAA’s nearly two-year-long approval process for the planned orbital test.

SpaceX had expected to conduct the test during the summer of 2021, but it kept getting pushed back. When it finally did get off the ground, the first stage booster failed to separate from the Starship spacecraft and it suffered a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly.

The FAA is currently facing a lawsuit for allegedly bungling the required environmental analysis, even though approval of the orbital test took long enough that it was likely not done in haste. The plaintiff do not currently name SpaceX as a defendant.

Despite the Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly, Elon Musk seems confident that SpaceX could learn from the data derived from the test and make a quick turnaround in Starship-related testing. No, the damage to the launchpad likely won’t help. However, Elon Musk has previously floated the idea of moving Starship testing to Cape Canaveral, which has decades of experience with launching big rockets.

Starship will be expected to take on a variety of mission profiles. It could carry cargo from point to point on Earth, launch larger satellites and scientific probes than the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy can, and eventually carry crews and cargo to Mars.

The Pentagon expressed interest in Starship for rapidly delivering critical humanitarian and military supplies to anywhere in the world. NASA awarded SpaceX a contract to continue development on a Starship-derived lunar lander — something that Blue Origin hotly contested.

Private citizens who already booked flights on Starship include Dennis Tito, who is best known for being the first “space tourist” — a private citizen who previously paid a Russian company for a ride to the International Space Station. The move had been controversial at the time due to the International Space Station’s status as a valuable (and expensive) platform for science experiments in microgravity.

Japanese fashion mogul Yuzaku Maezawa recently announced the crew for the dearMoon mission, which will go to the Moon and back. Most of the crew members work in the arts.

The two flights are likely to provide additional data for Starship’s performance during a lunar mission. This data will prove valuable for a future crewed landing, which could happen as early as NASA’s Artemis III.

With paying customers already lining up for a ride on Starship, Elon Musk may reasonably become impatient with progress on Starship development. He may have put Gwynn Shotwell in charge of development out of pure frustration.

SpaceX is also hiring former NASA employees to help. It previously hired William Gerstenmaier, who likewise oversaw NASA’s human spaceflight program, as its vice president of build and flight reliability. Now it has hired Kathy Lueders as general manager for Starship development.

Brightline Chooses Starlink to Provide Internet on Trains

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The regional train line Brightline selected Starlink to provide Internet service for its passenger trains. In a press release issued by Brightline, it found Starlink’s relatively low latency and high speed for a satellite Internet service attractive.

Starlink’s Internet service is already available on Brightline’s train routes between Miami and West Palm Beach in southern Florida. Brightline will extend the service to train routes going as far north as its recently opened Orlando station once it has the five trains that will make stops in Orlando up and running. It expects to start selling tickets to and from its Orlando station as early as this week. It will offer Internet service for free to all passengers on its routes.

Brightline often boasts of providing a transportation option for routes that are too long or too congested with traffic to drive effectively but too short to fly. (Fair. I-4 can be a nightmare, right, Florida?) It plans to open similar train routes between Las Vegas and southern California in the near future. It remains to be seen whether these train routes will use Starlink, though they probably will.

“Brightline will be the first train sets in the world to use the Starlink system. This really speaks to what we represent – an innovative passenger rail provider paving the way for high-speed rail in the US,” said Brightline chief technology & digital innovation officer Kevin T. McAuliffe.

The press release cited Starlink’s satellites in low-Earth orbit, which can deliver much faster response times than comparable satellites in geostationary orbit. Starlink can deliver average response times of 25 milliseconds, compared to 600 milliseconds for geostationary satellites.

This will make it possible for Brightline passengers to run software and accomplish tasks that require real-time connectivity, such as gaming and video calls. The fast latency may make it especially popular with professionals who wish to get a virtual meeting and some paperwork in while traveling for business. Most of its Floridian routes take up to one hour and twenty minutes.

The FAA approved Starlink for use on maritime applications like boats and oil rigs and large vehicles like RVs, planes, and trains during the summer of 2022. SpaceX already has deals with airlines and cruise ship operators to provide Internet services. It also introduced a Global Roaming Plan that makes it possible for subscribers to take their Starlink service with them when they travel. (It’s still a poor idea to attach a Starlink terminal to the hood of your car, though. SpaceX does not seem to have plans to offer Starlink service for vehicles smaller than an RV.) Making Starlink available for train lines is a first for Starlink.

Business

Elon Musk Names New CEO for Twitter

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk named NBCUniversal chairman Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter. He says he will move to a position as Twitter’s CTO and executive chairman. He will oversee product, software, and sysops.

Yaccarino previously oversaw global advertising and partnerships for NBCUniversal. Her achievements include consolidating NBCUniversal’s advertising sales teams into a single department. It had previously had 15 sales teams, some of whose work had overlapped.

Like much of the media industry, NBCUniversal’s advertising revenue has been down lately. This decline in revenue forced NBCUniversal to make cuts in its workforce.

Her experience may help Twitter get its advertising revenue back on track. Some major corporations had dropped their advertising on Twitter after Musk took it private. Elon Musk has indicated interest in moving Twitter away from relying on advertising, including adding a subscription model for Twitter’s “Blue Tick Mark” and allowing users to set up subscriptions. These features have seen very limited success so far.

She will also face challenges such as a growing number of serious competitors that include Mastodon and Nostr. Several of these competitors have seen an upswing in users since Elon Musk acquired Twitter.

Musk had previously asked his followers if he should step down as Twitter’s CEO in a poll. 57.5% of respondents voted “Yes.”

Once the poll closed, he promised to step down once he found someone “foolish enough” to take on what is likely to be a challenging position at this point. Several high-profile individuals closed their account.

Others got banned from Twitter for allegedly impersonating Elon Musk. Social media impersonators had previously been a major problem due to the prevalence of scams. A few scammers even got caught after having hacked into major accounts like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Barack Obama. Although some thought that Elon Musk just couldn’t take a joke, an equally likely explanation is that Musk still resents the fraudulent accounts — and getting his Twitter account hacked. (Seriously, folks, people losing money in scams is not funny.)

Like many Big Tech companies, Twitter went through rounds of layoffs. According to Musk, it is down to 1,500 employees, not that the layoffs were without drama. A federal judge already dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that Musk targeted female employees during the layoffs. A different judge for the same court dismissed a similar lawsuit alleging that Twitter discriminated against workers with disabilities with its new requirement that employees return to the office. However, the plaintiffs have not ruled out the possibility of refiling the lawsuits with additional facts.

A bill introduced in the California state legislature will add additional protections for employees facing layoffs if it passes. The protections include limiting employers’ ability to force employees to sign waivers to receive their severance packages.

As the executive chairman and CTO, Elon Musk will still have a large role in the future of Twitter. It’s even likely that he will continue to pursue the “X App,” which he says could combine a lot of the services provided by today’s popular apps into a single app with Twitter at its core. Longtime Musk followers may see as swinging back to his days of spinning up the early online banking site that eventually merged with PayPal. He is stepping away from his role as CEO now that he has tapped Linda Yaccarino for the role.

Space

Vast to Launch Space Station on Starship Rocket

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

An aerospace startup named Vast has expressed interest in launching a space station on SpaceX’s Starship / Super Heavy stack. The space station, Haven-1, will become one of the first privately owned space stations if everything goes as planned.

Haven-1 could launch as early as August 2025 if everything goes smoothly. It will be capable of hosting a four-person crew who can travel to the space station on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Vast plans to have Haven-1 host the first crew for up to 30 days. Future crew members may be professional astronauts representing government-funded space agencies or private individuals who paid for a seat. Work could include scientific experiments and work on proposed in-space manufacturing techniques.

Haven-1 will eventually become part of a larger orbital base that Vast is currently designing. Initial designs indicate that the final base could be capable of spinning to generate “artificial gravity” with centrifugal force. The company’s CEO, Jed McCaleb, envisions building a series of large space stations capable of generating artificial gravity.

Vast’s larger space station will be 328 feet long, slightly longer than the International Space Station with a total truss length of 310 feet. The International Space Station is about the size of a football field.

Other Companies Working on Space Stations (but it’s hard)

Other companies working on a private space station include Axiom Space, which is currently preparing to add inflatable modules to the International Space Station with a series of flights to the space station. The second flight, AX-2, will be commanded by experienced astronaut Peggy Whitson and is currently scheduled to launch on May 21 at 5:37 EDT. The inflatable modules will eventually be “spun off” into their own space station before the International Space Station is retired.

Bigelow Aerospace had once done work on a privately owned space station and even sent an inflatable module to the ISS. However, it faced challenges that included being forced to suspend operations and lay off all its workers in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also turned down a chance to bid on future work for NASA, citing concerns about compensation. A blog entry indicates that it disputed claims made by former NASA administrator Charles Bolden during a speech in which Bolden accused Bigelow of not doing enough to make its planned space station a reality. In 2022, it signed ownership of the inflatable module it provided over to NASA.

Starship Needs to Become Operational

Future Starship launch dates will depend on the spaceship and Super Heavy rocket becoming fully operational. The planned (and much-delayed) orbital test suffered a failure two minutes after leaving the launchpad and destroying the launchpad. However, Elon Musk remained confident in the possibility of a quick turnaround — pending, of course, FAA approval, which may depend on SpaceX being able to convince regulators and environmental activists that it won’t start a fire in a nearby state park next time.

This issue may impact the launch schedule for payloads like Vast’s Haven-1, SpaceX’s next-generation Starlink satellites, and humanitarian supplies that Starship could quickly deliver to anywhere on Earth. It’s not like a Starship prototype hasn’t suffered a rapid unscheduled disassembly before, though. SpaceX may still get it right, even if it’s on the fifth try.

Starship will enable launch of larger payloads like Haven-1, which stands a chance of becoming one of the first privately owned space stations if not necessarily the first. Along with Axiom Space, Haven-1 could expand on the concept behind NASA’s Commercial Crew Program by making it possible for space agencies to rent space and send astronauts to a privately owned space station. It could also host private passengers who may be wealthy individuals or represent organizations interested in conducting experiments.

Space

Lawsuit Alleges FAA Hastily Approved Starship Launch

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

A lawsuit filed in the wake of SpaceX’s test launch of the Starship/Super Heavy stack alleges that the FAA hastily approved it without properly considering potential environmental impact. The plaintiffs allege that debris landed in a nearby state park, causing damage.

The lawsuit does not name SpaceX as a defendant. It sites the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires regulators to consider the environmental impact of the activities that they are authorized to regulate. However, the lawsuit’s focus on the FAA does not rule out the possibility that SpaceX employees and perhaps Elon Musk himself will testify during court hearings for the case.

The plaintiffs include local environmentalists and a Texan Native American tribe called the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation. Local Native Americans had previously complained of being unable to access the local beach due to closures caused by activity at SpaceX’s test facility. The Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation says the Boca Chica area is one of their sacred sites.

The FAA had held hearings on the environmental impact of the launch. Opponents of SpaceX activity in the area said the regional ecology had been impacted. Some local birds’ nesting sites had especially been disrupted by activity and expansions of the facility.

Supporters cited SpaceX’s ability to bring skilled jobs to the area and the Starship’s potential importance to the future of space travel. While they acknowledged the environmental groups’ concerns, they mentioned that it may be a matter of weighing one cause against another.

“I will always be on their side. I think that their endeavors are absolutely necessary and vital to humanity as a species,” said SpaceX supporter Brandon McHugh during the hearings.

The FAA had also repeatedly delayed its decision on SpaceX’s proposed orbital test. SpaceX originally planned to conduct the orbital test during the summer of 2021. However, the FAA seemed to be in no hurry to approve it. The fact that it received more than 19,000 comments during the open comment period on a proposed environmental review draft showed that people do care, but slowed it down as FAA staffers likely read all the comments. The environmental review itself was apparently complex enough to cause delays — possibly reasonable given the National Environmental Policy Act requirements, considering it’s a big rocket that can scatter debris far and wide if it explodes.

The FAA permits SpaceX to launch up to twenty rockets a year at the Boca Chica test facility, which it calls Starbase. Several rockets have been destroyed during testing at the site, including four Starship prototypes in a row during high-altitude testing. The Rapid Unscheduled Disassemblies (RUD) often scatter debris, sometimes sending it miles offsite.

SpaceX has asked locals to return debris from the Starship/Super Heavy stack that it planned to use for an orbital test. The stack suffered a failure just two minutes into the launch, reportedly scattering debris far and wide and causing damage to some nearby reporters’ equipment.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says the company learned a lot from the two-minute-long test and could pursue a turnaround for the next test in as little as a month.

However, the FAA seems to disagree. It decided to temporarily block future Starship-related launch tests while it conducts a mishap investigation.

Space

SpaceX Launches ViaSat Satellite on Falcon Heavy

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX launched the first of three ViaSat Internet-providing satellites on April 30, 2023. This next-generation satellite, ViaSat-3, will help provide coverage for the Americas.

The satellite launch faced numerous delays throughout the latter half of April due to poor weather and a possible technical issue. A launch scheduled for April 18 was scrubbed due to undisclosed issues after a static fire test. SpaceX canceled a second attempt slated for April 27 to conduct inspections after lightning hit the tower. Then it delayed the launch again due to severe weather warnings in Florida.

ViaSat established contact with its satellite fifteen minutes after launch. The satellite will attempt to extend its solar panels in the coming days as part of preparations for planned operations. It will also maneuver to its planned orbit.

ViaSat plans to cover Europe, the Middle East, and Africa with an upcoming second satellite once it is launched. A third satellite will cover Asia. Their ranges will allow coverage for air routes to Hawaii and extend service to nearly all of South America.

The satellites will maneuver into geosynchronous orbit once launched. Most geosynchronous satellites orbit at an altitude of 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers), which keeps them over the same region of Earth as it rotates. Most Starlink satellites orbit at an altitude of 342 miles (550 kilometers) to provide better latency, or the response time that a signal can get. SpaceX plans to launch as many as 42,000 Starlink satellites and may launch some of its Version 2 satellites on its Starship/Super Heavy stack once it becomes operational.

(Yes, Starlink has led to complaints that they interfere with astronomers’ observations. SpaceX says it’s working on that.)

Like many competing satellite Internet service providers, ViaSat has previously made waves about Starlink. It filed a challenge to the FCC’s regulatory approval for launches of Starlink satellites in 2021. ViaSat alleged that the FCC had not properly considered the environmental impact of SpaceX launches. Launching so many satellites may contribute to the “space junk” problem.

Later, a panel of judges dismissed a case that ViaSat had filed in court. Predictably, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk did not react kindly to ViaSat’s challenge, which he claimed was purely about ViaSat not liking competition. The lower latency of Starlink’s Internet-providing satellites may make it popular for users of software that require “real-time” functionality, such as videoconferencing or gaming.

However, like SpaceX’s relationship with OneWeb, SpaceX does not let previous conflicts stop it from accepting ViaSat as a paying customer. It’s unknown whether ViaSat might have any lingering hurt feelings about the case.

However, ViaSat did choose not to rely exclusively on SpaceX. ViaSat will launch the next two satellites on a ULA Atlas-5 rocket and an ArianeSpace Ariane-6 rocket, respectively. In the wake of delays in Ariane-6 development, ViaSat says it may reassign launch of the third satellite if ArianeSpace cannot have its rocket up and running by then. It expects the second satellite to launch in Fall 2023 and the third satellite next year.

Space

SpaceX Loses Starship/Super Heavy During Test

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX’s Starship/Super Heavy stack suffered a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly (RUD) during the attempted orbital test on April 20, 2023. The issues included the test version of the Starship spacecraft failing to separate from the first stage rocket. Five of the 33 engines on the first stage also failed to fire during liftoff.

The launch attempt lasted only a couple of minutes. The stack reached an altitude of 18 miles.

If things had gone as planned, the first stage rocket would have returned to SpaceX’s test facility near Boca Chica, Texas. The spacecraft would have boosted itself into orbit and made nearly one full orbit around Earth before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

However, Elon Musk had previously given it maybe a 50/50 chance for success. Well before the launch, he tweeted, “Excitement guaranteed.” In his latest tweet, he called it a learning experience and anticipated another test in a few months.

Despite the loss of the Starship/Super Heavy stack during launch, SpaceX seemed equally confident that it could learn lessons from the mishap and increase its chances of nailing it the next time around.

Of course, this isn’t the first time SpaceX lost a Starship test model in a mishap. In early 2021, it lost four models in fiery mishaps during high-altitude testing before nailing it with the test model with the serial number SN15. SpaceX seemed to take it as part of the learning curve that comes with developing a new rocket and spacecraft despite occasional complaints from area residents and extra scrutiny from the FAA.

SpaceX seems generally capable at taking its failures in stride now that it’s not just another aerospace startup that’s one bad launch attempt away from bankruptcy. It even released this humorous compilation of failures titled “How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster.” Now it makes landing its first stages boosters look easy. However, that wasn’t always the case.

Avid aerospace followers likewise refused to see the Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly — which looked like a big midair fireball — as a failure. Ars Technica’s Senior Space Editor, Eric Berger, saw it as a learning experience for a company that already has a couple more test models on standby. He said SpaceX can absorb such a dramatic loss of a rocket more easily than NASA can.

It didn’t hurt that the test model did not have a crew on board. That would have been an even messier business to deal with. From SpaceX’s perspective, these uncrewed tests merely give them a chance to fix the problems before they add the crew.

SpaceX hasn’t set a firm date for a second try for the orbital test with a different Starship test model — probably a smart move, since getting FAA approval for this first attempt took two years of wrestling with bureaucratic red tape, environmental reviews, and thousands of public comments. However, its employees barely blinked at the loss of its test rocket only a couple of minutes into the flight. They got some good data that will help them improve on future attempts.

Space

SpaceX Delays Test Flight Due to Pressurization Issue

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX aborted its already long-delayed orbital test flight of the Starship/Super Heavy stack due to an issue with the pressurization system. The abort was announced at T minus nine minutes and the launch team used the remaining time to run through a “wet rehearsal” of the planned test.

According to Elon Musk’s Twitter account, a stuck valve triggered the decision to abort.

Even before the abort, Musk seemed to think there was a high chance that the orbital test could end explosively. SpaceX could go for a second launch attempt in as little as 48 hours. Recycling procedures include draining off the supercooled fuel, giving the rocket a closer inspection, and potentially fixing the issues that led to the abort.

“Just don’t blow up the pad,” he said in a pre-launch Twitter Spaces event.

At least he didn’t think it would be boring.

Musk had taken a similar attitude before the first Falcon Heavy launch in 2018, which he gave a 50% chance of success. Publicly, he tries to manage expectations. More privately? Employees at his companies have said that he can be in a bad mood after a failed rocket test.

The Falcon Heavy launch succeeded, but it wouldn’t have been the first time he saw a launch go bad fast. There had been a time when SpaceX was nearly bankrupt partly due to a string of rocket failures.

Luckily, it turned things around and has conducted 24 launches so far in 2023. The most recent launch was the Transporter-7 rideshare mission, which launched 51 small satellites for a variety of organizations.

Issues that SpaceX had to deal with included a boat that strayed into the exclusion zone. Starbase is near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, which requires it to maintain an offshore area that is free of boats in case debris from a failed rocket launch falls into the Gulf.

The orbital test was to launch from its “Starbase” launch facility near Boca Chica, Texas. The Starship spacecraft would have made nearly one complete orbit and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.

The Super Heavy rocket can produce up to 16.5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, which will make it the most powerful rocket in existence when it becomes operational. The rocket used by NASA for the Artemis Program produces a little more than half the Super Heavy’s thrust.

The Super Heavy’s intense thrust will make it suitable for a variety of purposes ranging from rapidly sending larger cargoes to anywhere on Earth to sending cargo and crews to Mars. SpaceX intends to make both stages of the Super Heavy reusable, which will make missions using Starship/Super Heavy less expensive and more sustainable.

SpaceX already reuses the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket. Some Falcon 9 first stage boosters have flown more than ten times. Most of its fleet of Cargo Dragons and Crew Dragons have also flown more than once.

SpaceX has not scheduled a time or date for its second attempt to launch the Starship/Super Heavy stack on its orbital test flight.

Space

Sateliot Launches Cell Phone Service Satellite on SpaceX Rocket

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

The Spanish-based company Sateliot launched its first cell phone service satellite on SpaceX’s Transporter-7 launch mission. This satellite is the first of five in a satellite constellation that will provide cell phone services in areas like mountain ranges that are difficult for cell phone towers to service.

Apple and T-Mobile use existing communications satellites to supplement their cell phone services. Communication with emergency contacts are currently one primary use for satellite-based cell phone services. However, many carriers say they plan to expand their satellite-based services, providing an opportunity for companies like Sateliot.

Sateliot is one of the first companies to own a satellite constellation that is purely dedicated to cell phone service. It plans to work with cell phone carriers to bring its satellite-based services to consumers. Sateliot already has deals with maritime shipping and logistics services to provide connectivity.

Each Sateliot satellite can cover an area three times the size of Texas. Unlike many communications satellites, they’re pretty small. The dimensions of each satellite are 4X8X12 inches, making them suitable for launch on one of SpaceX’s Transporter launches.

Transporter-7 included a payload of 51 small satellites on a reusable Falcon 9 rocket. It launched at 2:48 am EST on April 15. This is the seventh launch in SpaceX’s Transporter series, which provides dedicated “rideshare” launches for small satellites that would otherwise have to wait for space on a launch of a larger primary payload.

Transporter-7 was the first to use a shorter nozzle in the engines of the rocket’s upper stage. The shorter nozzles can save money on rocket launches that do not need as much performance. The shorter nozzles required an alteration of the reentry and recovery procedure. The booster fired only one engine for reentry and used all three for landing. The Falcon 9 retains the longer nozzle for higher-performance missions.

SpaceX did not provide a full list of the satellites on the Transporter-7 launch. However, companies that had satellites on board also included Satellogic, Orbital Sidekick, GHGSat, Hawkeye 360, and Spire. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and the Austrian Space Forum also had satellites on board.

SpaceX currently charges $1.3 million to launch a 200-kilogram satellite on a Transporter mission. The reliability of its ability to launch 50-plus satellites on a Falcon 9 makes it attractive enough that other small launch service providers find it difficult to compete.

Industry observers say the Transporter missions set a reference price for launch of small satellites. Rocket Lab CFO Adam Spice suggested courting more launches of government satellites, since governments tend to be less price-sensitive due to the exacting needs of their satellites. SpaceX has already successfully done so, scoring important launch contracts for Space Force assets like upgraded GPS satellites. It also launched an Earth observation satellite for the Royal Thai Air Force and a laser communications experiment for the Department of Defense.

SpaceX charges $67 million for a dedicated Falcon 9 launch, which can send up to 22,000 kilograms into orbit. Last year, it cited inflation as the reason for the increase in price from $62 million, as well as for increasing Starlink’s subscription fees.

Space

SpaceX Preps for Orbital Test of Starship/Super Heavy Vehicle

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX is set to launch its Starship/Super Heavy vehicle on a planned orbital test on April 17. A launch window will open at 8 am on April 17 and last 150 minutes. This test version of Starship will launch from its test facility in Boca Chica, Texas, and splash down just off the Hawaiian coast.

The full stack is 395 feet (120 meters) tall. Like most of SpaceX’s rockets and spacecraft, the operational version of Starship and Super Heavy will be reusable. Whether it actually launches on April 17 depends on weather conditions. SpaceX seemed confident about the weather report even though it was keeping an eye on wind.

Launch of the orbital test will also depend on keeping boats out of a “keep-out” zone. Privately owned boats straying into the exclusion zone previously became a problem for the splashdown of Demo-2. Demo-2 was the final test mission of the Crew Dragon before it became fully operational.

The orbital test will provide important data that brings Starship closer to being operational. Proposed uses for Starship include rapid delivery of cargo to support humanitarian and disaster-relief efforts anywhere in the world.

Naturally, Starship could also send people to other worlds like Mars, something that Elon Musk still aims to do by the end of the decade. Elon Musk had previously stated that he would like to establish a one-million-person settlement on Mars using a fleet of Starship spacecraft. In the below SpaceX video, he acknowledged the technical challenges that still need to be solved before that happens. (However, “technical challenges” does not mean “impossible.”)

NASA awarded SpaceX a contract to develop a Starship-derived lunar lander that will fly for the first time on Artemis III. Blue Origin had disputed the award with the Government Accountability Office and in court, though both the GAO and the court dismissed the dispute. Since then, Blue Origin’s former team leader for its lunar leader has moved over to a position at SpaceX. Now that SpaceX can move forward with the lunar lander, the orbital test will also provide valuable data for development.

The orbital launch had faced significant delays due to regulatory red tape at the FAA. It received more than 19,000 comments regarding a required environmental review for the test launch. Environmental activists in the Boca Chica area say activity at the test facility does harm to local wildlife. The supportive comments argue that SpaceX takes precautions to protect people from injury or death — even if it might occasionally seem overzealous about closing local roads and beaches for safety reasons.

SpaceX will provide a live feed of the launch attempt for the Starship/Super Heavy stack. It will make updates on its official Twitter account, including an update of a changed launch time if necessary. However the test turns out, Elon Musk promises that at least it won’t be boring.

Space

SpaceX Launches Transport Layer Satellites for Space Force

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX has launched ten satellites for the Space Development Agency, a division of the U.S. Space Force. These satellites are the first of a batch of 28 communications and missile-tracking satellites referred to as “Tranche 0.”

The Space Development Agency refers to eight of these satellites as “Transport Layer” satellites. The name comes from the OSI Network Model, which describes a seven-layer process by which two or more devices communicate over a computer network. Most familiar networking protocols like HTTP, TCP/IP, and DNS can be placed on one of the layers of the OSI Networking Model.

The transport layer (Layer 4) describes the method by which data to be transmitted over a network is divided into packets and organized to send through the network. The Transport Layer satellites borrowed the name to describe their role in relaying information gathered by other satellites.

The other two satellites are infrared sensor satellites that can track missiles in flight. The Space Development Agency refers to them as “Tracking Layer” satellites. It plans to use the Tracking Layer satellites to monitor possibly hostile missile launches originating in China or Russia. Then the Tracking Layer satellites will relay that information to the Transport Layer to send to monitoring stations on the ground.

The Space Development Agency favors the redundancy that comes with development and launch of numerous low-cost satellites for critical services. With the upswing of small satellites and lower-cost launch options, it can develop satellite constellations that can still function even if a few satellites are disabled in a hostile nation’s attack. This plan is a departure from previous Department of Defense policies, which favored larger, more complex, and more expensive satellites.

“Satellite constellations must be proliferated, disaggregated and distributed” to help them withstand attack, Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said during testimony before Congress on March 14. “The Space Development Agency’s proliferated warfighter space architecture provides a prime example of those efforts.”

SpaceX demonstrated the value of a large satellite constellation with robust cybersecurity by providing Ukraine with access to Starlink as it defends against the Russian invasion. It beefed up Starlink’s security to withstand efforts to interfere with the Starlink constellation, such as jamming satellites’ signal. SpaceX also barely blinked during an incident in which a group of Starlink satellites got wiped out by solar activity shortly after launch because it already had thousands of the satellites in orbit. It aimed to limit what SpaceX President Gwynn Shotwell describes as the “weaponized” use of Starlink on the battlefield but came up with an alternative called Starshield.

SpaceX has a second launch for the Space Development Agency’s Transport Layer satellites tentatively scheduled for June. The two launches are part of a $150 million contract awarded by the Space Development Agency in June 2020.

SpaceX reused a first stage booster that had been previously used to launch Starlink satellites. It landed the first stage booster, marking the 183rd time SpaceX successfully landed a first stage booster. The Space Development Agency likely saved some taxpayer dollars by agreeing to reuse a “previously flown” booster.

Elon Musk Denies Report of Potential Investment From Saudi Arabia, UAE

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

Elon Musk denied recent reports that SpaceX was in talks with Saudi Arabia and the UAE for a potential investment round. In a tweet replying to a Teslarati report, he simply said, “Not true.”

Saudi Arabia operates a sovereign investment fund it calls the Public Investment Fund (PIF). The report also said a private Abu Dhabi company was planning to invest in SpaceX. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund previously invested $200 million in SpaceX. The UAE invested $100 million.

However, Saudi Arabia’s PIF may have had a falling out with Elon Musk when Musk tweeted that he had funding in place to take Tesla private in 2018. According to Musk’s testimony while defending against an investor lawsuit, he expected at least part of the funding to come from the PIF. However, it turned out to be a case of Musk counting his chickens before they hatch and the deal was never finalized.

The now-infamous tweet led to lawsuits from Tesla shareholders and scrutiny from regulators. In a settlement with the SEC, Musk agreed to have an attorney vet any tweets that might impact the value of Tesla shares. However, he has had difficulty retaining the attorney since then, likely due to some behind-the-scenes battles between Musk and the attorneys he hired.

The tweet also led to an investor lawsuit alleging market manipulation. A jury recently dismissed a class-action lawsuit against Elon Musk.

The incident could have made the PIF hesitate to own stakes in Elon Musk’s companies, at least publicly. However, Saudi Arabia became the second-largest shareholder in Twitter after Musk’s highly dramatic takeover of the social media platform.

Musk could also be playing it safe through not giving the SEC or investors in his companies any more ammo for a legal action. If he is in talks for a new fundraiser, he may not want to say so publicly until he has a finalized deal on paper and cash in the bank.

The supposed investment deal would have placed SpaceX’s valuation at $140 billion. Musk’s denial sparked speculation that he was trying to clamp down on speculation about its financial situation. As a privately held company, SpaceX does not have to send routine financial reports to its shareholders.

Any potential upcoming funding round is likely to include the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which is better known as the digital asset-friendly “a16z.” This firm is expected to lead the next funding round and holds a $400 million stake in Twitter. SpaceX planned to hold the funding round at a $137 billion valuation.

SpaceX raised $2 billion in funding rounds in 2022 and $2.6 billion in 2020. Since its founding in 2002, it went through some hiccups with early rocket development that came close to bankrupting the company. It also challenged other aerospace companies and government organizations head-on for a more level playing field to compete for launch contracts. In typical Elon Musk fashion, though, he was able to turn things around and it climbed to its current position as a leading launch service provider.

It may have used the 2020 and 2022 funding rounds to raise money for the development and deployment of the Starlink Internet-providing satellite constellation. It has already launched thousands of Starlink satellites into orbit and frequently launches more.

It also launches the “Transporter” satellite rideshare missions, which can bundle several small satellites from multiple organizations into a single launch. SpaceX’s contracts with NASA include launch services like sending cargo and crew to the International Space Stations on the two variants of its “Dragon” spacecraft. It will launch the first components of the Lunar Gateway space station and develop a Starship-derived lunar lander that NASA plans to fly on the Artemis III mission.

Its current success may make SpaceX an attractive company to invest in. In fact, somebody was caught selling fake shares in SpaceX with the claim that it went public. (News flash: It didn’t and any “financial advisor” who tells you it did is probably committing fraud. Ditto for any crypto-based “SpaceX Coin.”)

However, Elon Musk is keeping his mouth shut about any potential future funding around. He denied that he is in talks with Saudi Arabia and the UAE for potential investment in SpaceX.

Space

SpaceX Crew-5 Splashes Down Off Coast of Florida

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX’s Crew-5 splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, near Tampa, Florida, at 9:02 pm EST. It had undocked early this morning and spent several hours orbiting Earth and performing systems checks on their Crew Dragon, Endurance. This marks the end of the crew’s 157-day mission, which included more than five months on the International Space Station.

Crew-5’s final duties included a brief handover period with Crew-6, which had docked to the International Space Station on Friday. Crew-6 will spend a similar time period on the space station.

Crew-5 included NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina.

Kikina flew on the Crew Dragon as part of a deal between NASA and Roscosmos. Cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev is serving on Crew-6 as part of the same deal.

The recovery ship Shannon is working on securing the Crew Dragon used by Crew-6 to ensure that it is safe to hoist up to Shannon’s main deck. The work includes two fast boats designed to make a closer approach.

NASA expects to conduct a medical exam to make sure the crew is relatively healthy before flying them back to Houston. Space station crews frequently need a recovery period to get back on their feet after spending five to six months on the International Space Station. The crews typically experience symptoms like loss of balance, bone density, and muscle during the multi-month missions. They may also experience changes to their senses of sight and taste.

Several biomedical experiments on the International Space Station have involved studying the health effects of microgravity during long-duration missions. The data produced will help formulate new techniques for mitigating the health-related effects on other mission concepts like journeys to Mars.

Crew-5 notably had to modify Endurance to accommodate five people in case of an emergency evacuation. The alterations included moving a seat cover from a Russian Soyuz docked to the space station to the Crew Dragon.

The Soyuz had sprung a leak that caused it to lose most of its coolant. The leak also forced the crew to cut an EVA short. Russia’s Roscosmos has sent a replacement Soyuz since then.

Crew-5 was the sixth crewed flight in SpaceX’s Commercial Crew program. NASA has extended the contract to account for delays in Boeing’s development of the similar Starliner spacecraft and diplomatic tensions with Russia.

SpaceX also conducts private missions like a series of private missions to the space station organized by Axiom Space. Axiom Space is currently preparing to send inflatable modules to the International Space Station. Its modules will eventually spin off to form part of a privately owned space station that NASA can rent space on.

Space

SpaceX Launches Third Batch of 40 OneWeb Satellites

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX launched a third payload of 40 OneWeb satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on March 9, 2023. OneWeb is a London-based satellite Internet service provider.

With the latest launch, OneWeb’s Internet-providing constellation has 582 operational satellites in orbit. It plans to launch as many as 650 satellites.

SpaceX used a Falcon 9 first stage booster for the thirteenth time with this launch. It returned to Cape Canaveral in a controlled descent that probably feels routine for SpaceX employees by now. This landing marks SpaceX’s 177th successful recovery of a first stage rocket.

The second stage reached its target orbit and began releasing the satellites an hour after launch. It took slightly more than half an hour to deploy them all. The satellites will maneuver to their target orbit at a 745-mile altitude under their own power.

OneWeb became one company left scrambling for alternative launch services when the Western world hit Russia with sanctions due to the invasion of Ukraine. Russia seized some OneWeb satellites that were being prepared for launch on a Soyuz rocket when OneWeb refused to end its relationship with the British government. A British sovereign fund is part of a consortium that bought OneWeb out of bankruptcy.

If you remember that Richard Branson’s Virgin Group was involved in OneWeb, you’re right. The Virgin Group once owned a stake in OneWeb and originally planned to have its aerospace subsidiaries provide launch services for the satellites.

Coca-Cola also once invested in OneWeb. Public statements from Coca-Cola and OneWeb implied that Internet access could lead to greater employment by disadvantaged demographics like women in less developed countries. The better employment opportunities provided by Internet access could lead to more soft drinks sold.

OneWeb reached out to international companies like SpaceX despite a previous dispute over an incident in which a OneWeb satellite allegedly nearly collided with one of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites during launch. SpaceX denied it. Despite the dispute, CEO Elon Musk said the company would treat OneWeb like any other customer.

OneWeb also launched some of its satellites on a rocket built by a launch provider in India. That launch sparked the dispute by launching some of OneWeb’s satellites near a group of Starlink satellites. SpaceX claims it accounted for the launch while managing that satellite group.

Starlink currently has more than four thousand satellites in orbit and frequently launches more. However, it focuses on a market that mostly includes individual consumers and businesses. More recently, it created plans to provide services for airlines that provide in-flight Internet service, maritime applications ranging from private boats to oil rigs, and large vehicles like buses and RVs.

OneWeb plans to primarily serve the maritime, aviation, and land-based mobility markets. Despite the past dispute that highlighted one of the risks of having thousands of satellites in orbit, it unbent enough to hire SpaceX to conduct four launches of its satellites after the falling-out with Russia.

SpaceX conducted two of the launches in December 2022 and January 2023. It launched the third of four launches on March 9 and will conduct the final one later this year.

Space

Crew-6 Reaches International Space Station

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

NASA and SpaceX successfully launched Crew-6 on SpaceX’s “Endeavour” Crew Dragon on May 2, 2023. Early this morning (Eastern Standard Time), the Expedition 68 crew welcomed Crew-6 on board the International Space Station.

A previous launch attempt was scrubbed due to difficulty with telemetry readings for one of the Raptor engines on the Falcon 9. The issue has been resolved since then.

During docking, the Crew Dragon experienced issues with a faulty docking hook sensor. They resolved it by sending a patch for the Crew Dragon’s docking software over their radio link with ground control.

Crew-5 is still onboard the International Space Station. During their increment, they had to find a workaround for a leaky Soyuz spacecraft that involved equipping their Crew Dragon to carry an additional crew member in case they had to evacuate. The Russian space agency Roscosmos sent a replacement Soyuz since then.

Crew-5 will return home after a few-day handover period. Until then, the space station will host eleven people, tying the record for the largest number of people on the ISS.

Crew-6 includes Mission Commander Stephen Bowen and Pilot Woody Hoburg, both NASA astronauts. The crew also includes Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi.

Sultan Alneyadi will be the first UAE astronaut to serve a full six-month increment on the International Space Station. His mission is part of a deal between NASA, SpaceX, Axiom Space, and the UAE.

UAE astronaut Hazzaa Ali Almansoori previously made a shorter trip to the International Space Station as part of a deal between the UAE and Roscosmos. His 2019 trip to the ISS represented the final use of the same launchpad that Yuri Gagarin launched from in 1961 before Roscosmos shut it down to retrofit it for launches of a more modern Soyuz model. During his weeklong stay on the ISS, Hazzaa Ali Almansoori conducted experiments for the UAE, Roscosmos, and the ESA. He also documented his experience for a series of public transmissions to his home country.

During their mission, Crew-6 will conduct routine maintenance, scientific experiments, and technology demonstrations on the International Space Station.

Much of the scientific work on the International Space Station involves biological and medical experiments that can lead to better medical treatments on Earth and a better understanding of the effects of long-duration space missions on future crew members. They also include valuable materials science experiments. Experiments that Crew-6 will conduct include a (highly controlled!) test of how materials burn in microgravity, biological experiments involving tissue chips of heart, brain, and cartilage tissue, and collection of microorganisms that might survive outside the International Space Station during an EVA.

Crew-6 is SpaceX’s seventh crewed flight for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and ninth crewed flight overall. SpaceX also flies private missions like Axiom Space’s ongoing series of commercial flights to the International Space Station and the Inspiration4 mission. The International Space Station partners recently cleared Axiom-2 for launch and docking to the ISS.

Space

SpaceX Targets Summer 2023 for Launch of Polaris Dawn Mission

Written By: Heidi
Heidi

SpaceX and the Polaris Program rescheduled the launch of the privately organized Polaris Dawn mission for summer 2023. Polaris Dawn will be the first of three scheduled missions in SpaceX’s private Polaris program.

A businessman named Jared Isaacman will command Polaris Dawn. He previously organized and commanded Inspiration4 as a fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and promotion of the Point-of-Sale software provider Shift4 Payments. Isaacman is the CEO of Shift4. The Polaris Dawn mission’s crew also includes pilot Scott “Kidd” Poteet and engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.

The crew has been training for the Polaris Dawn mission since it was announced a year ago. Training included mission simulations, flights in fighter jets, and even climbing mountains in Ecuador.

Polaris Dawn will attempt to reach the highest altitude achieved by an orbital mission. It has a target apogee, or highest point in the orbit, of 870 miles (1,400 kilometers). Gemini 11 set the previous orbital altitude record of 850 miles (1,368 kilometers) in 1966.

(Yes, Apollo 13 did set an altitude record during the fight to bring the damaged spacecraft back to Earth with its crew still alive, but that was a lunar mission and not a purely Earth-orbit mission.)

The five-day mission will also include the first EVA attempt on a privately organized mission. This EVA will test SpaceX’s EVA suit design. Unlike the bulky and often awkward EVA suits used by NASA, SpaceX’s EVA suits look more slick. SpaceX weirdly failed to put in a bid to provide the EVA suits to NASA, though.

The crew will also conduct biomedical experiments. The experiments include use of a contact lens to measure changes to the astronauts’ eyeballs during flight. Ultrasonic instruments will also monitor the crews’ biometrics and physiology during launch and after splashdown. SpaceX also arranged to test a potentially more accurate method to monitor blood glucose levels and first aid techniques like CPR during the flight.

Technological experiments will include a test of Starlink-based laser communications. SpaceX currently has a contract with NASA to demonstrate satellite-based communications for an active space mission. If the test is successful, it could test communications technologies that could give NASA a valuable alternative to ground-based communications like the Deep Space Network.

The Deep Space Network communicates with NASA’s robotic probes, including missions to Mars and the outer solar system. The two Voyager probes launched in the 1970s can still communicate through the Deep Space Network even though they’ve already entered interstellar space.

The Polaris Program continues to promote donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. It cited a previous interesting coincidence: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital opened its first hospital for children the same year that John Glenn flew on the Mercury Program’s Friendship 7 mission in 1962. It says the survival rate for children with cancer in the United States rose from 20% to 80% since then, partly thanks to research conducted at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the free treatments it provides to children.

As importantly, the Polaris Program will conduct valuable biomedical research and technical experiments that could have valuable applications for both long-duration space missions and medical treatments hear on Earth. NASA already promotes valuable spinoffs of research conducted on crewed space missions like the Expeditions on the International Space Station. The Polaris Program’s research will add to the already valuable biomedical research being conducted on the International Space Station.

The Polaris Dawn mission will attempt a new altitude record and update some of the work that was done during the Gemini Program in the 1960s, including testing a new EVA suit that SpaceX could use for future space missions.