Elon Musk says his team are busy “figuring out the regulatory approval process” for launching the Starlink broadband service over India. Musk was asked the question on Twitter as to when his service might start in India, and responded a few hours later. India could well be extra important in Starlink’s ambitions given that Bharti-backed […]
Elon Musk has reportedly given up on catching his SpaceX rocket fairings with vessels and giant nets and instead is launching two new boats to the fleet specifically to recover fairings by fishing them out of the ocean. The two new ships are named as ‘Bob’ and ‘Doug’ after the first Demo 2 astronauts Bob […]
SpaceX has delivered more than 100,000 of its Starlink broadband-by-satellite terminals to users. It still has a way to go to satisfy consumer demand insofar as it has a waiting list of more than 500,000 would-be consumers for its Starlink system which comprises its ‘Dishy McFlatface’ antenna, modem and WiFi router, power cables and a […]
SpaceX has submitted orbital modifications to its ‘next generation’ Starlink satellites to the FCC. If approved, the new Generation 2 Starlink craft will be able to offer higher-density services to rural areas. SpaceX has proposed two variants to the FCC and will await the Commission’s verdict/approval before proceeding with a modification to its existing satellite […]
SpaceX founder Elon Musk, speaking on August 15th, said that its massive Starship rocket should be ready for flight within the next few weeks. The major challenge, despite the obvious technical and engineering work in hand, comes from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and gaining its permission to actually launch the rocket. The complete Starship […]
Reports suggest that SpaceX will resume launching its Starlink low Earth orbiting satellites in August. It last launched a batch of its own satellites at the end of May. Two launches will take place; one from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and one from SpaceX’s own launch facility in Florida. The Vandenberg launch […]
Elon Musk’s Space Exploration rocket company has received another major endorsement. NASA is awarding it a $178 million (€151.1m) launch contract to send a mission – the Europa Clipper – to one of Jupiter’s moons. The news will not affect SpaceX’s imminent start of its Starlink broadband-by-satellite service, but it shows that NASA believes that […]
A report from aerospace engineer Michael Volle says that SpaceX’s Starlink initial ‘broadband by satellite’ low Earth orbiting constellation is almost completely deployed in space. Volle says that the Starlink system has just to fill four remaining orbital planes, commented: “The satellites destined for those planes are currently heading to them. Everything will [have been] […]
SpaceX has launched a new floating barge for use from Florida. Given the name ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’, the barge will allow Falcon 9 rocket boosters which are launched from Kennedy Space Centre to land at sea. “Autonomous SpaceX drone-ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas,” Musk wrote in his Tweet. The drone ship is fully automated […]
Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband by satellite service is planning to use Indian manufacturers to build its customer antenna and user modems and terminal devices. Starlink is expected to launch in India in 2022. “SpaceX is excited to find ways to work together with the Indian industry for manufacturing products for its Starlink devices,” said Matt […]