Important Innovations

  Starlink Links to Moving Planes, Ships, Semi-Trucks and RV's                                                                                Source:  SpaceX New, Space Based Broadband Connectivity SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wants to deploy his Starlink satellite constellation to provide internet connectivity to moving aircraft, ships at sea, semi-trucks and RVs on the road through his satellite based internet network.  SpaceX is currently working on an antenna that would provide vehicles the connectivity to pull in the internet while in motion. SpaceX Needs FCC Approval to Expand Services Musk says the service is not for Tesla cars because the user terminal is much to large for a car.  It is for large moving vehicles and vessels.  Musk is as...

  SpaceX Starlink Source:  SpaceX Starlink 600 Internet Satellites and Counting SpaceX and founder/CEO Elon Musk are setting new records in building Starlink, the space-based global internet service.  SpaceX is manufacturing an unprecedented 120 internet satellites per month.  No satellite competitor has even come close.  600 Starlink satellites are now in low Earth orbit.  Musk recently told the FCC that he plans to build an interconnected network of 12,000 small satellites capable of beaming high speed internet to anyplace in the world. Big Investment Musk told the FCC that he has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Starlink thus far.  He is currently producing thousands of consumer user terminals per month and is building ground stations to directly connect consumers to the Starlink network.  Musk says his internet service will be "inexpensive" for consumers to purchase. Big Demand Last week, SpaceX informed the FCC that it is experienc...

  SpaceX Launching Experimental Mars Rocket Prototype Source:  Space X "Hop Tests Of Starship" SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has plans to colonize Mars.  To take the new colonists, who choose to go there, he's working on an experimental rocket prototype and has been launching it on what he calls "hop tests".  The vehicle is called SN5 and doesn't look like a rocket.  It looks like a large, steel silo with a rocket strapped underneath.  It's been launched to 500 feet and landed with success in late summer 2020 in south Texas.  This prototype is designed to help SpaceX precisely launch and land a huge spacecraft with spot-on accuracy from the Earth to other planets. Starship to Mars SpaceX is accelerating the development of a massive spacecraft and rocket system called Starship which the CEO hopes will carry the first humans to Mars.  He tested a series of prototypes including Starhopper several times in 2019 with some successes and failures. Musk has spent ...

2 NASA Astronauts Safely Return to Earth Source:  NASA - Crew Dragon onboard SpaceX Rescue Ship SpaceX Founder Elon Musk's Magnificent Accomplishment For the 2 brave astronauts, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, who took the ride of their lives on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and hurtled into space onboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the ISS in May, it is now mission accomplished. They made it safely back to Earth today, having accomplished the first private space mission with US astronauts launched from the US into space for NASA.  They've made history. Perhaps NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine put it best calling the mission "the next era in human spaceflight", as NASA will be purchasing space rides from SpaceX.  For SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, this is a huge accomplishment that he says he wasn't sure he could do when he founded SpaceX in 2002.  He kept on perfecting his rocket science technology and he did it with a great victory today. SpaceX Victories For E...

2 NASA Astronauts Fly Crew Dragon from ISS to Earth Source:  SpaceX Crew Dragon History Being Made Again NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are making history once again.  At this moment, they are flying SpaceX's Crew Dragon back to Earth, after spending two months aboard the International Space Station (ISS).  Crew Dragon undocked from the ISS Saturday at 4:35PT.  NASA TV is broadcasting the return live. Smooth Sailing The return to Earth has been smooth sailing thus far.  Splashdown is set for Sunday 11:48 AM PT in the Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola, FL.  The only variable is the weather with Hurricane Isaias menacing Florida.  If the weather gets stormy, the astronauts have enough food on board to stay in orbit for several more days. Harsh Conditions During Re-Entry The re-entry process is dramatic.  The spacecraft will be travelling at 17,500 mph as it approaches reentry and it will endure maximum temperatures of 3500 degrees F during r...