Free Republic

In this week's Avid Space update, SpaceX continues to get ready for Flight 14 and preparations are underway to accelerate the production and testing of Starships, but red tape is getting in the way. We're Going To See A Lot More Starships Once Gigabay Comes Online! | 7:10 Avid Space | 251K subscribers | 60,686 views | September 20, 2026

President returning to White House as State Department urges Americans to reconsider Mideast travel No reason given for change to Trump's schedule US President Donald Trump cut short his weekend stay at Camp David and was expected to return to the White House late Saturday, according to a White House pool report. The White House updated the president’s schedule to show his return to Washington on Marine One, with the presidential helicopter expected to arrive at the Ellipse at about 7 pm local time (2300GMT), USA Today reporter Joey Garrison reported in a pool report.

The Falcon 9 Booster Landing Team at SpaceX has been awarded the 2026 Neil Armstrong Space Prize in the Innovation category for proving that rockets could be recovered, refurbished and reused — a feat much of the industry once considered impossible. This video traces how that breakthrough happened, from early NASA and Air Force reusability research to the moment engineers watched a booster descend out of the darkness and land perfectly upright.Team members, including Jon Edwards, Yoshiaki Kuwata, Lars Blackmore, Shana Diez and Eduardo Valazquez, describe the persistence behind hundreds of engineers' work, and how those lessons carry forward into...

Starship now NET Sept. 28, plus Starliner may have a future after all | 21:53 Ellie in Space | 230K subscribers | 47,666 views | September 17, 2026

XAI: TODAY, ON SITE, WE HAVE OVER 2,000 WORKERS BUILDING THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL COMPUTER “Today, on site, we have over 2,000 workers building the world’s most powerful computer. Thank you to the amazing, hard-working men and women of Memphis for all you do!” Source: xAI

Last week, a relatively unknown 27-year-old researcher quit his job at Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI model.Then, he published his first post on X (formerly Twitter). In it, he warned that artificial intelligence could eventually kill humanity. The post exploded across social media. Within days, it racked up more than 150 million views. Major news organizations seized on the story. Politicians demanded action. And some of the biggest names in AI started debating whether development should slow down.Then, on Monday, Wall Street reacted. Investors started dumping many of the very companies powering the AI boom. But something doesn’t...

An FBI special agent sought a criminal investigation into Elon Musk for asking government officials what they do all day, a newly declassified email reveals. Former Special Agent Kevin Gounaud emailed a colleague in February 2025 casting Musk’s use of his social media platform X to advertise the work of DOGE, his government efficiency initiative, as a criminal act. He likened it to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to exchange classified intelligence, according to the email declassified by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley. Gounaud floated the legal theory that weekly emails that...

In a blurry red, visually cryptic post on X.com, Tesla announced the launch date for its long-promised second generation Roadster: 10.01. Although the image and text in the post itself don’t confirm that the announcement is indeed about Roadster, Tesla posted a link to go with it, to the Roadster page on Tesla.com, which makes it indisputable: come October 1, we’re getting a big update on the second-generation Tesla Roadster and it may have rockets mounted on top. Or... big searchlights. Or possibly snow blower nozzles. Who knows? The image is really blurry. If you recall, back on November 16,...

SpaceX's Starship Flight 14 has a launch window, and a Starship is back at the launch pad with a surprising twist! We dive into plans for Starlink V3 deployment, Ship 42's catch-system tests, Super Heavy Booster 22's cryogenic testing, and major upgrades at Starbase's Pad 1 and Pad 2. Plus, preparations for shipping Starship to Florida, Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket reaching orbit, Stoke Space's massive Nova Block 2 reveal, and this week's Falcon 9 launches. Another huge week in space! Breaking: Starship's Biggest Flight Yet Is Just Days Away! | 23:31 Marcus House | 588K subscribers | 229,680 views |...

Is the Cybercab cheaper than Waymo? Will Uber drivers lose jobs? What makes the Cybercab efficient? Summarise the video This video from Best in Tesla argues that Tesla’s upcoming Cybercab will significantly outperform competitors like Waymo and disrupt Uber’s current business model by offering a more cost-effective and efficient autonomous ride-hailing service. Key Takeaways: Cost Efficiency: The video estimates the Cybercab will cost approximately $17,500 to produce, compared to an estimated $100,000 for a Waymo robotaxi (1:23 - 2:49). This results in a massive gap in depreciation costs per mile (3:00 - 3:19). Operational Simplicity: Unlike Waymo, the Tesla Cybercab...

Elon Musk took the spotlight at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday. Well, not in person! But he and his influence took center stage as filmmaker Alex Gibney discussed his new doc, simply called Musk, during a press conference around lunchtime.The film about the owner of X and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, world-premiering in the Italian fest's Venice Open -- Out of Competition program, comes from producers Jigsaw Productions (Gibney, Jessie Deeter, Erin Edeiken), Closer Media (Zhang Xin), Anonymous Content (Nick Shumaker, Jessica Grimshaw) and Double Agent (Dana O'Keefe)...A couple of questions focused on the tech mogul's support for...

(the splash screen is generally not all that pertinent) Elon Musk posted 26 times on X today (09/06/26) | 18:56 Jacob & Isaac | 45K subscribers | 42,810 views | September 6, 2026

On Monday’s All In, host Chris Hayes just went on a hypocrisy-lined tear against X owner Elon Musk for spending big in the midterms, while completely downplaying the enormous spending already unleashed by leftist billionaire George Soros. Hayes decried Musk’s “unfathomable amounts of money” to “elect Republicans this cycle,” browbeating him for not giving that money to charity or some other noble cause: “At least $100 million people are saying — quite possibly much more. That’s in addition to the nearly $300 million Musk already spent electing Trump back in 2024.” But perhaps just as egregious, check out the pathetic...

The richest man in the world, who was laser-focused on delivering Pennsylvania for President Donald Trump in 2024, is wielding his wallet in the Keystone State once again to support Republicans in three swing congressional districts ahead of the midterms. America PAC, Musk’s super PAC, has contributed roughly $12,000 apiece in support of U.S. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie, of Lehigh; Rob Bresnahan, of Lackawanna; and Scott Perry, of York — all GOP incumbents facing tough reelection challenges, according to an independent expenditure report filed Wednesday. Though small potatoes in comparison, America PAC’s contributions in Pa. come roughly two years after Musk...

On Friday evening, Booster 21 fired all 33 engines. SpaceX says: full duration. But the burn was 10 seconds shorter than on the last two flights, and SpaceX doesn't say why. I have a theory, and it tells us a lot about what one launch really costs a pad. Ship 40 is sailing the wrong way around the planet, on purpose. Louisiana has already started work on its 100 billion dollar Starbase. And Flight 14? Two weeks out. What did SpaceX just quietly change, and why? Starship Flight 14: Is This The Most Important Launch Yet? Will It Go To...

SpaceX's plan to build the world's largest facility -- 100 million square feet in Grimes County, Texas, near Houston -- to do advanced computing and also manufacture, test and package silicon chips for its own use and by other Elon Musk-owned companies, will be self-powered using a gigawatt-scale natural gas power plant and battery storage, according to the company.The operations "are not expected to use electricity from the grid," the company said in a tax abatement agreement it entered into with the county in June.

SpaceX conducted a full-duration static fire test of Starship's 33-engine Super Heavy booster at Starbase, Texas on Aug. 28, 2026, as part of preparations for Flight 14. SpaceX fires up Starship's 33-Engine Super Heavy booster ahead of flight 14 | 1:03 VideoFromSpace | 2.14M subscribers | 58,856 views | August 29, 2026

In this video, we dive into the complex maritime operation of loading SpaceX's Starship 40 onto the heavy-lift vessel MV Forte for its journey home. Following its successful splashdown and subsequent recovery, the process of securing such a massive piece of hardware at sea presents unique engineering and logistical challenges. We look at the equipment used, the role of the recovery fleet, and what this means for the future of rapid rocket reuse. SpaceX Starship 40: The Process of Loading a Rocket at Sea | 12:40 What's Going on With Shipping? | 714K subscribers | 77,031 views | August 26,...

In this episode of What the Ship, we break down the top five maritime stories as of late August 2026. From high-stakes salvage operations in the Pacific to escalating economic warfare in the Black Sea, global shipping is facing unprecedented challenges. We look at how these regional disruptions are redrawing trade maps, spiking freight rates, and ultimately impacting global inflation. What the Ship (Ep 146) | Starship 40 & SLNC York Hormuz, Black Sea & Chokepoint Chaos | Containers 30:26 | What's Going on With Shipping? 713K subscribers | 34,153 views | August 24, 2026

Tesla Inc. TSLA has landed an order for 500 Semi electric trucks from Einride AB ENRD, in what the Swedish freight company calls the largest Tesla Semi deployment announced to date. The deal comes just months after the first Semi rolled off Tesla’s new high-volume production line in Nevada, a milestone that arrived years behind schedule. Einride announced the Tesla deal alongside its first-half results Tuesday, forecasting constant-currency revenue growth of 60% to 73% in the second half, accelerating from 26% in the first half. Einride shares surged 18% in premarket trading Tuesday. Tesla Semis Will Haul Freight for Amazon,...