Free Republic

SpaceX Starlink finally has real competition 🚀 and your internet bill may never look the same. Amazon’s new LEO network is directly challenging SpaceX, and in this video I break down what actually matters: speed, reliability, coverage, latency, and how this fight could put real money back in your pocket. You’ll see how Starlink’s upgraded low-orbit system stacks up against Amazon Leo’s fresh constellation, what this means for rural users and families, when prices could drop, and why major ISPs are quietly panicking. If you want to know how the future of satellite internet affects your wallet, performance, and options,...

&This week at Starbase while various construction projects continue at the usual rapid pace, crews begin scrapping Booster 17, test article B18.1 undergoes another round of cryo testing at the Massey Outpost and the Pad 1 launch mount practically disappears right before our eyes. Meanwhile in Florida, SpaceX launches 4 separate Starlink missions, ULA launches the ViaSat-3 F2 satellite aboard an Atlas V, and Blue Origin launches their second New Glenn mission to send a pair of Satellites to Mars.nbsp;SpaceX's Gigabay Begins to Take Form - Spaceflight Weekly #193 | 12:09 LabPadre Space | 250K subscribers | 12,200 views |...

Starlink confirmed its decision early on 29 October 2025 through an announcement on X (formerly Twitter). The company wrote: 'For those impacted by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and the Bahamas, Starlink service is now free through the end of November to help with response and recovery efforts'. Hurricane Melissa, with winds exceeding 165 mph, caused severe damage to homes, roads, and network infrastructure. Elon Musk's Starlink responded quickly, as it has in past crises such as Hurricane Helene in the US in 2024, when similar aid was offered. The deal integrates Starlink's Direct to Cell technology with Flow's existing network...

Watch live: SpaceX launches Starship Flight 11, finale of Block 2 upper stage | [about an hour to go] Spaceflight Now | 380K subscribers [many] watching now | Started streaming 54 minutes ago

Elon Musk on DOGE, Optimus, Starlink Smartphones, Evolving with AI, Why the West is Imploding | 44:47 All-In Podcast | 907K subscribers | 681,617 views | September 9, 2025

<p>FORT MCCOY, Wis. – Many things can cripple a military. One is the inability to adapt and integrate new technology and remain competitive on the battlefield, and the other is the loss of communication between personnel, military systems, and allies. U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers assigned to the 324th Expeditionary Signal Battalion (ESB), Bravo Company, are working to ensure that the Army continues to move into the future by utilizing new and better technology with their use of SpaceX’s laser-operated Starshield communications system.</p>

Elon Musk's SpaceX said Monday it will buy wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar (SATS.O), opens new tab for its Starlink satellite network for about $17 billion, a major deal crucial to expanding Starlink's nascent 5G connectivity business.The companies also agreed to a deal that will enable EchoStar's Boost Mobile subscribers to access Starlink direct-to-cell service to extend satellite service to areas without service. The spectrum purchase allows SpaceX to start building and deploying upgraded, laser-connected satellites that the company said will expand the cell network's capacity by "more than 100 times."...The push comes amid fast-rising wireless usage. In 2024, Americans...

President Donald Trump has people doing a double-take with the latest news about plans to not only get us back to the Moon, but build a nuclear reactor on the lunar surface and soon. According to documents obtained by Politico, interim NASA administrator and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will announce expedited plans with a definitive timeline to get a reactor built and take significant steps to improve U.S. efforts in the second space race. The report noted that NASA previously revealed plans, but no timeline was put in place. "It is about winning the second space race," a NASA senior...

Elon Musk's SpaceX is getting ready to take the International Space Station out of orbit Elon Musk says it’s about time for SpaceX to deorbit the International Space Station — “as soon as possible.” “It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility,” the SpaceX CEO wrote on X, the social media platform he owns. “Let’s go to Mars.” NASA awarded SpaceX a contract worth up to $843 million to deorbit the ISS no earlier than 2030, an endeavor that the company expects will cost it about $680 million, according to federal documents. SpaceX has been tasked with...

Elon Musk has confirmed that SpaceX’s Starship is set to launch for Mars by the end of 2026, and it will carry Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus. @elonmusk Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus. If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely. https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1900774290682683612? According to Musk, if everything goes as planned, humans could reach Mars as early as 2029—though he acknowledged that 2031 is a more realistic target. The X account for Optimus replied to Musk’s announcement with just two words: "Hold on." "Starship...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., May 4 (UPI) -- The Dream Chaser spaceplane, a cargo spacecraft built and operated by Nevada-based Sierra Nevada Corp., is to begin launching and landing in Florida in 2022, NASA and the company announced Tuesday. The uncrewed, robotic spaceplane will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance rocket from Kennedy Space Center for flights to the International Space Station. Once it docks and delivers cargo, Dream Chaser will return to the space center's former space shuttle landing strip. The first Dream Chaser is being prepared for delivery to the space center next spring, Janet Kavandi, a...

SNC was one of three companies, along with incumbents SpaceX and Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems), to receive CRS-2 contracts from NASA in January 2016. Each company is guaranteed at least six missions to the ISS under the contracts. To carry out the missions, SNC proposed a cargo version of the Dream Chaser spacecraft it had been developing for NASA’s commercial crew program. Although the vehicle was not selected by NASA when it awarded contracts instead to Boeing and SpaceX in 2014, SNC adapted the design with foldable wings, allowing it to fit within many existing payload fairings,...

Dream Chaser will launch atop the commercial Atlas V in its most powerful configuration, dubbed Atlas V 552, with five strap on solid rocket motors and a dual engine Centaur upper stage while protectively tucked inside a five meter diameter payload fairing – with wings folded. Blast off of Dream Chaser loaded with over 5500 kilograms of cargo mass for the space station crews will take place from ULA’s seaside Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The unique lifting body design enables runway landings for Dream Chaser, similar to the NASA’s Space Shuttle at the...

100% sucess

SpaceX's recent launch involved another successful landing of its Falcon 9 booster, but this time marked a Falcon Heavy center core booster launching and landing as a single-stick Falcon 9 rocket.The booster, designated B1091, powered the KF-02 mission, deploying 24 satellites for Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband constellation into low Earth orbit. This event marks a technical first for the company, blending elements of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy programs...At first glance, the launch appeared to be a standard Falcon 9 mission. However, B1091 is no ordinary booster. As revealed by SpaceX Vice President of Falcon and Dragon, Jon Edwards,...

These fins are said to be among the largest aerodynamic control surfaces ever built for a rocket. Grid fin for the next generation Super Heavy booster. SpaceX/X Elon Musk’s SpaceX has redesigned some parts of its colossal Mars-bound Starship to improve its stability and control. The most notable change is the removal of a landing fin from the Super Heavy booster, which will now use three redesigned grid fins that are 50% larger and stronger to improve vehicle control during descent. The announcement was made on Wednesday via a post on X, where SpaceX shared images revealing the complex, honeycomb-like...

SpaceX warned on Wednesday that Virginia is planning to spend over ten times what was required for its proposed high-speed internet access program by not sharing a large chunk of the incentives for Starlink. In a letter addressed to the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, SpaceX said that the final proposal for the program was a “massive waste of federal taxpayer money,” before noting that SpaceX could have served virtually every eligible household at $60 million, compared with the $613 million in expenditure proposed by the Commonwealth. “Simply put, Virginia has put its heavy thumb on the scale...

“ Chinese researchers are exploring radical methods to undermine Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network, viewing the sprawling constellation as both a security threat and a strategic challenge. -Shadow satellites to trail Starlink craft and deploy interference measures. -Targeted sabotage aimed at weaknesses in the supply chain of more than 140 primary suppliers. -Directed-energy attacks using high-powered lasers to disable or destroy -equipment. -Orbital interference involving corrosive materials or kinetic strikes on ion thrusters and solar panels.“

Rule changes and an aggressive new timeline on how Colorado can use its $826.5 million in federal broadband dollars had local internet providers scrambling this month. All had to reapply for grants to subsidize new internet infrastructure for underserved rural communities — including ISPs who had already received preliminary approvals.

If you like all the Science NASA has done since 1961, then wave it all goodby. NASA budget cut to the lowest since 1961 - before there was a manned space program. No more Rovers, probes, [ even 99942 Apophis probes cut, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis ]. There are no private entities that can or will pick up the slack. Cuts to Hubble and to Webb will leave them orbiting junk. Coupled with the possible collapse of SpaceX from 47's vengeance feud with Musk, the US will no longer have a space program - civilian or military. These twin disasters in the making...