Free Republic

Iran is systematically crippling Starlink, the satellite internet service said to be almost impossible to jam. Military-grade GPS jammers deployed since January 8 have cut satellite internet performance by as much as 80% in parts of the country, according toAmir Rashidi, director of digital rights at the Miaan Group, a U.S.-based nonprofit focused on Iranian internet censorship and digital rights.

President Donald Trump is set to be briefed by top aides this week as he plots out the level of his response to the Iranian regime's brutal crackdown against citizen-led protests. Trump's top military and diplomatic staffers, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine, are anticipated to be present at the meeting, per the Wall Street Journal. The meeting comes as Trump is understood to be considering further US involvement in the region, but no final decisions are expected to emerge until after Tuesday's scheduled meeting. Putting U.S. troops'...

Iran’s government has cut off the country from the internet and international telephone calls.https://apnews.com/article/iran-protests-us-israel-war-nuclear-economy-ebddd998fbe7903e70ca62127250ebcb The demonstrations that have popped up in cities and rural towns across Iran continued Thursday. More markets and bazaars shut down in support of the protesters. So far, violence around the demonstrations has killed at least 42 people while more than 2,270 others have been detained, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The growth of the protests increases the pressure on Iran’s civilian government and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. CloudFlare, an internet firm, and the advocacy group NetBlocks reported the internet outage,...

On Sunday, SpaceX-owned Starlink announced it is providing free broadband service to the people of Venezuela through February 3, with Elon Musk expressing support. NOTE: Ground News is an aggregator. Pick your source from those presented.

This week at Starbase construction rolls on at the launch site and air separation plant, work continues on Booster 19 and Ship 39, and an interesting new truss structure begins taking shape at the Massey Outpost. Meanwhile, in other space news, SpaceX reaches an important milestone with this week's Starlink launches, Rocket Lab contributes a pair of launches to this week's activities, along with one from ULA and another from Arianespace, and NASA's 15th administrator is officially sworn in. Is SpaceX Ready to Start Testing Orbital Refilling? - Spaceflight Weekly #198 | 9:42LabPadre Space | 250K subscribers | 19,838 views...

BREAKING: SpaceX has announced that @Starlink now has over 9 million customers, up from 8M in November and 7M in August 2025. Starlink added a record 21,275 new customers on average per day since they hit 8M, smashing their previous record of 14,250. That growth rate is a whopping 49.3% higher than it was just last month! 🤯

AOC stuck her foot into her mouth, AGAIN! During an interview, AOC made the following statement: “Elon Musk is one of the most unintelligent billionaires I’ve ever met or seen. The wealth doesn’t match the wisdom.” Elon Musk didn’t stay quiet, probably because this was hilarious and she opened up a can of whoop-arse he enjoyed replying to: “Interesting take. I build rockets, electric cars, satellites, and AI… you build tweets and talking points. If this is ‘unintelligent,’ I’ll take it … seems to be working pretty well for my bank account and the laws of physics.” Then Elon delivered...

Someone told me “Hassan you praise Elon Musk, he’s racist & a selfish billionaire” Here’s Elon’s company donating free Starlink to 300 students to all schools in The Bahamas every year. Thank you for bringing education to these students “Mr racist & selfish” 😂

Pixel Masters use fast processing and video wizardry to map the dynamic, seemingly alive face of Elon Musk onto the visage of the astronaut movie actor in the, "open the pod bay doors, Hal"-scene from the movie Space Odyssey, 2001. Freepers will wonder about implications for the 2020 Election: If hobbyists working in their garage in their free time can do this, what might desperate media libs pull a year from now using high-end computing power..? What might an entity at the STATE level be capable of..? "Elon's" lips perfectly match the dialogue. How soon will we see a...

BREAKING: The U.S. Senate has just officially confirmed Jared Isaacman as the new head of NASA. At just 42 years old, he now becomes the youngest person in history to lead the agency. Congrats @rookisaacman! To the Moon and Mars!🚀

SpaceX plans to go public at $1.5 trillion valuation in 2026, the largest IPO in history, Bloomberg reports

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...