After three test flights that fell short of the mark, #SpaceX put its #Starship super-rocket through a successful test mission that featured a first-of-its-kind payload deployment. Now I have this strange desire for a Pez candy dispenser. https://cosmiclog.com/2025/08/26/spacexs-starship-goes-the-distance-in-10th-test-flight/#Space
jbz
boosted
🚀💥 SpaceX Is Losing a Staggering Amount of Money Every Time One of Its Starships Explodes
｢ each Starship prototype costs hundreds of millions of dollars to build, highlighting the astronomical costs of SpaceX's unique iterative design approach to developing the world's most powerful rocket ｣
🚀💥 SpaceX Is Losing a Staggering Amount of Money Every Time One of Its Starships Explodes
｢ each Starship prototype costs hundreds of millions of dollars to build, highlighting the astronomical costs of SpaceX's unique iterative design approach to developing the world's most powerful rocket ｣
💸 SpaceX Gets Billions From the Government. It Gives Little to Nothing Back in Taxes | NYT
｢ SpaceX can seize on a legal tax benefit that allows it to use the more than $5 billion in losses it racked up by late 2021 to offset paying future taxable income. President Trump made a change in 2017, during his first term, that eliminated the tax benefit’s expiration date for all companies ｣
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/technology/spacex-musk-government-contracts-taxes.html
Alex Akselrod
boosted
Starlink tries to block Virginia’s plan to bring fiber Internet to residents
Starlink operator SpaceX is fighting Virginia's plan to deploy fiber Internet service to residents, claiming that federal grant money should be given to Starlink instead. SpaceX is already in line to win over $3 million in grant money in the state but is seeking $60 million.
#Virgina #starlink #spacex #internet #fiber #technology #tech
Starlink tries to block Virginia’s plan to bring fiber Internet to residents
Starlink operator SpaceX is fighting Virginia's plan to deploy fiber Internet service to residents, claiming that federal grant money should be given to Starlink instead. SpaceX is already in line to win over $3 million in grant money in the state but is seeking $60 million.
#Virgina #starlink #spacex #internet #fiber #technology #tech
I’ve spent a significant part of my professional life in the satellite industry, and in recent years I’ve been increasingly troubled by the explosion in development and deployment of large constellations of small satellites in low earth orbit (LEO). This excellent (long read) article sets out all the reasons why, especially the effects on launch capacity, frequency spectrum regulation, and avoidance of physical and electronic interference.
ProPublica
boosted
Trump Administration Looking to Slash Environmental Protection Rules for Rocket Launches
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A draft executive order viewed by ProPublica directs the secretary of transportation to “use all available authorities to eliminate or expedite” environmental reviews for launch licenses — a change Elon Musk’s SpaceX and others have long sought.
#News#Environment#Aviation #SpaceX #Space#ElonMusk#Regulation#Trump
Tim Chambers
and 1 other
boosted
During a pivotal push by #Ukraine to retake territory from #Russia in late Sept 2022, #ElonMusk gave an order that disrupted the counteroffensive & dented Kyiv’s trust in #Starlink, the satellite internet service Musk provided to help Ukraine’s military maintain battlefield connectivity.
Acc/to 3 people familiar with the command, #Musk told a senior engineer at the California offices of #SpaceX to cut coverage in areas including #Kherson, a strategic region north of the #BlackSea.
…#Musk’s order was an early glimpse of the #power the magnate now wields in #geopolitics & #GlobalSecurity because of #Starlink, a fast-growing #satellite internet service that barely existed early this decade & now provides connectivity even in remote areas of the world. Even before his brief role as donor & advisor to #Trump, Starlink’s success–& the unrivaled connectivity it offers across the planet–had given Musk increasing #influence w/political leaders, governments & militaries worldwide.
#Musk’s sway in #military affairs in Washington & beyond–through #Starlink’s dominance in #satellite #communications & #SpaceX’s clout in #space launches–has reached a dimension previously limited to #sovereign #governments, alarming some regulators & lawmakers. “Elon Musk’s current global dominance exemplifies the dangers of concentrated #power in unregulated domains,” Martha Lane Fox, a member of Britain’s upper house of parliament, said during a debate earlier this year.
During a pivotal push by #Ukraine to retake territory from #Russia in late Sept 2022, #ElonMusk gave an order that disrupted the counteroffensive & dented Kyiv’s trust in #Starlink, the satellite internet service Musk provided to help Ukraine’s military maintain battlefield connectivity.
Acc/to 3 people familiar with the command, #Musk told a senior engineer at the California offices of #SpaceX to cut coverage in areas including #Kherson, a strategic region north of the #BlackSea.
<https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/23/opinion_column_starlink_interference/>
# Musk is messing with the Cosmic Dawn. Will alien hunters save the day for all mankind?
## Science friction at the far end of time for SpaceX and astronomy
"Elon Musk's Starlink flying circus is many things. It's a multi-thousand satellite global internet provider, growing by hundreds of new orbiting relays a month. It's part of intricate geopolitical power games between the Pentagon, the US government, Ukraine, and Musk himself.
"It loves photobombing astronomy photographs, as the satellites drift across fields of view that were intended to snap distant starlight. But for its latest trick, it's humming loudly over the faintest whispers from the dawn of the universe. …"
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is expanding its search for partners to build the Golden Dome missile defense system as tensions with billionaire Elon Musk threaten SpaceX's dominance in the program. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/07/23/tech/trump-golden-dome-musk-spacex/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #tech #spacex #us #donaldtrump #republicans #elonmusk #amazon #defense #missiles
There’s a new warning to be found in the tender offer for Elon Musk’s SpaceX: The billionaire may not be done with politics yet. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/07/23/tech/spacex-investors-musk-us-politics/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #tech #spacex #elonmusk #us #donaldtrump #trade #tariffs #republicans
Trump Administration Looking to Slash Environmental Protection Rules for Rocket Launches
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A draft executive order viewed by ProPublica directs the secretary of transportation to “use all available authorities to eliminate or expedite” environmental reviews for launch licenses — a change Elon Musk’s SpaceX and others have long sought.
#News#Environment#Aviation #SpaceX #Space#ElonMusk#Regulation#Trump
In a case of strange space bedfellows, #SpaceX launched a batch of 24 satellites for #Amazon#ProjectKuiper, a broadband internet network that's aiming to compete with ... SpaceX's #Starlink network. https://www.geekwire.com/2025/spacex-amazon-project-kuiper-satellites/#Space
ProPublica
boosted
Elon Musk’s lobbyists spent tens of thousands of dollars on things like gifts and meals for Texas elected officials this year.
But, in most cases, state transparency laws do not require them to disclose which elected officials they wine and dine.
https://www.propublica.org/article/elon-musk-texas-lobbyists-influence-law?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News#ElonMusk#Texas#Law#SpaceX#Tesla#Government#Business#Musk
Alex Akselrod
boosted
Elon Musk wanted Texas legislators to create new crimes so people who fly drones or interfere with operations at SpaceX can be arrested. And he wanted to change who controlled the highway and public beach near SpaceX’s site so he can launch his rockets according to his timeline.
He got them all.
Read the full story: https://www.propublica.org/article/elon-musk-texas-legislature-laws-spacex-tesla?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
Elon Musk wanted Texas legislators to create new crimes so people who fly drones or interfere with operations at SpaceX can be arrested. And he wanted to change who controlled the highway and public beach near SpaceX’s site so he can launch his rockets according to his timeline.
He got them all.
Read the full story: https://www.propublica.org/article/elon-musk-texas-legislature-laws-spacex-tesla?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post