🚀 Touchdown complete: SpaceX nailed the upright landing of one of its massive Starship rockets. As it fell from the sky, thrusters slowed it down before it was caught by two “chopstick” arms attached to a giant metal tower. Why’s this a big deal? It’s a step toward reusable rockets. The video is incredible.
Your next phone will work around the world
If it’s one thing you can bet on, there’s always newer, better and faster tech begging you to open your wallet. With that said, you probably haven’t heard about BlueBird yet from AST SmartMobile out of Texas. They’re working with AT&T to launch the world’s first space-based cellular broadband network.
Each of these communications satellites is about half the size of a basketball court (about 700 feet wide!). So far, five are orbiting Earth, with plans for another 85 satellites to blanket the planet.
When that happens, no matter where you’re standing, you won’t have to deal with crappy cellphone service or zero bars. I love that. Don’t you? Keep reading — I’ve got a payload of a space update with need-to-know details you’ll want to tell your family and friends.
Call me, maybe
With BlueBird satellite access, your trusty smartphone transforms into a satellite phone — no extra gadgets needed. Forget about searching for those elusive cell towers! This is a total game-changer, especially for those in rural areas with bad (or nonexistent) internet or cell service.
AT&T Chief Operating Officer Jeff McElfresh summed it up like this: “It’s a future where our customers will only be hard to reach if they choose to be.” In other words, no more excuses, like, “Honey, I couldn’t call to tell you I was going to be late because I had no bars.”
Currently, it’s the top dog in commercial communications, hovering in low-Earth orbit. As exciting as these advancements are, scientists are already sounding the alarms about overcrowded skies. A study in Nature found BlueBird’s predecessor was as bright as over 22% of the brightest stars in the sky.
BlueBird’s satellites are about to get much bigger — about 2,425 square feet in diameter each. To put that into perspective, the average single-family home in the U.S. is around 2,400 square feet. Imagine 90 homes orbiting Earth.
And that extra light? It’s making it harder for scientists to peek into the cosmic mysteries. After all, if a meteor’s zooming our way, it’d be great to get a heads-up, don’t you think?
Star light, star bright
Speaking of space clutter, Elon Musk’s SpaceX just hit 6,370 Starlink satellites in orbit. Not bad, given it started in 2019. Musk has plans to launch 42,000 satellites — possibly more. At this rate, we’ll soon have more Starlink satellites in the sky than visible stars (about 9,000).
A standard Starlink satellite is way smaller than a BlueBird satellite, measuring 9.2 feet long and 4.7 feet wide when its solar panels are tucked in. Once deployed, those panels stretch the satellite to 36 feet across.
Out of this world: Data backups are headed to the moon
Where’s the safest place to store data? If you said “the cloud,” go a little higher. Nope, higher than that.
The ultimate backup is literally out of this world. I recently chatted with Chris Stott, CEO of a Florida-based startup called Lonestar. Alongside NASA, Lonestar is about to send backup servers to the moon. This is so fascinating to me, and I thought you’d like to hear more about it, too.
🤠 Did you hear Elon Musk is moving X and SpaceX to Texas? Yup, now all his X-es live in Texas. (Oh, good one there!) Speaking of Musk, right now, you can spot Starlink’s massive train of 6,219 satellites in the sky. Go to FindStarlink.com and type in your city to see when and where it’s visible near you over the next five days.
🚀 Touchdown complete: SpaceX nailed the upright landing of one of its massive Starship rockets. As it fell from the sky, thrusters slowed it down before it was caught by two “chopstick” arms attached to a giant metal tower. Why’s this a big deal? It’s a step toward reusable rockets. The video is incredible.
Zero, zip, zilch, nada
Aliens out there thinking about invading Earth. Elon Musk says UFO sightings are government weapons programs — for instance, the 1950s flying saucers were really advanced U.S. spy planes. SpaceX has thousands of satellites in orbit and has never encountered an alien spacecraft.
Elon Musk says Twitter fails on free speech - Now he's its largest shareholder
Your privacy is always at risk when you use social media. Even as companies add more options to protect your identity and information, you’re still putting it all out there.
Twitter forbids users from sharing other people’s personal details, and the platform recently added to that rule. You can no longer share photos and videos of others without their consent. Tap or click here for our report.
Elon Musk doesn’t just sell Teslas – Here’s what else you can buy from his companies
There are a few outspoken billionaires globally, but none of them come close to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He regularly uses his Twitter profile with over 78 million followers to post outlandish ideas and is also known to lend a helping hand when needed.
SpaceX performs historic first spacewalk with Polaris Dawn crew
SpaceX pulled off its first spacewalk in the early hours of Thursday morning, Sept. 12. The marquee event of the private Polaris Dawn mission went smoothly, with two of the crew members stepping outside of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, “Resilience.” It’s the first time civilians, rather than government astronauts, have performed a spacewalk.
🚀 A giant step: On the morning of Sept. 12, 2024, the Polaris Dawn mission made history. Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and an engineer floated 435 miles above Earth, making them the first private astronauts to complete a spacewalk. Isaacman spent 12 minutes outside the spacecraft, relying on SpaceX’s new spacesuit for oxygen. Here’s the video. It’s incredible.
☄️Taking out the space trash: The International Space Station, home to astronauts for almost 25 years, is set to meet its fiery end in 2030. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is building a “space tug” vehicle to pull it toward Earth, earning $843 million from NASA for the gig. It’ll be an unmanned mission; both the tug and the ISS are expected to burn up upon reentry into the atmosphere.
🔥 That’s a big bang: A SpaceX Raptor rocket engine exploded during a test at its Texas facility in late May of 2024, and boy, was it a doozy. (Seriously, check out this video.) Elon Musk planned to use the engine in a test flight of the Starship reusable rocket a few days afterward. I have a feeling they missed that deadline.
This is why Ukraine live traffic data has disappeared from Google Maps
If the current events in Ukraine have proven one thing, it is that technology plays a significant role in distributing and disseminating information. Over the last few days, live webcams have provided a bird’s eye view of assaulted cities, and social media is being used to coordinate evacuations.
Want faster satellite internet? The price of Starlink's new tier is out of this world
If you live in a busy city, you can be excused for taking fast, reliable internet service for granted. Internet service providers prefer densely populated areas for the more extensive potential customer base, which means more subscribers.
Starlink satellite internet passes 100K customers - How to subscribe
Elon Musk never ceases to amaze us. If Tesla wasn’t innovative enough, SpaceX has continued to skyrocket productivity, giving NASA a run for its money. SpaceX is sending civilians to space. Tap or click here to see when you can get a spot?
Take this 4-minute test to see how creative you are
Creativity is defined as the use of imagination or original ideas. Geniuses like Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell and Elon Musk are known for their brilliant creations that have truly influenced our world into what it is today. Tap or click here to see how SpaceX satellite internet launched.
SpaceX satellite internet launches - and it'll cost you a pretty penny
How fast is your internet? For many people, the answer is not fast enough. But that might be changing soon thanks to advancements from two corners of the tech industry: 5G and satellite internet.
According to early adopters, 5G is insanely fast — in some cases beating out most home Wi-Fi connections. Tap or click here to see if 5G is available in your area.
How to find the SpaceX Starlink satellites in the night sky
Have you heard about Starlink yet? No, it’s not an electric train or a Hollywood tour bus — it’s SpaceX’s new communications array designed to optimize the global internet for generations to come.
Here’s how it works: SpaceX launches thousands of small, internet-connected satellites into orbit. Then, these satellites communicate with antenna arrays on the ground, which in turn provides more internet access to isolated parts of the globe and beyond.
The toy dinosaur that made the SpaceX flight is sold out everywhere
Well, we have some bad news, folks. Dinosaurs are officially extinct for the second time around. Well, the toy dinosaur that was used as a zero-gravity indicator by SpaceX during the launch last weekend is officially extinct.
Get an astronaut's-eye view of space without the rocket
For those of us on the ground wishing we were up among the stars, there’s one way to get an astronaut’s-eye view of the planet without having to hitch a ride on a rocket ship.
NASA’s official Worldview website shows exactly what the Earth looks like from space — complete with weather patterns, the day and night cycle, cloud layers and true, accurate colors derived from satellites.