Category Archives: Spacex

SpaceX is providing Starlink satellite kits to areas hit hard by last Fridays tornadoes that will help people get access to the internet. It is also providing routers to provide WiFi capabilities.

The kits provide dishes that link to SpaceX Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbits, which provide internet services and WiFi directly.

These kits will be supplied to Graves County, Marshall County, Caldwell County and Bowling Green through a coordinated effort with SpaceX, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.

Twenty kits were brought into the UK Cooperative Extension office in Paducah on Wednesday, and 30 to 40 more have been requested by the state.

Austin Marshall, a native of Possum Trot who is a material flow engineer for SpaceX in Redmond, Washington, was one of the people to deliver the first of the kits to the Extension office in Paducah.

Marshall is a former 4-H member and reached out to the UK Cooperative Extension office to help with distribution.

I like coming back home, but I wish the circumstances were better, he said. Im the one who put it all together. I saw there was a need.

This is what were doing, is building a satellite internet constellation. Its in Beta right now; were testing it out in the northern latitudes of North America and other countries. This is the first time its been in Kentucky, and they just turned on this area because of the disaster.

Marshall contacted Brittany Osborne, the Agent for 4-H Youth Development at the Paducah Extension office.

The UK Cooperative Extension Service has an office in each of the affected Kentucky counties, Osborne said. This effort just makes sense and empowers us even more to do what we do best to help our neighbors and communities.

The Starlink kits will remain in the affected areas for two months. If they are needed longer than that, the teams will reassess the situation.

The dish portion of the kit is angled to best receive signals from the SpaceX Starlink satellite in low-Earth orbit.

To maximize reach, the University of Kentucky is working closely with Kentucky Emergency Management and Connected Nation, a nonprofit that provides tools and resources to help local communities, states and federal agencies create and implement solutions for their broadband and digital technology gaps.

We are so grateful that Starlink has provided this connectivity to our hard-hit communities, said Laura Stephenson, associate dean and Extension director for the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, adding 4-H creates lifelong servant leaders, and this is a great example of how 4-Hers answer the call to help, even after they leave our system.

Follow David B. Snow on Twitter, @SunWithSnow, or on Facebook at facebook.com/sunwithsnow.

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SpaceX provides kits to boost internet capabilities in hard-hit areas - Paducah Sun

After several signs of imminent activity on Sunday, SpaceX has installed Super Heavy Booster 4 (B4) on Starbases lone orbital launch mount for the third time.

Around 10am CST (UTC-6), SpaceX began retracting more than a dozen clamps that hold the 69m (~225 ft) tall Super Heavy the largest booster ever built to its transport and work stand. By 11:30am, Booster 4 was safely extracted from the stand and hovering above it as the lift team crossed their Ts and dotted their Is before proceeding. SpaceXs newest Starbase crane then spun around and crawled a short distance to the orbital launch mount, where it lifted Booster 4 above the mount.

In a process that this particular Super Heavy prototype is thoroughly familiar with, SpaceX then very carefully lowered B4 down into the center of the donut-shaped orbital launch mount, where 20 separate clamps each capable of deploying and retracting form a support ring and giant hold-down clamp.

Its unclear how exactly that process of mount installation works but it could be quite the orchestration. By all appearances, Super Heavy hold-down clamps mechanical devices designed to hold the booster to its work stand or keep it immobile on the launch mount during a variety of test work by reaching inside the lip of the boosters aft skirt, which sports a very sturdy ring of steel that 20 Raptor Boost engines mount to and push against. The 20 clamps fit precisely between each of those 20 outer Raptors and grab onto Super Heavy from the inside.

Just before liftoff, all 20 hold-down clamps will rapidly retract back into the orbital launch mount. So will another 20 small quick-disconnect umbilical panels designed to supply every single Raptor Boost engine with the gases they need to ignite. The primary booster quick-disconnect which connects Super Heavy to power, communications, and propellant supplies will also retract into a hooded enclosure at some point during the process. Finally, a giant, swinging arm located about halfway up Starbases launch tower will retract a similar quick-disconnect panel for Starship fueling, retract two claw-like support arms, and swing back for liftoff.

Altogether, while there are likely even more than just those described above, a single Starship launch will require at least 44 separate devices to successful actuate in rapid and precise succession 41 for Super Heavy and at least 3 for Starship. That incredible complexity probably making Starships the most mechanically complex launch mount in the history of rocketry may partially explain why Super Heavy Booster 4 has yet to even attempt a single proof test more than four months after it first left the high bay it was built in.

Without a functioning orbital launch mount, it hasnt been possible to fully test a Super Heavy booster. With any luck, on their third rendezvous, both Booster 4 and the orbital launch mount are finally close enough to completion to perform some serious testing. At the absolute minimum, everything appears to be in order for SpaceX to properly connect Super Heavy to the launch mount and pad for the first time the process of which is already underway. Aside from connecting B4 to the mounts hold-down clamps, which has been done twice before, SpaceX can now attach all 20 Raptor quick-disconnects and the main booster quick-disconnect to a Super Heavy for the first time. Further up the tower, SpaceX can also partially test out the Starship quick-disconnect arm, which is half-designed to grab onto and stabilize Super Heavy.

SpaceX currently has road closures (signifying plans for ship, booster, or pad testing) scheduled on Tuesday through Friday this week, hinting at the possibility that Super Heavy B4 could finally start proof testing in mid-December.

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SpaceX installs Starship booster on orbital launch mount for the third time - Teslarati

MCGREGOR, Texas In a letter on Monday, McGregor Mayor Jim Hering updated citizens on the added noise and shaking originating from SpaceX, explaining the noise will likely be "at its worst" over the next two to three weeks.

The letter breaks down the reasoning for the added noise and states that the city council is working alongside SpaceX to resolve the issue.

SpaceX has transitioned from testing Merlin engines to Raptor engines, which has required changes to its testing protocol. A new, vertical test stand is currently being built to replace a horizontal test stand responsible for the extra noise.

"SpaceX has informed the Council that they are pushing to complete the second vertical test bay as soon as possible to further reduce the noise. This will take some time though and a significant sum of SpaceX money," Hering said.

Last week, Hering told 25 News the city would begin working with SpaceX immediately to resolve the issue. He plans to speak with SpaceX sometime this week.

Hering also credited the weather to some of the added noise as of late.

"Some of the experts will tell you that the atmospheric changes that come along with wintertime amplify some of these low-frequency waves that everyone's hearing, seeing, feeling," he said.

Many Central Texans are optimistic that SpaceX will follow through with its plans to fix the noise and shaking.

"Sometimes when there's a problem, it doesn't get solved immediately. Sometimes it does take some time to get things figured out in order to correct it," said Jackie Toby, owner of Vibe Market on Main in McGregor.

25 News has continued to reach out to SpaceX for comment since last Wednesday but has not heard back.

Those with concerns are asked to contact SpaceX directly at communityrelations@spacex.com.

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McGregor Mayor: SpaceX noise will likely be 'at its worst' for 2 to 3 more weeks - KXXV News Channel 25

Homegrown edtech startupByjus is now the 13th most valuable start-up in the world, as per CB Insights latest unicorn tracker.

The Byju Raveendran-owned decacorn is currently valued at $21 billion, which also makes it the worlds most valuable edtech start-up. Byju's is succeeded by Chinese edtech major Yuanfudao, which has a valuation of $15.5 billion.

The Bengaluru-based start-ups rise has been particularly impressive in the last 20 months, where education went digital-first due to the compulsions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, Byju's not only ramped up its user base and saw rapid growth in revenues, it also made a slew of acquisitions world over (8 this year) and raised billions of dollars in venture capital.

According to CB Insights, Byju's has raised funding of over $5.18 billion since its inception in 2015. Of this, $1.3 billion has come in 2021 alone.

The e-learning firm is backed by leading investors such as Tiger Global, General Atlantic, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Tencent Holdings, Sequoia Capital India, Sofina, Qatar Investment Authority, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Lightspeed Venture Partners, Owl Ventures, among others.

Interestingly, no other Indian start-up features in the list of top 50. A distant second at the 54th position is OYO (valued at $9.4 billion). CB Insights does not consider publicly listed companies as unicorns. Hence, the likes of Paytm, Nykaa, and Zomato (each valued at over $10 billion) dont feature.

Unicorn Map of the World

As of December 2021, there are 936 unicorns (private companies valued at over $1 billion) globally, with a cumulative valuation of $3,049 billion.

The US accounts for 51% of all unicorns in the world, CB Insights stated. China holds second place with an 18.1% share, while India claims the third spot with a 5.4% share after adding a staggering 40 unicorns in 2021. The UK, meanwhile, is home to 4% of the worlds unicorns.

Fintech is the most highly represented category on our list, accounting for slightly over a fifth of all unicorns (20.4%). It is followed by internet software & services (17.8%), e-commerce and direct-to-consumer (10.9%), and Artificial Intelligence (7.8%), CB Insights stated in its report.

TikTok parent ByteDance continues to be the worlds most valuable unicorn at $140 billion, while Elon Musks SpaceX became a hectocorn (companies valued over $100 billion) in 2021. The spacetech giant is now valued at $100.3 billion.

US fintech major Stripe ($95 billion), Swedish e-payments firm Klarna (45.6 billion), and Australia-based design SaaS sensation Canva ($40 billion) make up the remainder of the worlds top 5 most valuable start-ups, as per CB Insights.

Others in the top 10 are Instacart ($39 billion), Databricks ($38 billion), Revolut ($33 billion), Nubank ($30 billion), and Epic Games ($28.7 billion).

Forty-two private companies (4.5% of total unicorns) are considered decacorns, worth $10B+. Meanwhile, 24.6% of companies included in the global unicorn club are valued at exactly $1B, CB Insights stated.

It added, Since September 2021, the unicorn club has grown in size by 11% from 842 to 936 unicorns. At this rate, it is likely to break 1,000 by early 2022.

Also read: India has second largest number of unicorns; Sequoia top investor, says PwC India report

Also read: Sachin Tendulkar invests in Spinny; also appointed brand ambassador

Also read: Good Glamm Group acquires MissMalini Entertainment in its first personality-driven brand acquisition

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Byjus worlds 13th most valuable start-up; ByteDance and SpaceX the only hectocorns - Business Today

December 9, 2021

Tim Farrar of TMF Associates says the recent breathless valuations for SpaceX (ranging from between $80 billion to $100 billion) are inconsistent. He says the quoted company valuations have near-tripled over the past year, and with SpaceXs share price albeit privately held rising from about $200 per share to $560 over the same period, hence the $100 billion overall valuation.

Farrar says: There is a distinct inconsistency between what SpaceX has been telling the FCC about Elon Musks stake in the company and the amount of dilution implied by sales of new shares at these prices. Specifically, SpaceX told the FCC in November 2016 that Musk owned 54 per cent of the company, which declined to 50.5 per cent in November 2018, 47.4 per cent in April 2020 and finally 43.61 per cent in August 2021.

Over this period, SpaceX reported selling a total of $5.31 billion in equity, based on its Form D submissions to the SEC. Using the public reports on the share price for the transactions through April 2021 (before the

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However, if the valuations and share prices quoted to financial reporters are accurate, Musks stated ownership percentage over the same period would have equated to 83.4 million shares in November 2016, 80.3 million shares in November 2018, 78.9 million shares in April 2020 and 77.2 million shares in August 2021. Did Musk really dispose of his SpaceX shares on a regular basis over this period? That seems unlikely, especially given that he had minimal taxable income in 2017 and 2018, suggests Farrar.

Farrar analyses the share issues to take into account potential share options to staffers and suggests there is a missing 14 million shares over and above the numbers reported to the authorities. This, says Farrar, could mean that recent buyers of SpaceX stock might actually be over-paying for diluted values and suggest the unaccounted for number would be equal to some 7 per cent.

In addition, says Farrar, the most recent (October 2021) reported valuation of $100.3 billion at a $560 share price appears to reflect an increase of around 2.1 million shares since spring 2021. How much of that amount (worth $1.2 billion at this valuation) represents the shares used to acquire Swarm in August 2021? Although part of this increase might represent conversion of some of the options noted above (since SpaceX was selling 1.35 million existing shares), it seems very plausible that a significant proportion of these shares went to Swarms owners, which would represent a very high valuation (many hundreds of millions of dollars) for a company that had barely begun to offer commercial services.

Swarm Technologies is the company behind a fleet of sandwich-sized Internet of Things (IoT) satellites that has been graded as one of the 10 Hottest Satellite Companies in 2021. SpaceX acquired Swarm according to an FCC filing in August 2021. Swarm is now a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of SpaceX.

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Analyst: The mystery of SpaceX's value | - Advanced Television

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Elon Musk is CEO of four companies, but says he splits most of his time between Tesla and SpaceX.

Musk said at The Wall Street Journal conference that his time is typically spent solving the "crisis of the moment."

In the past, Musk has said he's worked as many as 120 hours a week between his various projects.

Elon Musk said he's constantly juggling his work at Tesla and SpaceX.

As the richest man in the world and the CEO of multiple companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, Musk said he tries to split his time evenly between the two companies, but it depends on "the kind of crisis of the moment."

"I triage the tasks and try to do the things that are most useful or where I'm most needed it varies from one week to the next," he said on Monday at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council Summit.

Musk said that he works seven days a week and some "pretty crazy hours." Historically, the CEO has said he has worked up to 20 hours a day. In 2018, Musk said on the podcast Recode Decode that his work at Tesla and SpaceX sometimes drove him to sleep on his factory's floor and work over 120 hours a week. Though, the CEO said later that year that he scaled back to 80 to 90-hour work weeks.

"Nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week," Musk said at the time.

Most recently, Musk has had to focus his attention on a "crisis" at SpaceX. During The Wall Street Journal conference, Musk said that SpaceX's Starship spaceship has consumed a large portion of his time.

In November, Musk said that SpaceX planned to launch Starship into orbit by January or February. On Monday, Musk expressed doubt as to whether Starship would be able to launch in 2022 at all.

"This absorbs more of my mental energy than probably any other single thing," he said. "It is so preposterously difficult, that there are times where I wonder whether we can actually do this."

Musk expressed concern over SpaceX's progress with the engines for the Starship rocket last month. Over Thanksgiving weekend, Musk sent a company-wide email saying SpaceX faces a "risk of bankruptcy" if it cannot achieve a flight rate for its Starship rocket of at least once every two weeks in 2022. As a result, Musk and SpaceX employees worked over the holiday weekend to fix the engine-production issue.

Story continues

Tesla and SpaceX are not the only companies in which Musk is heavily involved. The billionaire is also the CEO of Neuralink, a company that is developing implantable brain chips, and The Boring Company, a tunnel-construction company.

Much like Tesla and SpaceX, Musk's other two companies also have lofty goals. Musk has said that he plans for Neuralink to begin implanting chips in human brains within the next year. Similarly, The Boring Company is working on multiple hyperloop projects in Las Vegas and California.

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Elon Musk says he splits his time between Tesla and SpaceX depending on the 'crisis of the moment' - Yahoo News

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. SpaceX will launch a new space observatory for NASA overnight and you can watch the action live online.

The private spaceflight company will launch the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) on one of its previously flown Falcon 9 rockets. The frequent flier is scheduled to blast off at 1:00 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center here in Florida.

You can watch the launch live in the window above and on the Space.com homepage, courtesy of SpaceX. Live coverage will begin about 15 minutes before liftoff. You can also watch the launch directly via SpaceX and on YouTube.

Related: Our X-Ray universe: Amazing photos by NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory

The IXPE satellite will provide astronomers with a new tool to probe the mysteries of the universe. The refrigerator-sized satellite is equipped with three identical telescopes that will be able to study the polarization of light (meaning which direction the light particles are scattered) from cosmic sources such as black holes and neutron stars. With IXPE's observations, astronomers will be able to study the structure and mechanisms that power these types of enigmatic cosmic objects.

"IXPE will help us test and refine our current theories of how the universe works," Martin Weisskopf, the mission's principal investigator said during a prelaunch briefing on Tuesday (Dec. 7). "We may even discover more exciting theories about these exotic objects than what weve hypothesized."

Thursday's flight is the 28th Falcon 9 mission for SpaceX so far in 2021. The flight also marks the second rocket launch from the Cape this week. Early Tuesday morning (Dec. 7), an Atlas V blasted off from an adjacent launch pad, carrying a mix of payloads into space for the U.S. government.

Related: SpaceX's most-flown Falcon 9 rocket is a sooty veteran after 10 launches

Thursday's pre-dawn flight will continue a busy month here on the Space Coast, with as many as five rocket launches on the calendar for December. Those launches include four Falcon 9s and one United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V. So far, two of the five have blasted off without a hitch.

To ensure that Thursday's Falcon 9 rocket is ready to fly, SpaceX briefly fired up the nine Merlin 1D engines on the rocket's first stage on Saturday (Dec. 4). The test, called a static fire, is a routine part of SpaceX's prelaunch procedures and helps engineers know that the rocket is ready to fly.

SpaceX then confirmed that everything was "go" for launch on Thursday morning with a 2.5-hour window.

After the rocket successfully carries the IXPE satellite into space, its first stage will touch down on SpaceX's drone ship, "Just Read the Instructions."

Forecasters at the 45th Space Delta have said that there's a 80% chance of favorable conditions for liftoff Thursday morning, with the primary concerns being cumulus clouds and thick clouds. If necessary, there is a backup attempt slated for Friday, with conditions also at 80% "go."

Follow Amy Thompson on Twitter @astrogingersnap. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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SpaceX will launch a new X-ray space telescope for NASA early Thursday. Here's how to watch live. - Space.com

Elon Musk said he's constantly juggling his work at Tesla and SpaceX.

As the richest man in the world and the CEO of multiple companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, Musk said he tries to split his time evenly between the two companies, but it depends on "the kind of crisis of the moment."

"I triage the tasks and try to do the things that are most useful or where I'm most needed it varies from one week to the next," he said on Monday at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council Summit.

Musk said that he works seven days a week and some "pretty crazy hours." Historically, the CEO has said he has worked up to 20 hours a day. In 2018, Musk said on the podcast Recode Decode that his work at Tesla and SpaceX sometimes drove him to sleep on his factory's floor and work over 120 hours a week. Though, the CEO said later that year that he scaled back to 80 to 90-hour work weeks.

"Nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week," Musk said at the time.

Most recently, Musk has had to focus his attention on a "crisis" at SpaceX. During The Wall Street Journal conference, Musk said that SpaceX's Starship spaceship has consumed a large portion of his time.

In November, Musk said that SpaceX planned to launch Starship into orbit by January or February. On Monday, Musk expressed doubt as to whether Starship would be able to launch in 2022 at all.

"This absorbs more of my mental energy than probably any other single thing," he said. "It is so preposterously difficult, that there are times where I wonder whether we can actually do this."

Musk expressed concern over SpaceX's progress with the engines for the Starship rocket last month. Over Thanksgiving weekend, Musk sent a company-wide email saying SpaceX faces a "risk of bankruptcy" if it cannot achieve a flight rate for its Starship rocket of at least once every two weeks in 2022. As a result, Musk and SpaceX employees worked over the holiday weekend to fix the engine-production issue.

Tesla and SpaceX are not the only companies in which Musk is heavily involved. The billionaire is also the CEO of Neuralink, a company that is developing implantable brain chips, and The Boring Company, a tunnel-construction company.

Much like Tesla and SpaceX, Musk's other two companies also have lofty goals. Musk has said that he plans for Neuralink to begin implanting chips in human brains within the next year. Similarly, The Boring Company is working on multiple hyperloop projects in Las Vegas and California.

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Musk splits time between Tesla, SpaceX 'crisis of the moment' - Business Insider

Later this month SpaceX will send another Cargo Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) laden with supplies and science experiments.

In a video (below) released this week, NASA shed some light on the kind of research heading to space.

The science gear destined for the space station this month includes a handheld bioprinter that uses a patients own skin cells to create a tissue-forming patch for covering a wound to accelerate the healing process.

The technology, if proved to be effective, could be used to quickly heal skin injuries in space, though it could also be used by patients on Earth.

Pharmaceutical company Merck is continuing a protein crystal growth study that could result in a more affordable and convenient way to deliver cancer treatment drugs via injection at a doctors office rather than intravenously in a clinical setting.

After discovering how spaceflight can increase the virulence of potentially harmful microbes that could lead to weakened human immune function, this research will evaluate changes in immune status among astronauts by examining astronauts blood and saliva samples before, during, and after a mission.

The results could help scientists to better assess the risk that infectious microbes may pose to space crews, and may lead to the creation of effective countermeasures. Improved understanding of how stress can diminish immune function also could improve care for those with compromised immune systems on Earth, NASA said.

This research will profile and monitor plant growth in microgravity conditions. The aim is to learn more about how plants sense and adapt to changes in their environment so that scientists can create improved systems for growing plants in space. Plants could serve as an important part of human life support systems for long-duration spaceflight and habitation of the moon and Mars, NASA said.

For a number of years, astronauts aboard the ISS have been cultivating, harvesting, and consuming a range of vegetables as part of experiments aimed at understanding and improving plant growth in space.

Proctor & Gamble will test the effectiveness of Tide Infinity, described as a fully degradable detergent specifically for use in space, so that astronauts on long-duration missions can feel more comfortable in clean garments and avoid the shame of smelly socks. At the current time, clean clothes are sent up in regular resupply missions, but this wont be possible on longer voyages.

From a scientific standpoint, the major challenges for off-planet laundering include the strict requirements for compatibility with the air purification systems, the limited amount of water available per each wash treatment, and the requirement that the laundry wash water be purified back to drinkable water, said Mark Sivik, a research fellow at P&G.

Sivik added that once Tide Infinity has been proven in space, the technology behind it could be used to advance sustainable, low-resource-use laundry solutions on Earth.

Crewmembers will test a manufacturing device that processes heat-resistant metal parts in microgravity conditions.

Researchers expect more uniform microstructures and improved mechanical properties in superalloy parts processed in microgravity versus those processed on Earth, NASA said. The more advanced materials could improve the performance of turbine engines in industries that include aerospace and power generation.

Students also have the chance to send science experiments to the ISS. NASA-funded experiments on the upcoming Cargo Dragon flight include one from Columbia University that will study antibiotic resistance in microgravity and another from the University of Idaho that will look at how microgravity impacts bacteria-resistant materials.

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Check out the science heading to the ISS on the next SpaceX Crew Dragon flight - Digital Trends

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has blasted off with NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite. First announced in 2017, the IXPE is the first satellite capable of measuring the polarization of X-rays that come from cosmic sources, such as black holes and neutron stars.

The fridge-sized satellite has three telescopes that can track and measure the direction, arrival time, energy, and polarization of light. When data from all those telescopes is combined, NASA can form images that could give us more insight into how mysterious celestial objects those that emit X-ray work. For instance, they're hoping it can give us a more thorough look at the structure of the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant with a neutron star rapidly spinning in its center.

By observing black holes, the IXPE will help scientists gain more insight and broaden humanity's knowledge on the regions of space we still barely know. It could provide clues on why they spin and how they gobble up cosmic materials, though it could also lead to new discoveries. Martin Weisskopf, the mission's principal investigator, said during a briefing: "IXPE will help us test and refine our current theories of how the universe works. We may even discover more exciting theories about these exotic objects than what we've hypothesized."

SpaceX used a Falcon 9 rocket from a previous mission for this launch. If all goes well, the rocket's first stage will land on the company's drone ship "Just Read the Instructions" after ferrying IXPE to space.

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SpaceX launches a NASA telescope that will observe black holes - Yahoo! Voices