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Watch SpaceX successfully execute the first ‘chopstick’ catch of Starship

After aborting a planned catch of Starship Flight 15's booster, SpaceX successfully captured Starship with its "Mechazilla" launch and catch tower for the first time. The company has performed 'chopstick' catches of its boosters before, but this is the first time the maneuver has successfully been executed on the Starship vehicle itself.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said during the company's third-quarter earnings call that "success is not guaranteed on these first flights, but I'd say it's more likely than not that this succeeds next flight." While not a complete success, in that the company was unable to recover the entire launch vehicle, it sti …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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Starlink Mini 2 adds a swappable battery

A person holds the Starlink Mini 2 satellite dish under their arm.

SpaceX announced a new version of its all-in-one satellite internet terminal that integrates a dish, Wi-Fi router, and now a battery into a single device about the size of a laptop. According to some users on X who shared screenshots of invitations to order Starlink Mini 2, the dish is priced at $999, which includes a full year of Roam Unlimited service that SpaceX values at $2,100.

The Starlink Mini 2 will run for up to 4.5 hours on a full charge, SpaceX claims, but that can be expanded by hot-swapping in additional batteries that will be sold separately, or by connecting the dish to a 60W power source over USB-C.

Despite the addition of …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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Starlink Mobile: All the news on SpaceX’s major mobile carrier ambitions

Photo of rocket launch with SpaceX logo.

SpaceX has declared that it’s going to make Starlink Mobile a “major” mobile carrier. The Elon Musk-owned company has already deployed thousands of direct-to-cell satellites, but its next big challenge is building out its 5G network here on Earth.

As part of its plans to rival AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, SpaceX has inked a deal with Qualcomm, which will deploy its cellular technology across tens of thousands of 5G cell sites starting in 2027. SpaceX is also reportedly in talks to buy Boost Mobile, potentially allowing it to launch Starlink Mobile through the service. Another report suggests SpaceX may tap into 80,000 cell sites across the US to build out its network.

SpaceX’s big plans have garnered some reactions in the telecom industry. Tim Höttges, the CEO of T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom, said he takes SpaceX’s plans “super serious” but that it could cost Musk more than $200 billion to pull off.

Follow along for the latest updates on Starlink’s major mobile carrier ambitions.

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T-Mobile owner on Elon Musk launching a wireless carrier: ‘Welcome to the party’

A photo of Tim Höttges

The head of T-Mobile's parent company is casting doubt on SpaceX's plans to make Starlink Mobile a "major" carrier in the US. During an earnings call on Thursday, Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges says he takes the Elon Musk-owned company "super serious," but that it will cost at least $200 billion to pull off:

He [Musk] has now bought 76 megahertz of spectrum. By the way, we have 400. So if you now say he can buy the spectrum prospectively, do your math. These are kind of triple-digit billions which are needed to gain the spectrum position. If he has the money, go for it. Then he has to build a network. I can tell you, we have 85,000 tower …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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Spotify is coming to United Airlines seatbacks — with help from Starlink

Spotify on a seatback screen on an airplane

United has built a custom, native Spotify app for seatback displays, allowing passengers to log directly in to their personal accounts and stream their own libraries, playlists, and video podcasts while flying 35,000 feet in the air. The new integration is being powered by Starlink's satellite Wi-Fi, which is currently being installed throughout United's entire fleet.

The news marks a major shift in legacy in-flight entertainment. Gone are the days of stethoscope-style plastic tubes, armrest dials, and canned playlists. These older airplane systems were built on the assumption that flights had no internet, so all movies and music had to be …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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17 better ways Elon Musk could have wasted $446 million

Elon Musk frowns, surrounded by all the things he could have bought and didn’t
Dream bigger, babe. | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

One of the basic problems of spending too much time on social media is that you are cooking your brain by reading posts from a pack of attention-seeking lunatics. If your social media of choice is the site formerly known as Twitter, and it is your main source of contact with the outside world, you may delusionally throw away nearly $500 million dollars on midterm elections, just like Elon Musk.

In particular, $47 million of that money from Musk's America PAC was aimed at defeating Texas Democrat James Talarico, who trounced Musk's preferred Senate candidate, Ken Paxton, with 55 percent of the vote. Talarico even made Musk's influence a cent …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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