SpaceX made a successful drone ship landing this afternoon: http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/8/113...t-barge-at-sea

sweet, should make space related projects more feasable for some
Melissa

was watching it live on the NASA ustream feed

and NO "rapid disassembly event "

"The Crew-7 mission is transporting four crew members to the International Space Station (ISS). As of August 2022, one NASA astronaut, Jasmin Moghbeli, one ESA astronaut, Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, one JAXA astronaut, Satoshi Furukawa and one Roscosmos cosmonaut, Konstantin Borisov, have been assigned to the mission, with Mogensen as the first non-American to serve as a pilot of Crew Dragon.[4]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Crew-7

Take-off: https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1695337464024707506
!st stage landing: https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1695339286152073324

"Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on Landing Zone 4, completing our 250th landing of a Falcon first stage booster" https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1730655367418573270

"Amazon bought three rocket launches from SpaceX for its Project Kuiper internet satellites, the tech giant announced on Friday.
The move is a surprise from Amazon, given the company’s Kuiper system aims to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink in the satellite broadband market.
SpaceX, the most active rocket operator in the world, has been adamant that it will launch Starlink competitors on its rockets." https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/01/amaz...t-project.html

After 96 successful launches last year @SpaceX makes it's first @Starlink related launch of 2024 carrying six satellites capable of direct to phone communication. Elon Musk: "This will allow for mobile phone connectivity anywhere on Earth.

Note, this only supports ~7Mb per beam and the beams are very big, so while this is a great solution for locations with no cellular connectivity, it is not meaningfully competitive with existing terrestrial cellular networks."

More @Starlink goodness.
"John Deere, Meet Elon Musk: SpaceX Satellites to Link Farm Giant’s Equipment
Farm machinery maker hires SpaceX’s Starlink service to provide satellite internet connections for tractors, harvesters and crop sprayers in remote areas
By
Bob Tita and Micah Maidenberg
Updated Jan. 15, 2024 3:48 pm ET"
Source: https://www.wsj.com/business/telecom...pment-e0936668

"#Ax3 docked to the space station aboard the @SpaceX
Dragon Freedom spacecraft at 5:42am ET today beginning a two-week research and education mission."

https://twitter.com/Space_Station/st...60723268354171

I am just beside myself so stoked for the 3rd launch of Starship!

IM-1 Mission Nova-C Lunar Lander Successfully Enroute to the Moon Following its Launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9
February 15, 2024 at 9:10 AM EST

"Intuitive Machines, Inc. (Nasdaq: LUNR, LUNRW) (“Intuitive Machines”) (“Company”), a leading space exploration, infrastructure, and services company, has announced its IM-1 mission Nova-C class lunar lander has launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and successfully commissioned in space by establishing a stable attitude, solar charging, and radio communications contact with the Company’s mission operations center in Houston. ...The Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission is the Company’s first attempted lunar landing as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (“CLPS”) initiative, a key part of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration efforts. The science and technology payloads sent to the Moon’s surface as part of CLPS intend to lay the foundation for human missions and a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface." https://investors.intuitivemachines....y-enroute-moon

https://twitter.com/Int_Machines/sta...34068644884487

And an Air Force mission, and a StarLink mission. Three missions all in last two days. All boosters successfully landed. One for the 18th time. That is the cool part to me. Never get tired of watching the 'landings'! Don't think any of there competitors launch as many a year or even have the capability....

"Don't think any of there competitors launch as many a year or even have the capability....", not yet for sure but I've read that the Chinese are working feverishly to replicate first stage recovery.

Cell phone to satellite is coming. I wonder if the big telcos are anxious?

"This post was sent through a SpaceX Direct to Cell satellite in space" https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1761994722913198134

Starship (Launch Attempt 3): T - 00:25
https://www.spacex.com/launches/miss...rship-flight-3

Partial success so far, failed engine re-ignition on the booster at least no 'rapid unscheduled disassembly' (RUD.)