“Unlimited WiFi is part of the truly all-inclusive Regent experience and, as with every element on board, we want to ensure our guests are receiving the best of the best with new and innovative technology,” said Andrea DeMarco, President of Regent Seven Seas Cruises. “Not only will luxury travelers be able to share their unforgettable moments in real-time, but the increased bandwidth provided by Starlink will also improve onboard services and operational needs – these elements coming together to provide an unrivaled experience for our discerning guests, as well as our talented crew.”

The Seven Seas Mariner is expected to set sail on its 2024 World Cruise in January. Starlink will provide guests and crew on board with connectivity throughout the voyage at sea. The Seven Seas Mariner will start its adventure on January 6, 2024, traveling 132 nights across 3 oceans and 4 continents. 

In 2022, the Royal Caribbean Group was the first cruise line to integrate Starlink internet services on board. The company announced its partnership with SpaceX for Starlink connection two months after Starlink Maritime was unveiled. At the time, Starlink Maritime services included a one-time hardware cost of $10,000 and a monthly payment of $5,000.

SpaceX Starlink partnered with European satellite operator SES to provide medium-Earth orbit (MEO) and low-Earth orbit (LEO) networks to cruise lines. Starlink announced that more than 150 cruise ships were set to use its internet services.

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Liftoff officially happened at 10:19 A.M. EDT, as Falcon Heavy’s 27 first-stage Merlin engines launched NASA’s Psyche probe toward an asteroid under the same name. Psyche won’t reach the asteroid until July 2029, according to Space.com.

Liftoff of Falcon Heavy!

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2023

“This is the beginning of a suite of amazing science missions we have coming up on Falcon Heavy,” Julianna Scheiman, Director of Civil Satellite Missions at SpaceX, said during a post-launch briefing.

The probe will travel 2.2 billion miles over its six-year journey.

The spacecraft will now travel six years and ~2.2 billion miles to the asteroid Psyche, currently orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter https://t.co/29bfT6fod2

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2023

The Launch

About 150 seconds after launch, Falcon Heavy’s side boosters cut their engines off, detached from the central core stage, and made their way back to Florida.

Four minutes after liftoff, the core booster shut down and separated from the Falcon Heavy’s second stage. This was responsible for carrying Psyche the rest of the way to orbital escape velocity, Space.com said.

The core booster was not saved as others have been in the past. Instead, SpaceX allotted maximum fuel as Psyche’s trajectory needed to be ensured. The core was destroyed and is in the sea.

By the eighth minute post-liftoff, Falcon Heavy’s side boosters activated their landing burns and touched down a few seconds later at SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2, which are “several miles downrange from Pad 39A.”

Falcon Heavy’s side boosters have landed pic.twitter.com/2yn0lpEkHt

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2023

It took just over 62 minutes for Psyche to be deployed from Falcon Heavy’s upper stage.

Psyche Asteroid

The Psyche Asteroid is one of the most metal-rich in our solar system, and NASA Science Mission Directorate Nicola Fox talked about the agency’s mission recently:

“Psyche is by far the largest, and that’s why we want to go to it because the smaller ones are more likely to have been changed by things impacting them, whereas the big one, we think, is going to be completely unchanged.”

The Psyche Asteroid measures 173 miles across and 144 miles long. Its exact appearance is unknown, but scientists know it’s covered in nickel and iron.

Once NASA’s Psyche probe reaches the asteroid, it will be responsible for 21 months of mapping and analyzing the surface.

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Tesla has been having fun with the release candidates of the Cybertruck. Some units have been sighted with a faux Ford F-150 wrap, and another has been spotted with a loud green Toyota Tundra wrap. A number of Tesla Cybertrucks have also been wrapped in a variety of camouflage patterns. 

Tesla’s most recent Cybertruck wraps featured the vehicle’s graffiti logo from late 2019 when the all-electric pickup truck was unveiled. And as per a photo shared on X by @Jonasbrowniee, the Cybertruck with green graffiti had something interesting on its roof — an apparent Starlink Mobility dish. 

Cybertruck prototype rolling my town hahahah they look super #cybertruck #Tesla @Tesla pic.twitter.com/ZKglWJoqrL

— Astrid (@Jonasbrowniee) October 3, 2023

The attachment of the apparent Starlink Mobility dish on the wrapped Tesla Cybertruck suggests that the satellite internet system could be installed on the all-electric pickup truck easily. This is quite interesting considering that Starlink Mobility’s Flat High Performance dish is designed to be permanently installed on a vehicle. 

Nevertheless, the image bodes well for the Cybertruck’s overlanding capabilities, as Starlink would ensure that owners would have no issues connecting to the internet regardless of where they are. Starlink advertises its Flat High Performance dish as an ideal solution for industries such as trucking, buses, shuttles, and emergency response. 

As per SpaceX’s official page for Starlink Mobility, the service offers high-speed global internet with speeds of up to 220 Mbps. The system uses Starlink’s Flat High Performance dish, which is designed to be resilient in harsh environments.

SpaceX also noted that Starlink Mobility has the highest priority in the Starlink network. This means that even in times of congestion, the internet connection for the service will remain reliable and quick. The service costs $2,500 for the Flat High Performance dish and $250 per month for internet connectivity.

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The three-month trial showed that Starlink is capable of providing reliable and high-speed internet access in areas with subpar cellular or radio coverage. The WAPF noted that the service works even in locations that traditionally have no coverage at all. 

Once the deployment is complete, all WAPF officers will have access to mission-critical information, automatic number plate recognition data, and real-time emergency alerts, regardless of their location. 

Officers will be able to livestream body-worn and vehicle dashboard camera footage to the State Operations Command Centre in Perth. Officers will also be able to access aircraft and security camera vision. These capabilities should improve the WAPF’s situational awareness and help officers with real-time decision-making during emergencies. 

As per a report from ITNews.com.au, part of the initiative includes the integration of Starlink connectivity with the WAPF’s current communications network. Police Minister Paul Papalia welcomed the investment, stating that it would provide officers with a reliable internet connection regardless of their location.

“The WA Police Force operates in one of the largest geographical police districts in the world, and it’s about to have complete communication coverage. For the first time, officers will have high-speed internet no matter where they are in the state,” Papalia said. 

Starlink is steadily growing into its own business, and similar to Elon Musk’s other initiatives, the satellite internet system is also being constantly improved. Earlier this month alone, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved Starlink’s two new dish designs, one of which was a smaller unit that’s designed for portability. 

SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Jonathan Hofeller also noted that SpaceX is no longer losing money with the production of its satellite dishes. “We were subsidizing terminals, but we’ve been iterating on our terminal production so much that we’re no longer subsidizing terminals, which is a good place to be,” he said. 

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“We are excited to collaborate with SES on a joint solution that combines the reach and capacity of both satellite constellations to offer a solution unlike any other in the market,” said Chad Gibbs, SpaceX’s Vice President of Starlink Business Operations.

SES Cruise mPOWERED + Starlink will be available by Q4 2023. It combines the best of medium-Earth orbit (MEO) services and low-Earth orbit (LEO) networks. 

The internet solutions are available in two tiers: Premium and Pro. The Premium tear (3Gbps/ship) is for ships that want to deliver the highest throughput in the industry. The Pro tier (1.5Gbps/ship) is for operators who want to manage user experience by matching the proper application to the correct orbit. 

“At SES, we strive to provide a world-class connectivity experience for our cruise customers and deliver the same level of service they would enjoy on land,” said John-Paul Hemingway, Chief Strategy Officer at SES. “By being the only one in the cruise industry to expand our unique multi-orbit GEO and MEO network to utilize LEO, we believe it opens new opportunities for us to meet the needs of cruise guests and crew members and the operational requirements of cruise operators to accelerate their digital transformations – wherever they may be.”

The collaboration between SpaceX’s Starlink and SES is a well-balanced partnership. Starlink has been steadily expanding its customer base in the maritime sector. In May 2023, Starlink’s official X page announced that more than 150 cruise ships were set to use its internet services. 

Meanwhile, SES has 10 years of experience delivering connectivity services directly to cruise operators. The European satellite operator pioneered multi-orbit geostationary (GEO) and MEO-enabled networks. 

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After undocking from the International Space Station at 7:05 a.m. ET (11:05 UTC) Sunday, September 3rd, the capsule began firing its Draco thrusters in small bursts to move safely away. Crew Dragon performed a series of small departure burns to leave the “keep out sphere” that is around the Space Station.

Undocking confirmed! Now in orbital nighttime, #Crew6 are on the way home in their @SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft.

Reentry and splashdown coverage begins at 11pm ET tonight (0300 UTC Sept. 3)—tune in to watch here and at https://t.co/z1RgZwQkWS. pic.twitter.com/pS6fRu687a

— NASA (@NASA) September 3, 2023

Over the next few hours after leaving the Space Station, Crew 6 began preparing for the fiery re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere. The trunk, which provides power to the Capsule, was jettisoned shortly, followed by the de-orbit burn. This burn lasted 16 minutes and slowed the capsule down from its orbital velocity, allowing the spacecraft to begin its journey home.

The entry interface began while traveling over Southern Mexico, with plasma building around the capsule from the friction created during entry. Endeavour continued on, passing over the West coast of Florida and crossing over the state near Jacksonville. The splashdown site was a couple of hundred miles off of the coast where the drogue chutes deployed, followed by the four main parachutes, which slowed the capsule down to ~15 miles per hour.

Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth, Steve, @Astro_Woody, Andrey, and @Astro_Alneyadi! pic.twitter.com/ph27m0wP30

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 4, 2023

SpaceX’s fast boats then moved in to clear the parachutes, check for any leaks from the Draco fuel system, and attach the recovery harness that is used to hoist the capsule out of the water. It took approximately an hour from splashdown to crew exit from Endeavour. Crew 6 was then given a quick medical check before they boarded a helicopter for a ride back to Jacksonville and then a short flight to Houston.

Crew 6 consisted of NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. They completed 2,976 orbits around Earth, accumulating over 78 million miles during their 185 days in space.

Crew Dragon Endeavour completed its 4th flight to the ISS, and it will now be brought back to Port Canaveral ahead of refurbishment and assignment of its next mission to the Space Station. Crew Dragon capsules are currently rated for five missions, but SpaceX and NASA are looking at extending those to 15. The next mission for Endeavour will be Crew 8 in 2024.

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SpaceX is targeting the launch of the 2nd Tranche 0 mission for the Space Development Agency on August 31st at 7:26 a.m. PT (14:26 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The Tranche 0, Flight 2 mission features 13 payloads that will be deployed into a Polar Orbit and, as the mission name implies, is the 2nd flight of this small satellite constellation. The Tranche 1 swarm is scheduled for late 2024.

The Space Development Agency is a part of the United States Department of Defense that focuses on space-based communications with U.S. warfighters around the globe. The Tranche 0 group will feature 28 total satellites, with 10 having been previously launched by a Falcon 9 in April 2023, and 2 of those satellites were built by SpaceX, with the other 8 being built by York Space Systems.

SpaceX won a contract worth $149 million back in October 2020 to build 4 satellites to track missile launches. The satellites are based on the company’s Starlink satellite bus, and this is the first time SpaceX has won a contract to build a satellite for the U.S. Government. L3Harris also won a contract worth $193.5 million to build 4 similar satellites.

Tomorrow morning’s launch will feature 10 Lockheed Martin-built satellites, and as of the time of this article, it is unknown if it will host the other SpaceX-built satellites or the L3Harris satellites.

It’s almost time!

Tomorrow, 10 @lockheedmartin-buit small satellites will launch aboard a @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in support of Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 Transport Layer mission. pic.twitter.com/sJFNSeNY7D

— Lockheed Martin Space (@LMSpace) August 30, 2023

The Falcon 9 providing the ride to space for these payloads is Booster 1063. B1063 will be flying for the 13th time, having previously supported 8 Starlink missions, NASA’s DART mission, ESA’s Sentinel 6 Michael Freilich mission, Transporter 7 mission, and the Iridium-9/OneWeb Flight 19 mission.

Following the first phase of flight, the Falcon 9 will perform a boostback burn and return for a landing at Landing Zone 4, just 1,400 feet from where it took off minutes before.

SpaceX will begin its webcast 15 minutes before the scheduled launch time.

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Chandrayaan-3 began its descent phase, and over the next 19 minutes, mission control carefully watched the telemetry being received from the lander and erupted into cheers and applause once the landing was confirmed.

The trip to the Moon began on July 14th as the Lunar lander rode atop the Launch Vehicle Mark 3 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, and then took the next 40 days slowly but surely making their way to the Moon using a highly elliptical orbit around the Earth before beginning its transfer toward Lunar orbit.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
‘India,
I reached my destination
and you too!’
: Chandrayaan-3

Chandrayaan-3 has successfully
soft-landed on the moon !.

Congratulations, India!#Chandrayaan_3#Ch3

— ISRO (@isro) August 23, 2023

Once entering the Moon’s orbit on August 5th, the lander began using small descent burns to lower itself into the proper orbit before attempting the landing.

During the descent phase, the lander paused and hovered at about 150 meters above the Lunar surface, using its onboard scanners, such as the laser doppler velocimeter and lander horizontal velocity camera, to detect a suitable landing site.

The lander, known as the Vikram lander, along with its rover, Pragyan, now safely on the Moon, will begin an approximately 12-day scientific mission due to Lunar night time occurring in 12 days and thus not able to generate solar power.

The scientific payloads aboard Vikram include the Chandra Surface Thermophysical Experiment that will measure thermal conductivity and temperature on the surface of the Moon, the Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity to measure Moonquakes, and the Langmuir Probe to measure plasma density.

Chandrayaan-3 marks a huge accomplishment for the Indian Space Research Organization and India, especially as a follow-up from the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which crashed into the Moon due to software failures, similar to Russia’s recent failed attempt with the Luna 25 mission.

The next mission to the Moon looks to be Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission, due to launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than November 2023.

One thing that has been proven over and over is that landing on the Moon isn’t easy, India beat the odds today.

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This mission will bring three astronauts and one cosmonaut to the International Space Station for a stay of around six months to perform experiments and conduct maintenance aboard the orbiting outpost.

Static fire test of B1081 ahead of the Crew 7 Launch (Credit NASA)

After the FRR was complete, a full launch day rehearsal was carried out in which the crew was fully suited and driven to Launch Complex 39A, where they boarded Crew Dragon Endurance. The crew and mission control simulated a full countdown in order to familiarize themselves one last time before launch day.

Once the launch rehearsal was complete, the crew disembarked from the capsule and returned to the crew checkout building.

SpaceX then transitioned into the customary static fire that occurs before crewed missions. The Falcon 9 was fully fueled and lit up its 9 Merlin 1D engines for about 6 seconds, and after reviewing the data, SpaceX determined the Falcon 9 is ready for the Crew 7 launch on Friday.

The international crew for this mission is NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli (Mission Commander), European Spacey Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen (Pilot),  Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa (Mission Specialist), and Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov (Mission Specialist).

Crew 7 strapped in Crew Dragon Endurance during the dress rehearsal (Credit SpaceX)

The 45th Weather Squadron has put out its first forecast for the launch. The current outlook shows an 85% chance of acceptable weather on launch day, and if the launch slips a day, it shows a 90% chance of acceptable weather.

Once Crew 7 is docked at the Space Station, Crew 6 will begin their preparations for their return home in Crew Dragon Endeavour, currently scheduled for no earlier than September 1st, and will splashdown in either Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean depending on the weather.

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Originally meant to launch earlier in the evening, SpaceX waited until the very end of their window, and the mission lifted off at 2:37 a.m. PT (09:37 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Station.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/AvzApSXTnU

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 22, 2023

This Starlink mission, Group 7-1, was inserted into a 53-degree orbital inclination with the Starlinks separating from the second stage just over an hour after lift-off. This brings the total number of Starlink satellites launched to 4,983 of which 269 are the V2 mini variant.

The Falcon 9 on this mission was B1061, which launched and landed for the 15th time. It successfully landed on the droneship ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ eight and a half minutes after taking off.

Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship pic.twitter.com/DwgDDCC895

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 22, 2023

This launch marked the 57th mission of the year for SpaceX, which is slowly closing on its yearly record of 61.

SpaceX is looking to launch the next batch of Starlink satellites as early as this evening, no earlier than 8:47 p.m. ET, the weather outlook as of now shows only a 15% chance of violating weather constraints. If, for some reason, the launch does not occur this evening, it is likely they will postpone the launch until after the Crew 7 mission scheduled for August 25th as it is a much higher priority mission.

One different aspect of the Group 7-1 mission was the webcast, which, most likely due to the delays, did not have a webcast host and played the launch audio from mission control.

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