Starship's heat shield, then vs now. "The toughest remaining problem is a reusable orbital heat shield." @elonmusk Flight 14 reentered from orbit. Flight 15 brings curved tiles, more tile retention and the first attempt to catch the Ship.

Starlink is now turning crash sites in Japan's zero-signal mountains into Wi-Fi hotspots. RESCUE-1, an Osaka-based motorcycle rescue team, mounted Starlink Mini on its tow trucks and forest-road rescue vehicles. When the crew arrives at a crash, they switch it on and open free Wi-Fi, so riders can call family, report to insurance, and send photos and their location while the crew works. They pull crashed bikes out of ravines and off mountain forest roads, where almost every scene has zero cell signal. "In the mountains, the phone doesn't connect. If we're going to rescue someone, we should bring a way to communicate too, so we put Starlink on the truck," said the team's founder.

Starlink helped rescue a seriously injured woman in California’s remote mountains. ♥️ The 30-year-old hiker suffered serious head and facial injuries after a fall near Marie Lakes. She used Starlink to send photos of her injuries to a rescue coordinator. With no helicopter available until daylight, two rescuers hiked 11 miles carrying medical equipment and a Starlink Mini. They reached her, provided treatment, and a helicopter later flew her to hospital. A connection from space helped bring lifesaving help within reach.

Starlink Mini 2 vs. Starlink Mini Mini 2 brings a built-in battery, 50% more Wi-Fi coverage and a 40% thinner design than the original Mini. • Built-in battery Mini 2: 71Wh battery, with up to 4.5 hours of internet. Mini: Requires external power. • Wi-Fi Mini 2: Wi-Fi 6. Mini: Wi-Fi 5. • Wi-Fi coverage Mini 2: Up to 1,800 sq ft. Mini: Up to 1,200 sq ft. • Thickness Mini 2: 23.1 mm. Mini: 38.5 mm. That makes Mini 2 40% thinner. • USB-C Mini 2: Direct USB-C charging at 60W. Mini: Requires a USB-C adapter cable. • Weight Mini 2: 1.6 kg with battery and kickstand. Mini: 1.16 kg with kickstand. • Outdoor protection Both have IP67 water and dust resistance. Mini 2 adds tougher materials and a redesigned enclosure. Mini 2 also stays online while charging and lets you swap in a spare battery, sold separately.

Starlink let a stranded solo sailor call for help when his yacht broke down 8 nautical miles off the coast of South Africa. A strong south-westerly wind was on the way. He used Starlink to reach the Ocean Sailing Association of South Africa, which alerted NSRI Richards Bay. Volunteer crew launched rescue boat Ocean Guardian, found him safe and towed him through an hour of heavy wind to a berth in Richards Bay. Seven other yachts stood by near him until help arrived. Starlink saves lives.

Starlink connected a remote clinic in Papua New Guinea to a doctor miles away, and it helped save a man whose chest wound had exposed his lung. No doctor on site. No evacuation until morning. At Indagen Health Centre in Kabwum, Morobe, officer-in-charge Cathy Nasim had one lifeline: a telemedicine link. Dr Simon Ganal guided her step by step, through the tissue layers, until the bleeding stopped. She kept him stable through the night. He survived and was picked up by medevac the next day for Angau Memorial Hospital. The medevac operator's CEO put it simply: "No more climbing trees to make a phone call." Starlink saves lives.

Starship is the most extraordinary machines humanity has ever built A spacecraft designed to turn the impossible into infrastructure, carrying people, cargo, and eventually human civilization beyond Earth For most of human history, reaching orbit was something extraordinary Now SpaceX is working to make it as routine as air travel And with Starship, the ambition goes far beyond reaching orbit It's about making humanity a multiplanetary civilization and laying the foundation for life among the stars