So it only took 8 weeks for Musk to go from "at least one [Starship] flight a day, possibly more" by August 2027 to now suggesting 1-2 launches per week next year. As I said at the time, Musk's statements on the Q2 earnings call just weren't believable

When Starcloud, a space data center startup, announced in March that it had raised $170 million at a $1.1 billion valuation led by Benchmark and EQT, you had to read deeply into the press release to learn that the deal was done in two tranches, with the first part led solely by Benchmark. What it didn’t say: that first piece came at a valuation of $250 million, according to two sources familiar with the deal. Just days later, the second tranche, which also included a host of smaller investors, closed at more than four times the price. The Starcloud deal is an example of what investors say is becoming a common practice: prestige firms getting a significantly better price than other investors in what is essentially the same round. Proponents of such deals say they’re simply reflecting the market reality that some investor dollars are greener than others and it’s only logical for firms to cash in on that — especially in early-stage deals where an investor’s brand name can make a huge difference. But critics say such structures can be problematic, not least for employees. Brendan Foody, CEO of the AI-training startup Mercor, stirred the pot on the issue on X last month, writing: “in the last 6 mo’s ive seen a half dozen rounds where sequoia invests in 2 tranches. everyone pretends they only did the higher valuation,” and calling the tactic “deceptive.” Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire, in a reply, claimed the practice was rare. But Newcomer’s reporting suggests it’s increasingly common across the industry. @followthemani

As the jury deliberates whether latest $ASTS attempts to unfold BB11 have worked or not, here is what it means for their satellite manufacturing going forward: 1) Best Case scenario - Root Cause and Corrective Action (RCCA) concludes that it was a one-off random anomaly and existing design can be cleared for flight with final inspections/tests. BB14-BB16 can be completed ready-to-ship within 2 weeks. 2) Median Case Scenario - RCCA concludes there was a minor flaw in the design and/or workmanship that may be present on other BBs. Small corrective actions are required on all in-production satellites. BB14-BB16 can be reworked ready-to-ship within 2-6 weeks. 3) Worst Case Scenario - RCCA concludes there was a major flaw in the design and/or workmanship that is present on other BBs. Significant corrective actions are required on all in-production satellites. BB14-BB16 delays >6 weeks. Note that the above applies whether or not BB11 recovery activities are successful, given that it clearly suffered a deployment anomaly. FYI, I provide expert consulting on satellite programs as my core profession. I've consulted on the design, development, manufacturing, testing, launch, and in-orbit performance for hundreds of satellites, including some major anomaly investigations. I don't have much data for BB11, since ASTS management has been very uncommunicative, but decades of experience tell me something is wrong and needs fixing, and the above are my best inferences, rather than firm facts and data.

Rocket Lab CEO @Peter_J_Beck on buying Iridium & competing against @JeffBezos' Blue Origin & @elonmusk's SpaceX: "It would be very difficult to go & play in the broadband market. You see the amount of capital that's required to be successful there." "If you just think about it logically, what is the biggest TAM in the space industry? It's comms. If you ignore broadband because 2 really well-capitalized people are taking care of that, what's the next logical thing to do in comms? It's safety-critical, defense-critical services." "That is Iridium. It's a super quintessential Rocket Lab deal."

This description of the noise and vibration impact of Starship seems very optimistic. The assessment by the Space Force of Starship in Florida suggest more than 100db in a 10 mile radius.

Here are my initial thoughts on some of the eyebrow raising comments from the locals only SpaceX meeting at Pecan Island school Wednesday and the parish residents only town hall yesterday in Abbeville: “Ya’ll are going to singe my cows!” – This comment sounds both ridiculous and funny, until you realize that this landowner (not disclosing) is the cattle rancher on Mulberry Island right between the proposed Terabay and first launch pad. He is in ground zero and completely surrounded by SpaceX. Their response was classic - “Cows love rockets” 😂 “About 40,000 acres get developed” – This is the area they are building within. Total acres filled are probably 2-3k acres. Still a lot. “10,000 launches a year” – Expected when building 10 pads. And Elon said this. “Launches at sunrise and sunset” – This will get push back. I get the favorable orbital launch windows but this is when the marsh is the busiest. Peak bird movement, especially during migration. The opposition will resist. They will already be worried about fog/night tower strikes. “Starships built on site” – SpaceX says this on their website. No surprise. “Workers will be shuttled in” - Makes sense initially as there is nowhere for 10,000 people to park. First permits “soon” - the suspense is real

As the Pentagon races to build military satellite networks by the end of Trump’s term in 2028, it has tailored multi-billion dollar contracts to SpaceX, stifling competitors and deepening reliance on a single provider. Read more here:

People who are surprised by this figure should recall that BO has had over 10,000 employees for several years now... and lots of infrastructure. And before that they had thousands of employees for many years. And very little in the way of revenue. I'd guess they're spending somewhere around $5B/yr of Jeff's money right now, maybe more. (That'd be ~$400k/yr/employee for comp, benefits, taxes & fees, infrastructure, parts & materials, tools, etc.)

NEWS: SES has broken ground on a new satellite manufacturing facility in Kockelscheuer, Luxembourg. 🛰️🇱🇺 Set to open in 2028, the 16,000m² facility will bring advanced engineering, manufacturing and testing capabilities together to help accelerate the development and deployment of next-generation satellite systems. The facility will support the development of our next-generation MEO network, #meoSphere#, contribute to #IRIS2# program, and help strengthen Luxembourg’s growing space ecosystem. ➡️ Learn more: #SolveEmpowerSoar#

👀🐦‍⬛ A SR-71 Blackbird Has Vanished The head of NASA just cryptically teased a new X-plane with an image that looked a lot like the iconic Blackbird. Now a very particular SR-71 is missing.

The road may end. Your connection doesn’t have to. Introducing Airtel Starlink, connectivity beyond traditional network coverage. Opt in via the MyAirtel App and enjoy 30 DAYS FREE till 23 Oct. Supported Android devices only. T&Cs apply. #AirtelXStarlink#

It’s official: @IridiumComm shareholders have voted and approved the acquisition by Rocket Lab ✅ By joining forces, we’ll be creating a vertically-integrated space powerhouse that designs, builds, launches, and operates its own constellations to bring critical communications capability to millions of users worldwide. Full details and next steps:

$RKLB $IRDM “The preliminary report of the Inspector of Election covering the proposals presented at this meeting is as follows. The first proposal to adopt the agreement and plan of merger, dated as of June 28, 2026, is approved and adopted. The second proposal to approve on an advisory non-binding basis the compensation that may be paid or payable to the company's named executive officers in connection with the mergers is approved and adopted. Thank you. A full tally of the final votes will be published in a current report on Form 8-K, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within four business days of this meeting. This concludes the formal portion of today's meeting. This meeting is adjourned.”

Yeah... you know what I started typing a rebuttal to that, but then started thinking about Artemis III and the Starship HLS Demo landing mission (that's still happening, right...). That is a lot of launches, like idk lets just call it 12 launches per lunar landing. Plus the orbital refilling demo(s), launching the depot. So I'll say maybe ~30 HLS-related Starship launches between now and boots on the moon. That would be SO much Starlink bandwidth they'd be sacrificing for what is comparatively much less revenue (and they are a public company...). So I think I talked myself into agreeing with you 😂

@engine_rich Honestly possible but only if spacex actually cares to. Lots of dev work left to get Starship to the moon, basically none left to start spamming Starlinks + AI1s and god knows one pays a lot more than the other